dimanche 27 juillet 2014

Wingsuit in Chamonix

This is a short video edited by my friend Erwan Madoré. We worked on some nice lines on the Brevent  last week. He made a really great camera work ! Here is what came out of the session !

Enjoy and don't hesitate to tell me what you think of it !


mercredi 16 juillet 2014

Tallinn !

Back from Tallinn it's time for a little review of the trip !

I arrived in Tallinn late night on the 8th. The arrival was quite strange as at 01:00 I could still see some sun shinning over the horizon. I never experienced the night sun before. When I arrived at the hotel the people I was sharing the room with were already sleeping. I had a bit of sleep to be in shape for the beginning of the event the next day. 

Waking up I met the guys that shared the room with me, Sepp and Tobi two germans. Sepp was the boogie safety officer. We head to the tower through the street of Tallinn to get a bit outside of the city. There we discovered this great 175m high tower welcoming us in the sun. The place is perfect for base jumping, great overhang building and big landing area. We had a safety briefing by Sepp and the organizer. Everybody was feeling like little children with a new toy I guess, at least I was ! 

The tower !
After the briefing we finally took the elevator to the top, a thing I'm not used to. I usually hike for hours before a jump, here you just have to push a button ! The top of the tower is really nice with a restaurant and we can jump from different direction depending on the wind. We could jump from 11:00 to 17:30 on the first day. I made 4 jumps, 3 solos to get into it as I'm normally not jumping a lot slider down (low stuff) and a nice two way in the end of the day !

Waiting in a line.
On the edge, ready to jump.
Just landed. 
The second day was unfortunately too windy to jump. As Tallinn is close to the sea the wind can be really strong. At 12:00 the decision was made to cancel the jump for today. We spend the day visiting and relaxing in the city. 

Estonian tuk-tuk ride !
Tallin old town.
The third and last day was also announced windy but with a window to jump in the morning. We arrived at the tower earlier than the other days and started to jump at 09:00. Everybody was trying to jump as much as possible before the wind comes back. I could jump twice. A Two way following Schidi doing a gainer exit and another two way with Leo. It was fun to feel the difference in comfort between me and most of the guys that were jumping there. For me 175 meters is low as I mostly jump off cliffs but for the others it was high and it was nice to see them doing aerials and crazy stuff. 

Two way with Leo (Photo by Leo)

This was my first base jumping event and it was a blast ! Meeting all these jumpers from all around the world and sharing some great time together, I'm already looking forward for Kuala Lumpur ! 

I would like to thanks all the organizers and Inglewood Burgers for the support on this trip !

Here is a short video I made of the event. I hope you will enjoy it !

jeudi 3 juillet 2014

From sad news to good news.

The last month has been quite strange. It started with a sad news. I lost one of my closest flying friend in a wingsuit accident. We started base jumping pretty much in the same time and now from one day to another he is gone. This is the dark side of base jumping. It's one of the sport that gives you the most but can also be really hard on you, your family, friends and relatives.  

Rest in peace.
After an event like this there is always thousand of questions that pop up in your head. Is it really worth it ? Should I quit jumping ? What will happen if .... ? But after all that questioning I always comeback with one feeling. A feeling that is too hard to describe and that many people can't understand. I can't quit, at least not for the moment. This incredible feeling you have when you spend all this time in the mountains, jumping and flying with friends, it's freedom. Base jumping and wingsuit flying are the two moments when I feel totally free. No rules, only your limits, no body to tell you what to do or don't, total freedom. 

After the bad news, I decided to keep on jumping as soon as possible and spends some amazing days in the mountains. The summer is finally here ! It's so good to spend hours in the nature again and flying over some green landscapes. I went to many different jumps, Sans Bet, Varan, Criou also Croix de Fer that I jumped three years ago and that didn't let me a good feeling. I was quite worried on the top of the jump but this jump is actually incredible ! There is a beautiful line to fly over the cottages and that end straight over a waterfall. That was definitely one of the most epic view I had in flight. 

Erwan M. , Roch M. and Julien C. on Croix de Fer exit.
One of the most epic view I've seen in flight. 
All those jumps, all those feelings, all this time spend in the wild with friends reinforced me in my decision to keep on flying and jumping. I'm sure my friend is still flying and keeping an eye on us. 
Fly free brother.  

After that tough news I also got an incredible news. I sent my application to participate to the famous Kuala Lumpur Tower Base Boogie and I've been accepted. I visited the Menara Tower (the tower we jump from) when I was a kid while traveling with my parents. Since then it has been a dream for me to take part to this event. The dream will come true this september ! 

A dream coming true ! 
Check out this great video of the 2012 event by the Soul Flyers !



Next week I'm heading to Tallinn, Estonia for the TV Tower boogie. I will write a report when I'm back.

Until then, take care !