yes, THROUGH the mountain
September 26, 2011 2:16 AM   Subscribe

 
Saw this on ye olde Chinese Internet yesterday. Mad bastard! They've flown jets through that archway before IIRC (to some justified protest, as it was apparently putting the whole structure at risk, which I presume won't be the case with one bloke and what's basically a large overcoat).
posted by Abiezer at 2:28 AM on September 26, 2011


Oh, there was a tunnel, eh?

/walks away disappointed! :-(
posted by HuronBob at 2:32 AM on September 26, 2011 [7 favorites]


Bad ass. nice use of the . . . uh . . . bigbrassballs tag, I think.
posted by IvoShandor at 2:32 AM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


It's a natural feature, HuronBob, if that helps up yer wow factor.
No, up your wow factor!
posted by Abiezer at 2:35 AM on September 26, 2011 [3 favorites]


Besides a potentially fatal plummet, Corliss also risked smacking into the mountainside and turning into a liquid substance.

That's not what happens.
posted by three blind mice at 2:42 AM on September 26, 2011 [9 favorites]


"Acme, the only Batman outfit worn by bats!"
posted by smoothvirus at 3:02 AM on September 26, 2011


Damnit, you can't just go mucking about in the 8th dimension!
posted by pla at 3:26 AM on September 26, 2011 [11 favorites]


I believe this flight was actually more dangerous.

He's also meant to be working on landing a wingsuit; but he's been talking about that for a while.
posted by RufusW at 3:27 AM on September 26, 2011 [3 favorites]


Those GoPro HD cameras are just a few hundred bucks. No one thought to strap one to the guy's helmet?
posted by zardoz at 4:08 AM on September 26, 2011 [3 favorites]


He's also meant to be working on landing a wingsuit

Has he thought of just rolling to a stop on his balls?
posted by pracowity at 4:25 AM on September 26, 2011 [7 favorites]


Did he catch the roadrunner this time?
posted by mkb at 4:31 AM on September 26, 2011 [3 favorites]


Merely considering buying a wingsuit puts you that much closer to winning a Darwin Award.
posted by The River Ivel at 4:39 AM on September 26, 2011 [2 favorites]


Why can't the Internet credit anyone properly?
* Gawker credits Daily Mail and Youtube.
* Daily Mail doesn't credit anyone.
* No-one credits ITN, whose video it actually is (it's only some minor broadcaster no-one will of heard of /sarcasm).

Of course, ITN don't appear to credit the source of footage that's presumably either AP/Reuters or direct from RedBull either...
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 5:02 AM on September 26, 2011 [5 favorites]


yes, THROUGH the mountain

And he went so fast it shouldn't even be possible.
posted by Anything at 5:11 AM on September 26, 2011


[insert oscillation overthruster joke, preferably by using an oscillation overthruster to perform the insertion]
posted by Eideteker at 5:29 AM on September 26, 2011 [8 favorites]


I need to play some Pilotwings 64 now.
posted by Eideteker at 5:32 AM on September 26, 2011


Yawn.
Call me when he does it on a tricycle.
posted by From Bklyn at 5:43 AM on September 26, 2011


It's one of my life's ambitions to see the South China Karst, but I'll be perfectly happy to do it from the ground.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:04 AM on September 26, 2011 [2 favorites]


What's that? Not "inches-from-death" enough for you? Inches from death.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:23 AM on September 26, 2011


They've flown jets through that archway before...

Like this?
posted by TedW at 6:57 AM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


In a similar vein: Experience Zero Gravity - cliff jumping in Norway Switzerland and France.
posted by madamjujujive at 6:58 AM on September 26, 2011


I don't care if you drove through a mountain in China. This is New Jersey. When you play my joint, you're just another act. Now, I want some music outta you characters!
posted by Mike Mongo at 7:13 AM on September 26, 2011 [3 favorites]


^ drove flew
posted by Mike Mongo at 7:24 AM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


I believe this >YT flight was actually more dangerous.

But his most dangerous activity by far is drinking Red Bull.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:28 AM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


Those GoPro HD cameras are just a few hundred bucks. No one thought to strap one to the guy's helmet?

I think this is just a third party news video, not the proper source video which will probably end up in a Redbull commercial with lots of aerial shots and stirring music and the onboard camera.
posted by smackfu at 7:38 AM on September 26, 2011


How common are fatalities in this "sport"?
posted by mattbucher at 8:16 AM on September 26, 2011


Tianmen Shan, previously. (post by me!)
posted by HopperFan at 8:22 AM on September 26, 2011


How common are fatalities in this "sport"?

Way more common than pretty much any other sport, I think. (Other than The Most Dangerous Game, of course.)

Study 1
Study 2

I'm not really that familiar the sport myself, but I do know that when I've looked into it a lot of the early pioneers are dead.
posted by kmz at 8:37 AM on September 26, 2011


Cool stunt, but hardly the most technical of the sport. That gap is waaaaay larger than his profile.

This video* is a better example of the current limits of wingsuit flight. The pilot threads the veins of the mountain face, and in some places comes mere feet from collision. Notice how he dodges the conifer crown at the midway point. Can you imagine getting a cramp in your arm during a flight like this?

And yes, it is a sport; no, fatalities aren't relevant. These pilots are highly trained athletes who well understand the consequences of failure. It is truly a gift of modern technology that we can, as bipedal hominids, experience visceral flight. Our ancestors would marvel at this achievement.

I love this sport. I plan to take it up when I have enough dispensable income (i.e. a decade from now).

*LiveLeak is replete with extreme wingsuit videos.
posted by troll at 8:38 AM on September 26, 2011


How common are fatalities in this "sport"?

Well, here's one guy and here's another, and that was just a few seconds of searching.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 8:43 AM on September 26, 2011


fatalities aren't relevant

Easy for you to say.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 8:44 AM on September 26, 2011 [2 favorites]


It must be interesting to know exactly how you will die.
posted by itstheclamsname at 8:49 AM on September 26, 2011 [3 favorites]


Well, there's a confirmation bias aspect here. They don't post videos of the failures.
posted by SPrintF at 10:06 AM on September 26, 2011


That's selection bias.
posted by found missing at 10:34 AM on September 26, 2011


Has he thought of just rolling to a stop on his balls?

Relevant.
posted by The Tensor at 11:11 AM on September 26, 2011


"It must be interesting to know exactly how you will die."

Would you rather be surprised?
posted by Eideteker at 11:17 AM on September 26, 2011


Wheee!
posted by homunculus at 11:22 AM on September 26, 2011


It's probably a combination of planning and adapting [on the fly; winging it; lolz], odinsdream.* If the performance constraints of the wingsuit are known (say, vertical drop per linear foot), then any mountain face with a lesser average slope is feasible. Of course, most of these guys log hundreds of hours in open air environments before attempting to ride terrain, so it's a matter of controlled progression. I would think that, like a bird, wing flexations give the pilot a high degree of control (from minimal to maximal altitude loss).

*Disclaimer: talking out of my ass; I have no special knowledge of this subject.

Civil_Disobedient: Easy for you to say.

What's your point, exactly? Do you suppose these athletes aren't aware of the risk? Are you speaking for the bereaved survivors? Everyone has a right to self-determination (or in this case, incidental self-termination), and the fatality rate has no bearing on the sporting nature of an activity. It's called an extreme sport for a reason.
posted by troll at 11:30 AM on September 26, 2011


The Tensor: Relevant.

Eponymous.
posted by troll at 11:35 AM on September 26, 2011


I look for Wile E. Coyote to try this next, with a suit from the Acme Wingsuit Co., with dissimilar results.
posted by Danf at 11:50 AM on September 26, 2011


troll, don't get eponysterical. This is clearly something that 99 44/100% of us would never, ever consider doing, and I hardly think the few who do are wilting flowers in need of protection from a few stray internet comments.
posted by dhartung at 12:05 PM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


What's your point, exactly?

I thought my point was fairly self-evident. It's easy for a living person to say that the fatalities of a particular sport are completely irrelevant. You see, that's because dead people don't have the ability to say anything. Because they're dead. Thus a living person has a higher degree of ease with which to say things, particularly things specifically related to the things that will get them dead.

Do you understand now? Is that clear enough, or you do need a flow-chart?
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:38 PM on September 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


"It must be interesting to know exactly how you will die."

Would you rather be surprised?


Depends on what you mean by surprise. If flying in a wingsuit reduces the surprise of my method of death while dramatically shortening my life expectancy (as I suspect it does), then no thank you. If it somehow guarantees long life along with a particular date and cause for my death, well, now you're talking.
posted by The Tensor at 12:57 PM on September 26, 2011


Civil_Disobedient: Do you understand now?

Well thank you, Captain Obvious. Water is wet and dirt is dirty. So what? You seem to be insinuating at a deeper truth, which was thrust of my question. How is "living people can say things while dead people cannot" not adequately rejoined by my point about self-determination and its consequences? It should be obvious to you (as you are the captain of such things) that a dead wingsuit pilot would have no grounds to complain about the result of his actions. The specter of death is an integral part of the experience. That's what being an adrenaline junkie as all about, and also what renders inevitable wingsuiting deaths irrelevant to its validity as a sport.

If your point was really as base as you say, why the fuck you would say it?
posted by troll at 1:05 PM on September 26, 2011


I would always opt to see the flowchart.
posted by found missing at 1:24 PM on September 26, 2011 [2 favorites]


Would you rather be surprised?

For the most part yes. I'm not going to go out and participate in risky activities so it'll be a surprise but if I've got the choice (say an assasin is out to get me) I'd much rather a quick bullet out of nowhere than a detailed warning months in advance.
posted by Mitheral at 3:09 PM on September 26, 2011


If your point was really as base as you say, why the fuck you would say it?

Why the fuck not? I mean, you're throwing around asinine statements about the irrelevancy of life, why don't you jump out of a plane and see if you can be one of the 0.001% of people that just happen to land in the exact right way that they don't die? You know, for the ultimate thrill. Since the pursuit of excitement trumps life, and in your case, common sense.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:02 PM on September 26, 2011


the pursuit of excitement trumps life

I never claimed that was so. A reasonable pursuit, sure, but it's not an absolute value. Ideally, one would take precautions (training, equipment, planning, etc.) so as to maximize the chance of survival and go on to repeat the experience over and over again. What good is a reckless one-off stunt? That's suicide.

Your straw is showing, man.
posted by troll at 5:24 PM on September 26, 2011


this better be in Just Cause 3
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 9:18 PM on September 26, 2011


Man the road up to that hole would be an awesome place to spend a weekend with a few hundred horsepower.
posted by Mitheral at 2:26 AM on September 27, 2011


sodium lights the horizon : Why can't the Internet credit anyone properly?

Because the internet doesn't care who made it. If we want it, we want it now, and we'll get it from whoever gives us the least hassle. Creator/ownership? Meh, such quaint relics of a past era.


Civil_Disobedient : why don't you jump out of a plane and see if you can be one of the 0.001% of people that just happen to land in the exact right way that they don't die? You know, for the ultimate thrill. Since the pursuit of excitement trumps life, and in your case, common sense.

In fairness, you've taken troll's comment to an absurdity. Some people will do anything for an adrenaline rush, including risking death or serious injury. Simple blunt statement.

That doesn't make those people suicidal... It also doesn't mean you'll ever see the Average Joe jumping out of planes for the thrill of it.
posted by pla at 3:38 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


pla writes "Some people will do anything for an adrenaline rush, including risking death or serious injury."

See for example Dan Osman (youtube of the dead video link).
posted by Mitheral at 5:00 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


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