A slide so dangerous that it was permanently closed after only one month. Courtesy of New Jersey’s Action Park (or “Traction Park”). Glorious.

“If the rider got to the top, he (Again, the riders were mostly dudes. Read into that what you will.) suffered the final indignity of being sprayed with a garden hose. The top attendant then instructed the rider on the only acceptable ride position (on your back, feet first, arms folded across chest, ankles crossed), waited for the hatch attendant to check inside for any weirdness (cracks, water not flowing, etc), and then WHOOSH! Off they went. They made a godawful racket in there, with the bumping around and the screaming, but they always made it out alive, though no one was foolish enough to ride it a second time. “

— via Gizmodo

Includes first live You Tube footage of the Action Park Cannonball Loop actually operating with public riders. Recorded on early home video equipment in 1979 and 1980. Commercials are in the public domain now and are over 30 years old. This nine minute compilation will bring back memories of Action Park in Vernon, New Jersey.

Also, history appears to have repeated itself, albeit not to the same level of awesome:

A long, steep slide linking two streets in a southern Spanish town has been closed pending safety checks a day after it opened to the public. The 38-metre-long slide in Estepona, on the Costa del Sol, is intended to give residents of all ages a quick way to travel between the streets, which sit at very different levels.