Egads! For those afraid of heights...

I think I could but I wouldn't enjoy it. Going up in airplanes doesn't bother me at all, in fact I enjoy it. But walking out on that is something I would rather not do. My stomach feels funny when I look down from a tall building, in fact I don't even like to go up on my own roof and I have a one story house.

 

that would make a great ride... It breaks off, falls a few hundred feet, and pulls you back up!

 

Looks like fun to me. But where are the eyebolts to attach the bungees? And those railings look a little slippery for base jumping, but that could be fixed easily enough.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(livelychick @ Dec 14 2006, 11:50 AM) [snapback]362341[/snapback]</div>

Absolutely! I got a personal tour of the Golden Gate Bridge south tower once - went up the old construction elevator inside the east upright & came out atop the upper horizontal, about 700' above the bay. Since it was a personal tour we were allowed to go wherever we wanted up there except out onto the main cable, so I climbed up a ladder to the open grill catwalk surrounding the anti-collision beacon at the very peak of the tower and looked straight down between my feet at the view below - breathtaking experience!

Reminds me that the latest James Bond film has one of the most vertigo inducing sequences I've ever seen - brilliantly filmed - in the opening chase. Watching THAT made me more queasy than standing on that catwalk, but I was "in control" on the catwalk, whereas we were at the director's mercy watching the film. Go see it if you haven't already.

Mark Baird
Alameda CA

 

When I was a young lad I used to bolt steel beams together. I spent almost a decade in bridge construction and have hung off many things that most people would simply avoid. As I got older common sense and a feeling of mortality began to overtake the desire to do crazy things. However I would really enjoy something like that.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mystery Squid @ Dec 14 2006, 04:03 PM) [snapback]362359[/snapback]</div>

If this is built, bungee jumpers will have a new heaven.

 

I'm afraid of heights, although much better than I used to be. I won't be visitng the Skywalk.

 

I am terrified of heights. But I would definitely go on the skywalk, because my brain tells me that if it has not collapsed yet, it's not likely to collapse while I'm on it. I'd be scared out of my head. But I'd do it.

I also climbed the rigging of a tall sailing ship at sea. I was terrified there, too, but they assured me nobody had fallen yet, and I just held on really tight and climbed very slow and carefully.

Hang-gliding was really scary also, though less so than standing on the outside deck of the Space Needle in Seattle. The latter was certainly safer. But fear is not logical.

 

I'll be there, jumping up and down, at the end to check how stable it is

 

Yep, I'd do it. Even tho' I'm afraid of heights.

The last time I visited my family in New Zealand I went up the Sky Tower in Auckland city. The observation deck has a a clear section of floor. There's nothing visible between your feet and the city 800 feet below. It's a real ball-tingler!

 

frank lloyd wright would have liked it. i wonder if he ever bungeed?

 

A mere $25 for such a thrill. Sign me up! Imagine being a worker installing the thing.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(livelychick @ Dec 14 2006, 02:50 PM) [snapback]362341[/snapback]</div>

Why not just make an elevated glass bottom casino?

 

Yosemite already has one of these – and it's free! It's called Taft Point, and is a short hike from Glacier Point Road.

http://best.me.berkeley.edu/~jhey03/img/ph...yosemite_05.htm

http://www.yosemitefun.com/yosemite_short_hikes.htm

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy @ Dec 15 2006, 05:39 PM) [snapback]362987[/snapback]</div>

Now that's a place I will not go. I cannot stand at the edges of cliffs. At the summit of a mountain called Fronalp, near Revelstoke, BC, I wanted my picture taken at the very highest point. But that point was one step from the sheer drop-off, and I could not bring myself to stand on it. My picture instead has me standing just in front of that spot, a good two steps from the drop-off, and I was utterly terrified until I was able to move several more steps away and sit down. Spectacular view, though, and a great six-hour round-trip hike (counting several leasurely stops).

(The owner's 13-year-old daughter posed standing on one leg (yoga tree pose with reverse prayer position) on the spot I was afraid to stand on, however. Sheesh! They've promised to send me a copy of that picture, and I'm still hopeful they will.)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Presto @ Dec 14 2006, 07:24 PM) [snapback]362520[/snapback]</div>

No problems there Presto.
The structural engineers designed the Skywalk to withstand more than 71 million pounds, or 71 fully loaded Boeing 747s!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jmccord @ Dec 15 2006, 07:29 PM) [snapback]363021[/snapback]</div>

That figure seems exaggerated to me. I think maybe they've got a misplaced decimal point somewhere. I could believe 71,000 lbs. It just does not make economic sense to design a structure to hold a thousand times more weight than could ever possibly be crammed onto it.

But how'd you like to be the guy who washes the underside of the glass floor?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Dec 15 2006, 11:54 PM) [snapback]363037[/snapback]</div>

You may be right Daniel. Sources seem confused on this point. Several websites, like this one
http://www.ohgizmo.com/2005/10/31/grand-ca...k-glass-bridge/
quote the sensationalistic 71 million pounds figure, but others such as CNN report 70 tons http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/05/11/grand.c...ection=cnn_tech
Oh well. They used to have some nice construction photos at the Skywalk website, but for some reason a password is now required to access them. :huh: