VR: Drop into the Sun Valley Superpipe with high flying freeskiers

Growing up, it was apparent that few things scared Aaron Blunck. When he was warned as a kid that there was a hot plate nearby his immediate response was to touch it. This eagerness to test boundaries and disregard for fear led him to the slopes at an early age. He was 18 months old when he first strapped into skis. Today, he’s considered one of the top freeskiers in the world.

Blunck placed seventh in men’s halfpipe skiing at the Sochi Winter Olympics. These days, he has his sights set on the 2018 Winter Olympics. Join VRtually There on a trip to Sun Valley, Idaho to see Blunck and fellow Olympic hopeful Wing Tai Barrymore fly through the air at the superpipe in the video below.

Blunck looks at a mountain the same way a painter sees a canvas. On the blank white space of a 22-foot halfpipe he’s allowed to do anything he wants. It’s this sense of freedom that draws both athletes to the snow each day.

“If I come out healthy and caught some good air with my friends, that’s a feeling no one can take away no matter what place I ended up in,” says Barrymore.

Injuries have sidelined Barrymore and Blunck during their careers, but each setback has only increased their appreciation for the sport and the community surrounding it. The competition, old and new, inspires both athletes to stay positive and move forward.

Drop into the Sun Valley Superpipe for your daily dose of adrenaline in the video above.

For the ideal experience, view in 360 degrees on your mobile phone or in VR headsets such as Google cardboard or Daydream. Subscribe to VRtually There on YouTube, browse the “Virtual Reality” section of the USA TODAY app (iOS | Android), or download our VR Stories Daydream app to catch three new episodes every week. 

And whatever you do, don't forget to look around.