I'm not usually afraid of heights, but watching this climb, even on video, is absolutely dizzying.
It is all the more amazing because Dan Osman, a climbing legend in his day, swiftly scaled this 400-foot-plus cliff without ropes or any other kind of safety mechanism. Whatever you think of the wisdom of doing something like this, you have to admire the sheer athleticism of Osman's feat.
Sadly, like so many other practitioners of extreme sports, Osman met an early death, in 1998 at the age of 35, while practicing his extraordinary version of fun. Ironically, he died while "rope jumping," in which one jumps from a cliff and is caught by a safety rope.
It was, in the end, a failure of a rope that did him in.
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That is just pure insanity. My hands started sweating watching this. Too bad he died so young.
ReplyDeleteI can't even climb to the third step on a ladder!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think that when we die doing what we love, there should be no regrets.
Dan, now that you have angel wings, you're golden.
MaryAnne