When it comes to getting high, humanity is king. We invented the aeroplane and the skyscraper, we regularly jump off cliffs with nothing but a small parachute to help us and recently, a Google executive even tumbled out of space back to Earth.
However – in the battle of height, the line between what we do with our bodies and what we do with our engineering becomes blurred. Do we get higher by our own endeavours – or do our machines and our minds do it for us? Join cherry picker manufacturer Niftylift as they explore some of our greatest endeavours and engineering projects.
Endeavours: natural feats of skill
Highest Vertical Jump: according to the Guinness Book of Records, the highest vertical jump ever recorded was 1.616m/5.13ft by Evan Ungar.
Highest High Jump: The highest high jump ever recorded was a jump of 2.45m/8.04ft made by Javier Sotomayor.
The Tallest Man: Robert Wadlow was the world’s tallest man at 2.72m/8ft 11.1.
Highest BASE jump: The highest BASE jump ever recorded was performed in 2013 by Valery Rozov, who jumped from the north face of Mt. Everest – a height of 7220m/23,688ft.
Highest Mountain Ascent: The highest any human has ever climbed is 8,848m/29,029ft – the summit of Mt Everest.
Highest Manned Balloon Flight: Malcolm Ross and Victor A. Prather Jr rose from a zero-pressure balloon to an altitude of 34668m/113,739.9ft.
Highest Human Away From Earth: The crew of Apollo 13 were, at one point in their spaceflight, 400,171km/248,655miles away from Earth!
Engineering: the heights we build to
Tallest cherry picker: Some of the world’s tallest cherry pickers reach 61m/200ft.
Tallest crane: the world’s tallest mobile crane extends to 328ft and has a maximum lift height of 192m/630ft!
Highest Monument: Gateway Arch in Missouri is the world’s tallest arch at 630-foot (192 m) and was designed by Eero Saarinen in 1963.
Highest Church: For now, this title rests with Ulm Minster in Germany – which stands at 161.5m/530ft – but the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is expected to top 170 metres/560ft when construction is eventually finished in 2026.
Highest Residential dwelling: 432 Park Avenue in New York rises to 425.5 metres/1,396ft – and apartments cost around $18 million!
Highest Skyscraper: The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is 829.8m/2,722ft tall – which seems enormous, but compared to nature we fall short… the building is just 1/10th of the height of Mt. Everest!
Highest Object In Space: The International Space Station is one of mankind’s finest structural achievements – and it orbits 400km/248.5 miles away from Earth!
Whether we build our objects high or we tackle nature with our own bodies, humans have an impressive repertoire when it comes to height achievements. Whether it’s a high mountain climb or an elevator ride up the world’s tallest building – we’ve got a real obsession with heights.
