I'm going to try to write a short report everyday of my trip to the KL Menara Tower boogie. I will stay brief on my report as I don't know how many time I will have to write them.
I just arrived today at 3pm. The flights have been good. No bad surprises, good food and I could even sleep well on the second flight form Dubai to Kuala Lumpur. I was happy to see that all my baggages followed me.
I checked in at the Hotel, had a shower and went for a walk in Chinatown. It feels so good to be back here. I really like KL, it's one of the most multicultural city I visited. You can feel influences form all asia and people living together no matter where they are from or what god they believe in. I had a nice veggie noodle soup and now I'm back at the hotel. I'm going to chill a bit and go to bed early. Tomorrow evening some buddies from Switzerland and France will arrive. I will take the day to walk around the city.
Last week I've been filming with David Wagnières. He is realizing a documentary about base jumping as final project for his studies. The two days he was assisted by a couple of his friends. I decided to bring them first to the Croix de Fer, the great jump with an amazing end over a waterfall. It's a nice place to bring people who can hike a bit and would like to watch us jump. The hike takes about 1h30. We were also joined by Don, an american base jumper traveling in europe. The conditions were perfect and the jump was great. During the flight I spotted two people on a bench and I couldn't resist to offer the a little flyby. I would like to apologize to them if they were scared ;-) Here is some screen shots of what we filmed.
Ready to hike !
Briefing
On the exit.
Ready to fly.
Relaxing hikers (bottom left on a bench) and a wingsuit flyer.
After Croix de Fer we went to Chamonix hoping to film one more jump. Unfortunately the wind was too strong so we decided to film the interview part. We came back the next day to film the jump. David edited a short video of the exit, check it out !
I m nearly done with the editing of another short video filmed in Chamonix. A kind of "presentation" of my new sponsor StayXCold, it should be out in the beginning of next week.
Thanks for reading.
Trying to look serious during the interview.
Jumping the Brévent with the Mont Blanc in back ground.
I am glad to introduce my new sponsor, Stay Cold Straight Edge. A great straight edge, vegan clothing brand from Germany. I chose this lifestyle more than ten years ago and I'm proud to represent it with them ! Go and check their stuff !
On another hand the weather has been really bad those last two weeks. I could only jump on these last few days.
First I went with my friend Stephane to the Vuardes. I think last time I made this jump was last spring. It was good to jump it again. We flew the left line and I could realize the evolution I made in my V5 comparing to last time.
Vuardes' left line.
Yesterday I made a couple of jump off the Brevent. The conditions were perfect on the morning. I could keep working on some lines and trying to be more aggressive in my turns. The wind started to pick up in the afternoon and clouds arrived. No more jumping for that day. I hope the weather will be better this august.
Brevent flight with a nice view on the Mont Blanc.
The end this article I just want to let you know that I started a facebook profile, if you wanna check it out it's just HERE. Thanks for reading !
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 !
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 !
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.
