8000 feet off the ground in a lawn chair
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUg8pArZbCs
Eric Roner lifted by balloons to 8,000 feet
BASE jumper soars to the heavens in a lawn chair beneath 90 balloons filled with 50 tanks of helium; 'I'm doing it. This is crazy!'
Eric Roner has a point when he asks, “Who hasn’t thought about being lifted up by balloons into the sky?”
That’s because most people who have been around helium-filled balloons probably wondered, at some point, how many it’d require to achieve liftoff, and how amazing the sensation must be.
Most people, however, are too sensible to try to find out.
But Roner, an avid skier and BASE jumper from Northern California, can now tell you that it requires about 90 large and colorful balloons, 50 tanks of helium, “a rickety old lawn chair,” and a parachute.
The accompanying footage reveals how his crazy project came together: the acquisition of equipment, the selection of a suitable location (unnamed), achieving lift-off and, ultimately, shooting the balloons once enough altitude has been gained, bailing and floating softly back to earth.
As for the sensation, Roner provides this commentary:
• “I’m doing it. This is crazy!” (at 292 feet)
• “You’ve got to be kidding me. This is ridiculous.” (1,630 feet)
• “It’s nice up here.” (1,975 feet)
“Wow it really doesn’t get much more peaceful than this.” (2,600 feet)
At about 3,300 feet, the first balloon pops. Roner:
• “That’s a popped balloon. They told me that it would be scary, and yes it is.” (4,300 feet)
Two more balloons pop, then another pops, as Roner quickly ascends. Finally, he has attained 8,000 feet, a safe parachuting height, and begins to shoot balloons with what looks like a shotgun.
Then comes time to release the chair from the balloons, and to release himself from the chair, and skydive to earth, gun still in hand.
Inching closer to ground, Roner laughs goofily, as if in disbelief, and concludes softly, “That was epic.”
