Man Recreates Up’s Balloon Flight For Real

A man who flew in a lawn chair attached to 120 helium balloons has spoken about the experience. Daniel Boria says he reached 2,000 feet before using a parachute in what was an effective publicity stunt.

Boria originally planned to promote his cleaning company by skydiving into the middle of a chuckwagon race at the Calgary Stampede but was unable to find a pilot to get him above the venue.

Instead he decided to recreate the movie Up by buying 120 giant balloons (each looking to be around 12 to 15 feet high) and around $12,000 worth of helium. While he didn’t practice the stunt first, all seemed to be going well as he took off and he even claims to have been “looking down through the clouds at 747 airplanes”, though that seems a little questionable at 2,000 feet.

Unfortunately for Boria the winds at that height proved his undoing and when he activated the parachute he was blown off course. Instead of landing at the Stampede he drifted a couple of miles south where he broke free of the chair and landed in a field suffering a foot injury. At least as of Tuesday the chair and balloons, which floated away after his ejection, had yet to be found.

Boria was arrested later that evening and reportedly charged with the offense of mischief causing danger to life. Prosecutors are also said to be looking at whether he should face federal charges relating to airspace rules.

While Boria recorded the trip on a Go Pro camera, that footage is now in the hands of the authorities. However, parts of the stunt were captured on video and in the above image taken by local resident Tom Warne (@tomwarne.)