Video: BASE Jumping Antarctica

I came across this video this morning over at ExWeb. It is a preview for a full documentary of an expedition that went to Antarctica back in 2009, where the team of explorers snowboarded, climbed, and BASE jumped from an impressive looking rock tower. ExWeb has a short profile of Geraldine Fasnacht who was one of the members of that team, and has another of her videos on display as well.

Skydiver Makes 13-Mile Test Jump

Felix Baumgartner is a skydiver who hopes to make a record setting jump later this year. Yesterday, in preparation for that attempt, he made a test jump from 13-miles in the sky. Baumgartner used a hot air balloon to carry a small capsule up to 71,580 feet then, wearing a pressure suit that looks like something an astronaut would use, he leapt into the air and eventually floated back to Earth.

Baumgartner was in free fall for three minutes 43 seconds and reached speeds in excess of 364 miles per hour. It took him eight minutes to complete the leap but he hopes to top that this summer when he'll raise the bar to 23 miles up.

Video: Double BASE Jump In Utah

Another great video courtesy of the Adventure Journal today. This one features BASE jumper Mario Richards as he leaps from a cliff called Dragon's Nest, located near Moab, Utah, then proceeds to fly through the area and land on top of King Fisher, a nearby rock tower. After being greeted and congratulated by friends, who caught the landing on video as well, Mario then proceeds to make a second jump from the top of the tower. All along, we're treated to some great views of the stunning landscape.



King of the mountain from No Fly Zone on Vimeo.

Video: Experience Freedom (In A Wingsuit!)

It has been awhile since we've seen a really nice BASE jumping/wingsuit video, but this one is a perfect way to start the day. The music and scenery is simply beautiful and the shots of people floating through they air have a unique tranquility about them. We all know they're falling at a frightening pace, but it almost seems like they're suspended in air.

I still don't think I'm ready to attempt any of these stunts, but I sure enjoy watching others do it.


Experience Freedom from Betty Wants In on Vimeo.

Video: A Fleet of Wingsuits

Ever wonder what would happen if you got a large group of experienced wingsuiters together and filmed it? That's what you'll find in the video below, which shows a fleet of them flying in formation. I'm told there were 36 people in total, plus two cameramen, and when they were stacked on top of one another, even in a tight formation, the group was still more than six stories in height. Watch these pilots soar through the air with the greatest of ease and look absolutely tranquil doing it.

Bungie Jumping Into The Abyss

Bungie jumping has never been all that high on my "to-do" list, and bungie jumping into a pitch dark cave seems even scarier. But that's exactly what this group of crazies did when the set up a jump in an abandoned gold mine in the Czech Republic and then filmed their little adventure to share with the rest of us.

The sensation of falling is always a bit unnerving. What must it feel like when you're free falling into the abyss?

Video: Jeb Corliss Flies Wingsuit Through A Cave

This past weekend, BASE jumper Jeb Corliss was in China where he leapt from a hovering helicopter then used his wingsuit to successfully navigate his way through a large cave, and then eventually land safely on the other side. When I first heard about this last week, I wondered about the logistics of the flight, which you can examine for yourself in the video below. The cave was bigger than I expected, but this was still a pretty crazy stunt.

My guess is now we'll see people in wingsuits trying to thread the needle through increasingly smaller caves, as they attempt to one up each other. Crazy stuff.