Diver's failed attempt at a cannonball

Icy Pool Jump Video Skyrockets to Viral Infamy

By Melissa Knowles | Trending Now – Thu, Oct 18, 2012

Yahoo! editors have selected this video as a favorite of 2012. The original video surfaced in October and eventually earned 22 million YouTube views.

The Trending Now team would never recommend that you go out and film yourself involved in a risky stunt. Let's just make that clear. However, it's our job to keep you up to speed with the latest viral videos on the Web, and today's viral clip just happens to involve a stunt gone wrong.

In the video titled "Catch the Ice Dude," a young German man in freezing weather plans to cannonball into a pool that he believes is covered by a thin sheet of ice. Unfortunately, things do not go as planned. The young man jumps and then lands hard on his back instead of crashing through the ice and into water. What he thought was a thin layer appears to be much thicker than he imagined, and it does not break. He slides across the ice in agony --both pain and embarrassment -- and lies there for a few moments. He and his friend who is recording the video, as well as some others who are there to witness the stunt, begin laughing uncontrollably -- especially once they realize the amateur stuntman is OK.

The video hovered around 2,000 views on YouTube after it was initially uploaded on Sept. 28. However, when it was posted to Reddit's videos section, it skyrocketed to almost 4 million views. People are loving the stunt gone wrong. Commenters filled the board, alternating from sympathy to outright laughter. One person wrote, "I can't tell what makes me laugh more ... that he thought the ice would break and it doesn't or all of them laughing themselves silly." Another person added, "At least he's icing it? Minimize the bruising and all." Another person wrote, "Poor guy."

The amateur stuntman is unlikely to try this jump again, especially considering that his video will now serve as a reminder: Don't try this at home.

[Related: Stunt Nation]

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