Thrill of the carnival ride comes down to physics: Calgary professor

Chris Scheetz speaks during an interview while on board the ferris wheel at KDays in Edmonton in an image taken from video on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Sousa

Gregg Korek knows a thing or two about roller-coasters.

As vice-president of client services for North American Midway Entertainment, he has been part of bringing rides and attractions to one of Edmonton’s signature summer events for nearly five decades.

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Korek said his company has brought back a lot of fan favourites for KDays, the decades-old exhibition that draws thousands yearly to Alberta’s capital for rides, games, food and live music.

There are familiar coasters, such as the Star Dancer and Crazy Mouse. For those who want something wet and wild, there’s the Niagara Falls Flume. Others, such as the Polar Express, are geared towards fast-paced thrill-seekers.

The best rides are the fast ones and the ones that go upside down and backwards, Korek said.

“When you’re coming down the very first hill on that Crazy Mouse roller-coaster, you’re alive,” he said Tuesday.

“The Wave Swinger, that’s always been my favourite. It always reminds me of ... those dreams that you have where you’re flying.”

That feeling of hurtling through the air at breakneck speeds is all about physics and your brain fooling you, says a Calgary physics professor.

Dr. Phil Langill, an associate professor in the department of physics and astronomy at the University of Calgary, is an avid thrill-seeker and has closely studied midway rides.

Langill said it all comes down to gravitational force, or G-force, which measures the acceleration or deceleration relative to the Earth’s gravitational pull.

When you get on a ride, he said, it’s designed in such a way that the seat you’re in makes you feel heavy or light. That translates to a feeling of being smashed into your seat and feeling heavier, or of weightlessness, as if you’re going to fall out, he said.

“The rides try to play with your psychological being,” Langill said.

While many chase the thrill of the ride, carnival classics like the ferris wheel continue to be enjoyed by people like Chris Scheetz, who is on a quest to ride it for 54 hours straight to raise $54,000 for chronically ill children.

A self-proclaimed lover of rides, Scheetz said he’s done a bunch of “wild and wacky” stunts dating back to his time as a radio host, such as when he drove a Zamboni from Calgary to Edmonton.

When his family found out his plan to break the 53-hour record ferris wheel ride, “they went, ‘Oh, no. Not again,’” he said.

Aside from five-minute bathroom breaks every hour, he hasn’t stepped off the wheel, even sleeping on it at night.

Scheetz said he’s had no trouble passing the time, between rides with sponsors, celebrities and media interviews. He’s also had children on as part of the Alberta Dreams charity.

His ride is expected to end late Wednesday afternoon. KDays runs through Sunday.

With files from Bill Graveland in Calgary

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2025.

Aaron Sousa, The Canadian Press