Snowboarding is arguably one of the most extreme sports in the world. Professional snowboarders risk their bodies to perform amazing stunts that many of us would never dare to even try. While the winter Olympics is in full swing in Beijing, January saw some of the world's greatest snowboarding talents take to the slopes at the 2022 Winter X Games.This year the tournament was held in Aspen in the United States and saw snowboarders from around the world compete in a variety of disciplines. One of those included American rider Zeb Powell, who was taking part in the Knuckle Huck event, a competition that is unique to the X Games. The Knuckle Huck requires snowboarders to fly down a slope, gathering enough speed to throw themselves over a low trajectory jump that kicks them just a few feet into the air. The aim is to perform the most audacious stunt you can when flying over the jump and riders are ranked by judges on the backflips, ollies and twirls they pull off in mid-air.

But while it can be difficult to get enough height from the small jump, Powell, who won the event at the 2020 Winter X Games, decided to get innovative and employed the services of his friend Luke Winkelmann as a prop.

Bravely putting his body on the line for his friend, Winkelmann slid down the slope and lay on the floor.

Planting his snowboard into the ground at a 45º angle, he then provides Powell with a makeshift ramp to ride his board off.

In simply insane circumstances, the 2020 gold medalist flies down the slope and skids up the ad-hoc ramp, flipping beyond the horizontal to pull off a huge backflip that sends him flying down the hill.

Take a look at the trick in the video below, which was posted on Twitter by user @rawan, who said: "This is the coolest thing I've ever seen."

The level of trust involved in performing something like this is remarkable.

Even the commentators were astounded by the stunt, saying: "This is an optical illusion. It's an illusion optical in nature."

And while many might question whether the unconventional move is legal within the sport, the X Games commentators confirmed in the video that the only rule in the Knuckle Huck discipline is that there are no rules.

Twitter users have been reacting to the video, with many astounded by the bravery of the two riders involved.

Check out their reactions below...

While we've awarded the creative flip a 10/10, Powell, unfortunately, could not find his way onto the podium, with Norway's Marcus Kleveland sliding away with the gold medal.