Posts Tagged ‘wingsuit flying’

We have shown many videos on BASEjumping and wingsuit flying, but this one (BASE885) really takes the biscuit. The photography by Edgar Kraus is magnificent:

The footage was shot on Super 16mm film.

There is a fine line between these two extreme sports – BASEjumping and wingsuit flying and the one frequently leads into the other. Remember that BASE is an  acronym that stands for the four categories of objects from which one can jump; building, antenna, span, and earth.

When BASEjumping progressed to wingsuit flying, the aim was to jump as far off the cliff as possible and keep as far away from the rocks as possible. But the guys who do this sport are no ordinary sportsmen – they seek the thrill of danger, and it was not long before they were virtually trailing their fingers along mountain edges.

They are under no illusions though. The official site www.basejumper.com warns that

“BASE jumping is a highly dangerous sport that can easily injure and kill participants. Think long and hard before making a BASE jump. We do not recommend BASE jumping to anybody. You, and you alone, are responsible for your safety.

Always seek proper training and mentoring before attempting any sort of BASE jumping. Wherever you jump; take only pictures, leave only footprints.”

There’s no such thing as “too old” – or not in Poul Rasmussen’s case. At 85 years old his passion is kitesurfing (AdvanceCopenhagen).

There are many much better and much longer videos, but unfortunately all with a lot of interviews included – and the language is Danish. Now, I have nothing against the Danish language, but I’m not sure how many of our readers are fluent in it! So I apologise to Poul, but the quick snip I’ve shown of a man to emanate will, I hope, whet your appetite to keep reading!

So that’s kitesurfing out the way, what about some of our other favourite sports?

Donna Vano is the oldest pro-snowboarder in the world. At 56 she is a legend in the snowboard and skateboard industry- an action sports veteran in every sense of the word. For 16 years she  has competed in Superpipe, Slopestyle, Boardercross, Slalom and Giant Slalom. She currently holds three Guinness World Records as the Oldest Inline Vert Skater in the World, the Most Gold Medals in the USASA in all 5 disciplines, and the Oldest Female Amateur Snowboarder Competing in Pro Tours in the Superpipe. She also runs the South Tahoe Snowboard Series USASA Nationals, which was the top for 8 years in a row and has been top in the series for 12 years. “I’m not getting older, I’m getting better,” she says.

The oldest person to have climbed Mount Everest is a Nepalese Sherpa called Min Bahadur Sherchan. He was 76 years and 340 days old. The second oldest is 75-year-old Japanese Yuichiro Miura, who reached the top two days after him, and the third is another Japanese, 71 year old  Katsusuke Yanagisawa, a teacher by profession.

In 2009,  Amanda Richmond, 54, a PE teacher from Ipswich, England, battled electrical storms, giant snow plumes and freezing temperatures to scale the 8,850m mountain, the highest on earth and so became the oldest woman to have climbed Everest.  She said: “It was incredible. I feel privileged to have been in that situation – to stand on top of the world.”

I’m trying to find the oldest wingsuit flyer, but in the meantime I have come across the oldest skydiver. Frank Moody, aged 101, made a tandem jump in 2004. Now that’s quite something isn’t – anybody who ‘doesn’t dare’ should be ashamed of themselves!!!

Still struggling to find the oldest wingsuit flyer, I have to allude to Yves Rossy – or ‘jet’ or ‘fusion’ man as he is also known. At 50, he has to be the oldest and most successful person to have achieved sustained human flight with the aid of a jet-powered fixed wing strapped to his back. His next project is to fly across the Grand Canyon. Rossy is both a highly experienced skydiver and a veteran aircraft pilot.

“My biggest concern is what happens when I get bored with this (wingsuit flying),” says veteran BASEjumper Phil Smith on the risks of wingsuit jumping from buildings, bridges and cliffs, and that’s about the last word I have on the oldest wingsuit flyer. I know Dwain Weston was 30 when he died practicing the sport he loved, but as for the oldest wingsuit flyer?  Mum’s the word.

Since 2006, Russell Allen, an American cyclist has been the oldest living American Olympian Cyclist – he got his medal in 1932. But cycling has a venerable reputation for more aged participants. The oldest participant for the ‘Les 24 Heures Velo’ – a team-endurance cycle event to be held in August this year at the Le Mans Bugatti Circuit – will be 82 years old. Whereas, In 2007 in Ladysmith, South Africa, Mkhulu Mkhize, was given a brand new set of wheels at the venerable age of 112. Ok, fair enough, he’s not about to be competing at that age – but to still be cycling yourself around the countryside is quite something.

And as for the Olympics, it seems like our sportsmen are going on for ever and ever. The 2008 event was a real eye-opener. Japanese horseman Hiroshi Hoketsu lead the pack at Beijing, returning to the Games after a 44-year break, aged 67. Laurie Lever turned 60 in October 2007, the last thing on his mind was retirement with the Australian show jumper focused on riding in his first Olympics. The title of oldest Olympian is held by Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn, who collected his sixth medal at the 1920 Antwerp Games aged 72 years and 280 days. “We are a fitter generation,” said Lever, whose appearance on Ashleigh Drossel Dan in the show jumping in Hong Kong is believed to make him the oldest debutant at the 2008 Games.

Laurence J. Brophy of Wales at 77 years old took part in last years’ RacingThePlanet Atacama Crossing – surely one of the most testing of the ultramarathon/endurance races. He didn’t complete all stages, but he did most of it. An extraodinary undertaking for any human being let alone one on the other side of 70 and at 74, Jack Denness of the UK, took part in  the Sahara Race. He said: “It is fantastic to be here. I love it. It is great for my ego as even the front runners give me lots of respect because of my age.”

Sports academics are not surprised by the ability of athletes to remain competitive longer and expect increasing numbers of over 40s to stay competing at top level sport as training techniques and technology continue to improve.

“Ageing is inevitable for humans. But if you have goals in life, you should go through the physical and mental training, forget about age and embark on the challenges,” said Yuichiro Miura.

Something to think about, isn’t it…

This is the most extroadinary photograph and an amazing new US record. Our congratulations to Taya Weiss, 32, president of Raise the Sky, for helping to pull it off.

This is wingsuit formation flying at its very best.

68 skydivers from 16 different countries were flown up to 13,000ft in four otter planes before jumping out above the scenic Lake Elsinore, California.

Wearing a variety of brightly coloured wingsuits, the intrepid participants successfully achieved the unlinked, slot-specific formation required for the US record.

Weiss said, “The jump lasted for over a minute, with the whole formation travelling approximately two-and-a-half-miles across the ground.”

She added: “It is the standing US National Record for Largest Wingsuit Formation, certified by the United States Parachute Association. Wingsuit skydiving is still relatively new, so although a growing number of countries certify wingsuit records, we have not yet been recognised by the Federation Aeronautique International. If they give us the go-ahead, we can start setting official world records, including as many countries as possible.”

The four groups effectively came together in mid air, assembling in the vital diamond formation. 68 flyers in the right place at the right time. It was a remarkable achievement.

The jump took a year to organise and consisted of holding skills camps and achieving smaller records all over the world, as each jumper on this formation had to be qualified before being allowed to join the team. They did did 15 jumps at this event, seven of which were using all four planes together, before achieving the record.

Wingsuits allow skydivers greater freedom of movement while in freefall, making large scale formations easier. Airfoils are created by the flaps, with the resulting gliding affect comparable to a flying squirrel. The result was a spectacular kaleidoscope of colour and the aerial images were shot by British cameraman Mark Harris, who wore a helmet-mounted camera while flying a wingsuit on his back underneath the group.

The event was hosted by the Raise the Sky non-profit organisation, founded in 2009. The charity hopes to have a money raising goal associated with each jump, the proceeds of the Lake Elsinore jump going to the charity City Year which provides mentoring to keep underprivileged children in school.

This wingsuit record raised $5000 for the charity. Taya Weiss said “We drop out of planes to keep kids from dropping out of school.”

This is a long video (iscreamsu)  of the various attempts at the record including the final successful one. It is well worth watching.

Wall climbing is one of the more extreme sports that we blog about but when that wall is a mile high and you only have a narrow window of opportunity in which to make that climb you can understand why we believe this to be one of the most extreme challenges that we have come across this year.

The Asgard project is top climber Leo Houlding’s ambitious expedition to make the first free ascent of Mt Asgard’s daunting north face – regarded as one of the most difficult big walls in the world.

Mt Asgard

Mt Asgard is part of the Baffin Mountains in Canada’s Nanavut Province and is one of the most spectacular peaks on Baffin Island. It contains two peaks, both flat-topped cylindrical rock towers, separated by a saddle. The northeast peak is slightly higher than the southwest peak. The northeast peak is a 1200-m vertical rock climb, and is one of the most difficult climbs on Baffin Island.

With great support from main sponsors Berghaus and Nokia,  Houlding set about putting a team together which would film their attempt on the summit.  To reach Mount Asgard, Houlding, with fellow top climbers Sean ‘Stanley’ Leary and Carlos Suarez, learn how to fly in a wing suit. The plan was to leave the scene of their conquest via a wing suit - a trick that had already been enacted when 007 BASEjumps off a cliff in the opening sequence of the 1976 Bond classic The Spy Who Loved Me, the scene was filmed from Asgard. Perhaps it did not quite work out like that; what is sure is that the film and rigging crew had to take on a gruelling 5 day trek carrying 30kg packs.

The You Tube video from  HospitalRecords shows Houlding and Suarez learning how to fly in a wing suit.

Let’s see how events did turn out in this next video from posingpodcasts as the guys went sky diving to make their arrival rather more extreme and altogether less burdensome  - all right for some!

It is an exciting and extreme adventure the outcome of which can be seen when the film première’s on November 20th at the Kendal Mountain Festival which runs from Nov 19th to 22nd at Kendal, the gateway to the Lake District in north west England.

This comes from their own website www.mountainfest.co.uk

Kendal is by far the largest and most varied event of its type in Europe and it’s the main social event for outdoor enthusiasts in the UK. At the heart of Kendal’s programme is the mountain film competition, attracting film premières from around the world. Over 50 films are screened (from 200+ entries) with ten coveted prizes up for grabs.

Together with the Art and Book Festivals, speciality Bike, Snowsports, Wild Water and Free-Flight nights, the Boardman Tasker literary award plus the Adventure Film Academy for aspiring filmmakers, make it one of the best mountain festivals in the world.

THE MANAGEMENT ARE SORRY TO INFORM YOU THAT ALL TICKETS FOR THE PREMIERE ARE SOLD!

Not surprising – this is one we will have to get hold of…..watch this space. If you want to visit the project’s website it is

http://www.theasgardproject.com

This is yet another awesome video of wingsuit flying courtesy of melioped. Many of these videos have a clip or two of something we’ve seen before, but they can also be filled with other awe-inspring content… as this one is.

These guys are pushing themselves to the very limit -  an exhilarating feat of almost unbelievable daring, where wingsuit flyers soar over mountains and through canyons at over 100 mile per hour virtually scraping their fingernails over the rocks.

Wingsuit flying must have the leading edge on all extreme sports… give me a rock face any time!!!

Wingsuit flying is arguably the most dangerous feat in the sky diving world. Only a handful of people are good (or crazy) enough to do it. Hans Lange, a 44-year-old Norwegian, is one of the best. The other is, of course, Jeb Corliss.

Travelling at speeds in excess of 100 mph there is little margin for error, but wingsuit flying fits Corliss’ pysche perfectly. Having had a troubled childhood, Corliss acquired a pathological desire to confront fear. In 1997 he made his first BASEjump and since then has stepped off virtually every major outcrop and edifice on earth, including the Eiffel Tower and Malaysia’s Petronas Towers.

Things didn’t always go to plan. In 1999, he was blown into an African waterfall, broke several ribs and his back in three places and spent a month prone in a hospital bed. In 2003, his friend and fellow jumper Dwain Weston died in front of his eyes while the two were attempting to become the first duo to fly simultaneously over and under the world’s highest suspension bridge in Colorado. Weston crashed into the bridge and was killed instantly. The two men were wearing wingsuits.

His leap off the Empire State Building in 2006 was also foiled. He was caught before he could launch himself and was convicted of reckless endangerment. Wanting to stop any further attempts by anyone to throw themselves off the Empire State Building, the powers that be in New York were hoping that he would receive at least a 1-year prison sentence, but he got off with 3 years probation and 100 hours community service… The experience shook Corliss though. “I’ve become very good about dealing with fear, but sitting infront of a judge – this was a different kind of fear because I could have had my freedom taken away,” he said.

The step from BASEjumping to proximity wingsuit flying was a natural one for him, wingsuit flying being an evolution of BASE jumping that now preoccupies most of the sport’s top athletes.

And it was only a matter of time before he was looking for the ultimate challenge, the ultimate risk… to proximity fly down the Matterhorn.

It is illegal to proximity fly down mountains in the US, so to perfect his precision technique he practiced by flying close to (a few feet from) parachutist Luigi Cani, a Go Fast! sponsored test pilot. And then it was the next plane to Europe, Italy and the final training jump at the famed Montebrento.

Thank god for Europe where you are still allowed to be a daredevil even if it means you might lose your life…

Henry Lowther, a pilot, says “I like to see people doing this stuff. It’s life… There’s no 100% safety… never.”

Montebrento (psymosk) has a fearsome reputation claiming the lives of 6 BASEjumpers in 5 years…

…and it lived up to its unpredictable reputation for Jeb Corliss as he landed in trees and broke his left hand.

Did this mean that the long anticipated Matterhorn jump was off? Are you kidding? There was nothing wrong with his right hand was there?

mralan1969uk

“Oh my God,” were his first words after landing, “I was so close I can’t breathe… I scared myself so much you have no idea how scared I was. Oh my god, I shouldn’t be this close…”

And once he’d regained his breath, he said “that was so much cooler that I thought it would be. That was the best proxy flying I’ve ever done in my life. Without question.”

At times he was as little as 5 to 10ft above the mountain… that takes courage. “You have to manage your fear” he says, “but keep in the fear that keeps you alive.”

Corliss still has his eyes on the ultimate goal: to become the first person to leap from a plane and land without a parachute.

The attempt is currently stalled due to fund-raising hurdles; he needs to raise $3 million to pay for the contraption he’s dreamed up to facilitate the landing. This will be built by some former NASA engineers and is most often imagined as a sort of slide built at an angle that he will match as he flies in, then impact and use good old friction to slow him down. However, he is keeping the actual design secret for now…

“To really do something we’ve never done before is getting almost impossible,” he says. “To land something at basically terminal velocity and walk away? That’s human achievement. It’s every bit as important as climbing Everest the first time, but you can do it on the ground, in Vegas, with 500,000 spectators there watching it live…”

Watch this space…