It's been a while since anyone here talked about the Stratosphere, so I took a little trip to the tower this week. The weather was perfect and I haven't been up to the tower since I moved here. I've spent less than an hour in the less than 5 trips to the casino since I moved here. The parking garage was borderline sucky as it was pretty tight. The casino looks very generic as I remembered from 3 or 4 previous quick trips in recent memory. I was a little surprised how clean it was and how I could not find a single trait from the Vegas World days. The layout wasn't as I remembered either. The restaurant area almost seemed vaguely familiar. And there was a bank of elevators that kinda reminded me of the heavily mirrored area where the elevators were kinda around the corner.

Up in the tower was more familiar, yet changed from the early days. There is an indoor observation level with a small bar and the Skyjump, an outdoor observation level with access to two of the rides, and a level for the Big Shot. And the restaurant level is still there. I may be all wrong, but there are lots of elevation changes, limits to where you could go, and stairs and elevators everywhere. It was hard for me to know exactly where I was. On the outdoor level about a third of the level is blocked by the rides. The northwest view was pretty much blocked. If you wanted a good view of Texas Station or Summerlin, you'd want to be on the inside observation area.

I got there about 6:30 in the afternoon, and stayed until after sunset. Again, the weather was great and it was very relaxing. I took a lot of pictures and found landmarks and got a lot of relative locations of stuff. One thing on the tower that amazed me was the Skyjump. That's the ride where you strap into a safety suit, get tethered to a line and jump off the tower in a controlled fall. I did not ride it this time, but don't be surprised if I do someday. I studied the ride from my mechanical and engineering style of thinking. I noticed the guys running the ride from up top seemed very methodical and professional...unlike the employees on the ground that seemed like high school dropouts more interested in anything other than their job. I was intrigued by the spool of cable that rapidly unwinds as the rider falls to the bottom. The diameter of the spool is not constant, and the last few seconds the cable is coming off of a very narrow diameter part of the spool. Also the end of the spool is connected to a propellor that has the blades biting a lot of air and providing a lot of resistance. As I was leaving the bottom of the tower and walking out, I walked by the Skyjump store and they invited me out to the landing zone patio to watch some people jump and land. This is two or three stories off the ground. They have a nice big patio, with lounge chairs that lean way back so you can watch without straining your neck. The landing zone is lighted and is very heavily padded. It was pretty cool to watch a few jumpers.

Thanks for the info Joe. Any idea of the cost to take the plunge?

You would jump Joe? Rukiding, you would jump???

I think that the jump is right about $100. Then as you add on pictures, DVD, T-shirt, it goes on up around $140.

Yes, Lee. I'd do it. I think it's kinda expensive for what you get. If someone gave me $100 to do it, I would. Or I might just do it if the mood strikes.

One of the tether wires that guide the jumper has a small wifi cam on it. I suspect that's what they get the DVD from.

I've always wanted to do something like that but now that I've got heart problems (2 stents), I wonder if they would let me do it? Probably not!

Mike you're probably in better in health than I am. I might need a stent or two after I jump.