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It perhaps may appear to be somewhat of an irony that a person could be two meters tall (six foot six and a half) and still suffer from a fear of heights.
But that is indeed the case with yours truly, and the experience of going up the Eiffel Tower in Paris in 2002 was one which I personally found to be downright frightening, even when using the glass elevator.
This discussion represents the first part of my contribution toward Robert Hruzek’s group writing project, entitled “What I learned from .. a mountain top experience.” If I have a chance, I will describe a second experience in tomorrow’s discussion.
In actual fact, when asking for participants to describe their mountain-top experiences, Robert is referring to an emotional experience more than an experience of a physical nature. What he is talking about is an experience of a feeling of elation, that being on top of the world from an emotional viewpoint more so than a physical viewpoint.
Nevertheless, the experience of going up the tower did involve a fair degree of emotion for me (fear and anxiety at the bottom, elation and euphoria at the top), so I feel that it is appropriate for me to relate this experience as the first part of my contribution to Robert’s project.
(Unfortunately, I do not have a personal photograph of this experience to share, I had not been introduced to the world of digital cameras at that point and do not have a picture of the experience in digital form)
The fear factor
Sensing the extent of my trepidation, my brother, who had already made the trip on a previous occasion, assured me at the bottom that we did not have to actually go to the top if I did not want to. But fearful though I was, I knew that it was not likely that I would have the opportunity to visit Paris again for a very long time, that this was more than likely my one and only opportunity, and that I would most certainly regret it if I held back.
Getting up the first two floors was difficult enough, particularly as the curved structure at the base of the building mandates a somewhat angled ascent as far as the first floor. But the final leg of the journey was downright frightening.
My sunglasses certainly came in handy, not only by enabling me to hide my facial expressions to some extent, and therefore the extent of my trepidation, but also by enabling me to close my eyes without anyone noticing, thereby making the ascention process somewhat bearable.
What did not help, on the other hand, was the commentary of the gentleman beside me, whose running description of how high we were was not what the doctor ordered as far as I was concerned.
Somewhat more helpful was my brother, who, knowing that my eyes were closed, assured me that we were not much more than ten meters from the top. Whilst the reality at the time was that there was more than fifty meters to go, the thought of being almost there (no matter how false) did help me to hang on.
Making it safely to the top, and there I opened my eyes to a splendid view across the city of Paris – a view which I would say would be second to none in terms of views across any city, or at least those which I have come across anyway.
Lessons Learned
Non serious:
• don’t forget to pack a pair of sunglasses if you think that you will need to hide a facial expression of some kind (fear, embarrassment, etc);
• whenever you are a short way off great heights, you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be someone to describe how far you have to fall; and
• you can always be sure to have some well meaning family member indicate that you are indeed closer to your goals than what you indeed actually are.
Serious:
• When you’ve only got one shot, take it – don’t hold back. If you do, you’ll be glad that you did for the rest of the life. If you don’t, you may harbor regrets for years to come.
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