White Line

March 17, 2015 4:07 AM

Michal Kollbek Rides the White Line

Two guys ride the white line
Ryan Seumptewa rides the white line above chicken point in Sedona with a camera strapped to his head.

Flyover of Chicken Point and the White Line in Sedona, Arizona

Via the Huffington Post

posted by chavenet (10 comments total)

Don't do it.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 5:09 AM on March 17, 2015 [7 favorites]

From the videos, it looks like the riders just do that one sliver of the cliff face. How do they get to that point on the cliff face and how do they get down to the bottom?
posted by NoMich at 5:20 AM on March 17, 2015

Nope.
posted by slater at 5:59 AM on March 17, 2015 [1 favorite]

OK so you're done no don't wave your arm what are you crazy just get back off of there
posted by tigrrrlily at 6:44 AM on March 17, 2015

Usually awesome stunts seem awesome, but for some reason this one comes across as terrifying & dumb. Not in a "I'm going to demonstrate that we can do amazing things" way but in a "I'm going to risk getting killed for a momentary, visceral thrill of feeling alive because there's nothing else that will do it for me anymore." It feels like a real first world problem thing.
posted by Going To Maine at 6:50 AM on March 17, 2015 [1 favorite]

Going To Maine: I think the wide angle of the shot does that. Like - "it's a big world, and I'm just a tiny ant that's going to almost fall off a table top".
posted by idiopath at 7:04 AM on March 17, 2015

It's hard to judge from gopros with fisheye lenses, but it doesn't look that steep. The worst seems to be the turn around - don't want to mess that up.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 8:37 AM on March 17, 2015

Pogo_Fuzzybutt, I think you're right, the camera angkle does seems to amplify the sense the riders could slip and fall to their deaths at any second, when the reality is probably a bit less fraught. As for the turnaround, I think the second video has a few good takes on that, especially at 0:52, that show that it isn't quite as exposed as it looks in the first video. I mean it's still extremely exposed, but it isn't like crazy-teens-doing-half-assed-pullups-from-a-70-story-crane exposed.
posted by mosk at 9:45 AM on March 17, 2015

I had to turn off the Ryan Seumptewa video before my palms were too sweaty to work the mouse. It's probably not as steep as it looks, as others have pointed out, but it's plenty steep.
posted by spacely_sprocket at 11:04 AM on March 17, 2015

The wide angle of the first video makes it look much crazier than it actually is. On sandstone like that, you have a surprising amount of grip, so it's relatively safe. I've ridden similar but sharper sloped formations that were too steep to pedal (as in your pedal would hit the rock if you tried) and been fine, although not with the same, um, downside if you were to loose grip and start sliding.

Makes me want to go mountain biking!
posted by inparticularity at 11:18 PM on March 17, 2015