Austrian stuntman, Günter Schachermayr literally can’t keep his feet on the ground this year. He’s hardly come down from a recent 4,000-metre freefall whilst sat on his Vespa and he’s already completed another scooter themed stunt. You can watch the video of the latest stunt below.
This time Günter floated high above the clouds whilst sat under a hot air balloon basket on his scooter. Before throwing himself off in a stunt not without incident.
Dangling on a string
A very early 4 am alarm call on June 20th saw Günter and his team making last minute preparations to his Red Bull Vespa, which had been specially adapted for this latest stunt and connected to the balloon’s basket using four fibre ropes and carabiners. The scooter also carried the supply of oxygen he’d need as he approached the hoped-for jump height of over 20,000 feet.
Parachute checked and with Günter wearing his oxygen mask and sitting firmly in the centre of his Vespa the balloon began its ascent at 05:30. The ascent was going well but at 20,300 feet one of the balloon crew members fainted due to a lack of oxygen and fell to the bottom of the basket meaning an emergency descent was put into action.
The two parachutists were only able to jump once the balloon started to lose altitude, otherwise, the atmosphere would be higher than the internal pressure and the balloon would crash.
World Record?
At 20,291 feet (6185 metres) Günter and his fellow parachutist were able to freefall clear of the balloon (which later landed safely and the crew member recovered).
The footage from the stunt has now been forwarded to Guinness World Records for verification.
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