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00:00I had begun my quiz to try some of the most terrifying sports in the world.
00:07My Kringle? Flying in a wingsuit formation.
00:11Oh, he's spiraling!
00:12I got a little bit unstable exiting the plane.
00:14I had traveled to Sudan to get additional practice.
00:17I know it's super hard in the beginning.
00:19But I was in the brink of complete failure.
00:22I was flying completely out of control.
00:31I climbed too high, too fast, and panicked, overcorrecting my position.
00:35Thankfully, I was tethered to safety lines.
00:37Without them, a slip like that could mean catastrophic injury or worse.
00:41All right, we're gonna get you out of here.
00:43Yes.
00:44Okay.
00:45In a wingsuit, even the tiniest movement can have a massive consequence.
00:49Turning a simple adjustment into a deadly mistake.
00:52Did you get a little dizzy or you're all right?
00:59If I had slammed into the glass wall at that speed, I would have ended up in a hospital.
01:04Maybe worse.
01:05I was shaken.
01:06But this was my only option if I wanted to fly in a foreign mission with the Red Bull Air Force.
01:10And I only had two days to master it.
01:19Gavin laid out an ambitious plan.
01:21First, learn to stabilize while tethered to safety lines.
01:24Then, advance to a single leash, mastering vertical and lateral flight.
01:30Next, cut the leash entirely and fly solo.
01:33And finally, the ultimate test, proximity flight maneuvering alongside another human.
01:38Okay.
01:39Okay.
01:40Okay.
01:41So, we drilled.
01:42We're just gonna play with going up and down.
01:45Over and over.
01:47I'm gonna increase the wind speed a little bit.
01:49But I had just two days in Sweden.
01:51It's critical that we improve your stability.
01:53It's easy.
01:54It's easy.
01:55It's easy.
01:56If I couldn't nail a proximity flight in here, my shot of flying formation with the Red Bull Air Force would be over.
02:03I don't know if I'm going to be able to remove the legs or not.
02:09Well.
02:10I'm going to slowly start to let go of you more.
02:19That's going to mean that you're going to move a little bit.
02:22Day two?
02:23It just felt like it clicked.
02:26You're getting it, man.
02:28You've got it.
02:29You've got the feeling.
02:30You're starting to relax.
02:31All of your movements are much more dialed, smaller inputs.
02:35Much, much better.
02:36Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
02:49The next step would be to go off these damn ropes and onto the leash system.
02:54And you're a free man.
02:56All right, my man.
02:57Leash time.
02:58Officially graduating from safety ropes, now to the leash.
03:02Biggest difference?
03:03All that stood between me and the brutal winds was a single, thin tether.
03:07Let's do this.
03:08Okay.
03:09The leash is going to give me a lot more freedom to fly,
03:11but also much easier to lose control and smash into the wall all over 100 miles an hour.
03:16We worked on maneuvering, mastering tiny shifts in body position.
03:21You have the chest a little bit prowled right now, a little bit too open, so we're losing a lot of lift.
03:26We rehearsed managing elevation, learning how to climb and dive on command.
03:30Hips here, chest here, nice and relaxed arm behind you.
03:34Each session, a little bit more control, a little less chaos.
03:38Yeah.
03:39Yeah, buddy.
03:40Best one.
03:41Yay!
03:42Muy buen bueno.
03:44How do you feel about getting rid of that thing?
03:46I think I'm ready.
03:47Yeah, yeah, let's take this damn thing off.
03:49I think I'm ready.
03:50Oh, I lost my umbilical cord.
03:54Now, I was fully flying solo.
04:06Stakes were real.
04:07I had to demonstrate my knowledge.
04:09Techniques I would need to master if I were flying in a real formation.
04:14And then, the words I've been waiting for.
04:17How do you feel about me putting a suit on and we start flying together?
04:20Let's do it!
04:21Yeah?
04:22All right.
04:23Let's do it!
04:24Cool.
04:25Just follow me.
04:26What?
04:27What?
04:29What?
04:30You're not going to get rid of me.
04:31What?
04:32What?
04:33What?
04:34Black and Bama?
04:35It's incredible!
04:36It's amazing.
04:37That being able to get rid of a of people in a older human being,
04:38that's a little bit surreal.
04:39What's the most?
04:40Since I was on the best.
04:41What's going on?
04:42What's going on?
04:43What's going on?
04:44How do you feel about being here?
04:45Something else?
04:46What are you doing?
04:47What is it gonna be?
04:49What are you doing?
04:50What's going on?
04:51What are you doing?
04:52What are you doing?
04:53What do you doing?
04:54What do you doing?
04:55Thank you, brother.
04:56It was a pleasure.
04:58Así que, siguiente parada, Washington.
05:04With the lessons learned, I felt ready to show
05:06that I had what it took to fly in formation.
05:09Bienvenidos a Washington.
05:11La temporada pasada subimos aca montana.
05:13Mount Rainier.
05:15One step at a time.
05:17I don't know what's going there.
05:19The summit is right up there.
05:20Ah!
05:22Muy loco regresar años despues para volar sus cielos.
05:30Hey!
05:31You made it, buddy.
05:32How are you?
05:33How you doing?
05:33Long time no see.
05:34I'm excited.
05:35Let me show you around.
05:36Yes.
05:37So this is it.
05:38This is a mecca of wingsuit flying.
05:40Before I could earn my spot flying in formation
05:42with the full team, I had to prove with Luke
05:44that I learned something in Sweden.
05:46And the only way to do that was to take it to the sky
05:48with just him.
05:50Okay, equipo.
05:52Llegó el momento, eh?
05:53Uh.
05:54Es medio para quitarnos los nervios.
05:57Así que, a volar.
05:59The only way to be at the sky is at the sky,
06:04even though the sky's concentrated on the sky too.
06:10At 150 miles per hour and separated by a few inches,
06:16the smallest mistake can end up in catastrophe.
06:21All right, so here comes the door.
06:27Green light, here we go.
06:29Let's go.
06:29Let's go.
06:35OK.
06:36Ready, set.
06:39OK.
06:40Ready, set.
06:42My toe clipped the exit, sending me tumbling through the sky.
06:46I was already in trouble, completely out of control.
06:51Let's go.
06:58My practice kicked in, and I was able to recover from the spin
07:01and maneuver back on track.
07:05My heart was in my throat as I guided myself inches away from Luke.
07:10And just like I practiced in Sweden,
07:12I floated over him, keeping myself under control.
07:15Woo!
07:16Let's move!
07:17Let's go.
07:20Woo!
07:25Yeah!
07:25Woo!
07:26Woo-hoo!
07:27Woo-hoo!
07:34Super crazy exit, spinning out of control,
07:37and then cleaned it up.
07:38That was a spicy exit, huh?
07:39Such a spicy exit.
07:41Your flying was good next to me, though, huh?
07:43Yeah.
07:44I was worried that my exit would make Luke question my skill level,
07:48but then...
07:48I think we are ready to step it up.
07:50Tomorrow, you're going to fly with the Rebel Air Force.
07:53Oh, yes!
07:54Tomorrow, I was going to fly in formation,
07:57where there was no margin for error.
08:05Morning, sunshine!
08:07Formacion con Red Bull Air Force.
08:10Time to vamanos, man.
08:12You excited?
08:12The sweet spot between excitement and nervous.
08:17Man, it's so beautiful where you live.
08:20It's incredible, huh?
08:21Having cars like this Toyota give us such an opportunity
08:24to explore and have adventures when we're out doing this stuff.
08:27I'm pumped.
08:28I'm excited, but I'm nervous.
08:30I want to perform well.
08:31We're doing something that's life or death.
08:32The most important thing is that we have nice landings.
08:35We open our parachutes.
08:36Everything else is boneless.
08:42We're going to pretend like we're flying this direction.
08:44Andy's here, Mike's here, and they're going to be on their backs.
08:46Take your time coming in, but you're just focusing on me.
08:50Luke set the plan.
08:51The Red Bull athletes would form up first.
08:53Then, my test came.
08:54I had to close the gap, slipping into the place,
08:57and holding formation with absolute precision.
08:59At those speeds, even the smallest drifts
09:01could put all of us in danger.
09:03Let's gear up.
09:04We're good.
09:05Oh, yeah.
09:05Forgot to mention, let me introduce you
09:07to the biggest legends of the skies, the Red Bull Air Force.
09:10Andy Farrington won the first ever Red Bull Aces wingsuit race.
09:14Jeff Provenzano is a legend who set multiple records
09:17for speed and formation flights.
09:20Mike Swanson helped pioneer wingsuit flying
09:22as we know it today.
09:23And, of course, Luke Aikens, my coach.
09:26These were the greatest wingsuit athletes to ever exist.
09:30And they were risking their lives for this Mexican.
09:33Formation flight is a team effort, and one weak link
09:36can bring the whole thing down.
09:38I'd be flying inches from another person at speeds
09:41close to 200 miles an hour.
09:43To make it work, I had to maintain perfect body position,
09:47match their line exactly, and react instantly to any shift.
09:51If I drifted, overcorrected, or lost control even for a second,
09:56I could collide with them midair.
09:57That's not just dangerous.
09:59That's deadly.
10:03If something goes weird on your exit,
10:05look for the airport.
10:06It can look for us.
10:09Make sure you zip up now, because we're hitting close.
10:12All right, here we go.
10:13Here we go.
10:14Woo!
10:15Let's go!
10:19This was a moment I'd been waiting for.
10:22I tried to tell myself I was ready,
10:24but I knew with one wrong move,
10:27it just could end in disaster.
10:31OK.
10:32Ready, set.
10:33My exit was perfect, but I knew the most dangerous part
10:40of the challenge was coming fast,
10:42as the rest of the team took the skies.
10:45They lined up in position, and it was up to me
10:47to catch up and lock in a perfect formation.
10:50Every skill I learned had to come together in that moment,
10:54and I had to execute perfectly.
10:56All were going faster than 1 3rd of speed
10:59of a commercial jet.
11:00I connected with the team, and somehow we were flying
11:12in a perfect formation.
11:13I couldn't believe it.
11:16And for a small moment, I didn't feel like an amateur.
11:20I felt like one of them.
11:23Beautiful.
11:24Soaring beside these legends was one of the greatest feelings
11:28of my entire life.
11:29Whoo-hoo!
11:30Hello, my love!
11:32Hello!
11:36Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
11:39Yeah!
11:41Dude, he nailed it!
11:42I did not expect that.
11:44That was wingsuiting with us.
11:46Yeah!
11:47Whoo-hoo!
11:49Dude!
11:50Yeah!
11:51Yeah!
11:53I know!
11:54Whoo-hoo-hoo!
11:55Yeah!
11:56Oh, that was incredible!
11:58The most surprising part of my elation wasn't just about successfully
12:01flying in a formation.
12:03It was feeling like I was part of this incredible team
12:06that I grew up watching.
12:07Flying with you guys is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
12:10This has been one of the best experiences I've had in my life.
12:14No le pude haber pedido al universo un mejor cierre para esto.
12:18Ese vuelo sincronizado con wingsuit,
12:23creo que esa memoria va a quedar guardada
12:27en mi corazón y en mi mente para siempre.
12:31I was ecstatic to fly in a wingsuit formation,
12:34but this was just the beginning.
12:37My next goal, even more dangerous.
12:43My next challenge was one of the most risky things
12:45I had ever tried in my life.
12:48Kayak.
12:50White water kayaking.
12:52Navigating a raging river with its deadly rapids,
12:55plummeting drops, razor-sharp rocks,
12:57and swirling currents, and nothing but a small plastic boat.
13:01No, wait.
13:03Eso es imposible que tú lo hagas.
13:05Félix se mató.
13:06No creo.
13:09White water kayaking is as exhilarating
13:12as it is dangerous.
13:13One slip can flip your kayak, pin you against rocks,
13:18or drag you under in seconds.
13:20Out here, a single mistake can be life-threatening.
13:34But if kayaking through savage rapids wasn't enough,
13:40from drops of just a few feet
13:42to nearly 200,
13:44waterfall kayaking is as perilous as it gets.
13:50The impact can flip your kayak,
13:52trap you under water,
13:53or even be fatal.
13:57White water kayaking began recreationally
13:59in the early 20th century,
14:01but it wasn't until the 90s
14:02that improved boat designs,
14:03made running waterfalls actually survivable.
14:07This shift led to a new discipline within the sport,
14:10focused on increasingly higher drops.
14:12until 2009,
14:14when Tyler Bratz hit the current world record
14:16with a 189 feet descent
14:18at Palouse Falls in Washington.
14:22This wasn't weak in paddling.
14:24Kayaking can be deadly.
14:26If I was going to be taking this seriously,
14:29I needed real guidance.
14:31That meant going to Charlotte, North Carolina,
14:34to train with Evie Leifarth.
14:36Evie?
14:37Hey, what's up?
14:39I was stoked to meet you.
14:40Nice to meet you.
14:41Evie's a kayaking phenomenon.
14:43At 14, she became the top-ranked female in America.
14:47And now, at 19, she's a national champion,
14:49a junior world champion, and, oh, what did I forget?
14:52Olympic medalist.
14:53If Evie can't get me to do this, no one can.
14:57No one can.
14:58You know, the main goal is to jump out of a waterfall
15:01with a kayak.
15:02It's super cool.
15:03Yeah, you've seen videos and stuff before.
15:05I've seen your videos, of course.
15:09It's the sickest feeling ever to go down
15:11and plug into the water,
15:13and then rolling up the bottom with all your friends there.
15:15It's so sick.
15:16So do you think this is doable?
15:18I mean, I think it's crazy,
15:19because you've never kayaked before.
15:20How much time does one usually need?
15:23I paddled for 15 years before I went off a waterfall.
15:29But I think that if you really, like, lock in and work on it...
15:3115 years?
15:32Yeah.
15:33All right.
15:34If it took an Olympic medal-winning elite athlete
15:3715 years to do this,
15:38it was crazy to think I could go from zero to waterfall
15:42in such a short period of time.
15:45Anyways, we're gonna be starting the basics in the Calm Lake,
15:47and then tomorrow, I'm gonna get the first taste
15:49of Whitewater Rapids.
15:51All right.
15:51Captain, what are the orders?
15:53So any time you edge,
15:54you want to keep your body on the same plane.
15:57And I want you to just lift your knees a little bit.
15:59You want to think of it as, like,
16:01this is your body, and this is your hips.
16:03So your hips are the only thing that you're gonna be moving.
16:05It's like Shakira.
16:06All hips.
16:07It's like hips don't lie.
16:08Yeah, they don't!
16:10Oh, my God!
16:11I'm a terrible dancer!
16:13Maybe it'll make you a better one.
16:14I know.
16:15Okay.
16:16You're only moving those hips.
16:17Oh, that looks cool.
16:19Oh, wow.
16:20No, that's perfect.
16:21Come on tonight.
16:22So let's go ahead and paddle to that buoy there.
16:24Okay.
16:25Just try to take some strokes.
16:26And big thing, if you feel unstable,
16:28lock in your core and lean forward.
16:30Okay.
16:31Let's rock and roll.
16:32You always want to, like, lean the way that you're turning.
16:35So if I'm turning to the right,
16:36I'm leaning to the right a little bit.
16:38Yeah.
16:39Got it.
16:40I had no idea how unprepared I was.
16:43I don't know why I keep drifting.
16:45Always look where you want to go.
16:47Okay.
16:48This was way more complicated than I ever imagined.
16:51You're gonna, like, punch someone.
16:53Shh.
16:54There were so many details to remember.
16:56It was almost impossible to keep them all straight.
16:58Wow.
16:59It's so different to what I had done before.
17:01Uh-oh.
17:02Siento que mi paddling estuvo dos trenzas.
17:04Uh-oh.
17:05Nunca pude controlar muy bien el kayak para que fuera de derecho.
17:09You're gonna be so sore because it's all these little muscles engaged.
17:12Como que constantemente estaba dando vueltas.
17:16Oh!
17:17Did you mean to do that 360?
17:19Absolutely not.
17:20How do you feel about trying an escape?
17:23What's gonna happen is you're gonna go underwater.
17:25And then you're gonna reach for that.
17:27You're gonna pull.
17:28Okay.
17:29And then you're just gonna swim out.
17:30Okay.
17:31Bailing out is not ideal, but it is essential to learn,
17:34because being trapped upside down in a kayak can be deadly.
17:37When you flip, you need to be leaning forward.
17:39So on a river, if you flip and you're leaning back,
17:41your face is exposed to the rocks.
17:43Rocks to the nose hurt really badly, and they're really ugly.
17:46Ready?
17:48As soon as I go under, panic kicks in.
17:52I couldn't get out of the kayak.
17:55I was trapped underwater.
17:59I was trapped upside down in the kayak with my lungs burning.
18:06I knew I had to get on clip to escape, but my hands were fumbling,
18:11and the murky water made it impossible to see the strap.
18:14Hell yeah!
18:15Woo!
18:16Amazing!
18:17Okay, so rolling is the most critical part of kayaking.
18:21Yeah.
18:22Because it's a skill that you're gonna be doing every single day.
18:23Okay.
18:24Learning to roll a kayak is not a skill, it's a lifeline.
18:28If you capsize in fast-moving water and can't right yourself without exiting the boat,
18:43you risk serious injury from slamming into rocks or drowning.
18:50The goal was to nail the road, flipping my kayak back over on my own without Evy's help.
18:56Out in the real rapids, no one's gonna be there to flip me back over.
18:59Okay.
19:00Head was like wildly over there.
19:01We gotta glue that in.
19:02All right, all right.
19:03We tried.
19:04Again and again.
19:08But every single time I went under, I just couldn't get the kayak back up.
19:12You okay?
19:13Okay, no worries, I got you.
19:14We tried and tried, but I never got the hang of it.
19:28And our training time for the day had run out.
19:32Oh wow, I'm exhausted.
19:34The fact that I can't do a complete role and tomorrow I'm going to face the fast-moving
19:41is a bit concerned.
19:45Kayaking in the lake was one thing, but my next step was doing it on an actual river.
19:50Kind of.
19:51We're at the U.S. National Whitewater Center featuring 12 million gallons of rushing water
19:57making it the world's largest man-made whitewater river.
20:01Simulating up to Class 4 rapids, this man-made river delivers the kind of chaos that can flip
20:06a kayak, slam you into concrete walls, or worse.
20:09Buenos dias.
20:10Madre mía, la temperatura que hace aquí.
20:13Estamos a tres grados y se supone que nos vamos a meter a esas aguas.
20:19Good morning.
20:20This is our safety guy from the Whitewater Center.
20:22He'll help pull you out of the water if we need.
20:24Hopefully not.
20:25Hopefully not.
20:26Wow.
20:27I fear we will need it.
20:28It is one thing to go underwater for a few seconds on a calm lake, but this was my first
20:33time kayaking in raging whitewater.
20:37All right.
20:38Let's roll in.
20:39Woo!
20:40And we're good to go.
20:41All right.
20:42There were two different courses, and we're going to start on the beginner level.
20:45So you know how these waves can kind of throw you off a little bit?
20:47Yeah.
20:48Okay.
20:49So if you feel unstable, forward and paddle even more.
20:51Okay.
20:52Yeah.
20:53So full throttle when I'm going at it.
20:54Falls to the wall.
20:55Okay.
20:56Let's rock, Evie.
20:57All right.
20:58Whatever you do, keep paddling.
21:00Yep.
21:01Gliding with the current was a completely different experience.
21:03But for the first time, I felt like I was really starting to get the hang of it.
21:07You got this.
21:08Get that speed, baby.
21:09Get that speed, baby.
21:10Get that speed, baby.
21:11Get speed.
21:12I was trapped upside down underwater, half of my body jammed inside the kayak.
21:21Breaking the surface was an almost indescribable relief.
21:30Being stuck underwater that long kind of shocked me.
21:33Because if I can't handle this, then how could I possibly take on a real rapid or even a waterfall?
21:38All right.
21:39Do you know why you flipped?
21:40Um, I think I didn't go in fully forward.
21:44I think I was a little bit sighted.
21:46For sure.
21:47Whenever you get into that position, if you're, like, at a side, you always want to lean downstream a little bit.
21:51So if you lean upstream, you're going to do what's called power flipping.
21:54And then it just flips you immediately.
21:56Okay.
21:57Wow.
21:58Getting my first taste of white water.
22:00Definitely not going well.
22:03Follow me.
22:05Okay.
22:06It's really hard to understand what it is exactly that I need to work on.
22:10There's so many variables happening at the same time.
22:12One thing is to be told what to do and the other is to actually execute it.
22:16Ah!
22:17It was impossible to focus on what to do.
22:19I was getting tossed around by rushing water.
22:21I don't know why.
22:23I keep just nose diving.
22:25I had rocks in every direction, and I was just losing my confidence fast.
22:35Yeah, this is hard.
22:37This is hard.
22:38This is a no bueno.
22:40This is hard.
22:41As hard as it was, it was about to get ten times more difficult.
22:45We were moving from the beginner level to the advanced.
22:49Churning waters, submerged jagged rocks, swirling currents, rock slaloms, all leading to a drop off.
22:56This run, it is a widow maker.
22:58Warning.
22:59These waters are extremely dangerous.
23:01Let's do it.
23:02White water kayaking is brutal.
23:05My arms were on fire.
23:08Every breath choked with water.
23:10Panel.
23:11Right behind you.
23:12Perfect.
23:13And I knew that if I let up for even a second, I'd be upside down in the middle of a raging river.
23:20Panel!
23:23Uh-oh.
23:26Oh, no.
23:27He's headed for the drop.
23:30Oh, my God!
23:35The winds have fell.
23:36Oh, in the big душ.
23:37The winds have jumped on the cap.
23:39Oh, that looked good.
23:40EMEEN.
23:41After theugo beh
24:01The winds have ended up falling on and the red.
24:02Oh!
24:03You
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