A young aeronautical adventurer entered the record books last month as the first person to ascend into the sky while standing on top of a hot air balloon.
The breathtaking feat was organized by Remi Ouvrard, whose father piloted the vessel 1,000 meters into the air to set the audacious record.
Working with a team of 30 people, Ouvrard had been preparing for this act of derring-do for months, involving lots of practice on a tethered balloon and on the hard ground.
In order to achieve this stunt, Ouvrard strapped a wooden board to the balloon upon which he had bolted an ordinary metal garden chair. Wearing slick jeans, T-shirt, trainers and jacket, the 26-year-old kept a cool head as he and his team achieved their endeavour at the first attempt.
To celebrate such a gravity-defying event, Ouvrard did a little dance on the top of the hot air balloon; a movement he is now calling the ‘dance of the skies’. He celebrated his success in traditional balloonist style, with a glass of champagne on the top of the balloon.
As far as his next stunt goes, the world is this thrillseeker’s oyster; having conquered the canopy of the balloon, he might try to swing from the bottom of one, or to create a swing between two balloons. Fans of death-defying record-breaking capers will have to watch this space.
If you want to experience for yourself the delight of aeronautical adventures (albeit from the comfort of the basket) – and the traditional champagne toast of the ballooning community – we offer hot air balloon flights in Bath, Bristol and other parts of the South West.
