HOO BOY, this is a good one. So last year, a stuntman from England made the first (actual, ie real) wingsuit landing without deploying a parachute when he “flew” (fell with style) into a stack of 18,00 cardboard boxes. You can see a video of that wingsuit jump with no parachute here. Wingsuit flying is rapidly becoming the sport de jour for the young extreme athlete, which means as more and more people start doing it, innovation is going to expand exponentially. Many are already pushing the limits by flying through caves and other daredevil-y things of that nature.
Well, this French dude is trying to up the ante by cruising into a big lake at terminal velocity and surviving. The fine print in this YouTube description says a lot of stuff about professionals, safety, preparation, supervision, blah, blah, blah, and gives bunch of shout outs to the people on the ground, including the city the jump took place in and a bunch of sponsors. We’ll go ahead and call that Tip #1 that something is not quite right with this video.
Here are some more highlights:
:02 – Sick faux-hawk, bro.
:30 – Total bro explanation of physics. I’ll blame it on the language barrier (IF THAT’S EVEN YOUR REAL NAME!).
:43 – Bros in parking lot pointing at stuff.
1:00 – EURO RED SPEEDO PHOTO BOMB ALERT. Classic Italian background bro.
1:04 – Thoughtful silhouette of bro athlete contemplating mortality. Bonus: time lapse.
1:19 – Stock morning shave shot. Sick red pants, bro.
1:25 – Wait, nevermind, they’re shorts, bro. Carry on.
1:45 – Bro launch.
2:24 – Touchdown in Lake Garda. Commence with the bro celebrations.
Obviously, the camera work and editing at the crucial moment give this video a suspiciously fake feeling. If we want to get meta about it, the video was posted by World of Wingman, which is not a wingsuit manufacturer or magazine or energy drink. Nay, it’s a European “male grooming” product company and they only have one video posted to their YouTube channel. So, is this an actual video of a guy wingsuiting into water without a parachute, or a marketing scheme to sell grooming products to hairy Euros? I think that question can be answered by reviewing the video highlights above at :02, 1:00, and 1:19.
What do you think gentle readers? Real stunt or stunt marketing?
