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I would be surprised by the impressive quality of this video – recorded with a simple GoPro HD – if I weren’t looking at the screen like an imbecile, wondering why the hell I’m not trying to fly like him.
As you’re trying to squeeze onto the train in the hurry to work, or are perhaps going to bed after a horrible day at the office, take a deep breath and remind yourself of the bigger picture.
If you’re skydiving and your parachute fails, there’s always a backup. But what if the backup fails, too? That’s when you pray that you’re jumping with a hero like Dave Hartsock, who risked his own life to save another.
Somehow the thrill of skydiving is lost after you’ve jumped out of a plane, had both parachutes fail, passed out before hitting the roof of a steel shed, and walked away. With video of the fall. [YouTube]
People go to Florida to see the space shuttle launch live, but these guys totally own everyone: They fly next to the launch site and jump from the plane in their wingsuits to watch it.
Let’s be clear here, guys: jumping out of an aeroplane on a four-wheeler is a bad idea. You will break both the four-wheeler and yourself. That doesn’t make watching dudes drive out of the back of an aeroplane on dirt bikes and four-wheelers any less awesome, however.
Before you decide to hurl yourself out of an aeroplane to get an adrenaline fix, take a long hard look at what happened to Hans Lange on a recent base jump in Norway. As you will see, he managed to capture the entire jump in detail using some sort of wide-angle helmet cam. I will admit that flying around in that wing suit looks exhilarating, but smashing into the ground, breaking a leg then being dragged down the side of a mountain? Not so much. [ITN and BBC]
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Bad news for wannabe record breaker Michel Fournier. While he was foiled by weather yesterday in his attempt to freefall from 40 kilometres up, today he was foiled by what appears to be ineptitude. The weather was fine. The problem? His fancy balloon that was supposed to take him up so high wasn’t attached properly while they were filling it and floated away. Uh, oops? No word on whether or not he’s going to try again or slink away with his tail between his legs in embarrassment. When even the news broadcasters are making fun of you for failing, you know it’s been a bad day. [BBC]
