Trapeze artist dangles from hot air balloon 10,000 ft up to stage highest ever performance
Marlene Kiepke (Germany) showed her determination and fearlessness during a daring trapeze act, but she wasn’t just in the air, she was much higher up.
On 5 September 2023, Marlene became the new Guinness World Records title holder for highest static trapeze act. This record-breaking feat involved Marlene being flown up into the air in a hot air balloon, then connecting herself to the trapeze. The whole attempt was filmed from the balloon, and you can see Marlene doing her acrobatic tricks whilst being so high she’s above the clouds.
The incredibly talented aerial acrobat reached 3,261 m (10,698 ft), which for perspective, is equivalent to roughly 30 Eiffel Towers stacked on top of each other. It doesn’t stop there, as this isn’t the only adrenaline-filled stunt that she has taken on. In 2021, she reached 3,000 m and hung on a trapeze from underneath a helicopter, describing it as "an absolutely beautiful moment." There was also another time that she hung underneath a tandem pilot that reached between 3,500 m and 1,500 m and she did aerial acrobatics on stainless-steel chains there.
At the time of her record-breaking attempt, she was 32 years old. The first time she ever watched a trapeze performance she was just six, and it was at that point she knew what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.
Marlene began learning trapeze in 2003 and was originally self-taught. She began attending a circus club at her school and by 2006, she was teaching aerial acrobatics classes all over the world.
Also an author, she has written 10 books that cover all the ways you can learn the sport.
In 2015, Marlene had saved up enough money to complete a skydiving course and get her skydiving license. She told us: “During that training I got many ideas for what I wanted to do. One of them was the idea of hanging underneath a hot air balloon. Even though I asked skydivers, balloon pilots, aeroplane pilots, and others for years, no one believed in me or the project. Everyone thought it was too dangerous or impossible, or they didn’t think I could do it.”
Read about more record-breaking feats like this in our Hobbies and Skills section.
Marlene and her husband got married in 2020, and as a wedding present they were gifted a voucher to take a balloon flight, so she saw an opportunity to make her dream come true. She said: “I asked that balloon pilot too. He was different: he was experienced, brave, and had already been a world record holder in ballooning himself. He was the first person in eight years who wanted to make the idea happen with me. So we made plans and first calculated how high we would have to ascend to break the record.”
The previous record holder for highest static trapeze act was Anna Cochrane (New Zealand), who reached 3,159.25 m (10,365 ft), so Marlene knew she was going to have to get up really high to beat the record. The previous record was broken on 14 February 2016, so it had stood for a long time.
So, the time had come, and Marlene began her ascent in the hot air balloon, ready to begin her stunt, she said: “Being that high up was beautiful for me - a pleasant mix of freedom, flying, calmness, and excitement. Because I’ve been doing aerial acrobatics for over 20 years and have been skydiving for over 10 years, I’m used to heights, but combining the two was completely new and exciting.”
She successfully completed her tricks and then parachuted back down to the ground. She added: “My parachute was an additional weight of 13 kg, which made the aerial performance harder - fortunately I am very strong. With a body weight of 56 kg, an extra 13 kg is still a lot!”
After having so much fun with this amazing feat, Marlene’s ambitions do not stop there. “I would love to plan this and similar projects,” she confessed. “I have many more ideas! Ideally, it would all be captured with beautiful photos and videos of my actions.”
It takes a lot of bravery to complete a stunt like this from so high up, but Marlene always kept a positive mindset. She explained: “Never give up on making your dreams come true! It took me almost my entire life, that’s why I’m extremely proud to have made it happen after so many years through my own strength!”
While this performance was Marlene's highest-ever, the overall record for highest trapeze act belongs to Mike Howard (UK), who performed between altitudes of 6,000 and 6,200 m (19,600 and 20,300 ft), suspended from a hot air balloon between Glastonbury and Street, Somerset, UK on 10 August 1995.
