With more than 18 million hits for performing a daredevil stunt like that shown in the YouTube video above, anyone in search of fame and perhaps fortune would be more than willing to risk his life by engaging in rope swinging.

A 22-year-old man, Kyle Lee Stocking, just did that on Sunday afternoon and died after he miscalculated his rope's length and instantly swung into the ground rather than shoot up to global fame. Grand County sheriff Lt Kim Neal estimated the time of Mr Stocking's death at about 3:30 p.m.

He made his fatal swing from the famous 40-metre high Corona Arch near Moab, Utah. The arch has attracted thrill seekers after they figured out how to adapt their swing gear by setting up a rope with a pendulum swing through its arch.

Although the arch, managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, was closed to commercial outfitters who specialise in the heart-pumping sport, it was open for private parties to climb, rappel and swing. The place is known as the granddaddy of all cheap thrills.

It is also aptly called Bridge Rope Swing of Death.

The sport has some similarity to bungee jumping from popular jump sites such as the Macau bridge and the Skytower in Auckland, New Zealand, which has also had some accidents on record such as this one.

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