LAS VEGAS — To mark milestone birthdays, Nina Reeves and Tammy Flores wanted to do something a bit crazy and way out of character.
So while in Las Vegas for a speech pathologists convention, they took a morning to jump from the 108th floor of The Stratosphere Hotel, making their thrill-seeking debut by plunging 855 feet in the world’s highest “controlled free fall.”
“I think the word ‘controlled’ did something for me,” said the almost-40-year-old Flores of New York, who is terrified of heights, moments before diving off the building.
The SkyJump, a cross between a bungee jump and a zip line, has become the premiere attraction among the thrill rides offered atThe Stratosphere, a hotel and casino at the north end of the Vegas strip with a tower that resembles the Seattle Space Needle. The ride, open from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., has averaged 105 jumpers each day since it opened April 21.
It is the highest such jump in the world (at the original SkyJump in New Zealand, divers plummet a mere 630 feet), and the only one in North America. The ride works sort of like a vertical zip line: A metal cable attached to a harness on your back zips you down at 40 to 45 mph, slowing automatically as you approach the rubber bull’seye landing pad on the ground. From jump to landing, it takes about 17 seconds.
No, no one has died or been injured, but some jumpers do chicken out, said Stratosphere marketing director Todd Ford. Forbeginner thrill seekers, it’s a less petrifying alternative to the uncontrolled free fall of bungee jumping or skydiving.
But it’s still petrifying. I had the honor of being the first person of the day to jump when I visited, following two sandbags used to test the equipment. I was nauseated with fear - of heights, of equipment failure, of heart attack.
Zipped into a flight suit, strapped into a harness, with my weight written in marker on the inside of my wrists so the jump masters could adjust the decelerator accordingly, I was whisked by elevator tothe observation deck on the 108th floor of the Stratosphere tower. I entered a glass-enclosed room, where perennially patient jump masters Carlos and Jesus checked my harness, my shoes, my wrists, the decelerator settings, then checked them all again. And again (upon my request).
A few horrifying moments later, I was outside on a metal platform, facing out over the strip like a human sacrifice, my toes dangling over the edge and my knuckles white from gripping the railing behind me. Dizzy with vertigo and looking anywhere but down, terrified that I’d fall before they were ready, I felt Jesus clip the cable to my harness and heard him count back: “3, 2, 1 ...”
Some people jump, but Ijust let go and leaned forward. There were two terrifying seconds of free fall, but then I felt the tug of the harness and that blessed cable, and I knew they had me. As I zipped down, trying to take in the vast flatness of Vegas around me, I inexplicably flapped my arms and moved my legs like I was on a bicycle.
I have bungee-jumped before and rappelled down the side of a building. After both, I vowed I’d never go again. But the SkyJump was a far less distressing feat, once you get over scooting to the edge of that harrowing ledge, and it might even be enjoyable.
Reeves, soon to turn 50, was giddy after her plunge - her first time doing anything so bold. The Texas woman said she planned todo it again to better appreciate the view.
“Playing it safe isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” she said.
COST: $99.99 for the jump.
DVD and photo packages cost more.
WHO CAN JUMP: You have to be older than 14, weigh less than 275 pounds and be sober.
IF YOU CHICKEN OUT: You get a voucher to do it again later or half your money back.
WEBSITE: skyjumplasvegas.
com
Travel, Pages 60 on 11/28/2010