Table of contents:
- Skywalk
- Bridge at Engelberg
- Observation deck in Alspitz
- "Path of Fear" and "Bridge of Fear"
- "Sky Bridge" Langkawi
Video: Natural beauty and frost on the skin: Observation decks that only the most courageous climb
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
To all appearances, modern people, accustomed to a comfortable and measured life, really lack adrenaline. Even watching horror movies and visiting a roller coaster does not help. How else to understand the fact that more and more tourists are ready to fly to distant lands to visit the most terrible observation decks in the world? But the mere sight of these structures "hovering" over the abyss, in theory, should discourage any desire to visit them.
Skywalk
The Grand Canyon Skywalk (Skywalk) Observation Deck is located in Arizona (USA). It is an arched corridor, which, like a balcony, hangs over the abyss. The floor and walls of this site are transparent, and if you know that you are at an altitude of 1 km 219 meters, it becomes especially creepy. But if you are not afraid of heights, you can enjoy the stunning views of the Grand Canyon, which, by the way, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Colorado River flowing somewhere far below.
Skywalk was opened 11 years ago, and over the years its popularity has only grown. Particularly disturbing visitors are reassured by the fact that the thickness of the glass floor is 10 cm, and this unique structure can withstand eight times more than the load that it usually experiences - almost 5 tons per square meter.
Bridge at Engelberg
The pedestrian bridge in the Engelberg ski resort (Switzerland) is considered the highest in the world. At the beginning of the last century, a cable car was opened here, and it was possible to move only by funiculars. Now you can walk over a snow-covered mountain abyss - along a narrow (less than a meter wide) bridge, which, by the way, also sways.
The entire path takes 150 meters, and if you do not think that you are at an altitude of 500 meters, you can try to pull yourself together and take pictures of the gorgeous views of the Alps during the journey.
Observation deck in Alspitz
The Alpspitze observation deck (Germany), opened 8 years ago, consists of two crossed arched bridge-balconies protruding 13 meters above a two-kilometer abyss. From here you can see beautiful views of the mountains and remote villages, and you can look at the thick clouds not from bottom to top, but from top to bottom.
Many visitors notice that when they step on the slatted floor, the structure wobbles slightly and becomes very eerie. And also a piercing wind blows here very often, and at such moments it seems that now you will simply be blown away.
"Path of Fear" and "Bridge of Fear"
The "Glass Sky Trail", like a long balcony, attached to the Tianmen Mountain in the Chinese province of Hunan, is just one of several such observation decks in the Middle Kingdom, but usually it is it that causes the greatest horror among travelers. And although its length is only 60 meters, the 1.5-kilometer abyss under the glass floor involuntarily forces especially impressionable tourists in the literal sense of the word “to walk along the wall”. And from the fact that you are walking along the steep wall, it seems that you are a real climber, and this makes the path even more exciting.
Not far from this observation deck, there is another "trail of fear", which is a very long and transparent suspension bridge. It is located at an altitude of 180 meters, but it is considered the most terrible and longest (300 meters) of all such bridges in the world.
This path is also eerie, although incredibly beautiful, but the structure itself is much wider and more impressive than the "path" on the rock. However, earlier this bridge was made of wood and even then there were daredevils to walk on it.
"Sky Bridge" Langkawi
Malaysia also has a scary observation deck - this is an arched bridge, built 10 km from Langkawi airport. The structure connects two mountains, and is held by its only support - a metal pylon in the center. To get to the bridge, you must first take a ride on one of the funiculars that start from the local village, and then go up to the southern end of the bridge by an inclined elevator or on foot along the trail.
To make walking along this long corridor more frightening and at the same time more interesting, there are transparent "windows" underfoot every now and then. And at both ends of the bridge there are triangular viewing platforms, from which the beauty of Malaysia opens up in full view.
Well, for those who have come to Malaysia and want to go on an excursion, but at the same time are not a fan of thrills, we can recommend visiting a very cute city of cats.
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