I'm totally afraid of heights.
When I was younger, I tried to conquer this fear by climbing various buildings near where I lived. Drunk, I once scaled one of those huge water towers (the kind with the tube ladder on the side and the flashing light on top). Sitting the top, holding on to a little cable (that led to the light), I slammed a few more beers and found myself unable to climb down... and terrified to be up there. That kind of sucked.
Fast forward about twenty years.
Here at Sugarbush in Warren, VT., I keep getting freaked out by the both height of the chairlifts and the views of the mountains: the one I’m ascending and the ones in the distance. It feels really weird, because I’m simultaneously appreciative of the vista and on the verge of falling off the lift due to vertigo.
For a sober dude like me, It’s the closest I’ve come to feeling drugged up… with the exception of my bouts with pneumonia. I kind of like it... which says something about me.
I did my first black diamond trail today. Very… slowly…
Love to all. Even you, the lady who made us go back downstairs in the restaurant.
1 comment:
I, too, am terrified of heights and have, on various occasions, tried to overcome my fear by forcing myself to confront it. Two occasions stand out. Once, while in high school, I was at a camp for gifted history students and we were trekking into some remote Tennessee valley that required crossing a river on a swinging bridge high above the rolling river. I made it about half way out and then freaked. I broke out into a sweat and couldn't move or breathe. I knew I was going to die. One of the professors and another student came out to me and got on either side of me and walked me the rest of the way across. I was humiliated.
The other time, my college roommate and I took the elevator to the top of the Peachtree Plaza, which at the time, was the tallest building in Atlanta. The elevators were glass and by the time we got to the top, I was on my hands and knees shaking. I crawled off the elevator to many curious looks from the people in the revolving restaurant on top of the building. : )
I'm impressed that you're able to overcome your fear enough to manage the chairlift. That's the primary reason I don't ski.
Enjoy your vacation!
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