Record: Vincent Tupin attempted a drop from a height of 25 metres - with a flight distance of around 30 metres. His front wheel collapsed on impact, but miraculously Vinny remained unharmed. Many people agree that super stunts like these characterise freeride sport and push the level. But when does extreme to extreme? When does reckless become tired of life? Jumping from over ten metres increases the risk of serious injury - or, in the worst case, death. We asked scene celebrities and these are their answers.
Clemens Kaudela, Rampage participant
Our sport is becoming more and more extreme, and XXL stunts like this are the result. I don't think that only successful stunts should be publicised - because unsuccessful attempts show how risky such daredevil actions really are. In this example, the attempt went off without a hitch, but it could just as easily have ended very differently.
What surprises me, however, is that very few people measure the stunt with a laser device beforehand in order to better assess whether it is even realistically feasible. Keyword inclination of the landing etc. Of course, this doesn't completely eliminate the risk, but at least it significantly reduces it.
Tarek Rasouli, German freeride pioneer
Extremes are simply part of our sport. Vinny T's stunt was undoubtedly extreme - but by no means crazy. As an experienced Rampage rider, he wouldn't have attempted it otherwise. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with publishing the clip, even if the landing failed. Incidentally, you can also get seriously injured doing small stunts. Btw: Igor Obu already jumped off the ski jump at the end of the 90s, which was probably at least as extreme when you consider what kind of bike he was sitting on.
Richie Schley, freerider from the very beginning
These days, clicks count. I like stunts like this, but I would have liked it if Vinny had waited with the release and perhaps tried the stunt again with an improved setup - and finally stood. But he didn't want to try it again anyway.
Kriss Kyle, BMXer and mountain biker
I don't think it's gaga, but next level. I also don't see a problem with showing the stunt that wasn't done. How crazy would it have been if the footage had remained undiscovered on some hard drive? It's his vision to make something almost impossible possible. The layman might think: "The guy is just mindlessly dropping down somewhere." But that's not the case. Of course he thought it was feasible - and he was very likely to land the thing. Otherwise he wouldn't have even tried. I mean: When you do something like that, you never know exactly how it will turn out - after all, no one has ever tried it before.
Vincent "Vinny T" Tupin, freerider and super-dropper
I thought for a moment about not putting the clip online. But it's too spectacular not to share. I won't do the drop again - I've pushed my luck enough.
Laurin Lehner
Editor
