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Thank you for sharing, I grew up next to a hydroelectric dam and the time I spent on top of it for general tours and special tours with our scout group is somet

by nurple 3y ago

Thank you for sharing, I grew up next to a hydroelectric dam and the time I spent on top of it for general tours and special tours with our scout group is something I will always remember. My brain however has in the past created incredible nightmares based on the scale of what I experienced there. I just _had_ to see what the tailrace output looked like and was not disappointed by this nightmare fuel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlhSzs4JXE0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlhSzs4JXE0

withinboredom 3y ago
Why is the video nightmare fuel? I have zero context, but I assume it's nightmare fuel because they could suddenly let out a crap-load of water through there and you'd get smashed to smitherines?
- nurple 3y ago
  Yeah basically. I guess it’s mostly me on personal nightmare fuel… The turbine output chute of the dam I grew up with was so rapid and voluminous that standing next to it was like being caught in a tsunami and the white water extended hundreds of meters from the dam. I spent a lot of time in the river in boats and jetskis and there were a number of signs and buoys ominously warning of certain death. The scale of it all was quite terrifying to my young mind as I imagined all the unseeable hazards beneath the water’s surface, on which it capitalized during my sleeping moments.
  - civilitty 3y ago
    I bet you're a big fan of low head dams :-)
    - nurple 3y ago
      X( These are pretty abundant in the Jordan River (for feeding canals in Utah where I live now) and have sadly claimed a number of lives. Indeed, I do not like them at all.
      - defrost 3y ago
        Many years ago, before I was twenty, I hitched a ride on a pearling boat with a sea kayak to shoot the horizontal falls in the Kimberley (Western Australia) which was then (~1980) unvisited and well off even the remote adventure tourism tracks although much better known now [1][2]. It remains today as both one of the most exhilarating and the stupidist things I've done. Equatorial tide changes through a narrow gorge are insane enough before adding in salt water crocodiles on one side and sharks on the other (well, both on both sides to be honest). [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dIhCmo3g0c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dIhCmo3g0c [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xYg73DV0V0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xYg73DV0V0
slyall 3y ago
That video is from James Hamilton. He does cool stuff at Amazon and has a very nice boat. Occasionally blogs. https://mvdirona.com/jrh/Work/index.html https://mvdirona.com/jrh/Work/index.html
- nurple 3y ago
  Woa cool! I'm really glad there are other nerds out there wanting to know the same things as me (and having the stones to do it). I'm glad he got out alive.

by nurple 3y ago

withinboredom 3y ago

Why is the video nightmare fuel? I have zero context, but I assume it's nightmare fuel because they could suddenly let out a crap-load of water through there and you'd get smashed to smitherines?

nurple 3y ago
Yeah basically. I guess it’s mostly me on personal nightmare fuel… The turbine output chute of the dam I grew up with was so rapid and voluminous that standing next to it was like being caught in a tsunami and the white water extended hundreds of meters from the dam. I spent a lot of time in the river in boats and jetskis and there were a number of signs and buoys ominously warning of certain death. The scale of it all was quite terrifying to my young mind as I imagined all the unseeable hazards beneath the water’s surface, on which it capitalized during my sleeping moments.
- civilitty 3y ago
  I bet you're a big fan of low head dams :-)
  - nurple 3y ago
    X( These are pretty abundant in the Jordan River (for feeding canals in Utah where I live now) and have sadly claimed a number of lives. Indeed, I do not like them at all.
    - defrost 3y ago
      Many years ago, before I was twenty, I hitched a ride on a pearling boat with a sea kayak to shoot the horizontal falls in the Kimberley (Western Australia) which was then (~1980) unvisited and well off even the remote adventure tourism tracks although much better known now [1][2]. It remains today as both one of the most exhilarating and the stupidist things I've done. Equatorial tide changes through a narrow gorge are insane enough before adding in salt water crocodiles on one side and sharks on the other (well, both on both sides to be honest). [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dIhCmo3g0c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dIhCmo3g0c [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xYg73DV0V0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xYg73DV0V0

slyall 3y ago

That video is from James Hamilton. He does cool stuff at Amazon and has a very nice boat. Occasionally blogs. https://mvdirona.com/jrh/Work/index.html https://mvdirona.com/jrh/Work/index.html

nurple 3y ago
Woa cool! I'm really glad there are other nerds out there wanting to know the same things as me (and having the stones to do it). I'm glad he got out alive.