Awesome Extreme

After becoming the first woman to beat American Ninja Warrior‘s Los Angeles qualifier, stuntwoman Jessie Graff made history once again as the first female contestant to complete the first stage of the National finals. Mirror here.

A POV look at this insanely fast watersport, in which 3000hp turbine-powered boats can hit 200mph. It’s like driving a top-fuel dragster across the water, except there’s no parachute, and you don’t just go in a straight line. Oh, and here’s what happens when you flip.

An offshoot of Nitro Circus, Nitro World Games is all about pulling off the most amazing vert tricks on inline skates, skateboards, scooters, BMX and motorcycles. Highlights include a BMX 1080º front flip and an FMX double front flip. Full show here.

BASE jumpers are always looking for new places to jump from, but in the case of Chris Douggs McDougall and Jimmy Poucher, they took to the air via a giant catapult, which exerted more than 6Gs on their bodies as they were flung sky high at speeds up to 125 mph.

Strongman Eddie “The Beast” Hall set a new – and possibly permanent – world record for deadlifting when he held up 500kg (1100lb) at the World Deadlift Championship 2016. He passed out and suffered a few ruptured vessels after the feat, but is otherwise fine.

Stuntwoman Jessie Graff became the first woman to complete American Ninja Warrior‘s new Los Angeles qualifier course, including the 14.5ft warped wall. She was cool, calm and collected the whole way. It’s only appropriate that she dressed as Wonder Woman.

Red Bull followed photographer Ulla Lohmann, her husband Sebastian and a small film crew as they descended as near as possible to one of the lava craters in Vanuatu’s Ambrym, one of the world’s most active volcanoes. Full episode here.

The Dunking Devils added an extreme twist to their freestyle basketball routine. They hung a basketball hoop under a railway bridge that’s suspended 32ft over the water, then used rope swings to pull off their slams and jams.

From the “because it could be done” file: Jean Yves Blondeau’s rather silly looking ski suit allows him to ski using not just his feet, but also with his hands, chest or back. While it looks insane at times, it’s also a great way to make your falls look intentional.

MTB Dose presents pro mountain biker Bryn Atkinson ripping through a trail in Cairns, Australia. No music or sound effects, just insects calling to each other, the wind caressing leaves and rubber shredding soil. It’s probably the most exciting ASMR video you’ll ever see.

Yep, that’s the point of view of a man who’s somersaulting over a spinning helicopter blade. Carefree skiier Candide Thovex upped the ante for his third One of Those Days video. There’s a fair amount of editing magic here, but it’s no less amazing for that.

The trespassing climber James Kingston shares his recent ascent of Dubai’s Marina 101, which at 1,394ft is the world’s tallest residential building. We can’t decide who’s more insane: James, or the crane worker who gave James the permission to die on his watch.

In 11/2015, David Lama and Conrad Anker attempted to climb the unconquered summit of Lunag Ri, a 22,660ft. peak on the border of Tibet and Nepal. They had only one day of clear weather to climb the peak and then go back down to their camp. More here.

Med livet som innsats (Life on the Line) is a Mythbusters-style Norwegian show where physicist Andreas Wahl entrusts his life to the laws of physics. So far he’s done a freefall, passed through fire and shot himself. May he make it past the first season.

YouTuber corenpuzzle made what he believes is the world’s largest order Rubik’s Cube. He designed and then 3D printed its 2,691 parts over 8 months. After a couple of failed attempts, he finally put the whole thing together in working order. Get the 3D files here.

Here’s one for the folks who resolved to be more fit this year. People Are Awesome’s motivational compilation features feats of strength, endurance, and most of all reps. Another one. And another one. And another one. Hinges.

Aaron Wypyszynski hopes to create a new extreme pastime. Inspired by TaleSpin‘s Kit Cloudkicker, wingboarding is like wakeboarding except in the sky. Aaron is currently testing his idea on a 40% scale dummy and board. More on CNN.

YouTuber Sergio Tapia shares this video of a real-life Regan MacNeil. This kid doesn’t need an exorcism, but his extreme flexibility lets him turn his head almost 180º degrees. The only thing we can say is…

If you’ve ever wondered just how much stress an airplane can handle in turbulence, you’ll feel a whole lot better after you watch this test footage from Airbus as they push the wings and fuselage of their A350 XWB jet to the extreme. The water ingestion tests are amazing too.

(PG-13: Language) Hostelworld shares this Skype conversation between a joker named Roger and his parents, whose minds were blown when their son suddenly jumped out of a plane and continued their chat while skydiving.

A flexible weightlifter, a strong mime and acrobats of all ages, shapes and sizes feature in this year’s People Are Awesome compilation. Now we want to see a compilation of unglamorous but essential jobs. Check out the sources in the video’s description.

(PG-13: Language) MrSlackline jumps from the Thug Mansion, a huge webbed structure that he built with nearly 100 other people. They used 21,000ft. of cords to make two large nets, both suspended from a height of 400ft. and connected by an 80ft. double slackline.

On 11/15/15, Théo Sanson walked 1640ft (500m) across a slackline strung precariously between Castle Valley, Utah’s Rectory and Castleton Tower. Camp 4 Collective recorded the death-defying feat. How do you even set that up?