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Curmudgeon
Curmudgeon MegaDork
4/12/12 5:21 p.m.

I'm a bit more nervous about heights as well. I had to replace a shingle at the end of the peak of my roof, I was okay until I could see over the edge. Then, not so much.

Twin_Cam
Twin_Cam UltraDork
4/12/12 6:02 p.m.

I'm not afraid of heights, I'm afraid of falling from them. I don't do E36 M3 up high at work without a harness on hooked to something very sturdy. And I still nearly poop myself if I slip the tiniest bit...even if I don't fall.

nicksta43
nicksta43 HalfDork
4/12/12 8:25 p.m.
Grtechguy wrote: 1-2 stories makes me a little shaky. 300' on a radio tower? Sky Diving? No problem. I'll never feel the impact at the bottom

Are you sure?

Zomby Woof
Zomby Woof UltraDork
4/12/12 9:00 p.m.
NGTD wrote: About an hout north of my house there is a local lookout that features an old fire tower. It allows you to see from the escarpment for miles over Lake Temagami.

I know that tower. BTDT.

I have to do some roofing on the barn this year, and with the wind we get, I'm not looking forward to it.

Greg Voth
Greg Voth HalfDork
4/12/12 11:33 p.m.

Being a property adjuster I regularly have to get on old roofs with damage. I am usually by myself with the insured inside or not there at all. With the company car I can only fit a 13' ladder in without putting the rear seats down. Doesn't always reach real well.

I've only fallen off one and had to jump off another when I climbed up a slope I couldnt climb down. One stories does not bother me. Two stories and I take no risks.

Had a former co-worker fall off a one story ladder when the bottom slipped out from him. Shattered his heel and ankle. Made me think twice about setting my ladders up.

93gsxturbo
93gsxturbo HalfDork
4/12/12 11:44 p.m.

So there I was, painting the roof of a 18' high pole barn on the farm. We had 3 guys. Me, my friend, and my friend's dad. Dad was mixing paint and thinner in a watering can sans nozzle, friend and I were painting with pushbrooms. Like some sort of supergenius, I was wearing a pair of sneakers with most of the bottoms pulled off, exposing the smooth foam underneath. Took one step on some wet paint, and down I go. Sliding toward the edge and picking up speed. Somehow my friends dad caught me before I fell off. My lower legs were off. It would have hurt like hell. I am more careful nowadays.

patgizz
patgizz GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
4/13/12 8:26 a.m.
poopshovel wrote: berkeley_that.

amen brother.

i have never gotten used to it. i've become very good at doing window trim coil from the inside before i put the new window in the hole. a 3rd floor job scared the crap out of me and i have been shaky on the extension ladders ever since. i did my sister's roof 2 years ago, 3 story house. scary even with my harness. i have to do the roof on my 2 1/2 story house this year, i'm going to pay my buddy to do most of it.

i can go up a step ladder or work on the roof of a ranch no problem. once i get above the first story i'm done. i had to do some window trim over one of those arch top windows a couple weeks ago, second floor, in 30mph wind. i was about ready to walk and come back the next day in the cold.

Lesley
Lesley UberDork
4/13/12 8:50 a.m.

I've been up on the roof of my 2 1/2 storey once – to put some seal around a leaky chimney. Didn't bother me that much then, but there's no way in hell I'm getting up there now. I'm thinking a one storey looks good...

Duke
Duke UberDork
4/13/12 8:55 a.m.

I remember going 33 stories up the side of a skyscraper under construction, in an open construction elevator. That was nerve wracking.

Later, I saw a steelworker about 40 stories up sit down to eat lunch on the end of a 12" wide beam that cantilevered out about 15 feet. After eating, he spun around, hooked his feet under the top flanges, and started doing situps with his shoulders out over the end of the beam.

You either have it or you don't.

CLNSC3
CLNSC3 Reader
4/13/12 9:26 a.m.

I hate heights too...the funny thing is I have no problem driving 95% on a mountain road with a huge drop on one side and a sheer rock face on the other! Maybe its the adrenaline?

Lesley
Lesley UberDork
4/13/12 9:33 a.m.

I was just thinking the same thing – I've driven the Napoleonic route over the alps (gorgeous) and the Atigun Pass in Alaska... during a blizzard (terrifying) but it beat climbing up on my roof.

NGTD
NGTD Dork
4/13/12 1:22 p.m.
CLNSC3 wrote: I hate heights too...the funny thing is I have no problem driving 95% on a mountain road with a huge drop on one side and a sheer rock face on the other! Maybe its the adrenaline?

Not me, I just about couldn't drive my car back down off the mountain by Acadia Nt'l Park in Maine (Cadillac Mountain or something like that). Big drop offs and the side of the road is marked with rocks. Just about E36 M3 myself.

Grtechguy
Grtechguy PowerDork
4/13/12 1:23 p.m.
nicksta43 wrote:
Grtechguy wrote: 1-2 stories makes me a little shaky. 300' on a radio tower? Sky Diving? No problem. I'll never feel the impact at the bottom
Are you sure?

50' is considered fatal.

Duke
Duke UberDork
4/13/12 1:28 p.m.
NGTD wrote:
CLNSC3 wrote: I hate heights too...the funny thing is I have no problem driving 95% on a mountain road with a huge drop on one side and a sheer rock face on the other! Maybe its the adrenaline?
Not me, I just about couldn't drive my car back down off the mountain by Acadia Nt'l Park in Maine (Cadillac Mountain or something like that). Big drop offs and the side of the road is marked with rocks. Just about E36 M3 myself.

Driving a Jeep in St. John had some interesting moments, and we were even there during good weather and after some stimulus cash (the signs were still up at all the road paving projects). Some of those hills were steep and guardrails are non existent.

Lesley
Lesley UberDork
4/13/12 1:33 p.m.

Yeah, I've driven some of those, in a GMC Sierra of all things. Did the Mt. Washington hill climb last fall tooo - that was hairy.

914Driver
914Driver MegaDork
4/13/12 5:17 p.m.

I don't know how to do it, but Google Earth the road that goes from Prescott, Az to Jerome, Az.

It's not that long but Mrs. 914 wouldn't let me go back down the hill in the dark.

Dan

Woody
Woody GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
4/13/12 5:24 p.m.

I can climb up a ladder forever, but I don't like climbing down so much.

Toyman01
Toyman01 GRM+ Memberand UberDork
4/13/12 7:27 p.m.

My record is 260' standing on a 12" ledge wiring a welding machine. Even wearing a safety harness it was a little unnerving, but manageable.

I helped my Father trim trees in his yard this past weekend. Most of it was done standing in the front bucket of his backhoe running a pole saw. That wasn't too bad either.

I wouldn't say I'm more scared of heights, but I'm sure more careful of them.

Curmudgeon
Curmudgeon MegaDork
4/13/12 7:44 p.m.

I drove Colorado 550 from Ouray to Silverton, a lot of it looks like Wile E Coyote hangout. Here's a small sample:

It winds though some of the most beautiful country you will ever see.

There's no guardrails because there's no place to put them and it can be anywhere from 10 to 1000 feet straight down. At times, you are staring out into space because the road turns left or right or whatever and it's still going up and we watched some yuppie mom in a Volvo wagon centerpunch a basketball sized rock that rolled in front of her. Yeah it was a bit nerve wracking, but we figured as big bad motorcycle racers we weren't scared of a little hill like that.

The only time I really got spooked was at one of those turns where everything disappeared and a motorhome was coming the other way. His 'backswing' completely blocked my lane. I had nowhere to go and was going too fast to stop in the distance left; like the old racing saying I ran out of track, runoff and talent all at the same time. The guys in the van with me were completely silent during the whole thing. Man, when that MH cleared the lane at the last second I thought I was going to faint. I turned the driving chores over to someone else shortly afterward.

nicksta43
nicksta43 HalfDork
4/14/12 1:02 p.m.
Grtechguy wrote:
nicksta43 wrote:
Grtechguy wrote: 1-2 stories makes me a little shaky. 300' on a radio tower? Sky Diving? No problem. I'll never feel the impact at the bottom
Are you sure?
50' is considered fatal.

Yes but are you sure you wont feel it?

A better question is would you keep your eyes open all the way down?

BoxheadTim
BoxheadTim GRM+ Memberand UberDork
4/14/12 1:14 p.m.

In reply to Curmudgeon:

That photo reminds me of the Salmon River Road between Somes Bar and Forks of Salmon in CA. Only that that road is only about one car wide...

oldsaw
oldsaw PowerDork
4/14/12 3:37 p.m.
Curmudgeon wrote: It winds though some of the most beautiful country you will ever see. There's no guardrails because there's no place to put them and it can be anywhere from 10 to 1000 feet straight down.

That's a lot more intimidating than Trial Ridge Rd in RMNP which gives me more than a few shivers. That and standing on the spire at Chimney Rock or looking down to the bottom of Hoover Dam.

Then again, I knew I didn't like heights when I wandered to the edge of a carrier flight deck and gazed way down at all that water. I was only like 7 or 8 at the time; it made a BIG impression.

jimbob_racing
jimbob_racing Dork
4/14/12 4:10 p.m.

I've climbed several hundred foot radio towers in my youth with hardly a second thought. Last summer I went mountain climbing in West Virginia and then a month later I skydived from 11,000 feet without a problem.

However, I am not brave/stupid enough to get onto my own two story roof and clean the gutters.

Cole_Trickle
Cole_Trickle Reader
4/14/12 4:11 p.m.

I am not a fan of heights. I fell through some wooden bleachers when I was 3 and got tko'd. On the other hand, alcohol is amazing. It allowed me to go zip-lining in Jamaica without any problems. Would never get drunk and work on the house though...

Zomby Woof
Zomby Woof UltraDork
4/14/12 4:22 p.m.

I should probably leave this here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m4tNifrFow

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