A Nordic man known to perform extremely dangerous stunts in freezing climates while nearly naked has stunned the internet with his latest trick, breaking a world record.
Ken Stornes, from Norway, took to his Instagram page followed by 638,000 people on Sunday (December 3) to share a clip of himself performing what he captioned a “death dive”.
In the caption of the video, which has been viewed an impressive 101 million times, Ken wrote: “New world record! 40.5m / 132ft.
“Once again we take the deathdive world record back to Norway where it belongs.
“This was insane!”
Norwegian Ken Stornes broke the death dive world record by jumping over 40 meters from a fjord
Image credits: kenstornes
Image credits: kenstornes
In the clip, the athletic man who seemingly never looks cold stepped off some sort of mechanical ledge at the edge of a fjord, before throwing off a large stone to demonstrate just how far the fall was.
Ken was then filmed throwing himself off, landing in the icy water a couple of lengthy seconds later.
“New world record! 40.5m / 132ft,” Ken announced
Image credits: kenstornes
There appeared to be a team of professionals in a boat near him in the water to make sure he was okay.
All and all, Ken successfully completed the stunt, as he officially broke the world record for the highest deep dive at 40.5 meters (132ft).
Norway seems to house many adrenaline junkies who are unafraid of heights and freezing temperatures, as it is Asbjørg Nesje, a Norwegian woman, who has been holding the title for the highest women’s death dive for three consecutive years, setting her latest record at 30.5 meters.
Interviewed for Norwegian broadcaster NRK last year, the 34-year-old revealed that he had a long history of keeping his body in shape
Image credits: kenstornes
The fearless athlete previously held the title of Norway’s Taekwondo champion
Image credits: kenstornes
In fact, death diving was invented by Norwegian guitar player Erling Bruno Hovden at the Frognerbadet pool complex in Oslo during the summer of 1972, under the term “dødsing”.
Known as “døds events”, competitions for extreme sports are held in the Scandinavian country, with the world championship taking place in the Norwegian capital every August since the event debuted in 2008.
Ken rose to fame earlier this year as “Viking Guy With Two Battle Axes Jumping Off a Snowy Cliff” after jumping off a snowy cliff into a body of water below while holding two battle axes, as per Know Your Meme.
Ken rose to fame earlier this year as “Viking Guy With Two Battle Axes Jumping Off a Snowy Cliff”
Image credits: kenstornes
Interviewed for Norwegian broadcaster NRK last year, the 34-year-old revealed that he had a long history of keeping his body in shape, as he previously held the title of Norway’s champion in Taekwondo.
The Elverum native has spent 20 years training, which has given him good muscle development as well as body strength, two elements that come in handy to practice “snow death dives”, which are exactly what they sound like.
Speaking about criticism in Norwegian media for promoting this dangerous activity, Ken said he understood why people didn’t quite resonate with his risky stunts.
He said: “I understand their reactions, and I wouldn’t recommend doing it without good preparation and knowing what you’re doing.”
“Everything is dangerous at the end of the day, I don’t see it as playing with fate,” Ken said
Image credits: kenstornes
Ken further explained: “Everything is dangerous at the end of the day, I don’t see it as playing with fate.”
Nevertheless, the modern-day Viking admitted to being scared each time he jumped but enjoyed the feeling of having to focus on doing everything right.
According to the Norwegian media, death diving is a way of life and Ken feels like it is a waste of time when he isn’t performing the stunts.
However, the bold athlete went on to admit that if he one day had children, he would change his lifestyle.