While shooting our next short Doc on skydiver Dan BC we met Brad Patterson who told us about his idea to re-create Paul Bonds 1980 human sphere painting (the poster in the beginning of the video). Brad came up with an execution plan and assembled an incredible team that nailed it on the 2nd attempt. Welcome to the world of 3D Formations! The options are limitless and the team will be experimenting with new techniques at Skydive Perris.
#16 The moment you truly understand how lucky you are to be alive
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EPIC MOMENT #16
I’m going to quote Neil Pasricha on this one, the guy who inspired the epic moments list.
“You used to be a sperm. Check out the period at the end of this sentence. That tiny little dot is around 600 microns wide. When you were a sperm you were about 40 microns wide. You had a great life as a sperm but always felt incomplete. The truth is you weren’t whole until you met an egg. And then you two began a nine month project to make a cool new version of you. It took a while but you grew arms and legs and eyeballs and lungs.
For a sperm to meet an egg it means your mom met your dad. But it’s not just them. Think about how many people had to meet, fall in love, and make love for you to be here. Here’s the answer: A lot. Like a lot a lot.
Before they had you, none of your ancestors drowned in a pond, got strangled by a python, or skied into a tree. None of your ancestors choked on a peach pit, were trampled by buffalo, or got their tie stuck in an assembly line. None of your ancestors was a virgin.
You are the most modern, brightest spark of years and years and years of survivors who all had to meet each other in order to eventually make you.
You’re pretty lucky all those people met, fell in love, made love, had babies, and raised them into other people who did it all over again. This happened over and over and over again for you to be here. Look around the plane, coffee shop, or park right now. Look at your husband snoring in bed, your girlfriend watching TV, or your sister playing in the backyard. You are surrounded by lucky people. They are all the result of long lines of survivors.
So you’re a survivor, too. You’re the latest and greatest. You’re the top of the line. You’re the very best nature has to offer.
But there’s more...
Of the millions of places we’ve ever seen in the universe it appears as though Earth is the only place that can support life. The only place! On this planet Earth, the only one in the giant dark blackness where anything can live, we ended up being humans.
We are the only species on the only life-giving rock capable of love and magic, architecture and agriculture, bicycles and democracy, airplanes and highway lanes. We got surf boards, buffets and roller coaster rides, guitar solos, bubble wrap and blockbuster movies.
We got all that. But we only get a hundred years to enjoy it. Every single person you know will be dead in a hundred years. Life is so great that we only get a tiny moment to enjoy everything we see. And that moment is right now.”
Photo by Francesca Ruberto
Where We Thrive
2014 was a reminder that a worthy pursuit is less about accomplishing the goal and more about the incredible life you’re given when you strive to accomplish it. I tend to set my goals much higher than I can reach and see what happens when I try. The hard part is to not be disappointed when you fall short and remember that you’re much higher than where you began.
At the end of the day we’re having a blast here at LU, dreaming up new ways to inspire and bring this incredible community together. We will most definitely live 2015 unbound because adventure is where we thrive. As a result every year, every day & every second is full of possibilities.
Photo by The Watch Judge
Epic Photography Campaign
The sheer cliff wall or snowy, wind-blasted peak of an icy mountain is a rough place to create large-scale photographic works of art, but that’s exactly what Swiss photographer Robert Bösch does. His photos can involve hundreds of mountain climbers braving difficult conditions to get the perfect shot.
Great Blue Hole, Belize // Surreal Place #23
This massive sinkhole measures almost 1000 ft in diameter and is over 400 ft deep.
New Poster Series
Had a great time designing our new posters with the talented Sam Larson.
Ball's Pyramid, Australia // Surreal Place #22
Jeb Corliss flies towards the tallest volcanic stack in the world at 1,844 ft.
Photo by Jeb Corliss
#15 Breaking a self-imposed limitation
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EPIC MOMENT #15
I have run into many versions of limitation in my life but they were usually self-imposed. This is a result of allowing irrational fears and doubt to overthrow my confidence and belief. I began to change after the first time I heard a well known analogy:
To keep an elephant in place, handlers use small ropes tied to the ground with tiny sticks. The elephant can easily break away from the rope but it does not. That's because when the elephant was younger and smaller the same size rope was used to tie them and, at that age it’s enough to hold them. They try to escape for a while and eventually give up. When they are older and stronger they still obey the limitation, even though it no longer exists.
These days instead of accepting that I’m tied down; I’m never afraid to tug on the rope a little. I often find that my limitations are not real, just a baby-elephant-like conditioning.
Photo by Keith Ladzinski
Five Billion Star Hotel
#14 Accomplishing the impossible
#13 Skydiving through a cloud
Lençois, Brazil // Surreal Place #21
During the rainy season this area of large white sand dunes just outside of the Amazon Basin collects large amounts of water creating beautiful lagoons.
Photos by Peter BABILOTTE
Split Pinnacle, China // Surreal Place #20
Afterglow - A Ski Film
Sweetgrass Productions are known to impress with visually stunning videos but this is on a whole different level. Plus they were nice enough to let me use their footage for "We Live Unbound", love these guys!
#12 Embracing your inner child
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Epic Moment #12
An important part of being an adult is holding onto your inner child. There was a time when your mind had no limits. Your thoughts were wild and your ideas were always within reach. That childish optimism gets damaged by life’s failures, injuries, disappointments and defeats. But deep down inside it’s still there, waiting for you to stop being so damn realistic all the time.
Photo by Damien LeRoyDamien LeRoy
Forest of Knives, Madagascar // Surreal Place #19
Tsingy, a word in the Malagasy language, translates to “where one cannot walk barefoot.”
Photo by Pierre-Yves Babelon
Photo by Pierre-Yves Babelon
Photo by Pierre-Yves Babelon
#11 Connecting With Wildlife
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Epic Moment #11
A chance encounter with one of natures greatest and most fleeting phenomena. Make sure you watch this video if you haven't seen it!
Photo by Matt Hutton
Jacobs Well, Texas // Surreal Place #18
This 12 foot wide hole in Cypress Creek descends 30 feet straight down before angling into a series of caves and narrow chambers.
Photo by Carl Griffin
Photo by Carl Griffin
Photo by Carl Griffin
Hang Son Doong, Vietnam // Surreal Place #17
The largest chamber is 650ft tall by 490ft wide making it the largest cave in the world.
Photo by Ryan Deboodt
Photo by Ryan Deboodt
#10 When someday becomes today
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Epic Moment #10
You plan, you cancel, you re-plan, you doubt, you cancel again. The notion that postponing is okay because you got all the time in the world can be dangerous. It’s a shame that the saying “tomorrow is not promised” has become a cliche because in the process it’s lost its impact. To really internalize that truth is the cure to procrastination.
Just because it’s raining doesn’t mean you have to take a rain check.
