In Porto Alegre, Brazil, the curved face of the CAFF offices is “dubbed the ‘ultimate skate ramp’ by local skateboarding enthusiasts,” Guinness World Records writes. “Over the years, digitally edited videos and jokes imagined skaters riding down the side, but no one had attempted it—until Dias,” Interesting Engineering wrote. That skater was Sandro Dias, known as “Mineirinho,” according to the state government of Rio Grande do Sul. He had first seen the building as a boy: AFP reported that “he had been inspired by the curved facade of an ‘iconic building’ in the southern city of Porto Alegre, which he first saw in the eighties.” “I was a kid, and the imagination of any skater who sees it goes: ‘Wow, it looks like a ramp!’” he said; he told AFP in Portuguese that he had come to the Porto Alegre area to compete as an amateur.
He went on to win “six World Vertical Skateboarding Championships, three X-games gold medals,” in Guinness’s words. The state government says he was world champion six times, won gold at the X Games in 2006, and was the third skater in the world to land the 900, the first to do it in the middle of a competition run, at the X Games Latin America in Rio de Janeiro in May 2004. In 2019, Guinness notes, “he skated down a 30 m (98 ft) structure on the Estaiadinha Bridge in São Paulo.”
“For 13 years, Sandro dreamed of dropping in from a building – particularly the sloping structure of the CAFF offices,” Guinness wrote. “In my head, it was possible, but it was almost impossible,” he told AFP; in Portuguese he put it down to the project’s sheer scale and its cost. “He started practice sessions in January with 40 kg weighted vests to simulate increased G-force, went through stability drills at event speed by being pulled by a motorcycle,” Guinness reported, “building up to blistering speeds on his skateboard that cars would reach on a highway.” The state government says motorbikes pulled him to more than 120 km/h.
On September 25, 2025, at 50, Sandro “took on the Red Bull Building Drop project in Porto Alegre, Brazil,” Guinness wrote: “he dropped off the side of a 22-storey building into a curving quarter pipe,” made of wooden panels laid along the CAFF’s outer curve, the state government says. “On the day of the event, Sandro made four successful attempts, starting from a height of 55 m (180 ft) from the ground and gradually building up to the full 70 m (230 ft).” “Throughout the eight-second ride, he picked up a speed of 103.8 km/h,” with “a drop of 60.33 m (197 ft 10 in), as measured from the lowest point of the ramp to the platform,” and he “reached 3.9 G-force”: “This means his body was subjected to almost four times his own weight during the descent.”
Guinness wrote that “an overjoyed Sandro walked home with two new Guinness World Records titles,” for the fastest speed skateboarding on a temporary quarter pipe and the tallest drop into a temporary quarter pipe. “I knew it was possible, but almost impossible to actually pull off,” Sandro said to Red Bull Sports, as Guinness reported. “No matter how far away your dreams may seem, never give up on them!” And, AFP reported, “retiring doesn’t even cross my mind.”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- Skating down a 22-story building was just a legend, until a 50-year-old did it. Guinness World Records: “he dropped off the side of a 22-storey building into a curving quarter pipe”; “The 50-year-old skateboarder”; “he jumped at the chance to turn the Brazilian urban legend into a record-breaking reality.” Government of Rio Grande do Sul: “dar vida à lenda urbana de descer um prédio ‘skatável’” (to bring to life the urban legend of riding down a “skatable” building). Interesting Engineering: “Over the years, digitally edited videos and jokes imagined skaters riding down the side, but no one had attempted it—until Dias.” 125
- His name is Sandro Dias. Government of Rio Grande do Sul: “o paulista Sandro Dias, conhecido como ‘Mineirinho’” (Sandro Dias, from São Paulo, known as “Mineirinho”). 2
- As a kid, he saw that building, and its curved wall looked like a giant ramp. AFP: he “had been inspired by the curved facade of an ‘iconic building’ in the southern city of Porto Alegre, which he first saw in the eighties.” Dias, to AFP: “I was a kid, and the imagination of any skater who sees it goes: ‘Wow, it looks like a ramp!’” AFP, in Portuguese: “A primeira vez que eu vi ele pessoalmente foi nos anos 80, quando eu vim competir como amador aqui na região metropolitana de Porto Alegre (...), eu passei na frente e eu era uma criança” (the first time I saw it in person was in the ’80s, when I came to compete as an amateur here in the Porto Alegre metropolitan area … I went past it, and I was a child). 34
- He became a six-time world champion and one of the first to land a 900. Guinness World Records: “six World Vertical Skateboarding Championships, three X-games gold medals.” Government of Rio Grande do Sul: “foi o terceiro skatista no mundo a acertar o 900º, sendo o primeiro a fazê-lo no meio de uma linha de competição. A conquista aconteceu nos X Games da América Latina, no Rio de Janeiro, em maio de 2004. Foi campeão mundial seis vezes” (he was the third skater in the world to land the 900, and the first to do it in the middle of a competition run, at the X Games Latin America in Rio de Janeiro in May 2004; he was world champion six times). 12
- He dreamed of riding that wall for 13 years. Guinness World Records: “For 13 years, Sandro dreamed of dropping in from a building – particularly the sloping structure of the CAFF offices, which is dubbed the ‘ultimate skate ramp’ by local skateboarding enthusiasts.” Dias, to the state government: “Era um sonho que eu tinha há mais de 13 anos” (it was a dream I’d had for more than 13 years). 12
- “In my head, it was possible, but it was almost impossible,” he said. Dias, to AFP: “In my head, it was possible, but it was almost impossible.” AFP, in Portuguese: “Na minha cabeça era uma coisa possível de realizar, mas quase impossível de realizar o projeto por conta da grandiosidade, por conta de custo” (in my head it was possible to do, but almost impossible to carry out the project, because of its scale and its cost). 34
- So he trained in heavy vests and was towed behind motorbikes at highway speed. Guinness World Records: “He started practice sessions in January with 40 kg weighted vests to simulate increased G-force, went through stability drills at event speed by being pulled by a motorcycle”; “building up to blistering speeds on his skateboard that cars would reach on a highway.” Government of Rio Grande do Sul: “Sandro usou coletes com mais de 40 kg”; he “contou com o apoio de motos, que puxaram o atleta para que ele alcançasse velocidades superiores a 120 km/h” (Sandro used vests of more than 40 kg; motorbikes pulled him to speeds above 120 km/h). 12
- On September 25, 2025, he climbed to the top. Guinness World Records: he “took on the Red Bull Building Drop project in Porto Alegre, Brazil, this 25 September”; “gradually building up to the full 70 m (230 ft).” 1
- Run by run, he went higher, up to 70 meters. Guinness World Records: “On the day of the event, Sandro made four successful attempts, starting from a height of 55 m (180 ft) from the ground and gradually building up to the full 70 m (230 ft).” 1
- The ride took eight seconds, at more than 60 miles an hour. Guinness World Records: “Throughout the eight-second ride, he picked up a speed of 103.8 km/h”; “amassing speeds of over 100 km/h (62 mph).” AFP: “highest speed (103 kilometres or 64 miles per hour).” 13
- His body took almost four times its own weight. Guinness World Records: he “reached 3.9 G-force”; “This means his body was subjected to almost four times his own weight during the descent.” 1
- He set two Guinness World Records. Guinness World Records: “an overjoyed Sandro walked home with two new Guinness World Records titles,” for the fastest speed skateboarding on a temporary quarter pipe and the tallest drop into a temporary quarter pipe, “with a drop of 60.33 m (197 ft 10 in), as measured from the lowest point of the ramp to the platform.” 1
- “No matter how far away your dreams may seem, never give up on them,” he said. Guinness World Records: “‘I knew it was possible, but almost impossible to actually pull off,’ Sandro said to Red Bull Sports. ‘No matter how far away your dreams may seem, never give up on them!’” Dias, to the state government: “Nunca desistam dos sonhos, por mais longe que ele possa estar” (never give up on your dreams, however far away they may be). 12
Sources
- Skateboarder Sandro Dias drops off 22-storey building in exhilarating Red Bull stunt (Katherine Gross, October 20, 2025) Guinness World Records
- Sandro Dias desce no RS a maior rampa de skate do mundo e estabelece dois recordes mundiais (September 25, 2025) Government of Rio Grande do Sul
- ‘Almost impossible’: Brazilian skater Sandro Dias makes history on mega ramp AFP, on The Namibian
- Tornando possível o ‘quase impossível’: o duplo recorde mundial do skatista brasileiro Sandro Dias AFP, on Gazeta Esportiva
- Skater rockets down 197-foot ramp in record-breaking skyscraper stunt (Sujita Sinha) Interesting Engineering
Notes
The ramp: it was a temporary quarter pipe of wooden panels laid along the CAFF’s outer curve (Guinness; the state government), not a classic mega ramp, although AFP’s headline calls it one. The Short says he skated down “a twenty-two-story building.”
Height: he started 70 m above the ground (Guinness: “the full 70 m (230 ft)”); the drop Guinness measured is 60.33 m, “from the lowest point of the ramp to the platform.” The Short says “up to seventy meters,” the height.
Speed: Guinness gives 103.8 km/h, and elsewhere “over 100 km/h (62 mph)”; AFP gives “103 kilometres or 64 miles per hour” (103.8 km/h is about 64.5 mph). The Short says “more than sixty miles an hour,” true either way.
Training: Guinness says he was “pulled by a motorcycle,” and the state government says motorbikes pulled him past 120 km/h; AFP’s account has a car instead. The Short follows Guinness and the state government and gives no top speed.
Runs on the day: Guinness says “four successful attempts,” from 55 m up to 70 m; the state government lists more heights, probably including practice days. The Short says only “run by run, he went higher.”
The dream and the 900: Guinness says “For 13 years”; he told the state government “há mais de 13 anos” (more than 13 years). The state government says he was the third skater to land the 900 (and the first in the middle of a competition run), so the Short says “one of the first.”
Left out: the state page’s figures for an old record and for the height of a mega ramp, which don’t agree with each other; what he told AFP in Portuguese about his age and fitness when he began preparing; and the details of Red Bull’s own film.
Sandro Dias is alive. Only his public career, the record facts and his published words are used; nothing about his private life.
Pictures: no free photo shows Sandro on the CAFF ramp, the drop itself or his training; every picture of the drop we found is Red Bull or agency work, and the state government’s own photos are all rights reserved, so none is used. Sandro Dias himself is in only three photos: in Brasília on December 22, 2003 (Ricardo Stuckert/Agência Brasil, cropped to him), and as a silhouette in the air above a vert ramp in New York on September 2, 2011 (two photos by jschauma). The five photos of September 25, 2025, the day of the drop, show the ramp on the CAFF from the street, the people on its roof platform and the crowd watching; Sandro is not visible in any of them (Lenny Maidana). The CAFF is seen with the ramp frame going up on August 30, 2025 (Lenny Maidana), and before the ramp, on May 5, 2022 (three photos by Makalanish). The downhill racer is a longboarder at a race in Taberg, Sweden, on September 7, 2014 (TheSwordfish), not Sandro Dias.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its archive page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Mendelssohn, The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave), Overture, Op. 26 (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, public domain); Mussorgsky, Night on Bald Mountain (1886 version) (Musopen, public domain); Brahms, Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73: IV. Allegro con spirito (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, CC0).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
