As I said in my last post, I never did master the halfpipe.  That is largely because I could never bring myself to drop in, so always had to start from the bottom.  I did, however, manage to spend quite a lot of time standing on the edge, willing myself to drop in.  There came a point when I knew all the technique, had heard everyone elses stories, tips, advice, and all that was left to do was bite the bullet.  Perhaps that feeling – standing on the edge, trying to think up the courage to drop in, knowing that a fall is almost guaranteed – is akin to the feeling of the sublime, at least in the Burkean sense, standing on the edge of the abyss.  Of course, this feeling on the edge of the halfpipe is probably due in large part to adrenaline.  Perhaps it is the nearest some come to a feeling of the sublime.  And maybe it is nearer the feeling of the sublime if you are able to throw yourself into the abyss, regardless of the consequences (or, in other words, drop in and – at least at first – fall over).  Alas, I will never know for myself what that feeling is like.