Japan's scariest suspension bridge
This rickety old suspension bridge in Japan is the stuff of nightmares. The sound of the wind adds to the dreadfulness. (via Japundit)
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Windy? Doesn't look it. Even though that is clearly a beautifully calm summer's day in the video, I think I'd rather brachiate down the ravine, cross the rapids and scramble up the other side rather than set foot on that, thanks.
The wind sounds like a hurricane, but hardly any leaves are moving at all. What's going on?
I'll bet the locals ride bikes across it.
Whew...I about lost it when they got to the part where the boards narrow down to a single plank....and then one of them is broken!
The worst part is that when you finally get to the other side, you remember where you parked your car.
Check out the spot just after 5:55. JIMINY CRICKETS WITH CRANBERRY SAUCE.
There are ~fifteen wires running the length of that thing.
The wood is merely warped - it won't mysteriously turn to powder.
Bok-bok!
Shorter and probably safer, but that's the North Atlantic foaming against the granite rocks down there, and if you allow your eyes to focus on them it looks a long, long way down. I confess I got half way across before my bowels turned to water and I crept, white-knuckled, back to land... I don't remember ever being more frightened in my life, and that's including the time someone threatened me with a shotgun. At least a shotgun's quick, whereas with the bridge you'd have whole seconds of flailing to catch yourself, your feet skidding across the wet boards,.. *shudder*
http://www.break.com/index/scariest-hiking-trail-in-world.html
this trail is far scarier, though i have a feeling they are both from the same camera man.
Yes, I do believe I've had nightmares about this very bridge. And now I find out that it's real.
LOVELY.
This looks like something from an episode of Fear Factor! Yikes.
Can you imagine something like this in the US? With out litigious society and uncoordinated populace it's guaranteed that *somebody* would quickly take a header between the planks and the state would be sued.
Is there a bar with a good happy hour on the other side?
I this on Wii Fit the other day. It's missing the snapping iron jaws that come from the opposite direction.
Holy crap! not only it is scary, but long bridge is loooong!
there is NO FRICKIN' WAY you'd get me on that thing.
Man On Wire!
@ 9
I watched that video, which was a BAD IDEA. Amazing footage, but now I feel faintish and like I'm going to throw up.
Some people are afraid of snakes, I am afraid of cliffs and crumbling pathways along the side of them.
Thanks for sharing, though!
There are cable suspended foot bridges (not quite this long) all over western NC. However, ours are generally wider than a single 2x6.
"With our litigious society and uncoordinated populace..."
Not to mention BMI...
As someone pointed out. Bunch of wires going across forming a floor. The wood is merely for stabilisation and foor being easier to walk on. Pansies....
:Þ
I would go across it for no reason other than to say that I have. Challenging ones own fears is great fun, feel like you're pooping your pants, but afterwards you get to be proud of yourself.
there are only about 30,000 lawyers in Japan.
Saragorn,
Here's an anxiety attack waiting to happen.
Where's the architect? I want to meet him and PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE.
Early this morning at around 4 AM, an object believed to be a meteorite fell onto the Great Seito Bridge, completely destroying the bridge upon impact. As a result, Japan Rail has been unable to operate this morning; we will report back on this incident pending further developments.
I just crossed the suspension bridge in Tallulah Gorge, GA for the second time a few weeks ago. I got a little sick and panicky, and had to look at the footpath only. There were middle school kids jumping up and down on the platform to make everything bouncier.
Looks like some of the old railroad trestles kids dare each other to cross right here in the US...
Actually, it looks like it's in moderately decent condition mechanically, just minimally planked. Are we sure this is really "old" rather than just scary to agoraphobes?
(I don't have much fear of height, per se. My question is limited to whether I trust what I'm walking on and trust myself to walk on it. If I do, I'm good. Catch me someday and ask about building ledges.)
don't look down!
holyjeebusWTF! Is vertigo communicable? Someone should tell the CDC about this.
I've been on many a high precipice, narrow ledge, even crossed the occasional suspension footbridge in the middle of nowhere, but day-yum!
I've been on top of this, and several unprotected cliffs, but I know my limits now, and that includes footing other than bedrock. I've even driven along a path barely wider than trail in #9, but I had the benefit of the entire Sierra Nevada below my wheels. It doesn't matter how nimble my twinkle-toes are when one weighs more than any other hiker; if something is rickety, and will fail, it will fail with my 300# ass on it.
However, I would do that Irish cliffs bridge in a nonce, it looks totally sturdy.
Morbid curiosity demands: Anyone know where in the nine hells that "Scariest Trail" is? --Update: from searching for the below vid, #9's trail is El Caminito del Rey (Kings Pathway) in Spain. It's over a century old, and was an access route for public works.
Und zo, I leave you with this, Hua Shan's north peak, in China:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72rN5zO2T7A
I'd give it a shot. I think I'd go a little faster than this guy for most of it. It's definitely safer than going down that ravine. That spot around 6:06 looks pretty gnarly, though.
And for you thrill-seekers: Try crossing it during an earthquake.
I figured it out: That isn't the wind, he's crossing the bridge on roller-skates! If the sound over isn't faked, it's definitely done without any windshield on the mike. There just isn't that much wind in the video.
I bet he could have been across in under a minute if he'd been on a unicycle.
I had to hug myself all the way through that - and now I am physically ill. That is more from the shaky camera than the height terror though...I would force myself across this even if I had to crawl just to say I had done it.
I almost fell asleep. I'm sure it's fun in real life, but the video is just so slow. Come on... it's not like it's some old thing made of decaying rope.
With our 70,000 decaying bridges in the US, I would worry far less about this one.
It was going great -- Until I met the 4 guys coming the opposite direction...
LOL @ people noticing that the wind sounded terrible but there was no movement in the trees. Reminded me of when I was a little girl and we lived in Florida. One time my dad's mother called concerned about a storm that was coming in. My dad made all these horrible sounds like wind, things banging around... he made her think that we were in the middle of a hurricane. Needless to say she freaked out but he laughed about it for years!
I always liked this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQRVxF-VYis
Antinous, thanks for the link! Here's Wikipedia's article on the pathway:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caminito_del_Rey
Now I want to go. Before they restore it and ruin it!
Steady on AlpinWolf, do you know what a "nonce" is? :)
Well, I just made a diamond with my butt cheeks.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nonce
...vs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonce
vs. http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=define%3Anonce
How did they build that thing?
The Japanese bridge? Yeah, there are lots of those here. I love the fact that lawsuit liability doesn't dictate archetecture here, it makes for some great fun!
That Spanish path, though, scared the everliving SH*T out of me. I mean, wholly jebus! The parts with just an iron bar- that guy has balls of steel the size of watermelons.
The Chinese mountain was probably the worst. I guess the lack of enough first-person didn't shock me as much as the Spanish- but I imagine from what I saw the Chinese path is beyond all imaginable mind-fsuk!
These videos make me feel alive, really alive- I haven't been that on edge for a while. I need to get back in my harness, and get back to swinging from a rope on the Hokkaido cliffs. I miss spelunking and climbing dearly- nothing in this world puts the fear of death in you better than really climbing a sheer cliff, or a total cave drop. Yeehaw!
how would you build it? Get a cord from A to B first, then use it to pull a rope, rope to pull cable, use first cable to carry pulley to draw second cable, two strands up and the rest is finishing work - I guess.
Takuan, I'm amazed your link left out the common UK slang meaning.
nonce 2 |nɒns|
noun Brit., informal
a person convicted of a sexual offense, esp. child molesting.
ORIGIN 1970s: of unknown origin.
I liked Imipak's second link, that highlighted the LA rap group The Nonce. I would love to see them try release stuff in the UK, and see how their record label would deal the PR nightmare.
Y'all talk funny over there.
Erm, yeah... Whoops. The internet just made me blush. :P Didn't know that was possible.
Well I musta heard it somewhere, or heard it wrong. I meant something like "In a moment, without a second thought." Guess I missed.
So, is there a similar phrase to what I said that actually means what I meant?
....
I think I found it. I believe I meant "In a trice." But I'll not swear to it until someone confirms that it won't get me punched.
Aww, dead thread. *pout*
it's just pining.
Alpin :)
There is definitely an expression "in a nonce", that means "in a minute".
I just thought it was fun to point a laugh, blushing was a bonus :)
*whew*
Cheers.