Ride the star to the top of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in VR

Most Christmas trees, you just have to stand on your tiptoes to affix the star to the top. If you’ve got high ceilings, maybe a stepladder. But what if your tree is 94 feet tall and your Swarovski crystal star weighs over 700 pounds?

You get a crane. A big one.

Enter VRtually There, a weekly video series from the Paste BN network. Using some of the latest state-of-the-art virtual reality technology, they’re giving us a 360 degree first-hand view of the star’s ride to the top of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in Midtown Manhattan.

We ooh and aah every year at the annual lighting of one of the nation’s most famous trees, but it takes over 50,000 lights, a big crane and a lot of hard labor to get the tree up and running. This year’s nearly 100-foot tree is 56 feet wide and weighs over 33,000 pounds. “That’s a big Christmas tree for anybody,” says head gardener Erik Pauze.

But, he adds, “Once we plug it in and turn it on, boy, it’s a great feeling.”

Check out the full video below, which also includes a rousing game-day Tiger Walk with the Auburn University football team. To get the epic 360 degree experience, download the Paste BN app and search for the video in the “VR” section, or view the video below in your phone’s YouTube app. And don't forget to subscribe on YouTube for future episodes of VRtually There.