World of the Bizarre

Paraglider is sucked 8,500 meters into the sky by freak air currents

By T.K. Randall
May 29, 2025 ·  1 comment

Yujiang filmed his adventure. Image Credit: TikTok / Peng Yujiang The 55-year-old, who had only been meaning to test out his equipment in China's Qilian mountains, suddenly found himself in a life-or-death situation when his paraglider was unexpectedly caught by a rare form of updraft that sent him spiraling into the heavens.

Struggling to regain control, he ended up ascending to an altitude of 27,800ft.

This meant that he was now trapped at a height where the temperatures can drop to -40 degrees Celsius and where the air is so treacherously thin that he was at risk of oxygen deprivation.

"It was terrifying... Everything was white," he told China Media Group."I couldn't see any direction. Without the compass, I wouldn't have known which way I was going. I thought I was flying straight, but in reality, I was spinning."

"I wanted to come down quickly, but I just couldn't."

"I was lifted higher and higher until I was inside the cloud."

Fortunately, he was eventually able to regain control and descend to a safer altitude.

In an ironic twist, he also ended up being suspended from flying for six months because his inadvertent high-altitude flight had been "unauthorized".


Source: BBC News | Comments (1)

Tags: Paraglider