Calgary man gets high in sky on chair attached with balloons

by Craig Takeuchi on July 6th, 2015 at 4:14 PM

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Needless to say, don't try this at home, kids, unless you're interested in competing for the Darwin Award.

A Calgary businessman staged a real-life approximation of the movie Up, by attaching about 110 helium-filled balloons to a lawnchair and riding it into the sky.

The stunt, designed to generate publicity for his cleaning company, not only got him international media attention but also the attention of the police, who have charged him with mischief causing danger to life.

The 26-year-old Calgarian, Dan Boria, launched the chair on July 5 at about 7:30 p.m.

As he approached the downtown area, he parachuted to a green space where he sprained his ankle upon landing.

He was arrested without incident on July 5 and released on July 6. More charges may be laid.

The stunt cost him quite the pretty penny: about $20,000, in fact, which included an airplane circling the Stampede grounds with a banner advertising his company.

This isn't the first time that such a stunt has been attemped.

In 1982, Larry Walters flew into the air from San Pedro, California on a patio chair carried by 45 helium-filled weather balloons and drifted into controlled airspace near Los Angeles International Airport. He was arrested and fined, but he managed to inspire imitators in what has become known as cluster ballooning.

Here's news coverage (beginning at the 0:30 mark) of Walters' attempt.