Chinese paraglider narrowly avoids death after rare 'cloud suck' sends him 8,500m into the sky
29 May 2025, 14:23 | Updated: 29 May 2025, 14:25
A Chinese paraglider has avoided death after being propelled 27,800ft (8,500m) into the air by a rare updraft.
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Peng Yujiang, 55, was testing his new equipment at around 3,000m above sea level over the Qilian Mountains when a rare “cloud suck" launched him into the heavens.
The shocking incident was caught on camera mounted on Mr Peng’s glider and shared on China’s version of TikTok, Douyin.
In the clip, Mr Peng is covered in ice, struggling to breathe as he soars higher and higher.
At one point, he would have faced temperatures of -40C as he soared to the height of Mount Everest.
"It was terrifying... Everything was white. I couldn't see any direction. Without the compass, I wouldn't have known which way I was going. I thought I was flying straight, but in reality, I was spinning," he told Chinese state media.
"I wanted to come down quickly, but I just couldn't. I was lifted higher and higher until I was inside the cloud," he said.
He added that the scariest part of his misadventure wasn’t soaring into the sky, but trying to regain control of the paraglider on its way down.
Mr Peng, who has been paragliding for four years, now faces a six-month ban for unauthorised flying.
