49ers mascot, 70 others rappel down SF's Hilton Hotel skyscraper for good cause
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A man illegally scaled the Salesforce Tower skyscraper in San Francisco earlier this week, but this time it's happening legally.
About 70 people are rappelling down the side of the Hilton Hotel on O'Farrell Street in San Francisco on Thursday to raise money for Outward Bound California.
The people descending down the 25 floors include Outward Bound employees, cast members from the Harry Potter Musical and Sourdough Sam, The San Francisco 49er's mascot.
"Exhilarating! Beyond words, I don't even know," Eric Cabunoc said after he touched down, describing the experience.
"Stepping over is definitely the hardest part," he said.
VIDEO: 49ers mascot Sourdough Sam rappels down SF's Hilton Hotel for a good cause
He raised $2500 for his descent. The goal for the day is to raise $300,000 for Outward Bound.
"This hotel- we are in the heart of the Tenderloin and in the Tenderloin is one of the largest areas of seniors and children in the city, many of them underprivileged and we want to be a supporter of those families that live in our neighborhood. And Outward Bound is one of those wonderful organizations that offers programs that a lot of those kids wouldn't have the chance to do on their own," said Cindy Ramesh, Hilton Hotel Director of Sales and Marketing.
The stunt is not visible from the sidewalk. They are using an internal wall that lands in a courtyard, so they only have to rappel 25 floors instead of all 46. They also needed this particular wall since it doesn't have windows.
"You can't really rappel people in front of people's guest rooms because of privacy issues so we have them go down the side here where there are none," Ramesh said.
Outward Bound provides outdoor experiences for youth, ranging from 5 to 30 day long excursions in the wilderness to a day trip in San Francisco.
RELATED: 22-year-old 'Pro-Life Spiderman' describes scaling to top of California's tallest tower
"We run one day programs in our new ropes course in Mclaren Park, built during pandemic, a place where local youth can come discover challenge and discovery for a day," said Nettie Pardue, Executive Director of Outward Bound California.
This is the first time since 2019 Outward Bound has been able to put on this fundraiser.
If you're on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
