In just three minutes and during a total solar eclipse, Pedro Burns descended at full speed from the Villarrica volcano to perform a backflip at the exact moment the sun was covered by the moon.
On December 14, Chilean enduro athlete Pedro Burns set a new milestone by running into an Eclipse and doing an incredible back flip at the same time as the skies of southern Chile completely darkened.
The astronomical phenomenon was accompanied by torrential rain that added an extra challenge to this crazy race against time starring three-time Chilean Enduro National Champion and top 20 at the last Enduro World Series.
Burns’ challenge was included in a 3-minute action video where you can experience the frenetic race along a narrow path from the side of the volcano that passes through a dense native forest to arrive at the exact moment of the eclipse’s climax a ramp on which he did a backflip.
The video available on redbull.com is accompanied by a behind-the-scenes production in which Burns describes the biggest difficulty he had in completing this challenge: the rain.
In addition to the weather conditions, Pedro Burns’ helmet was another novelty in this project. Because the action would take place in the darkness. The Spanish company OneTech Media developed a luminic technique that mixes electroluminescent paint and a small battery in the helmet. This provided the light Burns needed to become bright in the midst of a total solar eclipse.
After completing the challenge, Burns commented on the difficulties of a backflip in the midst of the darkness:
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From the start I wanted to take a leap, but I never thought we would have so many complications. We arrived and it was all raining, the floor wouldn’t allow us to get the necessary speed and we thought we wouldn’t make it.
In the end, together with the team, we decided to try it and we started digging and removing the first layer of soil and we succeeded. It really is something that will bring an incredible end to my year. |