How the Human Slingshot Works

Adventure sports outfit Negative4 Productions knows a thing or two about high-octane videos. The adrenaline junkies showed the world was it was like to jump into a cloud. Then they moved on to the human slingshot. The video, embedded below, went viral after being posted in June last year. (Its popularity makes sense—again, it’s a human slingshot.)

 

Not surprisingly, a huge amount of planning went into the Human Slingshot. One part of the process that proved strangely easy was convincing athletes actually to do this. After all, being strapped to a board, accelerated from zero to 200 miles per hour, and catapulted 400 feet in the air seems a little crazy to the average person. However, Jimmy Pouchert and Chris McDougall, both sound of mind, leapt at the opportunity. “It’s something pretty much any BASE jumper would want to do,” Pouchert said. In the short documentary below, Pouchert and McDougall share their thoughts on the stunt, the planning that went into it, and random tidbits like how 6Gs of force feels on the human body.

 

—RealClearLife Staff