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 !

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 !

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 ! 

California !

The two weeks in California were a blast ! Let's have a little look back at it.

My skydiving school organized a trip to Perris Valley, California this year. I thought I would be a good thing for me to go there and train on my new wingsuit. Skydiving is not the best place to work on performances but the best environment to play and get comfortable with a suit. 

We flew to Los Angeles and drove a few hours to get to Skydive Perris. The place was a bit lost but a nice friendly and welcoming dropzone. I meet there Josh and Darren the wingsuit load organizers. We had a lot of fun chasing each other and flocking in the sky. I made around 55 skydives on this trip. A few of them were also tracking jumps and funny RW jumps with friends from my club. 

Some 3D flocking over California.

Dave Eaton exiting right before me.

Sunset load with Josh Sheppard.

A few tracking jump.

Some funny RW.

Californian sunset over Skydive Perris.

We had a few too windy days so we could have a quick road trip to San Diego and Oceanside. This part of the coast is amazing. I really felt like in a movie, surfers and great beaches all the way. We also spent the last day in LA. We had to take our plane in the end of the afternoon so it was a really fast visit on Hollywood Blvd and Venice beach.

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Back home, we could make two jumps in Sans Bet last week. I was feeling much better in my suit. The USA trip was definitely worth it ! In another hand the weather sucks right now around Geneva. The snow is back in the mountains and there is so much wind. I hope for a better weather next week and I will send a few days around Samöens. 

I also had a nice invitation last week. I will participate the the Tallinn TV Tower Boogie this year. I've never been in Estonia so I'm really looking forward for it !

To end this article here is a short video form a local TV. They followed my friends Bras Noir, Pierre F. , Jean-Mi and myself for a jump in Magland just before I left for the USA. The result is really nice ! 

Back home !

I'm back in Switzerland after an amazing trip around south east asia with my girlfriend.

We started by discovering Cambodia. A beautiful country with some of the most gentle people I ever meet. Cambodia history is crazy, they were an incredible strong place for centuries under the Khmer reign. We could visit the ruins of Angkor and all the temples around. Later in history, Cambodia became much darker. The Khmer Rouge destroyed and starved the country in their madness. The most incredible thing is that today Cambodian people are the friendliest people you can find, always smiling and ready to help you. After Angkor's ruins we went in the north, to the Mondolkiri province. We had the chance to make a two days trek in the jungle to learn more about elephants life and the jungle around. If you are interested, check out The Mondulkiri Project. 

Beng Mealea temple, Cambodia.

Beng Mealea temple, Cambodia.

Part of Angkor Vat temple, Cambodia. 

Sculptures in a temple, Cambodia.

Kids fishing, Cambodia.

Elephant in the jungle, Cambodia.

Laos was our second stop. We spend a few days in Pakse and drove around the local coffee farm with a motorbike. Then as we heard about a climbing place more north we took the bus to Thakek. We discovered Green Climbers Home, a climber paradise. After climbing for a week we moved to Luang Prapang and then Thailand where we spend a couple day in Chiang Mai before moving to Ton Sai. 

Climbing in Thakek, Laos

Monks in Laos

Ton Sai is another great place to climb but also a good place to chill on the beach and do some .... base jumping. I traveled without my rig as we were backpacking but I meet some crazy russian lads that generously lend me a rig. Thanks to Stanislav, check out his work with the Sinner Team crashing the boundaries between body modification, suspension, climbing, rope jumping and base jumping ! 

Jumping in Ton Sai, Thailand.

Jumping in Ton Sai Thailand.

After Ton Sai we moved to Malaysia where we had some nice snorkeling time. We also went to Kuala Lumpur wind tunnel. My girlfriend had only a tandem skydive and she always wanted to try this. I'm not a big tunnel guy, I spend about 20 mins in a tunnel a few years ago in Eloy (USA). As it's one of the cheapest tunnel in the world we took half an hour each and we had a really great time ! I had fun flying on my belly and also worked on my back flying. My girlfriend could fly alone on her belly, make 360° and up and down after 30 mins. She kicked asses and even tried back flying ! I'm going to edit a small video of our trip. I will post it later. 

Snorkeling with a turtle in Malaysia.

Batu Caves, Malaysia.

My girlfriend trying backflying in Genting Windtunnel.

 Our coach and myself in Genting Windtunnel. 

Now we are back home for a week. Even if traveling was great I'm happy to be back in the mountains.  I already made some good wingsuit base form the Belvèdere and Brevent. A couple of really nice two way and three way with some mates. Unfortunately there too much snow in the mountain to go somewhere else.

Three way exit off Brevent with Erwan Madoré and David Bugnion.

I have one more week before flying to the USA. I'm going to spend 2 weeks in Skydive Perris Valley to train and get ready for the base jumping season. 

Thanks for reading and by the way I started an account on Instagram now. You can follow me  at this address :  http://instagram.com/base_life

200th Base jump and travel !

As I told you on my last post I'm on a kind of long holidays and I leaving tomorrow for south-east asia. I tried to jump as much as I could before traveling around.

After partying well and having some time with my family for christmas I took two days to go to Lauterbrunnen. There I wanted to work on getting better on my exits with my V5. I spend the first day alone jumping from High Ultimate. The weather was crazy cold and we had less then two hours of sun in the bottom of the valley. Packing in those conditions was quite demotivating. I made 4 jumps and stop as the valley sank into darkness.

The view from exit point "High Ultimate"with Eiger and Jungfrau on my right side.

On the second day, my friends David Bugnion and Lukas Pauli joined me. We had a nice day doing some three ways jumps and working on our flights, especially David and me who have new wingsuits. 4 jumps again and I really found the way to make some good starts with the V5 and well... this suit can start to fly extremely quickly. Those two days were really helpful to work on my suit.

David jumping just before me.

The 6th of january after resting from the new year party and preparing some stuff for my trip, I went for a solo jump of the "Belvedere". I walked from the bottom of the valley, a nice 1 and half hour walk in a cold and snowy forest. The wind was a bit strong on the exit but I choose to jump to see how my suit would react. Just after the impulsion I felt the wind pushing me on the side but I stayed calm and as soon as I stretched my legs I flew normally.

A few days later, my mate Erwan Madoré called me and proposed me to go to Chamonix and jump the "Brévent". I always been quite impressed form what I heard from this jump and already passed my turn on this jump a few time during last season. Now, I was confident on my exit skills and ready to jump it. Chamonix is just an hour from where I live so I was quite enthusiastic about discovering this famous jump. My first impression stick to what I've heard about it, short and really technical start. There is a first 8m ledge at -50 m then a second of 28m at -144. If you think about jumping "Brévent"please be 100% sure of your impulsion and start of flight. After the start you discover a huge playground and many lines to work on. I made three sessions there over a few days. I could start do work on hard turn, diving and resourcing my V5. I also made my 200th base jump on one of these days. I made a really quiet flight with Erwan, enjoying the view.

Ready to go. 

Erwan's exit. 

Erwan chasing me. 

I also made there my last base jump for the 2 next month on sunday. It was a perfect day, sunny and warm, lots a friends around and an awesome sun set on the Mont Blanc massif to end it. I'm now packing my stuff for my travel in south-east asia. I will post a few pictures during my trip but won't talk that much about base jumping as it's not the goal of this trip and I won't jump during that time. You gonna have to wait until April and the beginning of next base season for some new jumps stories, pictures and also new episode of Veni, Vidi, Volavi.

Until then, enjoy life !

Holidays !

Finally on holidays !

I'm sorry for this long time without any news. I was quite busy at work those last months and I had quite a lot of stuff to prepare for my incoming long holidays. I going on a trip with my girlfriend in a few week. Two and a half months around Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia. No base jump planned but climbing, diving and enjoying the culture change.

Speaking of base jumping I could start to base jump my new wingsuit some weeks ago. I have now a bit more than 10 base jumps on it and I can say that I start to feel it good. After a good session of skydives I was feeling comfortable in the air but good performances were hard to reach. The suit was kind of drifting me sometimes and a bit unstable but nothing scary. I realized when jumping with other people that I was flying it too slow. It's kind of unusual on the Vampire series. On the last jump I made I had a bit of an head low exit and then tried to keep the speed and I realized all the potential that this suit has. I'm already looking forward to keep working on it ! I'm planning a few days in Lauterbrunnen just before new year.

Skydiving over Epagny, Switzerland. 

Working on that new wingsuit. (Screen shot by Bras Noir)

I also want to wish you all a merry christmas and a happy new year. Thanks for reading and flowing me. I can tell you that next year will be full of good flights and awesome moments. 

Here is a little christmas video we made a few years ago with my mate David Bugnion, enjoy !