After watching this video I realized three things. First I am glad to have Norwegian ancestry because if YouTube is correct, Norwegians have mastered the art of skiing and BASE Jumping and have cojones big enough to fit in a dump truck. Two, this video, of Norwegian daredevil Halvor Angvik speed flying (if that’s what you want to call it) in Wengen, Switzerland this year is amazing, and three, I am definitely asking Santa Claus for a wing-suit for Christmas!
Oh yeah, it’s f*&*ing cold outside. Time to stop thinking about surfing (unless you’re a Canadian surfing Navy Seal, like Peter DeVries!) and break out your snowboard. You might see some of these tricks coming soon to a hill near you…and I’m sure you’ll be spending some serious time in the emergency ward mending some broken bones shortly thereafter! Enjoy the video, there is some sweet air time going on here!!
More wing-suit footage here of several fliers jumping off Monte Brento in Italy in preparation for The Asgard Project, in which the same guys jump off Mount Asgard in Nunavat, Canada. I love the high def footage of these guys flying through the Italian mountains and the speeds these guys reach. Moments like these make you realize that life is a celebration. And Planet Earth is your cathedral.
Name your fix. Some people drink. Some buy shoes, others eat chocolate. Heck, some people watch self-help videos to feel alive. Then there are those, such as this guy who feel alive when jumping off a cliff – and God bless’em for it. This is one sick video. To be honest, I can’t believe people have the cojones to pull stunts like this, but it sure is fun to watch! If only his friend would get his foot out of the way…
On August 16, 1960, American Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger boarded a helium balloon at Wright Field, Ohio. For the next hour and 31 minutes, Kittinger ascended into the stratosphere. Then, at 102,800 feet, or 31,333 metres for us metric system devotees, he stepped OUT of the balloon gondola. What transpired for the next 13 minutes and 45 seconds was beyond awe-inspiring. Kittinger fell without a parachute for 4 minutes and 31 seconds and reached a maximum speed of 614 miles an hour plummeting to Earth. Suffice to say, this is the highest skydive in history, and the record has stood for 50 years. Now Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner, of BASE Jumping Christ the Redeemer fame, wants to break the record, some time within the year, in a highly publicized jump that would see him take a leap of faith from 23 miles above planet Earth. I hope he makes it, but I have to nod in respect to Kittinger first. A man who jumps from 20 miles in the air and lives to tell about it has cojones big enough to fit in a dump truck, and while records are made to be broken, Joe Kittinger will always be remembered as the first man to jump from space.
Leave it to them crazy cats at Red Bull to come up with the sickest, most hardcore stunts ever conceived by someone on, well, Red Bull. This one’s beyond hardcore. In this video, Ueli Gegenschatz jumps from a moving truck on the Ataturk aqueduct and dives straight into oblivion. While there’s obviously a corporate plug going on here, you gotta admit that the cojones are thicker than soup in the production of this video. This guy is bad, bad, bad!
There are no words that can really capture the poetry of this video, in which J.T. Holmes and some Norwegian BASE Jumpers glide over the cliffs of Norway. Amazing. Just amazing. I want a wing-suit.
You’re not gonna see them whipping into a phone booth to don a red cape anytime soon, but there are those among us who do some pretty superhuman things. Guys like Alain Robert, the Human Spider, who’s climbed some of the world’s tallest buildings, including Petronas Towers and the former World Trade Center with only his hands and climbing shoes, Wim Hof, aka the Iceman, capable of functioning in extreme cold for long periods (like running an Arctic marathon shirtless at 20 below zero!) and Daniel Tammet , aka the Brain Man, who once recited the first 22,000 digits of pi, and learned Icelandic – one of the world’s most difficult languages – in a week. Although the Hulk will always be my favourite.
There’s a time and place for everything, but who wants to spend a week sitting on the beach drinking pina coladas when they’re so many other cool things you can do for a vacation? Guysim’s Seven Vacations That Might Get You Killed comes from the school of thought that, if it isn’t hardcore, it’s not worth doin’. God bless’em! I don’t agree with hunting, but you have to admit that this list looks pretty darn awesome. I’d tip-toe around the issue of health insurance with your travel agent on this one.
This one is just awesome, period. Two skydivers jump from one plane to another – without a parachute. Just listen to the sound of the air whipping by in this video. Amazing. You didn’t actually think you need to go to an airport to transfer flights now, did you?
After watching this video I realized three things. First I am glad to have Norwegian ancestry because if YouTube is correct, Norwegians have mastered the art of skiing and BASE Jumping and have cojones big enough to fit in a dump truck. Two, this video, of Norwegian daredevil Halvor Angvik speed flying (if that’s what you want to call it) in Wengen, Switzerland this year is amazing, and three, I am definitely asking Santa Claus for a wing-suit for Christmas!
