In a word, awesome: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/austrian-daredevil-breaks-sound-barrier-with-record-skydive/article4611689/
I’d been following this story for a while. Not closesly, but I’d been fascinated with high altitude skydiving the moment I came across the old record held by Kittinger, and the photo that captured the moment: http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/10_03/daredevilDM1810_600x400.jpg
So, in honour of these two men - check out the helmet cam video, too: http://gizmodo.com/5951725/first-head-cam-footage-from-daredevils-space-jump - I thought I might do a brief post about crazy feats of courage, stamina and willpower.
I’m hoping top run my first 10k race next summer – the cross-border challenge. A very modest goal, I realize. Especially compared to this: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/02/07/the-marathon-man-365-marathons-in-365-days-for-asthma-sufferer/
If you’re ever stuck thousands of miles from civilization and need a lifesaving operation, just do it yourself, like this guy: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/extreme-fear/201005/the-most-amazing-feat-self-control-ever
This dude was so hardcore it’s hard to even get your head around it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Shackleton
Take 10 minutes and peruse the citations for Medal of Honor winners (http://www.history.army.mil/moh.html) and Victoria Cross recipients (http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/history/secondwar/citations), or the stories of the Righteous Among the Nations: http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/stories/index.asp
This a cool story: http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/travel/journeys/the-bears-of-kamchatka.html. There’s a good documentary on it, too.
Deep cave exploration is an unbelievable test of body and mind: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krubera_Cave. And a good book on the subject: http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Descent-Quest-Discover-Deepest/dp/B007K4OM1C/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1350307097&sr=8-5&keywords=caving
Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF4PN8-2YSk
And finally, a figure who’s so renowned it’s perhaps easy to forget he was a real person who faced mortality with iron resolve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF8k8hpyp_A
