Career magician, illusionist, and endurance performer David Blaine completed his most ambitious feat yet on Wednesday: floating over the Arizona desert by holding onto about 50 helium balloons.
What We Know:
- The professional daredevil survived his latest wild stunt, titled “Ascension,” on Wednesday afternoon in the Great Basin Desert in Page, Arizona. Blaine flew into the air strapped to 52 helium-filled weather balloons, which he later released to parachute down to his starting point. The entire event was live-streamed on YouTube.
Is it a plane?
Is it a bird?
No, it’s David Blaine! #DavidBlaineAscension pic.twitter.com/H04agMkw2e— YouTube (@YouTube) September 2, 2020
- Before the stunt, Blaine told reporters he only expected to reach 8,000 feet, but he actually made it up to 24,900 feet, about 4.7 miles, before taking the plunge. Besides potentially crashing into the ground in an attempted landing, Blaine also faced other challenges. Blaine faced hypothermia and hypoxia, a condition that occurs when the body’s oxygen becomes scarce.
- This stunt was 10 years in the making. According to Blaine, he had to carry out 500 airplane jumps, earn a hot air balloon license, and learn to read wind patterns in order to make his “dream” a reality. The 47-year old daredevil shared that he originally wanted to complete the stunt by flying over the Hudson River from New Jersey to New York City but he had to scrap that plan due to unpredictable winds in the area. But Blaine said it all worked out for the best because he called his vista “the most unbelievable view in the world”.
- Blaine didn’t strap on his parachute until he was well above the ground, at 8,000 feet in the air. Before he descended, Blaine took deep breaths as he was guided over the radio by safety men. “He’s obviously coherent,” one of the men said as Blaine hooked his oxygen connection up to the balloon structure, preparing to plunge. “Woooooo!” Blaine screamed as he fell.
- At 7,000 feet, Blaine released his parachute and began to float back down to the desert. When Blaine finally reached the desert floor, he released a joyful “ah” and began to run, laugh and clap for himself. “Wow, that was awesome,” he screamed. Afterward, Blaine got into a helicopter, looking as if nothing had happened. “That’s exactly what we rehearsed,” he told viewers.
Blaine shared with reporters part of his inspiration for the stunt, “I want to go where the airplanes fly. I want to go up and become a tiny dot in the sky.” And that’s exactly what he did. You can watch the full stunt here.
