I hate his movies but like his attitude about French taxes.
Posted on 01/09/2013 7:55:14 AM PST by BenLurkin
What was supposed to be a thrilling ride down a ski slope inside a giant inflatable ball ended in tragedy for the two Russian men inside.
The transparent plastic ball -- called a zorb -- veered off course and sailed over a precipice in the rugged Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia.
The man who died, 27-year-old Denis Burakov, was with friends at the Dombai ski resort, where they frequently went snowboarding, on Jan. 3 when he decided to take a ride in a zorb being operated next to a beginners' slope. His friend Vladimir Shcherbakov joined him.
An eight-minute video taken on Burakov's phone by one of his friends shows the two men being fitted into harnesses inside the zorb, which consists of two polyurethane balls with a layer of air between them. The zorb is then released to roll down the hill, the two men spinning inside.
But the zorb bounces off of the intended path, and a man waiting for it at the bottom of the hill tries in vain to catch the ball before it pops over a rocky ledge and disappears down a gorge below Mount Mussa-Achitara.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Ban Zorbs. Execute anyone who mentions personal responsibility.
Vladimir, hold my vodka...
Is the life expectancy of Russian men still 47 years?
Time to legislate mandatory parachutes in Zorbs.
Short Video of the incident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19gFJnrmiO0
Comes with barf bags?
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.
Rolling down a mountain in an overgrown beach ball....What could go wrong?
We used to roll down a small hill inside a tractor inner tube into the local river. A fun time.
They put you in the barf bag.
Geez, what could go wrong???
Gravity. It’s the law.
And you would want to make a basketball of yourself because?
Like ZZTops ‘Master of Sparks’
Truly heroic effort on the part of the “catcher” to avert tragedy at the base of the run. The man ran like a deer over deep snow trying to deflect their course, but to no avail.
I hate his movies but like his attitude about French taxes.
Geez, what could go wrong???
Don’t try this at home kiddies - this is best left to trained professionals.
The lyrics look like they could have been in a Blue Oyster Cult song!
Yes, but there is a serious flaw in the design of their Zorb course.
Their best album
Who wouldn’t want to roll down a snow covered mountain into a rocky abyss in a giant inflatable barf bag?
Is that Gerard the Hutt?
Get Down with Gravity.
2013 Darwinovich Award Winners
It would take a heart of stone not to laugh. Too bad they didn’t video the whole ride downhill.
Stupid is as stupid does. Not only does this not look like the least bit enjoyable, any idiot can see the obvious dangers. My guess, since it was in Russia, that lots of Vodka was involved, by everyone involved.
You play schtuppid games, you vin schtuppid prizzes
I’ll say. He was really moving to catch them/block the path. A heroic effort.
No shiite. What could go wrong with a short downhill course that ends at the edge of a precipice?
In Russia, beginner's slope next to ender's slope.
To die for... entertainment.
In the immortal words of Daffy Duck, great trick, but I can only do it once.
Actually, it is a lot of fun, and there are dozens of Zorb runs in the United States. None of which have a deep gorge at the bottom of the hill.
In some places, you can choose a “water zorb”, where they put water into the ball with you, and it’s like a water slide.
I haven’t done one of these yet, simply because a single run is very expensive everywhere I’ve been that has them. More expensive even than the zip lines, which are usually pretty expensive, because of the insurance.
But I’ve watched videos of people doing this, and they are all having a blast. And I spoke with one woman who did it who loved it and said she’d do it again.
Tragic for their loved ones
Entertainment for freepers
Seems like I’d get pretty dizzy. I’ve done some of the longest and highest zip lines in the world in Arenal, CR and did not enjoy them...scared of heights, I guess. Same with hot air balloon. Terrified the entire time.
We had a fifty gallon drum with the top cut out of it. Great times.
I did my longest zip line in Tulum, Mexico. 1.5 miles, 100 feet above the ground. Can’t recall what the longest run was but, I’m going to Tahoe this summer and ride that one.
Love zip lines.
The zip lines in Arenal are in a beautiful setting and the Arenal area of Costa Rica is great for adventure travel. The zip line experience had about 6-7 runs through the mountains and the longest one is about a mile, I believe.
Yeah, looked it up and would love to go...for the women...
Dumb ways to die....so many dumb ways to die...
The good news is he’s got a dead-sure case for a refund.
More stupid human tricks.
Here’s a video of the one I rode. (I’m not in the vid)
I’m pumped thinking about this again.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=qSKaqCsahIY&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DqSKaqCsahIY
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.