Imagine you’re at a great height in the basket of a hot air balloon, with your friends nearby. Suddenly, one of them removes his safety equipment, discards his own parachute, and… throws it down.

That’s exactly how Finnish extreme sports enthusiast Antti Pendikainen decided to shock his friends.

While the balloon was high above the ground, 25-year-old Antti suddenly removed his only parachute and sent it freefalling. For a few seconds, his friends couldn’t comprehend what had happened.

Then the man, practically naked, put on protective goggles, looked into the camera, and prepared to do something that, from the outside, looked absolutely insane.

He stepped over the edge of the basket.

Almost 200 kilometers per hour

Antti immediately began to gain speed rapidly. His body fell at approximately 193 km/h. He wore no parachute and no special suit—only goggles and minimal clothing.

To a casual observer, it looked like a complete disaster.

But Antti had no intention of panicking.

This jump wasn’t a spontaneous stunt. The athlete had been preparing for such an experiment for a long time. His goal was to experience the maximum free fall possible without the heavy equipment usually carried by a skydiver.

However, in free fall, it’s impossible to stop or pause. With every second, the ground grew closer.

Meanwhile, his two friends jumped after him. Unlike Antti, they had parachutes.

Their task was extremely difficult: catch the falling man, match his speed, grab him mid-air, and only then open their parachutes.

But the plan almost ended in tragedy.

At about 10,000 feet, the three found themselves trapped in a dense cloud. A white haze completely obscured their view, and Antti practically disappeared.

One of his friends kept searching, relying mainly on his own movements and trying to make out at least the silhouette of the falling athlete.

Finally, he managed to get close. He grabbed Antti by the waist and secured the rescue carabiner.

Almost immediately after, a parachute opened above the men. A sudden jolt slowed their fall, and after a short while, both landed safely on the ground.

Antti himself, apparently, took the experience much more calmly than his friends. After landing, he merely caught his breath and, instead of expressing fear, complained that the extreme jump had ended too quickly.

Video of this incredible stunt went viral, turning the Finnish athlete’s dangerous experiment into one of the most talked-about stories in extreme sports.