Today, in crazy things people do for world records, comes this video of a man named Laso Schaller. The Brazilian-born adventurist jumped off a 192.9 foot cliff in Switzerland, landing in a small area of water adjacent to a waterfall. He survived, obviously.
Here’s a pretty awesome GIF from Redbull.
To “soften the landing,” Schaller’s crew used oxygen tanks in the pool and aerated the water. That’s actually kind of fascinating. Unfortunately, they could only do so much, and Schaller hurt his right leg upon hitting the water.
The noise was deafening – akin to a gunshot. He overshot the aerated water, landing in the harder water in the centre of the pool. His canyoning companion Jörg quickly rappelled down as others swam out to meet him. After just a couple of seconds underwater, he emerged triumphantly, then swam over to shore for a medical check. The landing, although clean, pulled his right leg out, possibly slightly dislocating his right hip for just a second or two. But after a quick lie-down on the stretcher, and an examination by the medic, a smile broke over his face and everyone knew he was all right – and that he’d just done something no one ever had before.
Redbull has a number of high def photos and GIFs of the world record, if you’re so inclined. This one in particular is my favorite. If you look closely, you can see Schaller mid-jump.
(via FTW)
