Do you remember how excited everyone in Hong Kong was when Batman leapt off IFC 2 in “The Dark Knight”? We do. But, just like on-demand streaming, drone cameras, and online food delivery, illegally tempting gravity in Hong Kong isn’t exactly groundbreaking anymore.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen countless people using Hong Kong’s vertiginous skyline as a novelty backdrop to their daredevil antics, whether it’s skyscraper parkour or just plain ol’ rooftopping, and honestly, our interest in adrenaline junkies has wa(y)ned.
But, we have to admit, we’ve never seen anyone BASE jumping in the city centre before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRo4fC_42XM
Enter BJ Johnson, Wes Burrows, and Locklan Gilbert. Sometime last week, these three Aussie blokes launched themselves off the roof of a high-rise residential building in Tin Hau, and parachuted to the football pitches in Victoria Park, as seen in a video shared by local student James Sight (who runs his own rooftopping Youtube channel, Illsight).
A few shorter, stomach churning POV videos were uploaded to the BASE jumpers’ individual Instagram accounts:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSBNIJJDrxA/
And some very photogenic, but still super illegal snaps of the trio parachuting over Victoria Park also made it into the interwebz:
While we’re not thrilled about people potentially endangering their lives, or the lives of those around them, we have to begrudgingly admit this is one of the cooler stunts we’ve seen. For one thing, they actually have safety equipment (i.e. parachutes and helmets), unlike that one guy who inexplicably pretended to skateboard off the edge of the government offices just to advertise a watch.
Although, it should go without saying — don’t try this at home. Or on top of anyone else’s home, for that matter.
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