Skateboarding
Skateboarding
Watch Sandro Dias Ride Vert 150 Feet Above São Paulo, Brazil
Surely there's little left for six-time world champion skateboarder Sandro Dias to prove, but somehow the São Paulo native is still pushing the envelope in style.
King of the 540 and one of the only skaters in the world to have landed an upright 900, Sandro Dias looked to the skies to nail an unprecedented ride suspended in mid-air. The 44-year-old scaled the Estaiadinha Bridge in his home city of São Paulo, Brazil, to ride a halfpipe 150 feet above the highway. Crushing it on a 10-foot-wide custom ramp hanging over the dawn's morning traffic, we were there to capture the spectacle from all angles.
3 min
Sandro Dias rides São Paulo's Estaiadinha Bridge 150 feet above the ground
Skater Sandro Dias rides a halfpipe on São Paulo's Estaiadinha Bridge while 150 feet above the ground.
Dias says the stunt quickly became one of the biggest psychological challenges of his career. To even get to the top of the 180-foot-long bridge, he had to climb a narrow, unlit concrete stairway inside one of the supporting structures, armed with just his board, a backpack and a headlamp attached to his helmet.
Only then, more than 100 feet above the busy road, Dias was able to open the maintenance hatch and make history.
Sandro Dias Figures Out How to Ride the Estaiadinha Bridge
© Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool
Sandro Dias Sends a Historic Backside Air on the Estaiadinha bridge
© Fabio Piva/Red Bull Content Pool
150 feet up with only a 10-foot-wide ramp to ride, Sandro Dias nailed it
© Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool
Sandro Dias Poses Proudly on His Estaiadinha Bridge Ramp
© Fabio Piva/Red Bull Content Pool
"It was as if I had hit the 900 or won a world championship. I lay there and cried with excitement for about three minutes — I think it was a discharge," he said after coming back down to solid ground. "I'm happy to have done a wonderful thing that will be for the history of São Paulo, skating and me as well."
I lay there and cried with excitement for about three minutes.
Dias says his confidence grew with each perilous ride up and down the ramp, creeping to the point where he felt bold enough to nail a backside air, as onlookers watched nervously from below.
Mission accomplished for Sandro Dias in São Paulo
© Fabio Piva/Red Bull Content Pool
Bravo, Sandro. We can only imagine what you'll think of next.
