PARASAILER SUCKED IN TO THE SKY

Last Saturday (May 24), in the Qilian Mountains of China, a paraglider was sucked up into the sky by a powerful updraft and reached an altitude of around 8,500 meters (28,000 feet). Paragliding standards usually keep fliers at an altitude below 5,000 meters, but even reaching 3,000 meters is considered impressive. At over 8,000 meters, the temperature drops to around -40°F, and oxygen is extremely scarce. The entire event was caught on a video camera the man had trained on himself. Despite much of his body being covered in ice, he remained conscious and in control of his paraglider, and ultimately landed safely. He has said he doesn’t want to talk about the incident and bring more attention to himself.
* Oh, listen to him all high and mighty.
* He went so high he got covered in ice? It sounds pretty damn cool – like when Iron Man flew too high testing his suit and got covered in ice and his motors froze and he plummeted powerless back to earth and got his foot rockets started at just the last second and … okay, it’s nowhere as cool as that.
* This explains the expression “hailstones as big as paragliders.”
* The worst of it was when he bonked his head on the bottom of a passing airplane.