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| Skateboarder 'bomb drops' from Las Vegas landmark |
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| The Associated Press (apwire) |
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Published 2006-04-07 15:36 (KST) |
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KATHLEEN HENNESSEY
LAS VEGAS
A daredevil skateboarder dropped 28 feet (8 1/2 meters) from the Hard Rock hotel-casino's neon guitar sign, landing on a massive ramp and setting the world record for highest ''bomb drop,'' his promoters said.
''That was the scariest ... thing I've ever done in my life,'' said Danny Way, who is best known for his 61-foot (18-meter) leap across the Great Wall of China last summer. ''I'm lucky I'm alive.'' The previous record for the skateboarding stunt, in which skaters free fall onto a ramp and land on a board, was held by Adil Dyani of Norway, who dropped 12 feet and 3.6 inches (3.7 meters) onto an 18-foot ramp in 2004, according to the Guinness Book of World records.
Way started the stunt from a platform hanging from the massive sign and landed a roughly three-second free fall on his second attempt. He quickly slid off his board to keep from zipping onto a quarter pipe constructed opposite the landing ramp.
Way, 30, said his technique was to ''go as you feel'' and insisted on going ahead with the trick despite learning earlier in the week that the sign was 16 feet (nearly 5 meters) taller than he thought.
Way's team scrambled to raise the ramp 12 feet (3 1/2 meters) _ cutting Way's free fall to about 28 feet (8 1/2 meters) _ and constructed a platform hanging from the sign at about 78 feet (23 1/2 meters). They postponed the stunt a day to finish construction.
The day before the stunt the father of two boys who describes himself as a ''mellow guy,'' was rethinking his decision.
''Obviously, it's not in my nature to walk away from something, but there's got to be a fine line of what is possible and what's so ... dangerous that you gotta go, 'OK, that's all that's possible, here,''' said Way.
Way's Hard Rock drop is his mosthigh-profile stunt since leaping over the Great Wall on a fractured ankle last summer. In 2004, he set a skateboard jump world record for distance _ 79 feet (nearly 24 meters) _ on a mega ramp he created at the X Games, and in 2003 set the height record of 23 1/2 feet (7 meters).
Way, who grew up in Southern California steeped in skateboarding culture, has been criticized by some for stealing the spotlight with Evel Knievel-type stunts and overshadowing street-style skateboarding.
Way says ''whatever'' to the criticism. He admires Knievel, who once attempted to jump the fountains at Caesar's Palace and wound up in a coma.
''I respect Evel Knievel, he's done a lot for alternative sports.
He's motivated a lot of people and given people courage and confidence,'' he said.
Thursday's stunt was sponsored by a couple of mobile communications companies.
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©2006 OhmyNews
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