Jill Harness
Viewing Platforms For The Brave
by Jill Harness - September 30, 2009 - 10:45 AM

aurland-overlook-norway

Anyone afraid of heights would most certainly not be interested in exploring any of the 12 viewing platforms featured on this WebEcoist post. The most striking is probably the one shown, found at the Aurland Lookout in Norway. While it looks like a bridge solely made for suicides, it actually has a thick sheet of plate glass at the end to stop eager viewers from getting too close to the edge.

I think I would be willing to walk to the glass, but I would have to have my hand on the railing the whole time. Could you make it to the end of these beautiful but terrifying viewing platforms?

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Comments (7)

  1. Pictured: The first bridge designed by young architects who grew up playing Sonic the Hedgehog.

    posted by TXCherokee on 9-30-2009 at 11:13 am

  2. How odd – I had a dream last night where even the slightest height (we’re talking halfway to the nosebleeds of a baseball stadium) had me paralyzed with fear. Yet, normally I’m the sort of person who would LOVE a vista like this! These are some awesome views. Still not sure about the trampoline though…

    posted by Hastings on 9-30-2009 at 12:00 pm

  3. nope, couldn’t do it. I’ve been in the Infinity Room at House on the Rock- it was only the knowledge that several dozen other tourists were watching that kept me from getting on my hands and knees… but I couldn’t get near the edge.

    posted by ann on 9-30-2009 at 3:33 pm

  4. When my sisters and I went to Chicago this past August we went to the Sears tower…now the Willis tower…and went to the lookout floor. They have those new glass boxes that jut out like three feet.I got in one and was shaking like a leaf. It was quite scary being 104 floors above ground.

    posted by Chelsea on 9-30-2009 at 4:32 pm

  5. I have no problem going to the top of tall buildings and peering out windows, but I get very queasy on ladders, ferris wheels and the like where there is possiblity of swaying. Suspension bridges are completely out of the question. I doubt I could stand on or next to a glass barrier that gives the illusion of no barrier.

    posted by Pam on 9-30-2009 at 8:39 pm

  6. What’s just as bad is being on a high catwalk (or a bridge) that is just honeycomb metal. I went on one MANY floors up in the VAB at Kennedy Space Center – I had a great view of the Space Shuttle upright below me, but walking was a major headtrip.

    posted by PartiallyDeflected on 9-30-2009 at 9:12 pm

  7. Chelsea… the glass boxes are called The LEDGE.. and they’re freaking awesome. It was so funny to see some people scared to put their foot on the glass floor. I could’ve stayed there for hours and looked at all the cool buildings, but the line and my husband made me stop.

    posted by Mrs. Coffee on 10-1-2009 at 9:16 pm

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