Individual traverses slackline 1.6 miles high between two hot-air balloons.
in WTF
Man crosses a slackline 1.6 miles high between two hot-air balloons

V
Hard pass lol
M
At least he’s wearing a harness and tether?
V
Imagine if they weren’t lol
A
They gotta send a skydiver to catch him mid air then lol
V
Imagine being the spotter, hanging off the side of a hot air balloon waiting for some nutjob to fall off a high wire between two balloons, so you can jump to catch them
W
Honestly that sounds like a fun job if it paid well
G
Almost certainly volunteer
H
Idk i dont think you want volunteer work for that kinda safety gig
Z
Yes but what’s the difference between a sky diving fanatic, willing to risk their life every day in crazy high-stakes situations, vs, a professional rescue sky diver, willing to risk their life every day in crazy high-stakes situations? At some point, you are alone and dependent on your own skills to preserve your life.
T
There is no such thing as a “professional rescue sky diver.”
S
Ones livelihood is dependent and ones isn’t. A simple difference, but a massive one
P
Just don’t miss….
D
Don’t give Tom cruise any ideas for Mission Impossible: infinity
F
I didn’t see the harness at first, and I legitimately thought they must have had a skydiver present to save him in case he fell.
N
Same, got that rollercoaster drop feeling in my balls. This is still massively impressive.
A
fast and the furious 67
S
Look up Philippe Petit
P
“Look up! Philippe Petit!” “what?” *splat*
M
Let me introduce you to free solo rock climbing
V
I’ve seen those guys! I have an old buddy that did that. Pure insanity.
S
Just aim for the bushes
C
Philippe Petit went on a tight rope between the twin towers without a harness.
S
Well he didn’t fall so the outcome would be the same… This time.
D
I’m curious as to what would happen if he fell, though. Can the two balloons handle that line between them suddenly being yanked taut?
6
It’s essentially the same thing as the person standing on it. There’d be a momentary spike into the weight due to momentum, but the person hanging off it is the same weight as standing on it.
C
That’s why it doesn’t count
S
Ya, I hate to admit it because like I couldn’t do this, but yet I’m not at all impressed.
H
….and hope it doesn’t fail…
N
Omg okay I didnt see that at first. Hes not a complete idiot.
I
There’s a Penn and Teller bit with a nail gun where Penn says that the whole trick is just memorizing a pattern, and it doesn’t matter what you do around it, the trick remains the same. I’m that bit, he says “it’s like wire walking. Doesn’t matter if the wire is 3 feet from the ground or 300 feet off the ground, it’s all the same trick” it just looks more difficult for those of us afraid to do it. And he’s right, and even knowing that, I wouldn’t come near something like this.
V
You’re forgetting the wind factor. That’s nowhere near the same at this altitude than at 3 feet. Also, both sides are unstable.
C
and depth perception
S
There’s not really going to be much wind to the perception of the people up there in (and between) those balloons.For wind this is better than 3 feet up on a wire between poles. What seems to be the difficult part here is keeping the balloons from coming together with that weighted wire between them.
Z
The wind factor in a balloon is zero. Hot air balloons are giant sails, so it is extremely unusual to have non-zero airspeed. You go where the wind blows, at the speed it’s blowing.
_
Apart from what *vigilantesd* mentioned about high altitude, it’s also important not to trust a magician in that quote. Penn makes the trick look like he needs to perfectly memorize a pattern, otherwise somebody gets a hit by a nail. But Penn & Teller loathe tricks that could potentially get someone hurt, and let their audience know that. He does not need to memorise a hundred nail positions in a sequence in that trick.
I
Yeah, I know, but I didn’t feel like typing that out on my phone also.
T
Not sure im misreading what you wrote but in the nailgun segment, Penn says the trick is memorizing a pattern but its really not at all. The real trick is that the Nailgun he used required pushing down on a solid surface in order to release the nail while he was just pressing the release on his hand (and Tellers crotch) without applying actual pressure, making the nails only come out when he wanted them to come out.
L
> the whole trick is just memorizing a pattern and Rhythm Doctor is the easiest game you’ll ever play
E
Yup!!
S
Come On!
G
I’m not even getting in the balloon. Let alone doing that.
T
I’ve seen this a thousand times and I still don’t understand how the hot air balloons are staying apart. It’s not important….but it bothers me not knowing
M
I had to look up the full video on YouTube to find out! They are actually touching… the balloons are taller and wider than you might guess based on this video.
W
Is that not dangerous as hell?
D
Balloons are inherently dangerous (compared to airplanes or whatever). And yes tethering them together is even more dangerous. What if one has a problem and goes up/down quickly?
V
Not in light airs. If you look at [events like the Albuquerque Balloon Festival](https://www.worldrecordacademy.org/2023/11/worlds-largest-hot-air-balloon-festival-world-record-in-albuquerque-new-mexico-423530), where dozens of balloons are present at once, the envelopes bump and jostle all the time on the ground and just after liftoff. They’re made of immensely strong fabric and, even if they did wear small holes, it wouldn’t have much immediate impact on the performance of a hot air balloon. It’d just be a signal to descend immediately.
A
Thank you for doing the work I desperately wanted but was too lazy to do myself. I liked the guesstimation of the other redditor but it didn’t feel right but I had nothing to go on 😂
A
Woah that seems incredibly dangerous
Z
That was my thought too. I don’t care that people want to risk their life doing something they seem to care about, but how does the slackline not just pull the balloons together? It’d be hundreds of pounds of tension on the rope pulling towards the center and the balloons don’t have anything other than inertia holding them in place. How does it work?
T
I have decided there’s a long pole wedged between them just up out of sight. Is the only thing that makes sense…well that or monkeys pedaling bikes that spin fans to propel them apart
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