Austrian stuntman, Günter Schachermayr attempted another daring stunt last week on his Vespa PX, the Austrian madman attempted to ride the 46km Grossglockner Pass… blindfolded. The 2,500 metre high Alpine pass is an ‘ordinary’ single carriageway road and he’d be sharing it with ordinary motorists. Unsurprisingly it didn’t end too well.
Boys in de hood
Günter had learnt the road and had memorised the 36 switchbacks during three years of preparation for the stunt. He was confident he could ride the pass using radio directions from the safety car in front. Remember, he was doing it blind – try closing your eyes for a few seconds the next time you’re on your scooter (disclaimer – don’t blame us if you die). He was wearing a black hood and due to that and the high altitude, he was also carrying an oxygen cylinder, concealed in a backpack. The roads and surrounding mountains were lined with snow and the temperature was below freezing but he was wearing Therme heated clothing to keep him warm.
All was set for another world record attempt…
Mission aborted
All was going well for the first 25 minutes until he got the radio message “Hey, there’s somebody who wants to stop us!” That’s right, the team had been stopped by the local police at just 14km. Hardly surprising really when you’ve got a masked madman riding blind around one of the twistiest passes in Europe. The police weren’t very forgiving either. Günter has been booked for riding without a helmet and more worryingly for the offence of “Dangerous goods transportation” for the oxygen cylinder.
Günter is currently awaiting his fate and hopes his effort will gain him another place in the Guinness Book of World Records…
Photos and video courtesy of: Günter Schachermayr
Read about Günter’s previous scooter stunts here.
We don’t sell blindfolds or oxygen but have plenty of useful goodies
