History Of BASE Jump
History of BASE Jump
The earliest record of jumping off a tower goes back to the eleventh century when the a cleric, Eilmer Malmersbury, AKA Elmer the Flying Monk, jumped off Malmesbury Abbey Tower with a set of wings. The jump was not successful and he became a handicap after the jump.
There were many other attempts, all of which were not successful until the 20th century.
Watch this fantastic Youtube video on the Rocket Man to see how far BASE Jumping has come.
Franz Reichelt - the Flying Tailor
Leapt from the Eiffel Tower in 1912 with a homemade wing suit, but died during the attempt, in view of an assembled crowd.
Clem Sohn - The Michigan Icarus
Jumped with a bat like wing suit in 1937 from an aircraft during an air show. Died during the attempt as both is primary and secondary parachutes failed.
1978 - Birth of BASE jumping
Carl Boenish - founder of bASE Jump
Made BASE, acronym for Buildings Antenna, Span and Earth, popular after making film clips of himself jumping of bridges, buildings, radio antennas and cliffs in 1978. Boenish's last jump in 1984 at Norway's Troll Wall killed him.
Patrick de Gayardon - Father of Sky boarding
Made popular the sport of sky surfing by videotaping himself riding a snow board during a free fall. Also became the most famous personality, and maybe also the richest, of the sport.
In 1998, while doing a jump in Hawaii, with a modified rigging an accident occurred and he died doing the jump.
Dwain Weston
While attempting a difficult stunt with fellow jumper Jeb Corliss in 2003, Dwain died when he clipped a steel railing. The accident was filmed life.
Loic Jean-Albert - The Flying Dude
Became famous in 2006 by posting footage of his stunts on Youtube. His stunts were caught with a camera attached to his helmet.
Yves Rossy - Rocket Man
In 2008, Yves flew across the English Channel by jumping from a plane and using a rocket-powered carbon fibre wing to glide across the channel. His wing suit looked more like an airplane. Yves is both a skydiver and a pilot.
In 2009, he tried 38 kilometer flight record from Morocco to Spain using his Rocket Man suit. However, due to bad weather he had to abort his feat midway.
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