Taking on Verruckt, ‘the tallest, baddest waterslide ever’

IT REACHES 51 terrifying metres in the air — about the same as high-rise — and it’s attracting thrillseekers the world over. But could you brave the world’s tallest waterslide?

Two daredevils have embarked on the world’s highest waterslide, the Verrukt, in Kansas City.

A PAIR of brave daredevils have tackled a death-defying waterslide, which is the equivalent of 18 floors high.

The terrified men launched themselves from the top of the slide and embarked on a near-vertical drop.

The terrifyingly high attraction which stands tall in Kansas City, US, is the highest waterslide in the world, measuring a gigantic 51 metres, The Sun reports.

Anyone who is brave enough to take a ride on the slide, which is called the Verruckt and was opened in July 2010, will have to be prepared to drop the equivalent of 18 floors.

Thrill-seeking tourists are then catapulted up a large “master-blaster hill” at around 70mph before the final dreaded drop.

In the nailbiting clip, which will leave many viewers on the edge of their seat, developer Jeff Henry and ride engineer John Schooley test out their invention.

Sitting in the three-person inline water raft, the two petrified fully-grown men scream as they are propelled down the mammoth slide.

The scary footage of their whole descent is recorded by various GoPros situated at the front, middle and side of the raft in a bid to film it from every angle.

And the audience can see both what it’s like from the men’s point of view and face shots of exactly how frightened the daredevils are.

It’s no surprise that the video contains some strong language and a lot of screaming and shouting as they fly down the course of the slide.

But that is to be expected as the name of the slide translates to “Insane”.

The waterslide is almost completely vertical.

Speaking of the fear on the faces of the guest sliders, Schlitterbahn marketing director Layne Pitcher said: “They start off with sheer terror as they are coming down that first drop, as they come down that second drop there is one last yell, and then there’s the celebration that they made it.”

And talking of how the designers came up with the idea, Layne explained: “We were sitting around and Jeff said: ‘I want to build the tallest, baddest waterslide ever.”

Schlitterbahn worker Lyndsey Sprouce, 22, who is a regular rider of the slide, said: “I can’t stop riding it. It’s the scariest ride I have ever been on — if not the scariest thing I have ever done.”

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.