Stand before the “Door To Hell” in Turkmenistan

“It was—"surreal" isn't a strong enough word. When you take your first step off the edge, and you finally put all your weight on that rope, you're trusting every link in that chain of technology and teamwork. When you go out over, looking straight down, it's literally like another planet almost. [...] I described it as a coliseum of fire—just everywhere you look it's thousands of these small fires. The sound was like that of a jet engine, this roaring, high-pressure, gas-burning sound. And there was no smoke. It burns very cleanly, so there's nothing to obscure your view. You can just see every little lick of flame. There were a few moments that I just literally had to stop, look around, and drink in the spectacle of where I was. I could see my teammates up on the crater rim, just these tiny specks lit by this fire. You feel very, very small and very vulnerable in a place like that.”