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Drones

Drone pulls Santa snowboarder up the slopes, and into the air

By Nick Lavars
December 20, 2016
Drone pulls Santa snowboarder up the slopes, and into the air
Who needs reindeer when you have a drone?
Who needs reindeer when you have a drone?
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Neistat and his drone, as seen from another drone
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Neistat and his drone, as seen from another drone
While you could wait around for the likes of Uber or eHang to develop human-carrying drones, not everyone has that kind of patience
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While you could wait around for the likes of Uber or eHang to develop human-carrying drones, not everyone has that kind of patience
Neistat hitches a ride on his 16-rotor drone
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Neistat hitches a ride on his 16-rotor drone
The drone apparently took almost a year to develop
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The drone apparently took almost a year to develop
Because chairlifts are for suckers
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Because chairlifts are for suckers
Who needs reindeer when you have a drone?
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Who needs reindeer when you have a drone?
Neistat and his 16-rotor drone
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Neistat and his 16-rotor drone
View gallery - 7 images

While you could wait around for the likes of Uber or eHang to develop human-carrying drones, not everyone has that kind of patience, least of all Youtube personality Casey Neistat. The part-time snowboarder, full-time vlogger has had his own human-toting multicopter built and dispatched on a mountainside, because chairlifts are for suckers. As is riding on the ground.

It takes a certain kind of daring to defy police orders go snowboarding through a New York City blizzard, but Neistat's latest already-viral-video takes things to a whole new level. Shot in Finland, the video shows the 35-year-old hitching a ride behind a purpose-built multicopter, kind of like wakeboarding (or dronesurfing) for the snow.

Neistat and his 16-rotor drone
Neistat and his 16-rotor drone

The drone is a huge, 16-rotor machine dressed in Christmas lights that apparently took almost a year to develop. And it's a good thing they took their time, because if there's a place you don't want a drone to fail it's when a madman dressed in a Santa suit is dangling from it with one arm.

You can see it all play out in the video below, and if you want more madness, check out this behind-the-scenes video.

HUMAN FLYING DRONE

View gallery - 7 images

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DronesSnowboards
6 comments
Nick Lavars
Nick Lavars
Nick has been writing and editing at New Atlas for over six years, where he has covered everything from distant space probes to self-driving cars to oddball animal science. He previously spent time at The Conversation, Mashable and The Santiago Times, earning a Masters degree in communications from Melbourne’s RMIT University along the way.

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6 comments
zr2s10
That drone is incredible! They need to come up with a commercial one for rescue operations. I'm sure there are plenty of times that a helicopter is just to dangerous or big. It could be a real game changer for smaller budgets that can't handle a helicopter, but need to rescue the occasional stranded hiker/climber.
MQ
zr2s10.
So what makes this flying machine superior to the many similarly (or more capable) sized helicopters (or other configurations able to perform the same task) which have been built over the last 3 decades.
Oh, it's more "ScienzFictiony"
Most people would be amazed to realise what a well controlled Helicopter can do.. It's not science fiction, it truly is Magic. (Ok not really) PS, danger is more to do with how recklessly a machine is operated rather than anything inherent in the machine.
Flight times and short range are the real limiting factors in the general usefulness of multicopters and other "RC" aircraft, also situational awareness is so much better when you get a real look at what is, not what a limited camera angle tells you what it appears to be.
zr2s10
MD, I feel like you're really taking this personally. I am in no way saying helicopters can be completely replaced by this. But they are big machines, and take a LOT of training to be able to fly very well. There is also risk to a helicopter pilot/crew due to weather. If a land based rescue crew can get close, then use a drone like this to get someone off a ledge (or out of a river/floodzone), and over to them, it's safer in bad weather. Again, not a replacement, an alternative. A helicopter cannot get too close to ledges in canyons, too close too trees, etc. And they're not readily available in all areas, other than LifeFlight, which is not a "rescue" helicopter in the sense we're talking about here. If you could get these to "fill the gaps", that increases your chances of successful rescues. I'm sure it's not cheap, but far cheaper than buying and maintaining a helicopter.
guzmanchinky
Personally I wouldn't have flown so high as to risk death with a machine that could go out of control (as drones sometimes do) at any time. But it is very very cool. I agree it should be used for rescues where a large helicopter is too expensive. You could fly someone at a moderate height (where if they fell it would hurt but not kill) to a safe area in a quick and efficient manner.
Douglas Bennett Rogers
Should be part of safety equipment in upper floors of tall buildings.
toyhouse
Amazing yes but a bit spooky looking after all the scifi I've seen, lol. As for the copter vs drone issue - isn't it simply a new tool? They're portable and don't require a pilot in the same sense. Could be set up most anywhere. No loss of life if it goes down. It opens up many new uses as we're already seeing. Use a full sized heli when needed. Full sized heli's aren't going anywhere soon as they too have specific uses we need. No need for comparisons I think.