Thread: No fear?

Eskil Ronningsbakken: the daredevil who balances on the edge of 1,000ft cliffs in Norway - Telegraph

Originally Posted by Salem

Eskil Ronningsbakken: the daredevil who balances on the edge of 1,000ft cliffs in Norway - Telegraph

Feh. That's nowhere near as difficult as slacklining. All Mr. Unicycle seems to be doing is staying in one place.

(Oh, and that's Dean Potter. In other words, no chance in hell that it's fake. That's par for the course for that guy)

My opinion is they're all morons and the number of factors beyond their control makes them less daredevils and more people who suck at committing suicide.

If I were to kill myself, I'd make sure it was nationally televised as a daredevil stunt: "Fearless man attempts to cut through jugular without dying."

Originally Posted by SlyMaelstrom

My opinion is they're all morons and the number of factors beyond their control makes them less daredevils and more people who suck at committing suicide.

They're definitely fun to watch, though. Ever hear of Dan Osman? He performed insane free-solo climbing for years and then died because of a rigging failure while roped (he was trying to test the limits of dynamic climbing cord by taking multi-thousand-foot falls). How ironic that he free climbs with no consequences and then dies while roped up.

EDIT: But seriously, if you can stand still on a unicycle, it's not hard to stand still on a unicycle while on the edge of a cliff. I think the only thing you'd worry about is a sudden gust of wind.

Originally Posted by brewbuck

EDIT: But seriously, if you can stand still on a unicycle, it's not hard to stand still on a unicycle while on the edge of a cliff. I think the only thing you'd worry about is a sudden gust of wind.

That's absurd and I'd say either you're very brave or are just being very naive at the moment. The difference between those two things are exactly what the topic of this thread states... fear. I can stand up on my feet pretty darn fine... hell, I can even do a jig or the funky chicken... but it's not going to convince me that I should go stand on a ledge the width of my foot or less because I an sensible enough to say "You know... I've fallen down before, but conveniently I've never put myself in a position that when I've fallen it would certainly kill me."

Originally Posted by SlyMaelstrom

That's absurd and I'd say either you're very brave or are just being very naive at the moment. The difference between those two things are exactly what the topic of this thread states... fear. I can stand up on my feet pretty darn fine... hell, I can even do a jig or the funky chicken... but it's not going to convince me that I should go stand on a ledge the width of my foot or less because I an sensible enough to say "You know... I've fallen down before, but conveniently I've never put myself in a position that when I've fallen it would certainly kill me."

Well, I wouldn't do it myself... What makes these people different, apart from their strange need to risk their lives in crazy situations, is how they handle their fear. I couldn't do that without literally quaking, and that would be certain death. I don't think these guys don't experience fear, but they are able to control it to such a degree that their physical performance is unaffected by it.

At that point, you really are no more likely to suddenly fall than if you were practicing in your driveway. The consequence of a fall is vastly changed, but the likelihood of the fall is not.

I'm not saying it makes any sense, or that people should do it. But I don't think unicycle man is in any significant danger unless his equipment fails.

As they say in mountaineering, "Do not fall."