The way the Stratosphere's newest ride, Insanity, arcs over the edge of the 900-foot tower gives the impression that a powerful gust of wind might blow it right off into the street below, or at least knock it terrifyingly sideways, causing riders and attendants to shriek in horror.

As I watch the ride dangle four souls above Las Vegas Boulevard, then start spinning them like so much cake batter on an oversized beater, I can't help but visualize the kind of chaotic scene you'd see on an episode of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

But there's no way for anything like that to happen in real life, Val Potter, spokesman for the ride's designer, tells me. Insanity may be crazy, but it's a sane sort of crazy.

"The ride itself is tied to the internal beams of this structure, so it's not going down unless the tower goes down," Potter says as we watch another test run hours before the ride's grand opening March 10. "The idea that it will fall off is absurd."

Potter should know, since he works for Interactive Rides, Inc. the Utah-based company that designed and built Insanity, X Scream and the Big Shot, three of the four thrill rides on the Stratosphere tower. (The High Roller roller coaster is the fourth.) But I don't need him issuing a direct challenge to Murphy, of Murphy's Law, moments before I ride the thing. So I cross my fingers and try to replace those thoughts with some facts about the ride.It was designed to give people the feeling of hovering unrestrained 906 feet above the north end of Las Vegas Boulevard. A giant green and purple "arm" extends passengers 64 feet from the Stratosphere observation deck, then spins them in a circle at speeds as high as 45 mph. The motion creates centrifugal force, which pulls the 10 passenger seats out to the point where people are nearly horizontal to the road below, an angle of about 70 degrees, Potter says.

It's a unique concept, so the designers have planned for any and every possibility, including loss of power, failure because of temperature, strong winds or any other event an overactive imagination can dream up, Potter says. If the ride stops in mid-air, for some reason, operators can retrieve it, he insists. The escape-proof lap restraint can even be removed manually, if necessary.

The biggest concern for the designers, he adds, was whether the ride would work on the structure it was built for, in this case, the Stratosphere. My biggest concern, though, thanks to the musings of a co-worker, is whether I would end up in Summerlin or Green Valley if the ride slings me into orbit. But Potter doesn't want to talk about what-ifs, so we change the subject to one that every amusement ride designer and operator faces on a daily basis: People who get sick during the ride.They worried about that, Potter says, but now he doesn't think it will be that big of a problem. So far, no one's gotten sick.

 

"The fear and excitement of being on it kind of takes away the dizziness and nausea," Potter says.That's really not true, as I found out by actually riding it, but I am prone to motion sickness. For the record, Potter recommends that people with back or balance or motion sickness problems pass on Insanity. That turned out to be the worst part of the ride. Despite the seeming danger involved in getting on Insanity, it wasn't nearly as big a deal, or as scary, as say, walking across Las Vegas Boulevard on a Friday night. The first time I rode it, Potter sat next to me, explaining how the ride works. A section of the security fence lowered electronically before the arm of the ride ferries passengers off the edge of the observation deck."Once you leave the security of the building," Potter begins, then he catches himself. "Once you appear to leave the security of the tower ... it's as bad as you want it to be. If you think about the fact that you're sitting a thousand feet above the street, it can be scary."

When we cleared the building, the ride started to spin slowly and tilt ever so gradually. It was difficult to fix a gaze on anything, as the cars, buildings and landscape blurred by. The ride was not unlike a very fast merry-go-round, and it was actually pleasant, if you like that sort of sensation. Then, two minutes after it started, the ride was over.Not quite ready to trust my observations of the quality of the ride, I asked three experts for their opinions. Alex Saxton, 11, and her sisters Aubri, 8, and Amber, 10, rode Insanity three times."My favorite part is when it you go out and look over the edge," Alex said, describing the part when the ride first begins.
"My favorite part is when it first starts to spread out," Aubri insisted, using her hands to mimic the way the seats pull outward during the ride. She screamed through the whole thing, every time, her sisters said. "Yeah, I love screaming. Screaming is fun.""My favorite part is the whole thing," Amber said.

By SONYA PADGETT
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Find this article at:
http://www.reviewjournal.com
/lvrj_home/2005/Mar-17-Thu-2005/living/26052603.html

Teen, cousin suffer night of Insanity:
Stuck on thrill ride at Stratosphere, pair dangled above Strip

Las Vegas:
guide, hotels, airfares, tours, shows, weddings

Las Vegas:
hotels, airfares, tours, shows, weddings