Sunday, August 16, 2009

Lava Hot Springs and THE FORTY FOOT PLATFORM

A couple weeks ago, my sister-in-law Summer was telling me about her family's adventure at Lava and how she and Dave took bets about who in his family would jump off the 40 foot platform there. "I said you would for sure," she said. I agreed and then my chicken-little self thought, "Good thing we're not going somewhere with a 40-foot platform so I don't have to prove myself."

The next week Mike's family decided to head up to Lava Hot Springs for a little family trip. I felt my heart sink a little as I thought about painful past experiences with high dives--the 10-foot kind at the old Clearfield High pool--water up the nose, skin-slapping sorts of painful experiences.

Grace has never been my claim to fame. Awkwardness, yes. High dives require grace. I imagined all sorts of awkwardness could happen in the seconds it took to fall to the pool--and I imagined my dad's voice when I was small and euphorically relating how fun I thought it would be to jump off of a really tall bridge into water, because it wouldn't hurt. "Oh no," he said. "That would be like hitting cement."

On Wednesday we went to the Roy Aquatic Center with Mike's family. Summer, Sherrie and I took a turn going down the slides there. "How high did you say that platform at Lava is, Summer?" I asked as we stood on the steps, dizzyingly high above the ground, waiting for our turn.

"It's like 40 feet," she said, seemingly excited at the possiblities.

"Oh." I said, contemplating throwing myself off the ramparts of the stairs. "I wonder how high these water slides are?"

"Let's ask," said Summer.

"They're like 28 feet," said the teen lifeguard.

"So, it's 10 feet higher than this," said Summer giddily. "Imagine that." Sherrie was non-commital. I looked down and tried to picture myself jumping. I had a hard time imagining just standing on the platform, 10 feet higher than where I was standing. I started trying to think of ways to get out of this. I should have told Summer that I'm a certified chicken, not nodded my head sagely, agreeing that it was totally something I would do. I was going to have to do some serious pep talking to myself before this weekend.

I had to resort to race day tactics to gear myself up for the platform jump. Friday as we packed for the trip, I visualized myself jumping off the high dive. Straight. Keep your body straight. I decided if I was going through with it, I would need a more secure swim suit. My current swim suit falls into the "cute, not functional" category. Pain and indignity would be okay, but not with my swim suit flipped over my head. So I packed a tighter, not cute, top and some secure shorts. I was resigned to the 40-foot* jump.

When we arrived at the pool I tried not to look too hard at the platforms. There were three staggered at different heights. Mike thought we should work our way up. I thought, "There's no way in heck I'll be able to go off the top one if we go off the "lower" ones too. I just have to do it. Before I even get wet. I've got to go."

We agreed that the girls would go first. Stacie, Sherrie, Summer and I headed up the stairs. And up some more. And then up again. Stacie had to give Sherrie a little push to continue when she paused and looked over the side at the middle platform. I was winded when we reached the top.

"We can do this Steph," said Stacie. Who was rather matter-of-fact about the whole thing. "We did a marathon."

"Yes," I wanted to say. "But that didn't feel like hitting cement." (Well, actually it kind of did) Two of us could jump at the same time, and I somehow ended up in front of Stacie and Sherrie with Summer, the pro. I think I figured that if I watched them go it would freak me out.

The guys in front of us asked us if we'd gone off before. I mumbled "No."

"It's farther than you think."

"Shhh! Shh!" I said. "Don't say that." I turned around for a picture with Stacie and Sherrie. When I turned back around, I gasped.

"Oh! They're gone!" The guys had disappeared into the oblivion.

I felt terrified, but somehow I ended up with Summer at the edge. I staunchly refused to look down. I knew if I did there would be NO POSSIBLE WAY IN HECK that I would jump. The mountain across the road seemed like a good visual.

"We're up!" said Summer cheerfully. I think I might have clung to the side for a minute, thinking what a good life I had. How all my body parts worked. "Are you going to go?" said Summer. I must have nodded or said something."Okay. On the count of three. One. Two. Three."

I closed my eyes and stepped off.

This is the third (!) and final jump we did off of the platform. If I had left this picture large you could scroll in and see the look of abject terror on my face, as well as the exuberant smile on Summer's. Summer said she could hear me whimpering on the way down. Thanks Summer! I wouldn't have done it without you, and I am glad I did it.

Here we are before the first jump. "You all look like little ants down there." (Name that movie) That falling feeling is amazingly awful. I sustained a few minor injuries from sitting into my last jump, and Summer and I decided that running off the platform was not a good idea, since it leaned us a little too far forward. I'd do it again, just for the pictures and memories. The actual experience is kind of terrifying. I wonder if I could ever get over the absolute horror I feel when I first step off?
*On the web site it says the platform is only 33 feet tall. My gosh. It felt like 100.

14 comments:

Mike said...

Yes, that was sheer terror! I'm glad you didn't attempt it in your other "cute, not functional" swimsuit. I don't think a string bikini could survive the impact forces involved. Any hoo, the question on our minds on the way home was, how fast were we traveling when our toes hit the water (assuming we fell from rest at a height of 33 feet)? Please post your answers in the comments and the winner gets a prize.

Mike said...

BTW, assume a gravitational acceleration of 32 ft/s^2. Your answer should be in units of ft/s rounded to the nearest whole number.

davers0324 said...

My guess Mike is that we were traveling like 40 mph.(I don't understand the equation and hence I am exempt from putting my measurements in ft/s). That was so awesome, though! It should be noted that Sherrie (our sister) did it. It is by far the most daring thing I have ever seen her do in my whole life. She was awesome!
Steph - what kind of extreme stunt are you and Summer going to do next time? I was thinking gainer??
BTW, Summer is thinking about wrapping herself in duct tape to avoid sustained injuries from running off the platform.
-Dave

Amateur Steph said...

Duct tape might be a good idea. My question is would it hurt worse to sustain injuries or pull off the duct tape? :)

That was awesome for Sherrie to do it. I was so surprised!

Mike said you're "warm" in your guess.

P.S. I do not own a string bikini, Michael.

Scott said...

Assuming you dropped right off, and didn't jump at all, your ending velocity would be 46 feet/second. Or to be exact, 45.95650117 feet/second. Just over 31 miles/hour. I'd be willing to bet Laurie's, even Stacie's life that my calculations are correct. Now where's my prize? :)

Anonymous said...

I would think that you would have to know if the diver was wearing a string bikini, a one piece bathing suit, or in the all together in order to determine the answer to Mike's question. You would know right off the top of your hat that the diver had to be a little deranged. :0)
GMB

Mike said...

Nice Scott! That is the correct answer. For your prize I will take you golfing this Friday at Schneider's Bluff. For everyone who was wondering, here is the relevant equation for accelerated motion:

v_f^2 - v_o^2 = 2ad

where:
d=change in position (ft)
v_o=original velocity (ft/s)
v_f=final velocity
a=acceleration

Since we started from rest, v_o=0 and a (constant acceleration due to gravity) was given. Thus, plugging a and d in we can solve for v_f.

And yes, Grandma, you are correct that we did neglect the effects of air resistance.

See http://id.mind.net/~zona/mstm/physics/mechanics/kinematics/EquationsForAcceleratedMotion/EquationsForAcceleratedMotion.htm for more fun on these equations!

Scott said...

Way to get your works cited in there Mike:) but that sounds like a perfect prize, 11?

Mike said...

Holy cow. When did this blog turn into math nerd heaven? (Do you see why sometimes I have to just nod and say, "Yes, dear. I totally understand."

Amateur Steph said...

That last comment was me, Stephanie

Loralee and the gang... said...

I used to be able to do stuff like that, but now, I am just a wimp. So, you go, girl! That was some good stuntwork!
:~D

Lisa Kearl said...

Wow, good job Steph. You're braver than me. And Mike you are such an engineer. Abe probably would have asked the same question.

Rachel Sue said...

You are truly one brave woman. I never would have made it off the edge.

kristi lou said...

What A WOMAN!!! You're so awesome Steph!