Northern lights stunt

Published: 26 January 2016

You would think that the Spanish acro-paraglider (short for acrobatic paragliding) Horacio Llorens had checked off most of his bucket list after 16 years of extreme paragliding. But, no. Not until he this winter was able to dance with the northern lights, high above the ground, in Tromsø, Norway. The whole thing was filmed by the energy drink producer Red Bull, who claim that Llorens is the first person ever to paraglide under the northern lights (at least on video).

“When I got the offer, I had no doubts. I’m fascinated by Norway and the polar nights, and the idea of flying with the aurora was an opportunity too good to refuse”, he says.

The past few years, camera technology has developed so that we can capture moving images of the northern lights in real time. Which means that this video is among the first high definition videos showing both the northern lights moving and fast-paced action.

Llorens performed the stunt in -15 degrees Celsius, during a blizzard.

“It’s hard to fly at night, that far north in the winter. It was cold and dark, the winter was strong, I was surrounded by water and had to be conscious in every choice I made”, says Llorens.

Likes many before him, Llorens also discovered that Aurora can be a bit of a diva. She doesn’t show up just because you want her to, and Llorens had to wait a few hours before she appeared – and decided to show herself from her best side.

“It felt fantastic! I’m very lucky to have gotten this opportunity, that this is actually my job. I definitely want to travel back to Tromsø, but maybe during summer next time”, says Llorens.