Tag Archives: wingsuits

Base Jumping in wingsuits videos

Matt Blank – Base Jumping around the world

Matt Blank – Base Jumping around the world

Matt Blank travels the world base jumping and exploring what makes this human experience unique for everyone.

Matt Blank grew up in Southern California skateboarding by day and racing BMX by night. Most mornings he spent at the beach surfing or bodyboarding before school, always with an eye on the weather in case he needed to skip out early to hit the coast.

After high school he worked own way through the University of California Irvine as a rock climbing instructor and while he was finishing his degree in psychology and social behavior with a minor in film he worked technical rope and cave search and rescue for the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department.

Max Blank

After college his attentions shifted to snowboarding, skydiving and B.A.S.E jumping. He instructed freestyle and all mountain snowboarding for Vail Corp. and still instruct skydiving from time to time at Perris Valley Skydiving Center. In the more recent years he jumped from one extreme community to the next pursuing his ultimate goal of collaborating with other like minded extreme athletes to create projects that can only be characterized as “mind grenades” . But what is past is prologue and therefore he’s always ready for the next adventure.

Starring: Matt Blank, Chris Carnahan, Cam Tracey, Lawrence Jones, Maria Steinmayr, Brian Mosbaugh.

Places:
Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia,
Tonsai – Thailand,
Moab – Utah.

Dachstein Base Jump shot

Dachstein Base Jump shot

Dachstein Base Jump

Wingsuit jump in difficult weather and strong up winds. Film we shot 5 years ago. First freefall from the Dachstein in Ramsau Austria. Shot and edited by Frederick von Sulle and Helmut Strasser.
Idea, direction Helmut Strasser. Wingsuit vertical drop Martin Frenzl and Martin Trdla. Helicopter pilots Georg Steiner and Felix Baumgartner. Martin Trdla sadly died in 2014, he was a leading Czech base jumper.

Continue reading Dachstein Base Jump shot

Jeb Corliss flies through Tianmen Cave in China

Jeb Corliss flies through Tianmen Cave in China

Jeb Corliss Tianmen Cave

Fly through mountain cave in China

Jeb Corliss Tianmen Cave

Take a look behind the scenes as Jeb Corliss fufills his quest to make history. The first person to fly through Heaven’s Gate in Tianmen Mountain, China.

Tianmen Mountain is a mountain located within Tianmen Mountain National Park, Zhangjiajie, in northwestern Hunan Province, China.

A cablecar was constructed by the French company Poma from nearby Zhangjiajie railway station to the top of the mountain. Tianmen Mountain Cableway is claimed in tourist publications as the “longest passenger cableway of high mountains in the world”, with 98 cars and a total length of 7,455 metres and ascent of 1,279 metres. The highest gradient is an unusual 37 degrees. Tourists can walk on kilometres of paths built onto the cliff face at the top of the mountain, including sections with glass floors. An 11 kilometres road with 99 bends also reaches the top of the mountain and takes visitors to Tianmen cave, a natural hole in the mountain of a height of 131.5 metres.

A large temple is also located on the summit with chairlift or footpath access. The original temple here was built in the Tang Dynasty. Today a more recent construction with Tang dynasty architecture occupies the site and includes a vegetarian restaurant in the 10000 sq mi of setting.

On September 25, 2011 Jeb Corliss glided through the 30 m wide archway in the mountain using a wingsuit. The flight began from a helicopter at 1,800 m, and ended with a safe landing on a nearby bridge. The World Wingsuit League held the first and second World Wingsuit Championships in Tianmen. On October 8, 2013, during a training jump for the second world championships, Viktor Kováts plunged to his death when he was unable to open his parachute.

In August 2016, a glass skywalk overlooking Tongtian Avenue, called the “Coiling Dragon Cliff, was opened to the public.

A legend – Dwain Weston

A legend – Dwain Weston

Dwain Weston

A daredevil basejumper

Dwain Weston – should be an inspiration to many of us. This video is dedicate to him, his family and his friends. Scenes are extracted from a documentary called “fearless”.

Dwain Weston was an Australian skydiver, BASE jumper and wingsuiter. On 5 October 2003, while participating in the inaugural Go Fast Games, Weston was killed attempting to fly over the Royal Gorge Bridge near Cañon City, Colorado.

Weston, who was originally from Sydney, Australia, worked as a computer analyst. He made over 1200 BASE jumps in ten different countries, including a jump from the 73rd floor of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and was considered one of the best and most experienced BASE jumpers in the world. In 2002, he won the world title in BASE jumping. He served as president of the Australian BASE Association (ABA). He was among the first BASE jumpers to introduce acrobatic elements in the jumps, and was a pioneer in various jumping techniques.

On 5 October 2003, while participating in the inaugural Go Fast Games, Weston was killed attempting to fly over the Royal Gorge Bridge near Cañon City, Colorado. Weston was wearing a wingsuit, a skydiving suit with fabric extended below the arms to the body and between the legs to catch air allowing for horizontal travel when skydiving. Weston was to go over the bridge while fellow skydiver Jeb Corliss was to go under it. Just prior to the jump, Weston said to Corliss, “Whatever happens happens”.

Miscalculating the winds and his distance from the bridge, Weston struck a railing while traveling an estimated 120 mph (190 km/h), severing one of his legs at the hip. Spectators on the bridge witnessed the event. Some filmed the accident and captured the reaction of the crowd and the damage to the bridge. At impact with the bridge, Weston’s parachute deployed and he fell onto a rock face about 100 yards from the bottom of the gorge. While either impact would likely have killed him independently, it is assumed he was dead after impact with the bridge.