CNN
—
When BMX freestyler Kriss Kyle was out on a walk with his dogs during the pandemic, he looked up to the sky and saw a giant playground of potential for another of his daring deeds.
The Scotsman has become well known for performing death-defying stunts and this one would be no different.
“I thought I’d use the downtime [of the pandemic] to think of what is next and what has no one done before,” explains the Red Bull athlete.
“I was actually out walking my dogs and remember just daydreaming looking out at the sky and I was like, ‘Oh my God, imagine just a floating skate park in the sky.’”
Despite how crazy it sounds, crazy is what Kyle does and the wheels were set in motion for his most incredible challenge yet – performing BMX tricks on a skatepark hovering 2,000 feet above the ground.
<div data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/video-resource/instances/h_f06076867ed8f54e3233c11232a9f744-h_139dc869e217d44a5bf3a865a4428765-paragraph_84EF67C9-CB44-88A0-B190-9F5929AAE564@published" data-component-name="video-resource" data-editable="settings" class="video-resource" data-video-id="sports/2023/03/16/frozen-lake-wakeboarding-red-bull-spt-intl-lon-orig.cnn" data-live="" data-analytics-aggregate-events="true" data-custom-experience="" data-asset-type="" data-medium-env="prod" data-autostart="false" data-show-ads="true" data-source="CNN" data-featured-video="true" data-headline="Pushing the bounds of wakeboarding above — and below — the ice" data-description="Felix Georgi, Dominik Guerhs and Dominik Hernler have pushed wakeboarding to new extremes. The trio performed unique tricks which could only be performed at the 'Frozen Lake Wake'." data-duration="02:54" data-source-html='<span class="video-resource__source"> – Source:
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/" class="video-resource__source-url">CNN</a>
</span>' data-fave-thumbnails='{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230316100830-red-bull-video-card-image-tease.jpg?c=16×9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230316100830-red-bull-video-card-image-tease.jpg?c=16×9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }' data-vr-video="" data-show-html="” data-check-event-based-preview=”” data-network-id=”” data-details=””>
02:54
– Source:
CNN
The idea took three years from its inception to become a reality and Kyle describes the process as being “a lot harder than what [he] could ever [have] expected.”
Kyle was to be fitted with a parachute which weighed 10% of his body weight and the 31-year-old had to think of new ways to prepare for his ride in the sky.
“I had to start working out with my weighted vest on, lifting weights, a lot of stuff that I would never, ever do, you know, stuff that I’m not used to.”
Laughing, Kyle adds: “With this one, I actually had to gain muscle and actually sort my legs out because they were like little sticks.”
To make matters worse, the bowl he was riding in was not stationary like it would have been on terra firma – the flying skate park was “swinging around, four feet at a time.”
It made for a challenging experience from start to finish and Kyle candidly touched on this.
<div data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/video-resource/instances/h_6b52fd408190cb1ad65d630033c0fc85-h_139dc869e217d44a5bf3a865a4428765-paragraph_8D897798-FBCB-850C-D758-9F593BAABFF9@published" data-component-name="video-resource" data-editable="settings" class="video-resource" data-video-id="sports/2020/02/07/fabio-wibmer-extreme-biking-cycling-austria-to-the-limit-red-bull-spt-intl-lon-orig.cnn" data-live="" data-analytics-aggregate-events="true" data-custom-experience="" data-asset-type="" data-medium-env="prod" data-autostart="false" data-show-ads="true" data-source="CNN" data-featured-video="true" data-headline="Extreme cycling down mountains and the Sacre Coeur" data-description="Fabio Wibmer is taking the idea of going for a bike ride to a different level. The 24-year-old Austrian has over 4 million YouTube subscribers with his insane tricks in cities and in nature." data-duration="02:27" data-source-html='<span class="video-resource__source"> – Source:
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/" class="video-resource__source-url">CNN</a>
</span>' data-fave-thumbnails='{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/200206123809-fabio-wibmer-car.jpg?q=x_0,y_160,h_1800,w_3200,c_crop/h_540,w_960" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/200206123809-fabio-wibmer-car.jpg?q=x_0,y_160,h_1800,w_3200,c_crop/h_540,w_960" } }' data-vr-video="" data-show-html="” data-check-event-based-preview=”” data-network-id=”” data-details=””>
02:27
– Source:
CNN