On a cable car in the summer, I don't like heights, but this thing just hung on a skinny cable with a stupid weak looking bracket. Wifey started swinging about on it, I apologised for the language and what I called her.
I don't remember ever being scared. The closest I remember to being frightened was when the then-missus sat on a low wall with her back to the drop in Ronda and then insisted I sit next to her. I'm sure there are times when I have been scared but I don't remember them.
hear ya. i used to walk up anachmoar nevis range. instead of doing the cable car. the one i went on in morzine upto avoriaz feck me.
When the old bill panda car turned across my path on my 19th birthday. I was more scared of not having any documents than the pain I was about to feel.
living in the attic of my parents medieval home is the only time I've truly felt frightened for no apparent reason scared - a Swiss cable car with someone else's 8 year old kid when the barrier bar didn't come down - that was a bit of an shitme moment
I scared the postman today by going to the door completely naked. I'm not sure what scared him more, my naked body or the fact that I knew where he lived
I went parascending once in Bali. Me and the missus won a couple of sessions off the beach at Nusa Dua in a draw. On the day there was a very stiff wind blowing. Other boats were taking people out but the wind was so strong the tow lines were almost vertical. The boats had spray bursting over them and they were barely moving. It didn't look much fun. The other half said she didn't fancy it and backed out. The little Balinese blokes running the show thought this was great news for me as it meant I could have a double go - about 20 minutes in the air. "You go two time Misser Jim. Free free for you." The was lots of back slapping and encouraging chatter and I was herded into the harness before I knew what was happening. I had a red glove put on my right hand and a blue one on my left. The "instructor" who didn't speak English was holding a red and a blue flag and jumping about trying explain something in Balinese. At the last minute as the line went taut and my feet left the ground I cottoned on to what he was trying to tell me. Which was how to land. When the boat made a pass close to the shore he would raise one of his flags and I was supposed to pull on a cord with whichever hand was wearing the corresponding colour glove. This would cause me to swoop low over the beach where half a dozen locals would grab my legs. I don't know if that's how parascending is done elsewhere in the world but in Bali the customer has to land the thing himself. I was hanging there about 100 feet above the sea, the tow line screaming in the wind and the harness crushing the family jewels beyond use, wishing I could be anywhere else in the world at that moment and wondering what would have happened if I hadn't grasped what the little bloke in the shorts was trying to tell me when I noticed that the carabiner which attached the tow line to the harness hadn't been screwed up. The line was as tight as a piano wire but if it went slack there was nothing to stop me becoming detached and floating off towards Java. I couldn't take my eyes off that clip. Except to watch a scene of pandemonium further up the beach where two boats had got their tow lines crossed over. I think that was the longest 20 minutes of my life and it took three attempts to land. Never again. I'm sticking to bikes.
Cable cars, gondolas, chair lifts, ski lifts and rope ways in general are safe as houses. My company represents Doppelmayr, who are the worlds largest rope way manufacturer, in the UK. We've never had a problem in thirty years providing systems are serviced rand maintained regularly.
Here's a few to start with. Have you never heard of any of these, El T? Aerial tramway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I'm terrified of water I will only go as far as my shoulder deep anything else there is no way on this earth I was on a friends boat once we anchored and I had to swim ashore wasn't far I could not let go of the handrail I was frozen with fear to it for an hour My friend was trying to persuade me into the water I did eventually let go as long as I could hang on to my friend I have never swam so fast getting nowhere in my life!!!! Never never ever again
Strangely, I wasn't even slightly concerned the other weekend when I was involved in a 7-car pile-up. A car hit me up the arse at high speed and rammed me into the cars in front. As each car hit another the steering wheel inched closer and closer to my chest, but I wasn't concerned at all, all I was worried about was if the brake calipers I'd just bought for my bike were ok in the back...
I have a slight issue with Jellyfish, when I say slight i actually mean they scare the living shit out of me... When i was doing my commercial scuba training part of the course was learning to dive in low visibility conditions, we were diving in a kelp field 32m down. Vis was down to less than a metre and suddenly i realised that the kelp i was pushing through felt far too soft. It was the biggest barrel jellyfish i have ever seen, its tentacles were wrapped up in my air lines and i couldn't get away. It took every fibre of self control i could muster to not bolt for the surface. My buddy had to cut it off me, another experience i don't want to repeat... I feel sick now
I've heard of a couple of them. If you put the number of accidents in context you have more chance of being run over by a bus or being in a plane crash. Accidents, worldwide, really are very rare.
That's not good enough, ET. To be considered safe, cable cars must have never suffered malfunctions or accidents. You know - like police motorcyclists.
