Swiss Air
I spent the last two weeks in Switzerland, flying my wingsuit off cliffs. Sorry for being a little MIA on my blog. It’s easy to sink deeper and deeper into base, and sometimes hard to take the focus elsewhere.
On this trip, I made several visits to the nearby Kandersteg Valley, which neighbors Lauterbrunnen.
In the Kandersteg, we did some bigger jumps, including one called the Black Wall, which scared me more than I can remember being scared in a long, long time. The jump went just as I hoped it would, but I had a question mark in my mind as I left the cliff, not really knowing for sure if I would outfly the long expanse of trees, and it’s something I still turn over in my thoughts, questioning my decision. For sure, it’s a jump I won’t ever forget.
On the more relaxing side, I got to do two beautiful helicopter drops over the Eiger, flying over the snowy ridge for thousands of feet. That was absolutely unforgettable, well worth the high price of the heli rides! And just to try something totally different, I joined in the Wingsuit Base Race. It’s a very unusual type of flying for this event, just bombing straight forward as fast as possible to a direct point, and kind of the opposite of what I normally do in my wingsuit.
It was very interesting to be timed in flight to a fixed point, so I was experimenting with different flight angles, and got disqualified on my second jump for pulling too low by a couple of seconds. This bothered me a lot initially, because I wanted to keep participating. In the end almost half of the field got disqualified for the same thing, and many people commented that the cutoff should have been more generous by 5 seconds as it was last year.
Regardless, doing the same flight with timing of both the flight and the canopy ride, to a specified distance marker, taught me a lot about flight and angles, even if I only got to do it 3 times (with one on the practice day). So the experience was valuable in that.
I flew a lot, thought a lot, and learned a lot, and return home weary and satisfied. A little different than I was before.
Hi Steph
I enjoyed reading this short piece. I also liked the part where you wrote – you were really scared for the first time in a long long time. I am sure you dont remember when was the last time. Seeing your pictures I wondered when will you do this in Pakistan. And when ever you do it, the General offers himself to be your guide not like the last time when a Corporal accompanied you.
best
Terry
verry good!
HYE, beautiful wingsuit!
be careful with the lightning with this stick on your head, unesthetic, but certainly incredibles videos!
Good job miss!
Hey Steph! Just wanted to say that I’ve been enjoying your blog, climbing videos and writing. Read High Infatuation last year and I was certainly inspired! I’ve been climbing for about 4 years now and I’m toying with the idea of getting in skiydiving/BASE jumping. Thanks for all the great info and passion-filling postings. Keep up the great work!
Also, got a quick quesiton. On your “Castleton North Face Free Solo and BASE Movie” video on the blog, do you know who sings the last song on the clip? It’s foreign and Shazam doesn’t recognize it.
Thanks again!!!
-Les
Hi Les, that song is called “Un Ciel Pour Le Soleil” by Charles Dube, a Quebecois singer. I love it too.
🙂 xxSteph
I’m in awe of anyone who has the nads to do what you and a very select group of air people are doing flying with squirrel suits. And equally appreciative of how well you express your feelings about your choice of life activity.
I’m and ocean sailor, and have watched many a flying fish make incredibly long flights in the boundary layer just above the waves. There is nothing in the world that nature has not already invented and tested. I’m wondering what the next stage will be for wing suits? Will you add carbon struts to increase the wing area like the flying fish have?
Hi Steph from İstanbul! Just wanted to say that I’ve been enjoying your blog a lot and I would like to ask you something. I am working for Mecmua magazine as an editor in İstanbul and I am preparing a story for extreme sports… When I saw your pictures, I really loved them and I would like to use couple of them in the story… Do you mind sending me a couple of ones about wingsuit jumping?…
Thank you,Seran
Hi Seran, could you send me an email to steph@highinfatuation.com?