Winged Daredevil Skyjumping in the Swiss Alps Remains Popular

Swiss Alps, Switzerland – It was roughly one month ago that Mark Sutton, the Englishman who portrayed James Bond skydiving into the arena during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London died wing diving in this country, but the thrill seekers continue to come to this country to wing skydive from the large near-vertical peaks found in the Alps.

The winged jumpsuits give the skydiver the expanded body mass often seen in squirrels when they dive from heights many times larger than their physical stature. The wings suits allow for a measure of flying ability before the diver pulls a rip cord and parachutes safely to ground – if all goes well with the skydiving equipment that is.

Despite the obvious dangers in this extreme sport, people continue to go to the Swiss Alps to give it a try. One patron was seen fastening his GoPro camera to his helmet to record his once in a lifetime journey at terminal velocity.

In 2011, one base jumper, Jeb Corliss, uploaded a video to YouTube of the particular jump known as “sputnik”. The video, entitled “Grinding the Crack”, was viewed over 24 million times and no doubt inspired others to literally take the plunge.

On The Web:

The men who jump off Swiss cliffs
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/culture/The_men_who_jump_off_Swiss_cliffs.html?cid=36802718