China fitness KOL warned of explosion risk by using helium balloon to lighten load on hikes, bemuses netizens

A fitness influencer in eastern China has trended on social media after he created a “lazy man mountain climbing method” by using a helium balloon to lighten the bag he carried on hikes.

The Zhejiang-based blogger, surnamed Pu, released a video on Douyin of him climbing a mountain with a big white helium balloon attached to his bag, attracting 200,000 likes, news website NetEase reported.

“I am carrying the bag, but I don’t feel its weight at all because of the balloon,” the blogger said in his video clip.

“I feel something is dragging me upwards. This should be the way most suitable for lazy men to climb mountains.”

Pu said he invented this idea after seeing a foreign blogger use a balloon to lift a bag and make it float in the air.

Another factor contributing to this novel mountain climbing method is the Hollywood film Up which showed a cluster of balloons raising a house to fly a long distance.

He tailor-made a big balloon before filling it with helium, rather than hydrogen because the former is safer than the latter, said Pu.

He added that although the balloon made his mountain journey easier at first, it did not help him in the second half as it was broken after being jabbed by tree branches.

“I am still satisfied with this experiment. It was a fun experience,” Pu was quoted as saying.

His video received a huge response online, with a chemistry teacher offering some opinions on safety.

“If you want to have a palpable lifting force, you need to fill the balloon with plenty of helium.

“This would likely let the climber fly a bit and be injured by trees along the road, or the balloon would possibly stick to tree branches,” the teacher surnamed Su from Heilongjiang province in northeastern China told the media.

“If there is a gale, the person will also be blown away. What’s more, the helium balloon will explode at a high altitude. Therefore, it’s not convenient and not safe enough to resort to a helium balloon when hiking,” he said.

One netizen said: “I wonder which lazy man will bother to climb a mountain.”

Another person quipped: “I saw a business opportunity, bringing some more such balloons with you to sell to other climbers.”

In August, a woman, also in Zhejiang province, and her brother used two small helium balloons to make carrying their bags up a mountain easier. – South China Morning Post