Here on the Complex Sports channel, we do a recurring post called "Badass or Jackass?" (peep the most recent one about Rajon Rondohere) in which we try and decide whether someone is, well, a badass or a jackass. And, while we're not going to give the "Badass or Jackass" treatment to Jonathan Trappe, he probably deserves it. Trappe is a 38-year-old "cluster balloonist" who is currently planning a flight from Maine to Paris. No big deal, right? Except for the fact that he's planning on using 365 helium balloons to make the 2,500-mile journey. It's a trip that has resulted in the deaths of five people in the past and a trip that no one has ever made successfully. Also: The record for the longest uninterrupted helium balloon-powered flight is just 230 miles, which is about a tenth of the trip Trappe is planning to make.
So, do you think this guy is a super badass for trying to make it against all odds or a complete jackass? We should mention that he has made one successful trip across the English Channel before, so he's not a novice. But, yo: The English Channel is not the Atlantic Ocean, man. So, we're gonna go with…JACKASS.
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[via The Telegraph]