Chinese paraglider Peng Yujiang was rocketed 8,598 metres by a rare cloud suck event above the Qilian Mountains. Trapped in freezing -40°C, he spun inside whiteout clouds, surviving hypoxia and frostbite. “Terrifying—everything around me was white,” he recalled.

After enduring the violent updraft, Peng was banned from flying for six months, along with his friend who filmed the viral Douyin video. Aviation experts warn cloud suck pushes paragliders to altitudes rivaling commercial jets, with only an icy beard for company.

Peng tested a secondhand harness, expecting a breeze—instead, he landed nearly 9 km up, frostbitten but alive.