Rope ladder, hot air balloon, 3km drop: Gold Coast adventurer Damien Rider to attempt death-defying stunt

Gold Coast adventurer Damien Rider will be battling sub zero temperatures and extreme winds when he climbs a rope ladder atop a hot-air balloon in an extreme stunt for charity next week.

A Gold Coast ultra-adventurer admits he’ll be battling extreme conditions when he performs a death defying climb atop a hot-air balloon next week.

Damien Rider, who has previously completed an 800km solo paddle and skate-boarded across the US, will on Monday climb from the basket of a hot-air balloon at 10,000 feet and scale a rope ladder to the top, where he will then secure a parachute and dive off.

The stunt aims to raise awareness and money for the Preston Campbell Foundation, which educates and assists Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Damien Rider jumped off a hot-air balloon at 7,500 feet to raise money for the Blue Knot foundation in 2021.

Last year Rider completed a similar record-breaking jump while living in the US, which involved jumping off a hot-air balloon at 7,500 feet – for which he first learnt how to skydive.

“I thought coming back to Australia I really wanted to help local communities,” Rider said.

“I wanted to really show something that was unique and push the boundaries and show people what’s possible in life.”

Rider will be attached by a rock climbing harness as he scales the moving rope ladder to the top of the hot air balloon while dealing with extreme conditions including high altitude, sub zero temperatures and 60km per hour winds.

“Also the balloon is moving,” he said. “There’s a lot of things I can’t train for but I have to visualise it in my mind.

“The hardest part of it is 21 metres or 4.5 minutes of overhang, so I’m horizontal climbing along this forever moving rope ladder and trying to hang on for dear life.

“I’m confident in doing it,” he added. “I’m prepared mentally. I don’t get scared ever. I know I’m going to do it, so that’s all I think about. For me it’s step out and start climbing – that’s it. I don’t put any negative boundaries on myself about what could happen. Just start climbing.

“The rope snaps, whatever happens that’s part of life, it’s not going to stop me.”

Rider says while his stunts would seem extreme and dangerous to most, they were a natural progression for him.

Rider sat atop the balloon as it rose to 7,500 feet

He suffered PTSD from child abuse trauma – he was a keynote speaker for the Royal Commission for his work on raising awareness on Institutional Child Sexual Abuse – and grew up with the notion embedded in him that every day could be his last.

His life changed when he paddled solo from the Gold Coast to Bondi Beach and through that he developed his One Breath Meditation technique.

“Nothing will ever be as hard as that paddle,” he said. “21 shark encounters, everything was new for me. Overcoming PTSD, doing something I was proud of and … being proud of who I was and what I can achieve.”

“I’ve been through so much in my life. I use that as my super power now. If I can survive what I did as a child I should be able to survive this.”

“It’s about experiencing all I can in life. I get the most out I can each day and share it with other people.”

Rider will complete the stunt in Canowindra, near Bathurst in country NSW, with Balloon Aloft, who will test and control all the devices used.

“Everything is purposeful and controlled. I don’t take unnecessary risks. They are all calculated,” he said.

“All I think is how awesome is it going to feel when I get to the top. I just think about that feeling.”

Originally published as Rope ladder, hot air balloon, 3km drop: Gold Coast adventurer Damien Rider to attempt death-defying stunt