Earlier today, magician David Blaine completed his latest endeavor called Ascension, where he held 52 helium balloons and floated off into the sky until he reached 24,900 feet before skydiving back to the ground. The stunt was originally planned for NYC, but was moved to Arizona due to the apparent complexity. For reference, normal skydiving altitude is 10,000 feet. Tom Cruise’s HALO jump in Mission Impossible: Fallout was at 25,000 feet, but that was done with an oxygen mask and helmet.

Honestly, this might be the most visually appealing but least physically impressive stunt that David Blaine has done. He’s harnessed to the balloons so there’s little risk of him falling, so the most challenging aspect would be avoiding hypoxia due to the altitude and passing out. And even then he was using an oxygen tank as needed. I’m not saying I could do it, but I think everybody is in agreement that we wish he was literally just holding onto the balloons with his hands like he was in Up. Also, it diminishes it a little since we just saw a little girl fly off into the sky for real on a kite and she did it without a harness or parachute.

Keep going for the full livestream. It’s three hours long though so bring a snack.

Source: Geekologie – David Blaine floats away holding a bunch of helium balloons