Extreme athlete Lorne uses umbrella to skydive
According to foreign media reports, an extreme athlete recently performed a daring stunt in Southern California, USA, mimicking the fairy nanny from Disney's musical film Mary Poppins by using a large umbrella for skydiving from high altitude, which looked quite perilous.
The report said that professional alpine skier and base jumper Eric Lorne carried out this "death-defying skydive" over Encinitas, California. Lorne strapped himself to the bottom of the umbrella and ascended by riding a hot air balloon. After counting to three, Lorne detached from the balloon and began descending using the umbrella.
Initially, the descent went smoothly, but the situation changed dramatically in less than 10 seconds. Air pressure caused Lorne’s umbrella to flip over, and the canopy was torn apart, making the descent suddenly uncontrollable. As a result, Lorne had to abort the plan and land using a backup parachute.
After landing safely, Lorne said, “This experience was really fun, thanks to the idea of the fairy nanny.” He also joked that umbrella skydiving could even inspire NASA, and perhaps the technique could be widely adopted in a few years.