Balance, Skill, and Cojones

 "He who is brave is free." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

This guy must be free, then.  Downhill mountain biking looks fun!  There are a couple of nearby ski resorts (here, and here) that offer chairlift rides up and dedicated trails so riders can do the downhill mountain biking thing.  It's probably not something I'll attempt - my insurance, bike handling skills, and risk tolerance aren't as good as this guy's are.  I might do it once, just for the heck of it though.

It's pretty wild to watch videos of the pro guys doing their thing.  Amazing video, really.  Install Adblock for YouTube, then watch these end-to-end.  Incredible!

This first one is on board with Killian Bron, winner of the 2019 "Mountain of Hell" downhill race, at Le Deux Alpes (The two alps) in France.  This guy is a fearsome climber - he mainly passes people on the climbs - which is very impressive considering the thin air at that altitude.  Cool to watch, and very intense.

Below is a video of the same race, but onboard with a very skilled rider who had to start at the rear.  You get a better sense of the insanity of being stuck at the back of the pack of amateurs, many of whom are in over their heads.  Warning:  The video is not in English, but the subtitles are.

Next up is again on board with Killian Bron, who placed second in the 2019 Megavalanche at Alpe D'Huez ski resort, also in France.  This one is fun to watch, because you have a rider out front, and get to see what it looks like to ride at that level.

Lastly:  Edited helicopter footage from the above race.  The start is really sheer, which is not apparent in the onboard videos at all.  At some points you see the battle between the front two riders from the previous video.