Parachute skiing!
December 20, 2010 4:08 PM   Subscribe

 
Whenever I dream about skiing, it's exactly like this, where I'm bouncing and floating for hundreds of yards between touch downs.
posted by mathowie at 4:10 PM on December 20, 2010 [5 favorites]


Man, CGI has come a long ways, because I refuse to believe people would willingly do that.

I am a firm believer in terra firma. I think tree tops should always be above one's head.
posted by cjorgensen at 4:16 PM on December 20, 2010


All I could think was, "DON'T STALL DON'T STALL DON'T STALL..."

But wow that looks like fun.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 4:18 PM on December 20, 2010


Did that really just happen? Caus.... holy fuck.

It's like people are getting jealous of the cool things you can do in video games and are just like "fuck it, let's do it in real life".
posted by auto-correct at 4:22 PM on December 20, 2010 [6 favorites]


Wow. I was like get away from the ridge you idiot! It took me a while to realise he was doing that deliberately and wasn't about to plunge to his death over the edge
posted by criticalbill at 4:23 PM on December 20, 2010


Is Marshall Miller related to Warren Miller? I mean, by blood? Because by snow & air & film he certainly is.
posted by chavenet at 4:27 PM on December 20, 2010


The funniest part of this video is how many tracks there are in the snow. At this point it loses something, because you know a few dozen people have already done it.

Also, where the bunny slope?
posted by cjorgensen at 4:27 PM on December 20, 2010


TREES DOWN
posted by Gator at 4:28 PM on December 20, 2010


Totally sick!

Can't wait for Colorado in February! If you liked that video, check this one out.
posted by special-k at 4:28 PM on December 20, 2010 [4 favorites]


This is beautiful. Not sure if anyone can say, but by the end it looks like they are at Little Cottonwood canyon road below Alta.
posted by docpops at 4:28 PM on December 20, 2010


No place more beautiful/dangerous/fun than Little Cottonwood Canyon. These guys have found the best way to interact with those mountains that I can imagine... although if they were riding winged unicorns on skis, that would be marginally better.
posted by palacewalls at 4:30 PM on December 20, 2010


And, you're right docpops, that is the Snowbird lodge you can see near the end.
posted by palacewalls at 4:31 PM on December 20, 2010


Great video, but far more enjoyable the second time after pushing the mute button.
posted by blaneyphoto at 4:38 PM on December 20, 2010 [2 favorites]


Awesome video... thanks.

The funniest part of this video is how many tracks there are in the snow. At this point it loses something, because you know a few dozen people have already done it.

Also, where the bunny slope?
posted by cjorgensen at 4:27 PM on December 20 [+] [!]


I'm guessing that's a pretty popular spot for "regular" backcountry skiing and a lot of those tracks are from folks who just climb up and ski down, like the 4th member of his group. Looks like great terrain.
posted by Pantengliopoli at 4:48 PM on December 20, 2010


A lot of computer games now seem considerably more realistic.
posted by Kattullus at 4:49 PM on December 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


I was half expecting a yeti to run out and grab him near the end.
posted by Horatius at 4:54 PM on December 20, 2010 [3 favorites]


For some reason I'm thinking about Starsiege Tribes after watching that.
posted by dsword at 4:56 PM on December 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


Which means the next step is to replace the parachutes with jet packs.
posted by dsword at 4:57 PM on December 20, 2010 [2 favorites]


thanks blaneyphoto. I put NIN's Head like a Hole on and it was much improved
posted by Redhush at 5:09 PM on December 20, 2010


Great video but can anyone tell me whose music that is? So I can avoid it in the future?
posted by chairface at 5:17 PM on December 20, 2010 [5 favorites]


Great video but can anyone tell me whose music that is? So I can avoid it in the future?

Why that's Canada's National Treasure K'naan
posted by Flashman at 5:28 PM on December 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


I was getting really worried for him that his parachute would snag on something.
posted by lollusc at 5:34 PM on December 20, 2010


Matt, your comment nails it. This is a dream made flesh.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 5:37 PM on December 20, 2010


I'm struck by how most extreme videos like this with people flying in various ways in unbelievable settings somehow make it all look very simple, graceful and almost easy. And this one was able to do that, but also keep you totally aware of how difficult skiing (skying?) must be.
posted by Corduroy at 5:44 PM on December 20, 2010


Previously, some of the same "speedflying." The practitioners in the present video seem to have a slightly better sense of self-preservation.
posted by exogenous at 5:50 PM on December 20, 2010


yes, pretty funky music, I thought the idea was to avoid ridges and head for smooth level valleys, and does crashing into that snow the same as landing on a hudred pillows, no ouch?
posted by tustinrick at 5:51 PM on December 20, 2010


I can't wait until I have health insurance again!!!
posted by milkrate at 6:14 PM on December 20, 2010


I think that the consensus name that is evolving for this is "speedflying". The tube has some more videos here.

It seems to me that speedflying would have a considerably lower learning curve than flying with a wingsuit or parasailing. You could start out on a moderate slope. I think the wind would be the largest wild-card. I want to try this very much.

...does crashing into that snow the same as landing on a hudred pillows, no ouch?

Crashing into the snow at speed can be like landing on a hundred pillows; it can also be like landing on a hundred pillows full of gravel.
posted by vapidave at 6:25 PM on December 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


Man whatever I loved the music, haters.

These extreme sport videos are so good for helping me find new music. That Danny McAskill post is another good example.

Thanks, OP.
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 6:38 PM on December 20, 2010 [2 favorites]


However soft the snow is, you still have two long wooden things on your feet, and a not unlimited range of motion. I have marks.
posted by Ella Fynoe at 6:39 PM on December 20, 2010


holy shit.

i can just picture a bunch of ski-bums sitting around smoking pot and coming up with this idea in the first place.
posted by zombieApoc at 7:14 PM on December 20, 2010


Welp, there's another thing for the to-do list. That's really one of the coolest thing I can imagine doing.
posted by zephyr_words at 7:53 PM on December 20, 2010


That looked like great fun.

Of course, I'm sure I'd kill myself if I ever did it.
posted by oddman at 8:02 PM on December 20, 2010 [1 favorite]


Wow, this is such stuff as dreams are made on.

I think he's hugging that wicked-looking ridge to get lift, the way hang gliders and model airplanes do when slope-soaring. If wind hits a sharp ridge it gets deflected upward; if the wind is strong enough it can carry gliders and crazy dudes on skis speedflyers up with it. They are still falling relative to the wind, but falling more slowly (or even rising) relative to the ground.
posted by Quietgal at 8:08 PM on December 20, 2010


However soft the snow is, you still have two long wooden things on your feet, and a not unlimited range of motion. I have marks.

Yes. I'd say don't tell your insurance co though. As long as the earth is falling away at a very acute angle to your trajectory and there is space allowing (and you can maintain control, or on a low incidence slope you can crash and slide) you should be ok. In 2005 Bjørn Einar Romøren jumped 239 meters* in Planica, Slovenia. I think the "*" is for pucker as I quote from the wiki because 239 meters is scary with or without a means of defying gravity or a nice place to land.
I have no idea what that equals with regard to art. Lisa Suckdog probably had decent insurance rates owing to the lack of physical risk. DuChamp wasn't working without an established net with readymades. Magritte risked exactly an apple going bad and a hat, if that.
I had a friend whose uncle was a performance artist in Chicago. His means of support, the way he made a living was by getting art consumers to pay to watch him climb a ladder wearing a diaper and piss himself*.
*It was a new thing then.

What I mean is how can anyone who claims to be a fan of art watch the above links and claim to not like sports (you know who you are, every thread you cite your "I don't like sports" cred. ) The expression is so clear and so clearly evocative. Something simple for sure, but certainly universal.
posted by vapidave at 9:34 PM on December 20, 2010 [2 favorites]


I am with six-or-six-thirty. Loved the vid, loved the music. I am currently having trouble deciding which excites me more. It would be the skiing, hands down, but I'll probably have the cash to buy that CD before 2020, and I'm not sure I can say the same thing wrt the speedflying.

Nice find.
posted by HighTechUnderpants at 11:09 PM on December 20, 2010


I'm showing most in € here.
Ok, I was quoted about $400 or $500 Canadian or US for the lesson and another $100 for insurance according to patient woman from Charmonix.
I wonder what they get for that in Osoyoos.
posted by vapidave at 12:09 AM on December 21, 2010


Before was The Man Who Skied Down Everest
posted by Neiltupper at 1:48 AM on December 21, 2010


The long list of sports at which I would well and truly suck has just gotten a little longer.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 7:03 AM on December 21, 2010


This one turned up on best of youtube a bit ago. The commercial at the start affords you some time to take your Dramamine and/or Valium.
posted by Oddly at 8:53 AM on December 21, 2010


because "extreme skiing" was just getting to be a little bit tired...
posted by RockyChrysler at 6:41 PM on December 21, 2010


Christ, I thought that song was only popular in Canada
posted by tehloki at 12:05 AM on December 22, 2010


Wow. Just totally wow. This makes me deeply nostalgic (although for reasons of purity, 3-pin bias, and general awesomeness, I'd want to go with snowshoes going up, and snowboard[*] going down).

Parachute-skiing: Better technique through better equipment.

Metafilter: Come for the discussion, hang around for the music.

[*] Does anyone know of any technical reason (I can only imagine cultural reasons) why people are using alpine skis rather than snowboards for this?
posted by Tuesday After Lunch at 8:19 AM on December 22, 2010


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