and the next darwin award winner is

Think of it as evolution in action.

One of my friends did something similar 5 years ago, and has been having back problems ever since.

Considering the fact that he's only 25, illustrates how dangerous this thing is, EVEN IF THE BUNGEE CORD DOESN'T RIP.

Coming to a county fair near you....

Maybe it's natural selection having fun.

This is a sign of too much youtube... I actually thought they were going to launch her right into the side of the hill.

lol...

http://www.smh.com.au/news/unusual-tales/stuntloving-stude...

i probably shouldnt laugh.

Snark all you want, you know this looks like an awful lot of fun and you know you want to do it.

I would have liked to see what happened when she slowed down and did a face plant into the ground. I feel robbed..

That looks like soooooo much fun. I did something like that back in the day, but you were strapped into a circular cage, and they would launch you straight up in the air. Hell, I'd even settle for just taking that quad out for a spin.

I've actually been there before. They always have huge parties there, and the line for that thing is ridiculously long. Which means I've never actually done it. Which means I'm bitter. It's in a little canyon near Springville, Utah.

saw this on kottke.org a few days ago. looks like a lot of fun. but i hope she's wearing a back brace. and i shudder to thing what her neck feels like afterward. heh.

My father was lauched nearly off a cliff by a giant rubber band. Apparently his brother and sisters found it and tied it between two trees and told him to stand in fromt of it and they *wouldn't* launch him. They lived near an air force base, so maybe they use giant rubber bands for something there.

That looks like a lot of fun, until one of the cables snaps or the launch gets off center and the person goes flying into one of the poles, then to the ground, then back up to the pole, then to the ground again...

Whatever. I'm all in favor of people making their own decisions about how much risk to take. I'd never do it, but if others want to its fine by me.

Further proof that rednecks should not be allowed to roam free.

My underwear feels heavier...

looks a helluva lot of fun to me.. Also yeah ive done the ball cage one that shoots you straight up into the air, while in spain.

...I think the conversation went like this.

Bobby Joe: "I know, we can pull her even farther with the four wheeler."

Bubba: "Does it run?"

Bobby Joe: "Hell! Yes, it runs"

Mary Jane: "Daddy, you would hurt your sister would you?"

Bobby Joe: "Shut up or I'll send you back to the kitchen were a good wife should be."

There are days that I'm not proud to be a member of homo sapiens. This is one of them....

I'm sure this crew did safety calcs and checked the max load on the band before they did this. That's just f-ing nuts.

Oh, how I love the serious ones ...
If this in some way twists the fabric of morality, I'd like to think what you all think of sports. BMX. Comedy. Anything useless, but, eh, funful.

Some friends of mine had something like this growing up in Colorado, with chains on the end. We would chain it up between two trees on campouts and take turns.

It was smaller but had the added danger of slamming you into a nearby tree if the aim was off!

I'm confused... One second I'm rooting for the woman, the next second, the ground. Am I going to hell?

If they let someone go way too soon, before they got to the end of the track, wouldn't her return thrust her right into the ground a few yards from the tractor? Or have I got the geometry and physics wrong?

The physics says that you will go no further than the initial launch site. So as long as they are above ground when they launch you, you are OK.

Of course, a downdraft, and any loss of weight on the upswing (e.g. upchucking that BBQ sandwich and the 2-40oz couragemaker) could wreak havoc with the physics theory.

I just kinda assumed she was gonna face plant off of that one. I'm oddly disappointed.

Man, I'm going to hell.

Gotta love barefoot country gals.

H O L Y FUCK! That's a bit wild.

I've seen things like this at amusement parks, except the ride is vertical and you're strapped into a cage where you sit and it has a headrest.

Is anyone else disturbed that there are five big bubbas and one small female, with the one small female doing the dangerous stunt? The only way this could be worse is if Trixie here was barefoot and pregnant.

Assuming the mechanical bits and pieces are strong enough and there is some redundancy in the system then this is at least safer then the dumbass strapped to the end of the robot arm we saw yesterday.

Now if the robot arm guy would put the arm up on a stand so that there is no way you could ever come in contact with the floor, you might have something almost worth trying.....almost.

I have done this, but it was a different facility, also in Utah. I dislocated my shoulder (don't ask me how) and continual problems with it popping out of place until I finally had surgery to fix it. In other words, I survived. Natural selection didn't work on me; I must be just above the threshold.

No. I'd call myself a young man, but I doubt i'd go on this. That sort of speed isn't accountable for, one wrong knot and you're a greasy smear on the hillside. And I wouldn't trust those hicks to get anything right.

I'm sick of people giving out Darwin awards. The Darwin Award is for people who kill themselves accidentally in some stupid way, before they have a chance to pass on their "inferior" genes. You can't have a Darwin Award unless somebody dies, like in the case NUBE suggests.

Having said that, the local Wal-mart must have been out of helmets and tripods.

To Munch420: I believe the ride you speak of is at a Six Flags. I know there's one in Darien Lake, NY. It IS fun.

I love these redneck-rides.