Heights

Shut your eyes?

I'm rubbish at heights too - specifically concerned with structures
and sheer drops. When I was pilot training, on one occasion I had to
do a max rate 360 turn over the Dartford Bridge, which left me
pondering the interesting situation in which I was looking down the
wing while banked at 30 degrees at a bridge that I do my utmost to
avoid riding over...

Seriously, all you can do is to flood the fear - I try and it's
difficult - didn't fancy the London Eye but made myself do it (and
enjoyed it). And in Bangkok a couple of months ago, went to the
Vertigo Bar which is on the open roof of a 61 floor tower block. I
assumed it would be in a sort of little island in the middle of the
roof, but no, a railing similar to a stairrail and then a 61 fllor
sheer drop. Amazing view, but it scatred the shite out of me. Glad I
did it though.

http://www.banyantree.com/bangkok/dining_vertigo.htm

 

Have you seen the Adam Room on the 11th Floor? Very bizarre to come
out of a 17th century room with all the over ornate gilding and iced
cake plaster to be faced with a plate glass window, the apparent
inside of an oil refinary and a 10 storey drop.....

 

The firm will sort out whatever hotel they usually use for people
visiting that office. No shortage of choice round there.

Every prospect pleases!

 

Nah, that's only a short drop. Try the glass floor in the CN Tower in
Toronto. I stood and watched as most people could only walk on the
spars between the panes of glass.

http://www.cntower.ca/attractions/l3_att_GlassFloor.htm

Then go up to the skypod.

http://www.cntower.ca/attractions/l3_att_skypod.htm

IIRC it cost me about 56 Canadian Dollars for two of us.

 

Well, yes, I can see that.

Y'see, this is where you lose me. 200+ metres? Fark that.

BTW, just spoke to Andy and told him that you'd had a really good
day's ice climbing and he said "tell him he's a fucking bastard
wanking fucking ****". Apparently he's working in an unheated machine
room in Sheffield, and I think he's perhaps a little jealous.

 

"Up here, you can actually feel the Tower sway in the wind."


**** THAT.

 

"Chris H" muttered

Hmm. SWMBO has been there- said it was the worst thing she's ever
seen!

Errrmmmmm. One of those things that probably seems really good *when*
you've done it....

 

On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 13:16:54 -0000, "Chris H"
<> bored us all completely to death with
wittery prose along the lines of:

Sandhurst had a goodie in their training grounds. It was a frame about
50 feet high, with two horizontal scaffolding poles at the top.

The idea was to stand on these poles, with the 50ft drop only being
marred by a plank of wood, on which the instructor stood (holding your
ankles). Even that took a bit of courage.

 

Heh. I think I'd be swaying too much myself to notice what the
building was doing. But I'm quite happy in an open cockpit plane at
1400 feet - so why not standing in a closed pointy building?

And upside down in a plane at a couple of thousand looking over my
shoulder for the horizon to come round and then pointing it straight
down at a couple of hundred knots is great fun. So why not stand in a
glass bottomed obs platform?

What a strange thing the human mind is. Well, mine, anyway.

 

It's better that it 'gives' than 'breaks'.

To be honest, the day I went up it there was fog first thing in the
morning and I was praying for a stiff breeze to clear it.

I was more worried about the plane that was flying around it!!

 

There was more of it, but they had to partially cover it up because
people wouldn't queue for the lifts if it meant standing there looking
over a 1000 ft down!

 

When I went up in 2000 there were a couple of people standing frozen at the
edge of the glass floor crying. Our project director couldn't come near it
either despite the everlasting shame ;o)

 

Oh I've almost done one. It wasn't intended to be but it got the
instructor's attention )
1500ft will do me quite nicely in future thanks. I've watched someone leave
it late, get a line twist, no time to unwind or cut away, hit house, break
leg.

 

<left unsnipped for sheer delight>

Woo Hoo! I must admit that would've got me a bit concerned; even though
I know about wire rope strength and stuff, it's always a back of the
mind worry about just how good the maintenance is...


--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19

 

[clear glass floor]

Oh it certainly has as I have walked across it and taken a picture
looking down through it. Yes I know I'm scared of heights but I forced
myself to endure the fairly awful lift ride up the side of the tower.
The walk round the caged but otherwise open observation deck was a bit
more terrifying - especially when you hit the point where you felt the
wind. At the point I was clinging to the centre of the building and not
venturing to the edge.

I even find the glass lifts at the Grande Arche at La Defense in Paris
rather difficult to endure and they aren't very tall. I've never managed
to go up the Eiffel Tour.

 

Arrrrrrrrrrrrggghhhhh!

I feel dreadful reading that while sat on terra firma.

 

Cab muttered

The Paras use that test on P Platoon - fail it and you're instant crap
hat!... Only they don't have the instructor holding onto you, AFAIK..

 

Oh very good

Well I've done the Dartford Bridge once when I was doing my MAC
training. It was too late to stop before I realised where I was heading.
It was dreadful and it wasn't that windy either. I have never ridden
over it since - I divert via the Blackwall Tunnel and endure the slog
through the suburbs.

We had to do that as part of some stupid work thing a few months back. I
found it very difficult and clung to the wooden seat in the middle for
the duration until we could get off.

I take the point about facing the fear. I have forced myself to do the
CN Tower, Empire State Building, World Trade Centre and even pedal cycle
across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Oddly I love the Empire State Building and have no real issue with it -
including looking down. I found the World Trade Centre very difficult
and spent a lot of time away from the windows. I eventually forced
myself to the edge and even sat down in the window well - awful because
you felt like you were stepping off the edge of the building. I never
made it onto the open air observation deck.

The Golden Gate Bridge is probably the most difficult thing I've ever
done. I hired a mountain bike to try to do some proper trails (in the
days when I didn't resemble a bucket of lard quite so well) and had to
cross the bridge. One of the footpaths is reserved for bikes on a Sunday
- I set off and then just froze in complete fear. It was only the sight
of an 80 year old bloke happily ambling his way across that forced me
not to be humiliated and made me restart. When you get to the bridge
columns you have to cycle round them by turning towards the sea - as if
you are riding off the edge. I can picture it my mind as clear as day as
I type this. It was awful. Worse there was fog part way across so you
couldn't see where you were headed. I made it across but came back by
ferry. I doubt I could do it again.

It is the freezing bit that bothers me with regards to a motorbike. I
cannot imagine being able to ride a bike through the Alps and suddenly
being faced with one of those bridges that is perched between two
mountains where you're 100s of feet up in the air. They are often twisty
which would mean leaning over as well - the consequences of doing
something daft with the bike controls doesn't bear thinking about.

I asked the question half knowing what the answer would be. I'm not one
for strange therapies so it comes down to me I suppose. I am genuinely
surprised that quite so many people (on the group) have a problem with
heights though.

 

As a young idiot, heights didn't bother me at all - the more the
merrier, in fact. Then, about 20 years ago, I suddenly developed a
reluctance to risk my neck on such things as walking across pipelines
suspended above valleys[1]. It went from bad to worse, for nearly 20
years I didn't use ladders and still won't go up on a roof of any
description.

The ladder thing I eventually got over, simply by practice; now I can
merrily hop up and down them like a starling - I'm bloody careful about
ladder security, though.

Generally I'm ok with balconies, observation galleries, cliff edges,
etc, as long as there's a rail of some sort.

[1] I still owe someone a kick up the arse for that.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19

 

The Thames bridge crossing at Dartford has a service for drivers that
suffer from vertigo.
They will actually drive you over.