How about a fun fact to get your Monday going? Here’s one: “Verrukt” is the German word for “crazy.” Which is appropriate, given the footage captured in this video:
Filmed at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City KS, the video represents the first human test of the Verrukt water slide.
Though Verrukt is the tallest (and fastest, and steepest) water slide in the world, you can be forgiven for thinking that the footage looks more like a roller coaster. At 186 feet, Verrukt is taller than the Kilimanjaro water slide in Barra Do Pirai, Brazil, by seven feet.
It’s also taller than Niagra Falls, and the Statue of Liberty.
The ride was supposed to open with the rest of the water park in May, but was delayed when engineers discovered several safety issues.
For example, they first tested the ride with sandbags instead of people–and, due to the angle of descent, the raft fell off the slide.
Each raft needs a minimum weight of one thousand (1,000) pounds in order to stay in place. So, each raft is now fitted with extra weight in addition to its human cargo. And engineers added a safety net all along the slide’s trajectory.
Now that the first human tests have gone smoothly, Schlitterbahn expects to open the ride to the public later this month.
