Daredevil floats to 8,000 feet in a lawn chair tied to balloons
An extreme BASE jumper used helium-filled balloons to soar 8,000 feet into the sky, before skydiving back down to the ground.
Tap to view if on News app.
Erik Roner, known as a pro extreme skier and BASE jumper on MTV's Nitro Circus, floated into the heavens above the mountains of Utah. Using 50 tanks of helium to fill 90 humungous balloons, Roner sat comfortably in the lawn-chair seat as he quickly ascended into the sky with a shotgun at his side.
"It really doesn't get much more peaceful than this," said Roner at about 2,000 feet.
At just under 4,000 feet, the balloons began popping from the gas expanding inside as the temperature drops at high altitudes. With each pop, the chair shakes, giving Roner a scare every time.
Once Roner arrives at 8,000 feet, he starts firing the shotgun into the balloon swarm. But when that isn't enough to slow his descent, Roner just unbuckles his seat and drops like a stone. Descending fast, Roner ditches the lawn-chair and skydives downward, with the shotgun still in hand.
Eventually, Roner deploys his parachute and sails down to a graceful touchdown.
While we can't say for sure if the balloon-powered aircraft was cheaper than renting a plane to skydive, it certainly made the journey upward way cooler.
In just four days, the video has amassed more than 160,000 views and is well worth the watch. Check it out.
