Althouse: "Zorbing has become so popular in Russia that it is one of the symbols of next year's Winter Olympics."

January 9, 2013

"Zorbing has become so popular in Russia that it is one of the symbols of next year's Winter Olympics."

"Unfortunately, zorbing led to tragedy Thursday when a ball containing two men veered off course and sailed over a rock ledge in the Caucasus Mountains of southern Russia...."

24 comments:

Petunia said...: I'm not sure why anyone would want to zorb in the first place. I'm really not sure why anyone would want to zorb with another person. Sounds painful.

But to zorb in a location where there are cliffs just off the zorbing route is just plain dumb.; 1/9/13, 9:22 PM
traditionalguy said...: Wow! A great New England Life commercial.

Gravity strikes again.; 1/9/13, 9:24 PM
Synova said...: I was going to go look at the video to see what it was and it seemed to say that that was the video of the fatal accident... I pass. I don't want to look at it and think... those guys, right there, are about to die.; 1/9/13, 9:35 PM
William said...: It looks like fun, but people should remember to zorb responsibly. I would never zorb with Al Roker, for example..... I'll bet that the inside of the contraption smells like stale vomit. That and other effluvia and severed body parts probably put a lot of people off the sport.; 1/9/13, 9:35 PM
Anonymous said...: Are all Russians that stupid?; 1/9/13, 9:37 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: Just like with avalanches, if you go right, even a little bit like this zorb did before it was turned around, and therefore heading right again when the fatality occurred, danger happens.

It is very sad.

Never veer right.

Not EVER. Not even once.; 1/9/13, 9:51 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: Russians aren't stupid. Just drunk.; 1/9/13, 9:54 PM
Astro said...: Not a tragedy. An accident waiting to happen, and this time it did.; 1/9/13, 10:01 PM
Anonymous said...: The strange thing about the upcoming Winter Olympics is that they are being held in Sochi, which is literally the only major city in Russia which doesn't get snow in winter.

Peter; 1/9/13, 10:04 PM
edutcher said...: It may also become a symbol of the Darwin Awards.; 1/9/13, 10:45 PM
Petunia said...: The dead man had two kids, so not eligible for a Darwin Award. The original Zorb people in NZ have said that double-zorbing, zorbing near cliffs, and zorbing on courses without berms to keep the zorb on course are not appropriate.

Apparently the owners of the Russian zorbing operation are now on the run since criminal charges are pending.

The Sochi Olympics are only about a year away. I have a feeling they will be...interesting.; 1/9/13, 11:13 PM
Xmas said...: Which Winter Olympics was it the guy got run over by a snow grooming machine on one of the race slopes? 1998? Oh 1992.; 1/9/13, 11:32 PM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: So ... do they have "affordable" medical care in Russia as we do here?; 1/10/13, 1:57 AM
tim maguire said...: Seems like a typically Russian idea of fun. Start with cold and snow,then add a ball that gives you no control at all. Get inside and roll down a hill surrounded by cliffs with virtually nothing to keep you from going over them.

Yeah, of course this happened in Russia.; 1/10/13, 6:01 AM
AllenS said...: Re: Darwin Awards

I know someone named Darwin. Honest to God, when I first heard of the Darwin Awards, I thought it was named after him. Darwin possessed all of those attributes that would have won him the honor many times.; 1/10/13, 6:28 AM
Tibore said...: Weren't hamsters the first to be enclosed in a ball in order to run amok and have fun?; 1/10/13, 7:40 AM
jimspice said...: “It's all or nothing. They either survive or they don't.”

And you don't know which until you open the Zorb. A sort of Schrödinger's Cat Toy.; 1/10/13, 8:35 AM
Known Unknown said...: I blame vodka.; 1/10/13, 8:51 AM
sabeth.chu said...: the dinos needed a meteor to go downhill.
humans aren't so particular.
darwin - rotf; 1/10/13, 10:50 AM
Methadras said...: In Soviet Russia, Zorbing kills you. Ban all ZORBS!!!; 1/10/13, 12:07 PM
Alex said...: I blame capitalism and hooters!; 1/10/13, 12:16 PM
David-2 said...: tim maguire: Not exclusively Russian. Here's the American version, invented a lot earlier: his turn in the barrel; 1/10/13, 4:48 PM
Peter said...: Somehow I made it until less than three months before my 66th birthday without ever hearing of Zorbing.

I'd not care at all if I never heard of Zorbing again. There is an old Spanish proverb, loosely translated it says "fuck with the bull, you get the horn."; 1/11/13, 3:54 AM
Peter said...: Somehow I made it until less than three months before my 66th birthday without ever hearing of Zorbing.

I'd not care at all if I never heard of Zorbing again. There is an old Spanish proverb, loosely translated it says "fuck with the bull, you get the horn."; 1/11/13, 3:54 AM