Deadly zorb ride in Russian mountains

January 10, 2013 - 12:18AM

Investigations are continuing after a thrill ride in a zorb ball on a Russian ski resort went horrifically wrong. One man died and another is in hospital being treated for injuries after a 1.5 kilometre drop from a mountain.

What was supposed to be a thrilling ride down a ski slope inside a giant inflatable ball has ended in tragedy for the two Russian men inside.

The transparent plastic ball - called a zorb - veered off course and sailed over a precipice in the rugged Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia. One man died and the other was badly injured. The terrifying ride was captured on video.

The man who died, 27-year-old Denis Burakov, was with friends at the Dombai ski resort, where they frequently went snowboarding, on January 3 when he decided to take a ride in a zorb being operated next to a beginners' slope. His friend Vladimir Shcherbakov joined him.

A screen grab taken from video provided by Yekaterina Achkasova, as her husband Denis Burakov climbs inside the large plastic ball called a zorb at a winter sports venue at Dombai in the Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia. Photo: AP

An eight-minute video taken on Burakov's phone by one of his friends shows the two men being fitted into harnesses inside the zorb, which consists of two polyurethane balls with a layer of air between them. The zorb is then released to roll down the hill, the two men spinning inside.

But the zorb bounces off of the intended path, and a man waiting for it at the bottom of the hill tries in vain to catch the ball before it pops over a rocky ledge and disappears down a gorge below Mount Mussa-Achitara.

The Emergencies Ministry said both men were ejected from the zorb as it tumbled and they landed on the snow about 10 metres apart. They were rescued by two skiers, who then pulled both men up to the top of the hill. Burakov suffered serious spinal injuries and died on the way to the hospital. Shcherbakov suffered a concussion and other injuries and remains hospitalised.

The accident prompted the emergencies minister to demand on Wednesday that Russia address its lax enforcement of safety rules for winter sports, citing a series of accidents over the January holidays. Vladimir Puchkov said during a televised meeting with officials in charge of rescue services across the country that they should take extra measures to ensure safety, in particular at Russia's ski slopes.

Sergei Loginov, deputy director of Z-orb.ru, the largest supplier of zorbs in Russia, said the zorbing run that killed Burakov was conducted in violation of all safety rules. Zorbing requires a groomed gentle slope with fences on both sides of the track and a secure spot at the bottom where the ball can be safely brought to rest, he said, but none of this was present at Dombai.

"It's not even irresponsibility. It's an experiment on life," Loginov said. "It's all or nothing. They either survive or they don't."

The sport of zorbing originated in the 1990s in New Zealand and is now done around the world, most often on grassy slopes.

AP

http://www.theage.com.au/world/deadly-zorb-ride-in-russian-mountains-20130110-2ch8n.html

In soviet russia, heineken tells GOOD joke.

The friction and rotation of the rubber ball would likely have kept them pinned to the outer wall at most times. The issue would mainly be the speed that the ball would pick up traveling down the hill. Eventually it is gonna be going like 40 mph+ and the ball is gonna hit a tree or a rock, (possibly a few times). The 'padding' would do nothing as the air would quickly move away / compress at the impact spots at those speeds. They might as well just be hitting the rock -hard-.

Another way to visualise this is to imagine being pummelled in odd spots by a fast moving industrial piston coated in rubber. This is one of the worst ways to die. At those speeds your senses would be totally fucked, your brain scrambled by the constant spinning. No concept of up or down, or what has gone wrong. Just a blur.

Then jolting and pounding that gets stronger and harder. Then your vision turns to red. All the while hearing the horrific sound of gutteral screaming in an echochamber made of inflatable rubber. This happy moment in a rubber ball quickly suddenly turning into hell on earth.