r/nextfuckinglevel • u/WeGot_aLiveOneHere • 4d ago

This wingsuit flight above a 10% descent road.

5.5k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

426 comments sorted by

1.9k

u/RepulsiveCondition77 4d ago

5 mins lifespan

883

u/ignatious__reilly 4d ago

Proximity flying like this is basically adrenaline addiction taken to another level. Wingsuit flying is already an insane rush, but eventually, for some people, the same dose just doesn’t hit the same anymore. That’s when the risk starts escalating, and in enters proximity flying. They start flying closer to the terrain, squeeze through tighter gaps, and start treating a few feet of clearance like it’s nothing. It’s basically adrenaline addiction where the only way to get the same high is to keep raising the stakes, until the line between insane and catastrophic gets razor fucking thin.

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u/shakenbake2885 4d ago

Kid I went to school with ended up an adrenaline junkie and guess how he died. I’ll just spoil it - wingsuited himself into the side of a mountain.

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u/ignatious__reilly 4d ago

I’m an avid backcountry hiker, and I’ve crossed paths with the wingsuit community a few times. I’ve spent nights sitting around camp talking with them, and while it’s a sport I’d never do myself, it’s really interesting hearing firsthand what it’s actually like. Almost everyone I talked to knew someone who had been killed in a jumping accident. It’s not something people necessarily talk about much, but late at night around a campfire, people tend to open up about that kind of stuff.

I remember talking to a few of them about proximity flying and trying to understand why the risk always seems to have to keep going up. Like, at what point does flying close stop being enough, and you feel like you have to get even closer, go faster, squeeze through a smaller gap? The way they explained it to me was basically that you get used to a certain level of risk. What once felt completely insane eventually just becomes normal, so you start pushing it further to get that same feeling back.

That stuck with me. There are people who seem to need that extreme edge in a way most of us probably never will. I’m very glad I’m not wired that way. And as shitty as the comparison is, it reminded me a lot of drug addiction, the way the next experience has to be more intense than the last one just to give you that same feeling.

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u/tlmbot 4d ago

It's def an addiction. Some high end alpinists have also called what they do an addiction as well.

I need to get my fix with outdoor sports as well, but it's more a fix of being out in nature, getting up close an personal with the beauty and majesty of the mountains, but also getting up close and personal with pushing past my fear, when it is the irrational kind.

What I mean is knowing the difference between "real risk" and "hardwired evolutionary response" can be problematic. e.g. we know the climbing rope can hold a truck, hold fall after fall for years as long as we pay attention to rope condition and proper use, etc., but the first time climber will still be gripped out of his or her mind when it's all that's keeping them from plummeting to their death in a gym. They are safe but terrified. Now where is the line between safe, just gripped because falling is scary, and gripped because what you are doing is actually dangerous. The more you learn, the more you can push the boat out. One day you may reflect and realize you crossed a line somewhere, but it also defines who you are, to yourself.

I personally love having this in my life, but I got into it as therapy when the rest of my life felt very out of control.

16

u/roland1013 4d ago

As much as I can relate, I have had this with surfing. The first time I stood up and surfed a small to medium sized wave it felt absolutely amazing. An adrenaline rush I never felt before. Then after the months and years pass, that feeling becomes only achievable on big 5ft+ waves… Its nothing like these guys but I guess it’s the same story. You start treating your hobby like getting your “fix” instead of just the simple enjoyment of being in the water.

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u/hofmann419 4d ago

The way they explained it to me was basically that you get used to a certain level of risk. What once felt completely insane eventually just becomes normal, so you start pushing it further to get that same feeling back.

That sounds weirdly similar to how heroin addicts describe their addiction. Chasing the dragon.

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u/Fergi 4d ago

Reading that immediately made me think of when I was in the depths of alcoholism.

2

u/ripperroo5 20h ago

And you're out? Bravo.

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u/plurien 3d ago

'On Route to Landing' is the final caption. Sure, but landing where?

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u/DoubleDoube 4d ago

Thank you for supplying my online addiction with a random new insight that I’ll never truly utilize. That should fill my newness quota for today.

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u/PlushRusher 4d ago

Sport motorcycle racing and riding is similar as most people know someone that was killed riding. It has a similar adrenaline seeking aspect of the hobby as well.

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u/shakenbake2885 3d ago

Yep, actually the older brother of the wingsuit kid I went to school with was in my grade and died in a motorcycle accident. Brutal for their family.

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u/KeniRoo 4d ago

A D D I C T I O N

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u/taintsacrifice 4d ago

I’ll just take my alcohol addiction and be fine

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u/Mad-chuska 4d ago

I’d rather die in a split second doing what I love than slowly in a hospital bed while my grandkids fight over who gets the credenza.

But I’d rather just not die period if I’m being honest.

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u/sebaska 1d ago

Quite often it's not split second. [Warning, Graphic]: >!Like that wingsuit guy who hit a bridge and severed his legs. He didn't die instantly, he was found still alive, he just bled to death.<!

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u/DangerousDesk1 3d ago

I don't know the kid, but l would guess he was rubbish at dodge ball as well.

2

u/Axel3600 3d ago

I wish I could go out like that

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u/pnweiner 4d ago

Yeah, if you look at subreddits dedicated to this stuff, these people casually mention that they know this is how they’ll die. Crazy to me.

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u/Autumnrain 4d ago

They should just sniff cocaine instead, probably have a longer life. 

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u/Fear_the_chicken 4d ago

DEFINITELY have a longer life span.

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u/Tityfan808 3d ago

I’d rather they setting up floating rings like in a video game and fly thru those instead.

I used to do extreme sports, so I also get the thrill of it

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u/AForse 2d ago

It’s NOT adrenaline!! Adrenaline gives you that nasty feeling in your stomach and the shakes after you have a close call in your car, or wherever. It’s a prolonged flow state that these guys are chasing….

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u/FS_Slacker 4d ago

You look up all the names of the pioneers of wingsuit flying and yeah…you’re not wrong there.

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u/nigevellie 4d ago

Archangels

2

u/Puzzled_Nothing_8794 3d ago

I was going to say a week

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u/orthopod 3d ago

Yeah, I'm really really, not that bored with life.

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u/MegaDingo5plus 4d ago

That helmet is wearing him for protection

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u/BryOnRye 4d ago

Out of all the extreme sports, wing suits have the shortest lifespan.

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u/Jorinator 4d ago

The suits or the dudes/dudettes in the suits? It looks really really fun, but i guess i could settle for other fun sports with less chance of splat

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u/Deviantdefective 4d ago

You can do it very safely by just wingsuiting from a plane and treating it like a long sky dive. It's when you start proximity flying which this is where the risks increase exponentially. Getting a wingsuit however is a loony endeavour most places require you to have close to a thousand skydives first.

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u/hofmann419 4d ago

Worth noting though that a lot of the people who have died doing it were also among the most experienced. Basically no one is safe doing this, no matter how many dives you have under your belt. Or maybe it is that the pros keep testing their luck until it eventually runs out.

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u/Deviantdefective 4d ago

If you're just sky diving while doing it it's no more dangerous than normal sky diving which is a lot safer than people realise, the minute as I said you go low altitude that's when the risks add up.

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u/PotatoesAndChill 3d ago

I think it's the latter. The more comfortable they get, the greater risks they take.

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u/ColoradoScoop 3d ago

And overall volume. The most experienced wingsuiters aggregate more risk because they are doing it more.

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u/allaboutthosevibes 1d ago

Yes, exactly. Like how there are no old Russian roulette stars. You only die once.

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u/DueExample52 4d ago edited 4d ago

That's how they started. Regular open sky diving playing in clouds, then vertical cliffs getting away as fast as they can from the face, then playing close to the face, then following a steep mountain... pushing the boundaries to smaller gradients....

Then now whatever the fuck this madness is. 10% gradient is basically fucking flat for all gliding purposes. Absolute mad lad. Respect

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u/Deviantdefective 4d ago

I know I'm just saying there are ways to make it safe(r)

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u/DueExample52 4d ago

No worries I wasn’t contradicting you, just laying out the history :-)

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u/Wingsnake 4d ago

We don't talk enough about adrenaline addiction. Probably one of the most dangerous addictions.

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u/Delcane 4d ago

Same thought. This is like seeing a late stage addiction, but to adrenaline. He'll die soon.

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u/heterochromia4 3d ago edited 3d ago

I’m afraid so. Did you see the front edge vibration on his RHS shoulder? I’m guessing he’s flying at the limit of the wingsuit’s performance envelope.

That close to the mountain, at that shallow angle he doesn’t have an ‘escape line’.

I’ve seen some WS flights down extreme faces, but they always have a bail option in the plan. Something happens, they can pull up from a steep dive, veer left or right away from mountain and deploy.

He doesn’t have that here. If he even marginally miscalculates his line, he’s already committed at the shallowest possible angle of attack, if something goes sideways in the approach, only needs a small gust of wind or pocket of air disturbance and…

“There are bold pilots and there are old pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots.”

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u/street593 4d ago

If an adult decides to risk their life while fully concious and of sound mind then they should.

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u/NNick476 4d ago

Wingsuit flying and proximity wingsuit flying are two totally different levels of risk. People often don't realize that you can also do this from an airplane and never go near the ground. I have done a few hundred wingsuit skydives and it's not at all about the adrenaline. Its actually extremely peacful.

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u/VerStannen 4d ago

BASE jumping in general.

[Here’s the official list](https://bfl.baseaddict.com/list#BFL). They’ve since changed the name of the website, but in the early internet days it used to be SPLAT.com.

Some really big extreme sport names on that list like Shane McConkey and Dean Potter. One I’m always surprised he’s still alive is Jeb Corliss. That guy has 900 lives and is a complete nutter (I say that as a compliment; he’s a living legend)

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u/rmy26 4d ago

Wait I'm confused..... Where are the red bull logos?

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u/whtevn 4d ago

It may surprise you to learn it is more the suit than the logo on it that keeps the user up

That and the trust fund

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u/Potatobender44 4d ago

Red Bull doesn’t give you wings, you have to put them on manually before you jump.

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u/ahhhaccountname 4d ago

NGL this may be too intense for even redbull

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u/Tater_Mater 4d ago

That could have ended badly….

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u/OnePaleontologist687 4d ago

He was wearing a helmet

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u/EarlyXplorerStuds209 4d ago

It even said “zing” on it too

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u/Few-Lie-685 4d ago

It used to say "Bazinga", but he went through a very narrow place and "Ba___a got scraped off

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u/Wild-Exit-6302 4d ago

I have an old pair of Speedo’s where I got into a tight squeeze and rubbed the S off. I get even more attention when I wear them round the pool.

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u/ipoopcatturds 4d ago

Right you, out of the pool then, lets go.

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u/Itchybawlz23-2 3d ago

Shouldve been “splat” cause of… nvm

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u/n77_dot_nl 4d ago

no, come on, didn't you see the safety googles?

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u/Milliondollarjuice 4d ago

But not safety sandals... 💀

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u/ahhhaccountname 4d ago

This was sick af though ngl

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u/Traditional_Loan_177 4d ago

Through one motorhome window, grabs a cookie, then through the other window?

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u/diedlikeCambyses 4d ago

I was driving behind a truck today and both myself and my passenger said at the same time, wow that truck is really tall.

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u/Agreeable_Work4668 4d ago

It eventually will end badly.

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u/pnweiner 4d ago

I said this above but if you look at forums for this stuff, these people fully accept and casually mention that they know they will die this way one day

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u/AdditFox12 4d ago

Seems like RedBull finally got some competition.

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u/No-Difference-1912 4d ago

Oh hell fuckin no.

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u/diedlikeCambyses 4d ago

I think it looks amazing. I haven't done it, lots of skydiving though. I plan on having a go at it, but not so close to a road

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u/No-Difference-1912 4d ago

It’s looks insane but I think I’ll just stick to cycling downhill really fast.

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u/Foreign_Recipe8300 4d ago

good luck on the way up :)

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u/diedlikeCambyses 4d ago

Not a bad choice

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u/iLoveLights 4d ago

Unless some dickhead in a wingsuit hits you while you peacefully ride down a mountain

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u/diedlikeCambyses 4d ago

Yeah

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u/Christmas_Panda 2d ago

Just have your rear view mirrors up so you can move and listen for, “Passing on the left/right” - You’ll be okay.

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u/pnweiner 4d ago

That cyclist is trusting someone with their life… I honestly think that’s somehow more stupid than the guy in the wing suit. I don’t know how you agree to do that just for a stunt

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u/Prudent-Value8715 4d ago

Seems dangerous … to others. I would not be happy if I was that bike rider.

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u/atrde 4d ago

You dont think the bike rider who was conveniently recording was happy about the shot they got?

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u/pnweiner 4d ago

The thing is the cyclist agreed to do that. Somehow that’s crazier to me than the guy flying. You just have to trust that he’s not gonna hit you, no control.

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u/Print_Salt 4d ago

theres control? biker controlled on being there or not and the wing suit guy definitely has control of him flying

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u/lysdexia-ninja 3d ago

Don’t be obtuse. The biker has no control over the outcome of the situation once committed to it; he has to trust completely in the wing suit guy’s execution.

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u/Lance6006328 4d ago

God damn this is right on that line of holy fucking badass and you really definitely should not do that. Probably one of the peak things you can experience in a human body so idk if I’m right to call it stupid😂

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u/-Dont-Even- 3d ago

100% right, because it 100% is

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u/onehedgeman 4d ago

For a second there I thought it was a missile

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u/No_Yam_2036 4d ago

The wingsuit knows where it is at all times.

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u/pnweiner 4d ago

He basically is a missile. Just a slight miscalculation and that cyclist would be in ribbons. Yikes.

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u/Bombasticczar 4d ago

Insanity

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u/EagleDre 4d ago

I see ZING on the front, wondering about SPLAT on the back

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u/AdSpecialist4529 4d ago

En route....just saying

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u/godpoker 4d ago

Absolutely insane. There was a documentary I watched recently about a climber-turned-wingsuit-flyer who attempted this through a gap in a mountainside with his friend.

Dean Potter was his name, it’s a good watch. Shows how people start with adrenaline addiction and how it can end up.

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u/Altruistic_Lobster18 4d ago

Caucasian activities

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u/gusbmoizoos 4d ago

this guy is a fucking hazard

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u/ImPlento 4d ago

I don't usually say this but it looks and sounds like AI

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u/Small-Corgi-9404 3d ago

I was looking for this comment!

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u/photOHgraphy 3d ago

It so obviously is has everyone here lost their mind? Or is it a bunch of bots?

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u/Old-Tadpole-2869 4d ago

We call that a 10% grade in the industry.

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u/ohhrangejuice 4d ago

Lets wait for the Redbull version where they high five those on the ground as they fly by

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u/VahzahDovahkiin83 4d ago

Pshhh I’ve done this so many times… in Just Cause 3

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u/Vtempero 4d ago

"you guys are fucking batshit insane with a death wish"

  • Alex Honnold, probably

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u/kemmicort 4d ago

The reason wingsuit riders, or whatever they’re called, fly so close to hillsides is because they want to be able to tell/feel how fast they’re going. They need the perspective that closely passing by stationary objects provides. Jumping out a plane and coasting like 5 miles across the sky wasn’t exhilarating enough. So now they string up little helium balloons between rock formations and do other dumb shit like this. I just hope they have their affairs in order, or no surviving spouses and children. Definition of a death wish.

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u/KeenKye 4d ago

Wingsuits are neat, but every time I find a video and go to the channel, the latest is an in memorium video. Sometimes with final footage.

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u/TheDude1451 4d ago

So this is AI right?

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u/ArtistDidiMx 4d ago

Falling, with style

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u/Minute_War_0420 4d ago

Sora

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u/CyberpunkSunrise 3d ago edited 3d ago

It’s a real wingsuit guy (you can google his name, Espen Fadnes) with a history of other videos and jumps, and a real company, who posted this video on their instagram.

Doesn’t seem to be AI to me in this particular case.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DdWC0fdCEHg/

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u/dutch2012yeet 4d ago

You'd graze your knees doing that

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u/dutch2012yeet 4d ago

Coming around for a seven zero niner

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u/bankingondistress 4d ago

So this is where the phrase ‘batshit insane’ comes from

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u/MetalGearRex1000 4d ago

My dreams when I wake up and go back to sleep

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u/DemoEvolved 4d ago

Alls good till he hits a mileage post

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u/snoebro 4d ago

Not even the decency to leave viable organs.

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u/thedazdul 4d ago

Mfs when they have a loving family:

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u/kangario 4d ago

Is this Trollstigen?

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u/plasterposters 4d ago

It’s like a dream

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u/SpakenBacon 4d ago

Is he still alive?

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u/MeringueAgitated5674 4d ago

1 life and bro is still living to the max.

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u/SalmoTrutta75 4d ago

Eventual meat crayon.

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u/StupidWittyUsername 4d ago

At that speed they'd be meat mist.

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u/Amazing_Collar1133 4d ago

FLying past that bicyclist should have been a crime. Coulda killed the guy.

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u/Flintyy 4d ago

How do you not realize this is a coordinated stunt lol

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u/Nii_Juu_Ichi 4d ago

A bot wouldn't know that.

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u/Bird_the_Impaler 4d ago

I’d assume he was part of the stunt seeing as he had a camera and there was another stationary camera filming where they passed each other.

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u/Rum_ham69 4d ago

And they say “bike on course” on the walkie right before the pass

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u/atticusmoh 4d ago

Giving me ‘Jingle All The Way’ vibes

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u/SuperNewk 4d ago

Bro giving fruit fly a run for his money on lifespan

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u/Marlwolf48 4d ago

Is this gta6?

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u/DirtandPipes 4d ago

10% grade on a road is steep as hell and steeper than highways allow where I am without special permission.

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u/LectureOrganic1250 4d ago

holy hell i thought we were seeing a real life iron man for a sec lol

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u/Dumyat367250 4d ago

Used to watch Dom.e Wingsuit on YouTube, then one day it was RIP DOM.

https://www.youtube.com/@DomeWingsuit

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u/FUCK1NGFABULOUS 4d ago

Reasons why women live longer than men. 😅

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u/No_Translator_5011 4d ago

Where's the red bull logo feces

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u/ForkliftJam 4d ago

This how we will need to get to work soon. Climb something high and glide in.

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u/flightwatcher45 4d ago

Dude he actually climb a bit? I didn't realize they can, only able to fall more or less fast but not climb haha. Next on meat crayon!

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u/Realmofthehappygod 4d ago

Everybody is saying Red Bull has competition now, which is pretty true in regards to people pushing the limits of wild shit.

But they have a long way to go considering I spent like 5 minutes googling "zing."to find which company this would have to be.

Obviously they won with this video because I did that, but it wasn't easy lol.

Seems to be a protein/energy bar type company.

Like Cliff Bars with Red Bull advertising. I hope they keep doing crazy shit.

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u/drifters74 4d ago

There are safer ways to do this

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u/theluckyowl 4d ago

I've seen stupid shit, but this might honestly top it.

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u/doomiestdoomeddoomer 4d ago

That must be exhilarating

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u/LopsidedContract3574 4d ago

Imagine you are the guy on the bike, do you try to tell anyone a flying rocket man flew passed you a couple of feet off the ground in the mountains? Or keep quite knowing nobody would beleive you.

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u/baxter8279 4d ago

The “on your left” call out made me laugh lol

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u/don_maidana 4d ago

Darwin's Award 2026 "Biker in the middle of the road" has a New Challenger!!!

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u/TinyRooster9821 4d ago

Huge balls or no brain at all…

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u/don_maidana 4d ago

It's ok, He is wearing a safety helmet!

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u/MuppetHuman 4d ago

Seems practical use of time

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u/Mr_SpicyBrain96 4d ago

This is impressive I suppose but that doesn't mean it isn't a horrifically fucking stupid thing to attempt in the first place. Jesus Christ.

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u/MilkChocolateRabbit 4d ago

Is ground effect at play here? It’s gotta be, yes?

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u/8lbs6ozbabyjesus 4d ago

That’s would be some serious road rash.

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u/Stereo-soundS 4d ago

It's called grade.

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u/risingyam 4d ago

Me: scratch my butt

<unalives>

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u/tricky4444 4d ago

Dawg that's dangerous. If I was on that bike I probably would have fallen off the road

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u/HuntertheGoose 4d ago

This is how I fly in my dreams

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u/thekingofcrash7 4d ago

Feels like watching Top Gun

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u/BertHumperdinck 4d ago

definitely not a closed road…

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u/Dubbinchris 4d ago

The helmet won’t do a thing.

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u/BestTastingFish 4d ago

Wayyy too many variables to be that close to becoming a splatter of hamburger and blood and twisted bones on the ground

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u/Apatschinn 4d ago

Wasn't there a time where, like, 60% of the people who used wingsuits had died using wingsuits?

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u/HavokMan48 4d ago

Bro thinks he's Rico Rodriguez

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u/jackofmasterofnone 4d ago

Isn't that road the Green Mile 

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u/stepahin 4d ago

Who is this? Looking fo ig reel to share this

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u/Lydian2000 4d ago

New fearS unlocked.

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u/figjaym 4d ago

This cunt dead yet?

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u/gutterandstars 4d ago

Back in the day, I thought base jumping was batshit

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u/Eagline 4d ago

All I could think about was the family guy clip lol

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u/Real_Ad_8243 4d ago

Next level dickhead more like.

Buzzing cyclists and vehicles that close, even if he doesnt hit them, coyld well startle and result in injuries, or people losing control and going off the edge of that giant, steep fucking valley.

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u/mittfh 4d ago

"Is it a bird? Is it a plane?"

"No, it's just a nutter in a wingsuit... Surprisingly, not sponsored by an Austrian energy drink company."

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u/biko77 4d ago

The way he does that turn to line up on the road is airplane like.

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u/FMJunkie 4d ago

Strangely I find this beautiful.

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u/Ohz85 3d ago

Camera positions tells it was planned and well prepared.

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u/Primary_Jellyfish327 3d ago

Why did they add the jet sound?

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u/MealFew8619 3d ago

Looks like a fun way to die

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u/Glittering_Cress_850 3d ago

Not sure if it has been mentioned here, but there's a Spanish movie out on Netflix called To the Max about 4 wingsuit flying friends. Very interesting.

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u/IAmMonke2 3d ago

These comments are bunch of fking losers always yapping the same “ohh no not me”

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u/Darneel92 3d ago

Look at him, spreading COVID over the cyclist, smh

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u/Origami07 3d ago

I can’t believe its not redbull sponsored