R U Insane?

This past week I had the opportunity to ride the World's tallest water slide: Verrückt at Schlitterbahn in Kansas City, Kansas.  You may have heard about a water slide sending test rafts and sandbags several feet into the air off the slide and crashing to the ground.  Yeah, this is the same slide; so for riders it prompts the question "Are you Insane?"  Well, the very name Verrückt is simply German for "Crazy." After initial test runs, the design team went back to the drawing board and reconfigured the profile of the ride.  After two years of delays, Verrückt was ready to open to the public.  

We arrived at Schlitterbahn about 30 minutes before the park opened for the day.  When the gates finally opened everyone rapidly walked to the base of the Verrückt tower to get a reservation for the ride.  The park stated there was more demand for the ride than there were available times to ride.

When we arrived at the front of the reservation line we were put on a scale to determine if our weight fell between 400 & 550 pounds.  Once we had the green light we then proceeded to check in with the reservation team member who took our first and last names and assigned us a time of 2:00 pm.  

Upon arriving to the Verrückt queue house just before 2 we check back in with the reservation team member and were ushered into a line.  When it was our time to climb the tower, we once again weighed in.  This time they looked for single riders to fill the weight in.  We were assigned a single rider (for a total of 3 riders) as well as a numbered wrist band to signify who is in our party.  We were then given a five minute safety spiel and had to verbally agree to a contract.  

Now begins the climb.  264 steps; 168 feet and 7 inches into the air.  There were emergency call boxes every so often, as well as signs saying how high you were, if you were taller than known landmarks, and how far until you reached the summit.  The stairs were probably the most terrifying part of the entire experience.  They were made of fiberglass slats, which you could both see through and bounced when you climbed up them.  It was incredibly windy at the top and the entire tower swayed back and forth.  Every time a raft was dispatched the tower shook.  I was getting kind of nervous just standing at the top, and heights don't even bother me.

When it was our time to ride, we were once again weighed.  I guess that is to make sure you didn't crap yourself on the way up, I don't even know.  Once in the raft, the lifeguards strap you in across the waist and chest and require you to hold onto the handles or a rope inside the raft.  Then the raft advances to a gate at the edge of the platform.  The lifeguard asks if everybody is ready at which point the gate flies open, the platform drops and you are on your way.  The first 1/2 second or so was the most unsettling as the raft caught air and we all felt weightless.  Then it immediately slammed into the brakes, still reaching the bottom of the hill rapidly.  Once you made it down it was time to go back up thanks to some water/air thrust power and you had one more big drop and a slow deceleration into the water.

At 2:53 pm I had completed my journey on Verrückt, and when somebody asks "R U Insane?"  I can reply with "Yes."

Verrückt dominates the skyline at Schlitterbahn

Terrified riders on Verrückt

R U Insane?