This guy just jumped out of an airplane at 25,000 feet without a parachute to land in a net!

Oy vey!

That was incredible.

And by jumping without a chute he removed the risk of accidental chute failure.

Guy's a madman! His wife was right there too on the ground, if he had missed that would have been awful for her. Her tears of joy seem to indicate it was pretty stressful.

I noticed that too.

I think he would have landed more accurately had he not shifted around so much, rolling over and back, etc., catching air all the while.

True, when he rolled over he could not adjust his trajectory anymore. But that was a critical part of the safety, if he didn't roll over he might have died because when he hits the net he is going to fold a lot, and the body only folds one way. He was doing the roll to preserve his spine and limbs etc (and practicing it as he fell to make sure he could do it at the last minute).

Absolutely. I was thinking his fall would have been more accurate had he fallen in a bent position--face up with his back to the ground-- for as long as possible, either before or after adjustments, as that position would have caught less air.

Kind of like the idea behind the basketball dropped from the top of a dam through a basketball hoop:

No, he needs to face the ground to steer (and to see where he is going), he can't steer very well falling on his back. Catching air is precisely how he is steering himself to the net and he can't expect to drop straight due to winds etc, he needed to steer himself to the net before turning a the last second for the impact.

Not sure I get your point about the basketball drop either. Love that video, it's super cool, but what it is demonstrating is the Magnus effect where a spinning ball's path curves. He isn't a ball and isn't spinning like that so I don't think it came into play at all for this guy.

That was stupid.

Stupid
Stupid
Stupid

As the quote from Spinal Tap goes... "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever."

Yeah, but the line doesn't even exist here.

Only option to click is stupid.

How could anyone possibly think this is "clever"?

I linked the wrong video.

In this one the guy puts little to no spin on the ball and it falls pretty near straight.


But you're right. The wind would deviate the jumper's course even if he were to fall with a reduced surface area.

Yeah, and that was 400 feet, not 25,000.

I'll bet he wouldn't have been willing to risk jumping that 400 feet himself. Which is smart.

What I meant is that with all such stunts where you risk your life the line between "clever" and "stupid" (in public perception) usually just comes down to whether it works or not. Same with most great risk taking, if it works you look great, if it doesn't you look stupid.

As for whether this is stupid or not, well I certainly wouldn't do it. But it's not my life and while I sometimes think people who do things like this (including those who climb without any ropes, or wingsuit jumpers) are fools I remind myself that it's their life they are gambling with not mine and if this is what makes them feel alive it may well be worth it to them.

I listened to a young man years ago on a documentary that greatly changed my mind about risk.

He was one of those people who climbed to great heights without ropes.

However, when the interviewer said something about him being a risk taker, he very calmly replied that he avoid risks at all costs. Meaning he never moved any part of his body a millimeter without being completely aware of his surroundings, his strength at the moment, mood, leverage, etc etc. Plus of course knowing intimately where every rock, crevice and surface was on the way up and down, and how they behaved at different times of the day.

I talked about this with someone I know personally who climbs, with equipment. His response was "yep."

So what looked like risk to most of us was something he studied mightily.

In this case, there is just too much variance with wind, a stray puff of air, sun going behind a cloud, fellow faller slightly bumping him for there to be that much confidence. I thought about all that before I called him stupid, so I didn't feel any risk saying that.

Would you do it? I hope not. You'd be dead.

Yeah, all these guys do that (minimize risk). They aren't gung-ho nuts, they are taking calculated risks with their lives and minimizing it however they can. Otherwise they'd die the first time. But still, free soloing (climbing without ropes) is so dangerous that they almost all die young anyway. All it takes is one hand hold to give way and you are gone.

This jump we are talking about took two years of preparation to minimize the risk, they are great risks but they go into them knowing them well and preparing for them.

I don't think this particular jump is more dangerous than free soloing. There's a lot less that can go wrong with it in comparison.