A PRIMAL SCREAM resounded through the Mountain Village – a high pitched, deafening noise that could only have come from the deepest place within the gut of a truly terrified beast.
Oh my gosh – was that… me?! Shocked, I realized the sound had escaped from my own throat without my permission. But as soon as it came out, the scream transitioned into a whoop of joy and a wild laugh –I had just leapt from a 25-foot high platform, but instead of hitting the ground, I was swinging 60 feet out over Big Sky Resort’s Mountain Village.
It was one of the inaugural rides on the opening day of Big Sky Resort’s new Giant Swing. Strapped into a harness and helmet, I climbed up to a tall platform with fellow Big Sky daredevils Katie Grice and Margo Humphries, joking about being nervous as we went.
But as each of us took our turn sitting on the platform ledge before our swing, the jokes didn’t seem so funny, and the nervousness turned startlingly real. Margo screamed several times in anticipation of the swing, and Katie yelled “Oh my gosh – this is scary! I’m not sure I want to do this anymore!” I clung to our guide’s leg, afraid I would get pulled off the ledge prematurely.
And then it was time for take-off. Suddenly I was launching off the platform, falling through the air, and screaming at the top of my lungs before catching, flying through the air, and laughing and hollering. Soaring through the air, my fear turned into exhilaration at my daring, delight in the afterglow of an adrenaline surge.
Stepping back onto solid ground minutes later, I was still shaking from the rush. Shaking, but smiling. We all were.
- Greer
Has your expression ever been captured in a moment of pure emotion? Margo, Greer, and Katie the moment after the launch.
At $12 a pop, guests on the Giant Swing soar 60 feet over the Mountain Village.
