How This Guy Balances Impossible Rock Structures

[Michael] People ask if it's glued, if there's steel rods,

a lot of people really don't understand

that it's just balanced.

[Narrator] These mind bending rock formations

are held together with nothing but gravity.

Rock balancing art predates the Bible

and can be found across the globe.

Michael Grab is one of the best balancers around

and his creations have turned him

into an internet phenomenon. [light melodic music]

The structure that probably got me noticed first

internationally was kind of this orb structure that I made

and it's just hundreds of little rocks

kind of balanced on a really tiny one at the bottom.

One of my core drives is to make the formation

as impossible as possible or to challenge my own skill

and kind of one up myself each time.

A lot of reactions to my process, while I'm building

is like oh no, that's impossible, that'll never happen,

especially when I try to take a huge rock

and put it on a tip

and then people are just kind of mind blown,

when I actually let go.

[Narrator] Anyone can make rock piles,

but Michael has spent the last 12 years

perfecting the art of balance.

I started balancing in about 2008

here in Boulder, Colorado in Boulder Creek,

I just fell in love with it and started doing it every day

and it kind of took over my life,

so I ended up quitting my job and doing it full-time.

[Narrator] There aren't many people out there,

who can call themselves professional rock balancers,

but these fragile creations take a lot of practice.

[Michael] I pretty much go out on a daily basis,

if the weather's nice,

mainly the wind is what I consider bad weather, [laughing]

so if it's snowing or raining, I usually go out anyway,

I mean, that's just part of the beauty of the art form

is just getting out in the elements.

[Narrator] It took Michael over a decade

to get to this level, a lot of his creations

will take multiple attempts to get right.

That was the wind?

[Narrator] Each sculpture is different,

but every time Michael builds, he follows the same process.

The first thing he must do

is find a location to create the stack.

I've built several structures here over the years,

I just like it because I like the texture of the rock

and the way the water flows over the rock.

[Narrator] To create towers

that look like they're defying gravity takes a lot of time,

so Michael needs to make himself comfortable.

Once I decide where I wanna build,

I need to make kind of a temporary stone chair,

like so

and I'm just trying to make a very stable surface

to plant my body weight on

and one that's kind of level.

[Narrator] Once he's got a comfy seat,

it's time to choose his tools.

For balancing, I want the rocks to be completely clean,

so either I'll grab them from an area that's not so mossy

or just kind of loose, bare rocks

and I'm looking for different textures and surfaces

like this kind of has a cup on the bottom.

[Narrator] It's really important to find rocks

that have three points of contact,

in between these three points is the center of gravity.

It works exactly the same as a camera tripod,

you just have to center the mass,

so I kind of match that up with my big base boulder here

and get it in a position

that is completely stable in between the contacts,

so all the weight is gonna be

channeled right to these point.

[Narrator] He always works backwards,

picking the final rock first,

the bigger the top rock,

the more impossible the structure will look,

when he let's go.

This is the rock I've designated as my top rock,

just 'cause I like the shape of it

and it has a nice, kind of rounded point

down at the bottom here,

so I basically wanna balance it in this orientation.

[Narrator] As Michael starts to build, he has to make sure

that the structure has a solid foundation.

[Michael] It has to be the most stable at the bottom,

because any kind of vibrations

will magnify as they come up the structure.

[Narrator] With each additional rock,

the build becomes more challenging, the weight increases

and rocks can fall on Michael at any time.

It actually takes quite a bit of physical strength

to get this one balanced safely,

I have to hold this one with this hand with all this weight,

so it's like really wanting to fall that way.

[Narrator] The rocks are heavy,

so any collapses could lead to broken fingers.

See how this whole art form

is definitely not for the faint of heart,

you just kind of go all in or else you might get injured.

[laughing]

[Narrator] Once all of the rocks below are aligned,

the final piece of the puzzle is also the most risky,

the top rock.

As I'm building up the core of the structure,

I'm kind of estimating this final weight

and position of the top rock

and so once it actually gets up there,

then it's like the actual weight that I'm working with

and so sometimes my adjustments that I've been making

the whole time will be a little bit off,

they're pretty close right now.

Like it's barely balanced,

but I'm gonna get out of here,

because you've got to do that carefully also.

[Narrator] Because they're so finely poised,

a tower like this may not last very long.

[Michael] The structures will last

anywhere from a few seconds to a few days.

[Narrator] At the end of every build,

Michael likes to test the integrity of the tower

by splashing it with water.

[Michael] The final process I usually do

is splash it with water

and if it can survive through this,

then it's worthy to be photographed.

[Narrator] This also gives it

an amazing ice sculpture effect

if left overnight in the cold Boulder air.

[Michael] Part of this whole rock balancing thing

is actually getting into nature

and experiencing it firsthand,

like turning over rocks and seeing what's on these things

and learning about life that's around.

[Narrator] In a bid to leave no trace,

Michael destroys all of his structures

after photographing them.

[light melodic music]

[Michael] I like to document

as much of the creation as possible,

so that includes the build process,

that includes the life of the creation

as long as it's standing

and also the collapse and ideally a natural collapse,

due to wind or something like that.

But even still if wind doesn't blow it over

and I'm done with all my documentation,

then I'll just knock it over myself.

[light melodic music]