Daredevil Eskil Ronningsbakken takes danger to new heights
16 April 2009
LOOK mum, no net. Here's "extreme balance artist" Eskil Ronningsbakken doing what he does best: pushing his luck, strength and powers of concentration.
The 29-year-old is never happier than when he's riding a bike - backwards, upside-down and near-naked - 1000m above a ravine, or risking a handstand on a trapeze bar attached to a drifting hot air balloon.
But this daredevil is no ordinary stunt man. He's an artist.
"A stunt is something you see in movies, often done with mattresses, safety lines or nets," says Ronningsbakken.
"What I do is draw a picture with vulnerable human beings and their bodies, in the surrounding of mother earth.
"That's the balance between life and death, and that is where life is."
The sometime circus performer says he's inspired by Indian yogis, and that his success has as much to do with spiritual calm as superhuman athleticism. But it's no insurance against the collywobbles.
"'I feel fear, of course I do, we are humans and we have a natural sense of self-preservation.
"However, I must control that before I undertake any new project because that would lead to lethal mistakes.
"If I ever find myself totally fearless then that is when I will stop what I am doing."
Weighing up possible settings for future feats, Ronningsbakken likes the look of the Burj hotel in Dubai. And if anyone can upstage the tallest building in the world, it's him.
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