New Thrill Ride at the Stratosphere

Link: http://www.stratospherehotel.com/thrills/SkyJump.cfm

Interesting. It seems to simulate a parachute jump, without the parachute. (Interesting: ie, have they lost their minds?)

I do wonder: has anyone tried BASE jumping from the Stratosphere tower? Also, did the management ever consider a bungee jump?

I like the Strat tower. I like tall structures, I especially like to ride tot he top and look down. The tower offers the best view of Vegas and surrounding area short of a helicopter ride, even if the main aprts of the Strip are rather distant. I even rode in all the other three rides last year. But this new ride seems a little too risky and way too extreme for mere mortals.

Then again I've never jumped off a tall building or an aircraft...

The Las Vegas Sun has an article regarding this.

Apparently it is not as bad as you might think, as for safety your fall is limited to 40mph.

I might give it a go while I am there. Although $99 for a 20 second drop seems steep.(pun intended)

Quote: Nareed

ever consider a bungee jump?

Not since I saw the video of one guy who did a Bungee jump off a bridge that was 308 feet high. He may have miscalculated some things however since instead of having a Bungee cord that would stretch to 300 feet he had a Bungee cord that was 300 feet long.

Quote: Croupier

Apparently it is not as bad as you might think, as for safety your fall is limited to 40mph.

I might give it a go while I am there. Although $99 for a 20 second drop seems steep.(pun intended)

A 40 mph hit of body against pavement would still likely be fatal. The speed limit must concern whatever device is used to slow and stop the rider before he becomes too intimate with the pavement.

Many years ago in Acapulco I took a parachute ride. That's where you get straped into an open chute and pulled along the beachfront by a motor boat. It was a lot of fun and I would do it again. It was also completely safe: the chute is already open, you see, so if the line breaks you'd fall slowly into the water (then you'd have to be concerned about getting tangled in the lines and drowning, of course).

And I know that parachuting as a sport is very safe. Yet I'd never try it. I know I couldn't jump off a plane, regardless of any other considerations. I'd never do bungee jumping, either. There's this thing about stepping off a high place into thin air that i just can't do. I did jump once from about a ten meter height into a net, twice, and I enjoyed it. But ten meters isn't too high and the net was deployed beforehand.

Of course other people are diferent and they may enjoy such things.

BTW thik carefully. That ten meter drop, which must have taken less than two seconds, seemed to last a long time. A 20 second drop may seem eternal.

Quote: FleaStiff

Not since I saw the video of one guy who did a Bungee jump off a bridge that was 308 feet high. He may have miscalculated some things however since instead of having a Bungee cord that would stretch to 300 feet he had a Bungee cord that was 300 feet long.

I've heard of it. Prime Darwin Awards moment.

Let's overlook the mistake in cord lenght, it's an easy one to make. But who the hell doesn't test equipment he's entrusting his life to? Properly he should have dumped a mass twice his own tied to the cord first, if only to verify the cord could take the strain without breaking. Once he saw the dummy load splat on the bottom, he'd have known he had a problem.

Here's the link as a link: http://www.stratospherehotel.com/thrills/SkyJump.cfm
Interstingly enough, on that page, there are links for more info which are DEAD LINKS!

But here's a video (after a short ad): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frINHN49wYQ

Kinda intersting. It looks like there are cables about 10 yards apart on the sides of the jump platform that stretch all the way to the ground. You hang a few feet from a line between the two cables. This prevents you from swinging too much or missing the target.

It also looks like there's some type of device attached to one of the cables, riding down at the same time, limiting the speed and slowing you down just before you go splat.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

... slowing you down just before you go splat.

I would greatly prefer "slowing you down so that you don't go splat." :-)

Quote: Doc

I would greatly prefer "slowing you down so that you don't go splat." :-)

Picky, picky, picky.


By the way, if you're not planning on going on the rides, but want to go up to that level, there's a sneaky way to avoid the $15.95 "Observation Deck Admission" charge.

First, have a meal in Top of the World. Or just have a drink in their cocktail lounge. Then take the stairs up one flight.

FYI: Top of the World rotates. It's a little pricey, but the view is well worth it. The food's pretty damn good too!

how does this work? i thought u had to pay to use the elevator regardless of where u were going.

I've heard about the trick from several sources.

The one time I did it, was on a convention last year.

I hooked up with a couple people that had reservations for dinner. I went up and had dinner with them. When dinner was over, some hung out, some went down, I wandered around and finally just asked how I can get to "where the rides were".

Maybe it worked because by that time it was evening, and the observation wasn't busy.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

I hooked up with a couple people that had reservations for dinner. I went up and had dinner with them. When dinner was over, some hung out, some went down, I wandered around and finally just asked how I can get to "where the rides were".

this is probably the most important element in getting up there for free.

You're probably right. Reservations probably were the key.

Except I am *SURE* that someone once told me that you can say you're going up, just for a drink at the bar.

But if you try it, at least look the part. Top Of The World has a dress code. It's not VERY strict, but don't be too casual if you're trying this trick.

You are not going nearly as fast as sky diving where terminal velocity is 120 mph. You don't get over 40 mph with this jump. It's a lot less scary than bungee jumping where the snap back is the most frightening part of the ride. It also takes a lot less time to get to the next person.

This ride has been popular in New Zealand for a number of years. It is safe for all ages.



Actually they have a low tech thrill in the tower of New Zealand called SkyWalk which they should do here. It's a harness system that allows you to walk around the rim of the tower.



They also should install a Shweeb that circles the property.

Quote: pacomartin

You are not going nearly as fast as sky diving where terminal velocity is 120 mph. You don't get over 40 mph with this jump.

I'm sure someone here can calculate the acceleration required to stop an object, say a human being, from 40 mph to 0 mph in a fraction of a tenth of a second. A car accident at 40 mph can be serious if you're not wearing a seatbelt, even though much of the energy of impact is absorbed by the car (granted a car at 40 mph carries a hell of a lot more kinetic energy than a human being moving at that speed).

Naturally I'm sure it's safe. No one builds rides to kill the riders. But people have died in malfunctions at Disney and other parks. Why borrow trouble?

I tried all the rides at the Startosphere last year. Aside from the hassle of removing everything you're carrying and storing it in an insecure place (where you can worry what will happen to your wallet and creidt cards), the rides were ok. The "Insanity" ride is rather relaxing, or it would be if it didn't spin so fast near the ending. The shot ride is ok, but after "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror," it's rather mild. The other one, I forget the name, is just plain terrifying without any redeeming qualities at all.

This latest scheme is sheer lunacy. but I expect I'll go and watch a lunatic trying it out ;)

Quote: pacomartin

"They also should install a Shweeb that circles the property.

Look at your photo again. It sounds like a recipe for baked tourist, steeped in own juices :D

Someone has BASE jumped from Stratosphere. It's on youtube. Pretty cool stuff.

There have been less than 400 fatalities sky diving in the last five years. The one last September involved a 22 year girl doing her first tandem jump and she and her instructor died because the chute was improperly packed.

The BASE jump is obviously risky since you have unknown parameters.

But with the Skyjump the jumper attached by a cable from both sides, the jump is similar to a vertical zip line and is controlled from start to finish. I assume they weigh you so that you can't lie about your weight. Besides it goes to 270 lbs, so you can probably spot the people who are lying.

Quote: pacomartin

The BASE jump is obviously risky since you have unknown parameters.

BASE jumping is a messier version of Russian Roulette.

Quote: Nareed

I'm sure someone here can calculate the acceleration required to stop an object, say a human being, from 40 mph to 0 mph in a fraction of a tenth of a second. A car accident at 40 mph can be serious if you're not wearing a seatbelt, even though much of the energy of impact is absorbed by the car (granted a car at 40 mph carries a hell of a lot more kinetic energy than a human being moving at that speed).

Naturally I'm sure it's safe. No one builds rides to kill the riders. But people have died in malfunctions at Disney and other parks. Why borrow trouble?

I made 5 parachute jumps when I was in college. I had never been in a plane before. In fact, I took off 6 times in an airplane, before I had my first landing (5 take-offs in the Cessna I jumped from, and then the 6th was a jet to Chicago). Back then it was all solo jumps, from a static line. At 3,000 feet, you climbed out of the plane, unto a 2x4 that was bolted near the door, and you held unto the wing strut, so you were outside the plane, doing about 70 knots. When you got tapped on your leg, you let go, and 40' later the static line pulled your chute. 3 minutes later, you landed on the ground. IT WAS AWESOME !!!!! It was also subsidized by the school, so each jump was only $6.

I will have to take a look at this in May. Test out my Superman suit.

Quote: Nareed

Quote: pacomartin

The BASE jump is obviously risky since you have unknown parameters.

BASE jumping is a messier version of Russian Roulette.

Base jumping is pretty radical, but the one that freaks me out are the guys in the flying squirrel suits. Have you seen them? They get up in those mountains and dive off the face of the mountain. Once they get close to terminal velocity they can spread their arms and feet wide. Their flying suits are webbed, and they become a flying object. I think they pull a chute to land.

I saw a piece on the SkyJump on Travel Channel's "Bert the Conqueror" show recently. The mechanism they use to control your fall is pretty neat. You're attached to a wire which comes off of a big spool at the top. The spool is attached to fan blades, which create most of the resistance and keep your speed at 40 mph or so. As you near the bottom, the radius of the axle decreases (think cylinder with a cone on one end), which increases the speed of the fan blades and in turn increases the drag on you. This makes for a nice, gentle deceleration, rather than sudddenly applying brakes to the 2 vertical guide wires. I assume there are brakes as well, which kick in in emergencies, or even for additional stopping power once you get to a certain height.

I did the SkyJump when I was there in May. It was great. I am headed back in Sept., and I plan on doing a night jump this time. Too bad I can't get the craps pit to comp me the jump............

The tower in New Zealand also features the SkyJump, which is slightly lower, but the jumper can reach up to 53 mph. The jump is guide-cable-controlled to prevent jumpers from colliding with the tower in case of wind gusts.