Stranraer BMX athlete takes sport to new heights in new stunt
Kriss Kyle, 31, performed BMX stunts while 2000 feet in the air suspended to a hot air balloon.
Last updated 13th Apr 2023
A Scottish BMX legend has taken his sport to literal new heights in a gravity defying stunt thousands of feet in the air.
Red Bull Athlete Kriss Kyle has spent nearly three years building up to this project that saw him perform BMX stunts in the sky.
The 31-year-old from Stranraer will release a video today alongside the Red Bull team, of the pioneering stunt.
Attaching a full-sized skate park to one of the world’s largest hot air balloons, Kriss was taken 2,000 feet above towns and countryside with his BMX to showcase a ground-breaking array of audacious tricks.
Once suspended in the air, Kriss did what he does best with the BMX.
What started off as a scribble on a post-it note became a reality, but only after years of training and preparation plus months of waiting for the perfect conditions to do the stunt as safe as possible.
Kriss had to face his own fear of heights to film the stunt and ride against the clock to beat gravity and weather conditions.
A rare combination of high atmospheric pressure, cold and dry conditions, along with surface wind speeds of less than 3 mph were needed.
The Red Bull athlete said: “I’ve been dreaming of this project for so long, but the height factor has always felt like a massive weight on my mind.
“I’ve had to push past my fears several times before on Red Bull projects, but nothing has compared to this.
“Having to climb over the edge of the basket to get down to the skatepark underneath was such a crazy experience.
“At 2,000FT you’re so high up it almost doesn’t feel real anymore.”