Stratosphere hits high note with Insanity

Kirk Baird

Friday, March 11, 2005 | 8:54 a.m.

It was nearly 2 1/2 years ago -- Oct. 30, 2003, to be exact -- that I faced down a tremendous phobia:

Fear of heights.

There I was, frayed nerves and sweaty palms, on the Stratosphere's then-new thrill ride, X Scream.

I have a difficult enough time peering out of a top-story skyscraper window without feeling queasy, let alone being launched 18 feet over the edge of a 900-foot tower at 30 mph, with only an eight-seat car and a metal track between you and the ground.

During the ride, I was silent. It seemed most of my energy was rushing to my right leg, which quivered uncontrollably for almost the entire ride.

After X Scream was over, I vowed never to ride it again.

More than a year later I learned the Stratosphere was planning a new thrill ride, called Insanity.

The ride was essentially a giant spindle, where cars of thrill seekers are spun around a giant arm at a high rate of speed.

While it sounds fancy, Insanity is similar to rides you'd find at an amusement park or county fair, with one exception: The five two-seat cars, suspended by metal claws nine stories from the ground, are pushed 60 feet away from the edge of the Stratosphere.

Just thinking about enduring yet another "thrill ride" was enough to quicken my pulse.

When the inevitable assignment to review Insanity came my way last week, I informed my editor that I would go to the Stratosphere and cover the ride's opening Thursday. But, I informed him, I couldn't guarantee that I could actually get on the ride.

Even as I sat in my car at a red light while en route to the Stratosphere, I still wasn't sure I would get on the ride.

As I watched Insanity spin around from a few miles away, I took a deep breath.

In an hour or so, that could very well be me up there.

Clay Slade, president of Interactive Rides, the Logan, Utah,-based company behind X Scream and the Stratosphere's first thrill ride, the Big Shot, said Insanity is his company's best attraction.

"The Big Shot is a high-speed vertical (ride), which appeals to high-thrill seekers," he said. "The X Scream market ... is for anyone afraid of heights. This ride does a little of both.

"It takes you out further than the X Scream and (spins you around) so you experience high G-forces (3Gs) at 40 mph."

Construction on Insanity began last March. In early February the ride was lifted by helicopter to the top of the Stratosphere. There, Insanity was gradually assembled by complex rigging -- no crane -- over a month's time.

It was a near-identical construction process to the X Scream, only Insanity was larger and heavier, including two pieces of the ride's large arm that weighed 5,000 pounds each.

Insanity cost about $2 million, slightly more expensive than the X Scream.

Paul Ruben, North American editor for Park World, a magazine devoted to amusement, theme and water rides across the globe, said it was money well spent.

"It's certainly one of my favorite spinning rides," he said while waiting for another chance to ride Insanity. "Because of the sensation of flying over Vegas, you feel like an inebriated eagle."

When it came time for my chance to ride, I took a breath. I was determined to face my fear of heights -- sober, mind you -- and spin helplessly hundreds of feet over the streets of Las Vegas.

After being firmly strapped in the seat, I debated whether to keep my eyes closed the entire time. I reasoned, I could deal with the spinning motion, I just didn't want to see the ground so far below.

I could hear the ride churning to life as the safety gates at the tower's edge were lowered. Slowly and quite smoothly the giant arm of the beast pushed away from the Stratosphere, leaving the five cars to dangle for what seemed an eternity.

As the ride spun, the cars began facing inward, eventually reaching a 70-degree tilt. Not only did I have the sensation of being pushed out of the side of the car, now I felt as if I might simply fall out.

But I kept my eyes open. I could see the cars, homes, streets -- even swimming pools -- swirl dizzily by. A strange sensation of disconnect from my situation took hold, as my brain tried to convince me this wasn't happening.

Suddenly, I felt the ride slowing down. I could hear the engine grunt, as its work was nearing an end. More than two minutes after my ordeal began, I was safely on the tower again.

As I left my chair, I felt not only a sense of relief, but also of pride.

Then I realized how much I'd enjoyed the ride: the excitement, the thrill, the pure Adrenalin rush. Even the fear.

A few minutes later, I rode Insanity again.

I was feeling so good about my accomplishment, I momentarily contemplated riding X Scream.

Talk about insanity.