— Updated on 29 January 2023

WATCH: David Blaine Balloon Ride 24,000 Feet Above Ground

— Updated on 29 January 2023
Garry Lu
WORDS BY
Garry Lu

The idea of a magician in the modern era is pretty… lame. That is unless you’re David Blaine, in which case the world will happily drop what they’re doing to watch you impale yourself, drown yourself, catch bullets in your mouth, and yes, even undertake a David Blaine balloon stunt which involves threatening your own safety and well-being almost 25,000 feet above the ground; without calling you a dork, of course. Because a man willing to do all that for our collective entertainment is more badass than the lot of us combined.

This David Blaine balloon stunt actually required a considerable amount of preparation. With the full backing and support of YouTube in a project he has appropriately titled Ascension, the death-defying operator enlisted an entire panel of specialists and experts to mastermind the practical mechanics behind what is essentially a schoolboy dream made a reality – skydivers, balloonists, engineers, weather authorities… you name it.

Blaine himself needed to jump out of a moving aircraft 500 times in order to earn a pro-skydiver rating, obtain a hot-air balloon pilot certificate, followed up by an “even rarer” certificate so he could lawfully fly the rig of helium-filled balloons, as well as learn how to read the wind.

RELATED: Man Takes Dream Flight In Fighter Jet, Ejects Immediately.

Threats to both Blaine’s success in his upward journey – as well as overall his survival – this time around included:

  • Catastrophic balloon failure (bursting)
  • Hypoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain)
  • Hypothermia (literal freeze up)
  • Selecting a less-than-ideal landing zone for his inevitable descent, hopefully via parachute – which, might I add, he only gets to strap on right before he jumps, meaning there’s a very large and very real window of danger

NOTE: Skip to around 1:53:00 to see the real David Blaine balloon ride action begin.

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Garry Lu
WORDS by
After stretching his legs with companies such as The Motley Fool and the odd marketing agency, Garry joined Boss Hunting in 2019 as a fully-fledged Content Specialist. In 2021, he was promoted to News Editor. Garry proudly retains a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, black bruises from Muay Thai, as well as a black belt in all things pop culture. Drop him a line at [email protected]

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