Enter 'The Devil's House'

December 17, 2021 9:08 AM

In a challenge that redefines the limits of wingsuit flying, see Sebastián Álvarez fly in and out of Villarrica, one of Chile's most famous volcanos. [Single Link Red Bull]
posted by chavenet (27 comments total)

Oddly unimpressive.

I mean you are not going to find me attempting something like that and the bravery/madness is remarkable but visually it was kind of a head scratcher. When they fly down slots and under bridges that seems more impressive. I am sure this is logistically complex but still I am left with a feeling of "so what."

It sometimes feels like we live in a era of boredom, of having to dream new "adventures" ala "first person to ski across Antarctica alone with a blindfold" meanwhile there are adventures galore, unheralded, being committed by "immigrants" making their way to the new New World.
posted by Pembquist at 9:59 AM on December 17, 2021 [11 favorites]

There must be a part of the brain that I'm lacking/they're lacking that lets them leap out of a helicopter from a great height. I have a hard time mentally jumping down more than 4 or 5 feet.

Also: my brain doesn't like me going that close to volcanos.

In conclusion, my brain is wired to prevent me from doing anything more thrill seeking than a light jog. I wonder if Red Bull sponsors light jogs?
posted by Joey Michaels at 10:17 AM on December 17, 2021 [4 favorites]

I don't understand how he gets so much lift with so little surface area. But, it sure is neat.
posted by eotvos at 10:28 AM on December 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

One of the tells of the level of skill involved in this kind of extreme-niche athletic thing, is that as inherently fast as the intended flight is, that even still the aborted ones are aborted basically immediately. Afterwards there's the statement of too much smoke, or wind is wrong, or whatnot, but in the actual split-second Nope decision as opposed to calling back to crew, it's surely all intuition, with an amount of unconscious proprioception tied into a projected speed and distance sense that it's really weirdly amazing that even some slim minority of brains can do.
posted by Drastic at 10:37 AM on December 17, 2021 [4 favorites]

Any idea who sponsored that video?
posted by Joan Rivers of Babylon at 10:39 AM on December 17, 2021 [13 favorites]

Agreeing with above - I don't envy certain kinds of sponsored extreme athletes, with the constant pressure to come up with ever more envelope-pushing feats.
posted by gottabefunky at 10:40 AM on December 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

There may be reasons why this is a technical achievement, but it’s not as cool as 10 years ago when Jeb Corliss grinded the goddamn crack (start at t=1m15s for the money shot) or even better 7 years ago when Uli Emmanuele threaded the motherfucking 10 foot needle. (start at t=1m26s if you want the juice)
posted by lalochezia at 10:41 AM on December 17, 2021 [6 favorites]

MetaFilter: oddly unimpressive.
posted by doctornemo at 10:51 AM on December 17, 2021 [4 favorites]

I'm curious about some of the footage, which looks like it was shot just in front of the flying man, but farther away than a GoPro. Did he have another camera on a stick? At 3:24 there's a fuzz on his helmet.
posted by doctornemo at 10:56 AM on December 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

Those are amazing feats, lalochezia!
posted by doctornemo at 10:57 AM on December 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

I’m waiting for the talent agency performance where the person drinks a bucket of gasoline and then swallows a lit match. “WOW!!!” “Yeah, but I can only do it once…”
posted by njohnson23 at 11:08 AM on December 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

not sure how a helmet is useful.
posted by j_curiouser at 11:22 AM on December 17, 2021 [3 favorites]

doctornemo: You can see in some of the shots that his helmet's got a camera attached to a thing stick. I think the fuzz is because in the shots from that camera the stick is either out of focus, or perhaps removed in post-production.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 11:33 AM on December 17, 2021 [3 favorites]

Oddly unimpressive? I have to respectfully disagree.

A guy in a suit like he's cosplaying a flying squirrel jumped out of a helicopter and flew, at a top speed of around 170 miles per hour, about 25 feet in and out of an active volcano that contains a (intermittent) lava lake and is also an ultra-prominent mountain.

(If you want to skip all the previews and get to the feature, it starts around 6:25.)
posted by box at 11:50 AM on December 17, 2021 [7 favorites]

This big budget remake of Joe vs the Volcano lacks a certain charm
posted by rouftop at 11:57 AM on December 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

not sure how a helmet is useful.

Probably not very useful to protect against the volcano or crashing into anything large but if he say flew into a small bird or if some small stone got kicked up I'd have to think a helmet would be helpful then.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:57 AM on December 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

I thought Kyle Mooney was still doing SNL.
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 12:06 PM on December 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

Was I the only one who thought of a collapsing neutron star inside of an Einstein-Rosen Bridge?
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 12:25 PM on December 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

It sometimes feels like we live in a era of boredom, of having to dream new "adventures" ala "first person to ski across Antarctica alone with a blindfold"

Somewhat related - Caroline Gleich and Rob Lea completed their ascent and ski down from Antarctica's highest mountain (Vinson) in the last 24 hours. I've been following it because its been a hell of a hard slog and a technically super demanding combination of mountaineering and skiing, and frankly Caroline is a bit of a local legend here in Utah. But to your point here is a summary of current expediations on Antarctica....which led my to Explorers Web which has been a fascinating deep dive in current expeditions all around the world.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 1:30 PM on December 17, 2021 [4 favorites]

Generally these kinds of videos are overlong for effect, and this definitely took its time with the staged glory-shots of him getting into the suit in the hangar, but getting to see the aborted attempts, from Alvarez's perspective no less, kinda demystified this for me in a cool way. Like, he has to be way more death-defying than the general population to attempt this sort of thing, but also has very finely tuned instincts for what he's capable of in the moment and isn't going to push things past his own understanding of his limits. This was wild, even if the result wasn't the most dramatic-looking wingsuit flight I've viewed.
posted by Navelgazer at 1:32 PM on December 17, 2021 [2 favorites]

Super amazing, landscape is incredible. Always impressed with the human ability to "pilot" anything. Does this manuever require a "ground effect," or is this something he can pull off at anywhere in the sky? They never show a full ~5 second unclipped shot of the manuever, which left me wanting more. The first person 3 minute video is worth it.

I wonder what a hangglider could pull off in this environment, or the same helicopter pilot in the video.
posted by abcanthur at 2:28 PM on December 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

BLiNC Magazine Forum > BASE Wiki > Fatality Statistics* > Wing Suit Fatalities (Deaths) by Country and Fatalities (Deaths) from Wingsuits.

*The BASE Fatality Statistics (BFS) is a statistical breakdown of fatalities from 1981 to present out of 374 fatalities (Updated to 24th July 2019).
posted by cenoxo at 5:23 PM on December 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

Jeb Corliss grinded the goddamn crack

That camera dude got tf out of the way.
posted by Literaryhero at 5:45 PM on December 17, 2021 [1 favorite]

Super amazing, landscape is incredible. Always impressed with the human ability to "pilot" anything. Does this manuever require a "ground effect," or is this something he can pull off at anywhere in the sky? They never show a full ~5 second unclipped shot of the manuever, which left me wanting more. The first person 3 minute video is worth it.

I wonder what a hangglider could pull off in this environment, or the same helicopter pilot in the video.
~~~

wikipedia says a wingsuit can reach a 3:1 glide ratio. Sailplanes: 40:1 up to 60:1. Hang gliders: around 17:1.

From How Stuff Works:
Fall Slower and Farther

The average skydiver plummets towards the surface of the Earth at a rate of 120 mph (193 kph) and can soar horizontally at 30 to 60 mph (48 to 97 kph).

Typical wingsuit flyers fall at a rate of 50 to 60 mph (81 to 97 kph) and can jet through the air at 70 to 90 mph (113 to 145 kph) [source: Birdman, Inc.]

so about half the rate of descent as a skydiver, and more horizontal reach.

~~~
youtube: from Wingsuit Angle of Attack

The link goes to 7:40 in the video, showing a multiple exposure of a fast dive, level off, then climb again until the person runs out of speed at the crest of the climb. The rest of the video is interesting, too.
posted by jjj606 at 8:18 AM on December 18, 2021 [2 favorites]

not sure how a helmet is useful.
It's also a handy GoPro mount.

I wonder what a hangglider could pull off in this environment
A hangglider could likely soar the thermal coming off the volcano, if it didn't get tumbled since I bet the turbulence around the cone is gnarly. I guess Álvarez carries enough energy to punch through it.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 11:20 AM on December 18, 2021

not sure how a helmet is useful.

1. Red Bull logo billboard, 2. GoPro mount, 3. bump protector.
posted by jjj606 at 3:04 PM on December 18, 2021 [2 favorites]

Was I the only one who thought of a collapsing neutron star inside of an Einstein-Rosen Bridge?

... probably?
posted by solotoro at 3:57 PM on December 18, 2021 [1 favorite]