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00:0631 line out in the following order five-way split altis reading minus 90 mill cyprus reading 1017
00:15expert cyprus reading 90 arrow up portable altimeters on and set checkers go on
00:37for as long as humans existed we've been obsessed with flight
00:43the question is why
01:18the first parachute jump happened over 200 years ago in france since then it's evolved one of the
01:26biggest changes was the birth of a completely different kind of jumping sport known as
01:33base jumping and that's going to be the focus of our story hey doc
01:47the best things in life are on the other side of fear
01:51if i feel adrenaline it usually means something is going wrong
01:58a lot of people live their entire lives without really living
02:08always a dream to be able to fly it's a feeling of freedom
02:23if there was a mecca for base jumping it would be here
02:26the purine bridge in idaho one of the few places they can legally jump year round oh there's someone
02:37there
02:38unlike skydiving from an airplane these jumpers leap from fixed objects with no backup parachute
02:44because there's no time to release it they only have four seconds before hitting the ground
02:53base jumping has become so popular that first jump training schools like this one
02:57have popped up around the world the only variable that we're throwing into the mix here is we're
03:03going to have our pilot shooting our hand you can jump and then throw immediately after you jump
03:08just don't throw before you jump scotty a former marine now makes a living out of teaching people
03:14how to base jump safely gear checked when we get to the middle of the bridge guys ready
03:18yeah check it up and have fun laying on the ground safely to get to this point these first-time
03:25base
03:25jumpers needed to have hundreds of skydives give it gas but base jumping is 50 times more likely to
03:32result in death than jumping from a plane
03:38all right gear checks guys you got the drill
03:40good to go solid looks great totally good who's ready me coming out
03:50all right dude good set hands up eyes up square up all right three two one
04:07good
04:08don't throw the paddle chute in front of you jordan
04:14beautiful
04:19square up eyes up
04:27do good turn the parachute
04:3645 left
04:39gone a little too deep in the pocket jake
04:53that was a little crazy that one
05:03okay three two one see ya oh geez
05:15he landed exactly on the target
05:17you guys ready it seems the hike back up to the bridge is almost as precarious as the jump off
05:27it's better to go that way where he is i'm just trying to challenge myself here
05:34it's better to go
05:35within a matter of minutes the students are back up for the next jump
05:40oh yeah you're in a really good spot you are okay i'm keen to know how they're feeling yeah
05:48do you ever think about dying all the time dude every day man maybe you can think about it until
05:53the room starts spinning you know but uh i'm much more terrified of working an office job we're here
05:58once dude if something happened to you though that's tragic i know dude you know you talk about
06:05quality of life and the excitement therein versus length and i think that my personal preference after
06:11some years of thought is i'd rather potentially be the one that burns right but half the length
06:28you're a young harvard graduate are you chasing adrenaline you get to put yourself in a situation
06:34where you're beyond your comfort and you have to do that emotional control being able to remain calm
06:43and like that as a virtue and that is like that kind of character control is really really compelling
06:47yes so why do you do this about two years ago a very close friend of mine passed away by
06:56suicide
06:57the outcome for them was kind of living in fear and i didn't want to do that so i started
07:04kind of doing
07:05everything that scared me the most so i started skydiving which then led to base jumping which i said i
07:11would
07:14never do good wow we're good you're right man you're right first battle ending i've had in 10 years
07:24yeah it punctuated the moment nikki is one of scotty's newest graduates she's been base jumping for
07:31just over two months it's interesting that in some ways it was the death of a friend that inspired you
07:38to live but you're doing something that potentially brings you closer to death than anything else you
07:45could do yeah uh you're right i can't argue that fact what i will say is that i think
07:52a lot of people live their entire lives without really living
07:59and base jumping is the only time it's acceptable for a girl to spit
08:02yeah at least i know that i really did things i was passionate about and that i
08:14loved and felt like i took every opportunity and this is my opportunity to be able to do something for
08:33myself
08:44i'm in idaho trying to understand why people are attracted to base jumping
08:49to help with that i thought i'd get to know a bit more about nikki we'll get two wristbands
08:54yes my tiny wrist so what do you want to go first uh ferris wheel
09:00i think you're not afraid of heights you know i actually am afraid of heights oh god so you decided
09:05to skydive yes skydiving and base jumping is one of the few times in your life that you get to
09:12be totally
09:12present just what's happening in that moment and that in itself is such a liberating experience that
09:19you kind of crave that experience over and over again you're getting on getting on the pink one
09:25it's our turn all right thank you
09:30what does base jumping give you a sense of community an opportunity to challenge myself mentally physically
09:39emotionally and in some ways a purpose in life every time you do it it's and you survive it's a
09:47win
09:50have you known anyone who's died in the sport yes only been in the skydiving and base jumping world for
09:57november of 2022 and there's six or seven people i can think of that have died either in skydiving or
10:04in a way it's part of the sport and it sucks yes uh but the other on the other hand
10:12um you almost feel
10:16a duty to continue to do the sport on their behalf what do you want to do next you choose
10:24what is this star sizzler we can do this oh you want to embarrass me now three two one
10:33oh come on what's the trick with this this is tragic should we go in this bunny house we got
10:43to get
10:43the sixty dollars for it holy you didn't really come down like face jumping this one really makes
10:54you sick so do you want to do it she's all over it are you all online
11:01oh sweet baby jesus are we both putting a seatbelt on i think that's how it works okay ask me
11:07a
11:07okay so we're going to the fun house what about community how important is that face jumping i think
11:15it's really important absolutely you know it's one of the most beautiful things about the sport
11:20one of the things that happens a lot when people are on exit
11:23it is they do these like fist bumps or handshakes or hugs telling the people that they're with how
11:29much they love them and care about them which if you think about a predominantly male dominated sport
11:35men expressing their emotions in that way to others and genuinely meaning it
11:41is a really incredible moment to be able to witness
11:48what would you do if you were not base jumping probably baking and cooking i did not see that
11:54coming really yeah let's all go at the same time three two one see ya oh god here we are
12:03oh wow you're
12:04really getting some traction okay so what would it take to stop you from base jumping
12:14i'd probably have to injure myself pretty badly or die that's the scary part right like there's a
12:22saying that there's only two ways out of base jumping you quit for real or death so i don't know
12:28i
12:28i don't think i've found my why not yet i know my why's but there hasn't really been a why
12:34not
12:44the next day we get our first why not it doesn't even look bad
12:54good good release
12:57it's amazing everything perfect yeah so all good nothing yeah just flying a parachute man coming in
13:04nice nice flare right there and that was it just caught my just caught it in a root or a
13:12ditch or
13:12something i knew it was pretty wrecked oh wow so it's broken there along there ripped out the
13:22ligaments on the one side i think does it make you question why you do it no but a lot
13:30of people
13:30would potentially turn around now you know not like yeah because when you get in it that's not a
13:35you're so cash yeah so easy and but that's a serious injury like yeah it's pretty pretty good
13:41what about not doing it again you got to push through you can do anything you put your mind to
13:46get your knees in the breeze dude
13:50if you want me to pack your rig and watch rio oh are you going to help them with real
13:56yeah i can do
13:57that scotty's wife julia is also a base jumping instructor you got it dude it's yours and it looks
14:03like their son rio is well on his way i can see the jumper in him yeah julia did you
14:11view of jumping base jumping change when rio was born for sure i think i used to put myself in
14:18a lot
14:18more risk than i do now i'm sure you understand that for people watching it may almost seem
14:26incomprehensible yeah the level of risk you would take not just you but both of you are jumpers yeah
14:31yeah yeah i know i actually i jumped until uh eight months pregnant
14:40so that was even harder for people to see hey bud do you get nervous watching your wife jump uh
14:48not
14:49really we've been jumping together for a very long time now is that mummy mummy
14:58real mummy look at real looking intently
15:05is that mummy what got you into this in the first place what's your why i started jumping
15:13out airplanes in the military so i didn't really need a why back then they just kind of told me
15:17to do
15:19it it turned out i really liked it it was really really fun
15:26but then why teach it because i know you have a moral dilemma don't you because in some ways
15:34you enable it but you want to enable it safely a lot of it was from years and years of
15:41having
15:41friends getting hurt and seeing people will make a lot of the same mistakes over and over and over
15:46and over again and you're just like either i just keep doing this for me for fun and just you
15:51know
15:52which after a long time that kind of just seemed a little selfish
15:57but at least this way when we're we're teaching or guiding or coaching we feel like we're helping
16:03stem that curve a little bit and keep people from getting hurt and doing the same mistakes
16:11so how do we do this all right tell us how to do it super easy so you can grab
16:16here and then there's
16:17a bar at the back yeah on the frame and just up we go three one up oh i'm a
16:23fat bastard god
16:24lonnie jeez is that it's the burgers right now you get a real taste of what it is i ask
16:30my friends to
16:30do right lonnie it's like holy that's a lot of like a work man yeah 20 years ago lonnie jumped
16:37from this
16:37bridge step watch grab that frame here we go cool it left him a paraplegic what they call a solid
16:43guy
16:44beer salt guy yes you are he's back and i want to know why thank you thanks guys
16:55when you look at it now and you think back 20 years ago what comes to mind oh man you
17:04know the
17:04the first thing that comes to mind is the great times we were having when we were my friends you
17:10you know all of us together as a kid i'd always dreamt of flying just stepping out into nothing
17:21i was lucky enough to find something that really was a passion three two one see ya high speed
17:30high adrenaline
17:34everything about the sport is so amazing this is what makes me happy uh here we are at the
17:41parion bridge in idaho the day of the accident i had decided that we can do a new canadian record
17:49the year before we had sat in record of six people leaving the object at the same time and we
17:55had
17:55seven here okay have a good one sherry we had some lesser experienced people that were there so i was
18:03helping them climb over and then when i was ready lee i know i was rushed
18:14as soon as i left i was like oh whoa i'm flipping way too slow so i rushed the deployment
18:21i threw the pilot shoot out and my legs hadn't finished that last rotation yet
18:26and just wrapped around my foot i hit the water it was just one massive impact and i was on
18:40the
18:40bottom oh jesus someone get down there you know my body started going into convulsions gasping for
18:45air and i just kept saying i can't drown i have to survive for my boys lonnie spent nearly three
18:52minutes underwater before being rescued i was a couple weeks in intensive care they kept me
18:57medically induced when i woke up the first question i had for the doctor was how long do
19:03you think it'll be before i can jump again straight up she said lonnie listen i'm i'm sorry
19:08to tell you you've suffered a spinal cord injury you'll never jump again and i just looked at her i
19:13was like i'm sorry you don't know who you're talking to i will jump again you know i always joke
19:20you know a smart guy would have quit right you know a lot of people they know they say oh
19:26base
19:26jumpers you know you have a death wish all this garbage and it's the exact opposite right we have
19:31a life wish we wish to live life to the absolute fullest
19:58so the concern here is that the wheelchair will not have enough space uh one to rotate three two
20:06one and go but more concerningly is not enough of a push-off so there's a potential of his pack
20:12would hit on the back of the platform which would be well it would be disastrous
20:25i'm not gonna say good luck no i'm gonna say enjoy exactly man yeah it would be awesome
20:36god it's always scary this is the altitude that if i mess up the exit then i can be in
20:43a lot of
20:44trouble really fast my feet is off you had a good grip line it's super dangerous because as the chair
20:53flips you know the chair is full of snaggy bits that will just chew up a parachute yeah okay we
21:02good
21:02yeah going in to the chair he's up on the platform just looks crazily high from here it's 20 years
21:20since his accident and he's back the same bridge i'm excited for lani to jump and on the other day
21:26i feel sort of complicit and worried that something bad could happen
21:33sure it's always scary yeah buddy but the best things in life are on the other side of fear let
21:39go
21:40let him go lovely man love you too brother you have to face fear every day
21:56go nice he's good when i roll off to the edge like that for those few seconds i'm me again
22:12there's no more obstacles there's no more restrictions
22:19it's a feeling of freedom just always a dream to to be able to fly i just i need to
22:27do this for me
22:28you do it yeah yeah yeah
22:34being in a wheelchair is a tough life places aren't accessible there's stairs doors aren't wide enough
22:44but when i roll off at the edge like that right i'm i'm fully i'm fully able there's no more
22:52obstacles you know i'm just me i'm just lonnie i'm just i'm able to fly my parachute of course until
22:58it comes to time to land right there's like all right here we go again
23:11before i leave the world of base jumping i'm heading to utah to meet pat and hartman
23:16two of the best wingsuit jumpers on the planet which one is it yeah it's right here the biggest
23:21most sheer thing in the middle out there it's about a thousand meters above us two thousand meters away
23:26it takes about a minute to get here from there a minute a minute yeah and where do you land
23:31yeah
23:31we're gonna be landing right over here for context going from base jumping to wingsuit base jumping
23:36is like getting out of a go-kart and into a formula one car now pat oh hns warning oh
23:43yeah you're wearing
23:44sandals yeah of course it could be dangerous on this decline it's hard to find a landing area that's
23:52this nice this is good yeah okay so the flight path right so we'll be jumping off this middle cliff
23:58here
23:59there's a ridge that you can see that comes down below the middle cliff so if you were to watch
24:04someone
24:04from here they would be in sight for about five seconds and then they drop below the tree line before
24:10popping out through that little canyon there you make it sound so easy you fly over here and yeah
24:17it's clearly not easy but what makes it possible is this
24:24how does one come up with this suit all the development comes from skydiving by the time we get
24:32it the stuff has been fully fully tested in the skydiving environment we have the vents in the top
24:38right here for the arms and then two more for the legs once you get a little bit of air
24:42speed it's
24:42going to go pressurize up the inlets in here and make it into one solid wing so you don't have
24:47to use
24:48that much effort it just kind of puts itself in the position it wants to be flown in so you're
24:52traveling
24:54160 kilometers an hour yeah so how do you how do you control it at 160 kilometers an hour so
25:01with enough
25:02time it really becomes effortless where you just think about going that way you'll end up doing a little
25:06bit of weight shift a little bit of change in in body position and it will end up doing it
25:13ah it feels good to see in the sun yeah a little bit of warmth
25:19i mean it's it's totally disarming as if we're going for a sunday stroll just totally chilled
25:29the common belief is that anyone who does this must be an adrenaline junkie someone who's searching
25:35the thrill you don't come across like that to be honest if i feel adrenaline it usually means
25:41something is going wrong i didn't make the right plan there's a mistake that's happening
25:49base jumping is considered the most dangerous sport in the world
25:54but like everything else there are levels to that wingsuit base combined with low proximity flying has to
26:03be the most dangerous sport arguably one of the most dangerous things you could do sitting here at
26:10their launch point it seems almost unfathomable that they would leap from here
26:33we know exactly what the risks are if the weather conditions are good things should be consistent
26:38you should be able to perform just like you have every other time so after that the bigger risk is
26:44decision making if you step back a little bit and and control your decision making process
26:51then i think you can go keep it safe
26:55all right yeah yeah i'm gonna see you on the bottom all right on the bottom yeah
27:01yeah everyone's ready okay turn gopros on yeah let's have fun oh yeah pat
27:13yeah okay let's do it
27:16okay we're good to go have fun and ready three two one see ya
27:45we all dream of flying to soar to be free to be in the moment and for an instant
27:52totally in control of our destiny
28:02for these base jumpers their greatest fear isn't death it's not living enough
28:12flight has always captivated humans from parachuting to base jumping and now wingsuiting
28:19who knows what will come next one thing is certain we'll never stop looking to the sky for
28:40inspiration
28:42yeah
28:43yeah nice
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