We’ve seen some fairly crazy swings built by some fairly crazy people recently, like this three-story 360 degree swing built by mad scientist Colin Furze. But “the ULTIMATE mega swing” in the above video, well, now we’re just talking about downright insanity.
The magnificent sky swing—which comes via Sploid—is the work of four Austrian skydivers who “just wanted to go bigger.” And with a rope length of 410 feet at an altitude of 5,900 feet, go bigger they did indeed.
“You have this acceleration in another direction, unlike anything you’d experience with a normal BASE jump or skydive,” said Dominic Roithmair, one of the skydivers who originally came up with the idea for the swing. “We were initially all a little skeptical about whether it [would] work at all,” added Marco Waltenspiel, another skydiver who also dared to join the playground in the sky.
The skydivers also mentioned that one of the strangest aspects of the mega swing, aside from the sensation, was that there was very little noise. The fact that the swing utilized two hot air balloons instead of planes, and a swing—made of the ever-quiet wood and rope—meant that they dropped out of the balloon’s carriage, soared through the air and then jumped, all without the sound of airplane engines or kids asking who’s next? in their ears.
It’s hard to imagine topping this swing as a sky stunt, although there was that guy who jumped out of a plane without a parachute. Maybe all these folks can get together for a playdate and surf a space volcano or do something else that will make all of our palms very very sweaty.
What do you think about this mega sky swing? Would you go for a ride, or are you happy hanging out on the monkey bars? Let us know in the comments below!
Images: Red Bull
