A publicity stunt in China went horribly wrong when an SUV slid backwards on the Tianmen Mountain “Sky Ladder” steps and smashed into guardrails, damaging the ancient monument. Nobody was injured, thankfully, but bystanders, who were not allowed on the steps while the event was going on, captured video of the moment the SUV ran into trouble.
The monument, located in Tianmen Mountain National Park, is a stone staircase comprised of 999 steps. Visitors to the park climb the steep, 1,700-year-old staircase in order to reach the natural stone arch called “Heaven’s Gate.” To do so, they must traverse 985 feet of stairs that rise 492 feet in elevation and, at certain points, go up at a 45-degree angle. Difficult for any human, the journey was supposed to highlight the “power, handling, overall vehicle performance, and the four-wheel-drive system” of the new Chery Fengyun X3L.
After the SUV failed its attempt in such dramatic fashion, Chery apologized for the incident, blamed it on “insufficient anticipation of potential risks and oversights,” and promised compensation for the damage it caused.
What Were They Thinking?
The SUV that so epically failed this stunt is the Chery Fengyun X3L extended-range electric vehicle, which recently launched in China on September 17. The automaker had been promoting this event, called “Surpassing the Peak: Chery Fengyun X3L’s Million-Dollar Performance Challenge,” since late September.
To be fair, Chery is not the first automaker to attempt to climb the country’s famous “Sky Ladder” with an SUV – it’s just the first to have failed. Land Rover attempted and completed the same stunt with a Range Rover Sport PHEV back in 2018. Driven by a professional racing driver, the Land Rover navigated the 99 turns of the 7-mile Tianmen Mountain Road, also known as the Dragon Road, that leads up to the steps, before pointing its nose to the sky towards to the natural rock arch at the top.
Chery claims its attempt failed because a safety rope detached and became entangled in one of the right-side wheels, which obstructed power output. The stairs were reportedly more slippery than normal, as well, due to recent rainfall. Despite the embarrassment of failing and damaging an ancient monument, Chery vows it will return again in a month for another shot at glory.
TopSpeed’s Take
When Land Rover attempted this exact same stunt seven years ago, Phil Jones, a Land Rover Experience expert, said, “This was the hardest Range Rover Sport challenge I’ve ever been involved with because, until we reached the top, we couldn’t categorically say we would succeed.” And that was after Land Rover had already set records climbing Pikes Peak, crossing the ‘Empty Quarter’ desert in the Arabian Peninsula, and descending the 7,119-foot Inferno downhill course in Mürren, Switzerland. After all that, they were still worried about a staircase.
Perhaps Chery’s embarrassing failure should be a warning for all automakers that ancient monuments should not be used as a backdrop for commercials to sell cars. As TLC famously said, “Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to.”
Source: The Sun
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