Stratosphere Sky Jump



Ready to go-I guess

  855 feet and 15 seconds-Not a problem.  Well, maybe a small problem. After arriving in Las Vegas on Sept. 18 it took until the 28^th until I finally made up my mind to jump off the top of the Stratosphere.
 Not a suicide wish, mind you, but Sky Jump, and I guess it was something to do to see if I could muster the courage. Sky Jump has three other spots around the world, including Auckland, New Zealand, where I first saw people jumping off the edge of a hotel in 2008. It turns out it was one of the most freeing, exhilarating moments I’ve had in a while. It took a little bit to get there.
 It was kind of anniversary. Eight years ago on my wedding day in Las Vegas, Asa Schrader and I bungy-jumped off Circus Circus, about 17 stories high. As I mentioned this to one of the handlers at the top of the jump, he said, "You can see we’re quite a bit higher." Great-nice confidence booster there.
 It was actually a lot less nerve-wracking than the bungy jump. I was in a jump suit that was attached to two cables that went all the way down to the landing pad. There was no hanging off the edge and taking a step off, this was more walking to the edge and jumping off. There was a free-fall for a few seconds and then it was controlled the rest of the way. It was such a rush I had to remind myself to look around before the ride was over. I don’t think I focused on it, but our wedding chapel just two blocks from the hotel was in my sightline.


View from the top

  I guess the moments leading up to it were the worst.    

 The elevator taking me to the top seemed to take forever. As my escort and I left the elevator we heard a British woman remark to her companions, "There goes another idiot."

 At that point I still couldn’t totally disagree.