STOCKHOLM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Last Monday hotel tycoon Petter Stordalen (49), owner of Scandinavia´s largest hotel chain Nordic Choice Hotels, opened his new flagship hotel at Arlanda airport in Sweden - running head first down the 57 meter tall hotel facade.
If there was ever a rock star in the global hotel industry, it would be Petter Stordalen. Named the "the flashiest Scandinavian on the planet" by Forbes Magazine, the 49-year old billionaire has completed an Iron Man race, was chained to a bridge while protesting a UK nuclear treatment plant, and when invited on stage at a Prince concert did a double Arabian flip.
For this latest stunt the Norwegian daredevil spent two days practicing so called Australian abseiling (the process of descending a fixed rope in a standing position while facing the ground), before running down the facade of the Clarion Hotel Arlanda to mark the opening of the 57 meters tall hotel. Just minutes later Stordalen took the stage, saluted on by indoor fireworks, in front of a stunned crowd of a 1000 Swedish celebrities, industry professionals and business leaders.
"I have always been a little afraid of height, but I guess I am cured now," Petter Stordalen told the press after performing the stunt.
Norwegian director Frederic Esnault from Friendly Films shot the Top Gun-inspired video of the tycoon’s breathtaking stunt.
"We were waiting for the stunt man to come on set, but then Stordalen showed up himself - ready to go. It was just surreal", says Esnault who was last seen directing Warren G in "Party We Will Thrown Now" featuring The Game.
The billionaire (#1015 on the Forbes list of world billionaires in 2011) is know for spectacular hotel openings (and for driving the world's first biofueled Ferrari): In January Stordalen opened his 200 million dollars Clarion Hotel Post in Gothenburg, Sweden, descending from the ceiling inside a giant disco ball rigged out with drums which he was playing. Three months later he opened Clarion Hotel & Congress in Trondheim, Norway, driving through the audience on his 2200 cubic custom built motorbike, before parking it on the stage and giving his speech.
Download or embed the video for free here: https://vimeo.com/53541858
Video by: Frederic Esnault/Friendly Films
All photos: Magne Risnes