Paraglider in a Thunderstorm...

@dodoguy (1292)
Australia
February 17, 2007 11:50am CST
Hi Kiddies, Who heard the story about the German girl practicing for the world paragliding championships near Manilla (Australia) a week ago who got sucked up into a thundercloud? That is one of the WORST nightmare scenarios that I could imagine. She got sucked up into the cloud to an altitude of 10,000 metres (that's 30,000 feet, kiddies!) so this girl SHOULD be DEAD. Unconsciousness from hypoxia would normally set in above about 3,000 metres (~10,000 feet), and most people would have been dead meat after that. There was also some poor Chinese guy who got sucked up into a DIFFERENT cloud in the same area on the same day, and they found him dead. But all this girl has to show for her experience is a couple of frostbitten ears. That is one VERY FORTUNATE woman.
1 person likes this
2 responses
hoghoney
@hoghoney (3747)
• United States
17 Feb 07
hi dodoguy, can you really get stuck in a cloud? she was a very lucky girl and god was watching over her but I hate to hear about the other guy. do you think there might of been some kind of tringale thing going on up there? thanks for the information.
dodoguy
@dodoguy (1292)
• Australia
17 Feb 07
hi hoghoney, not sure what a tringale thing is... you might have to help me out there... most of the big thunderclouds have a huge updraft going up the center from what I understand - I've read about flocks of unfortunate birds getting sucked up and spat out frozen, and proper full-size gliders even getting sucked up into them... I do know that, looking at the scale of some of those big black clouds, just the thought of getting sucked up into the middle of that terrifies me. why anyone would actually choose to be floating around under one on a paraglider escapes me. sad about the Chinese guy - he didn't have a hope once the updraft grabbed him IMO - but then neither did the German girl, so as you say, God was watching over her that day to be sure!
olivemai
@olivemai (4738)
• United States
29 Feb 08
It sounds a little bit like a twister, like in "The Wizard Of OZ"!