Expert Flies Into and Out of Villarica

Red Bull wingsuit pilot Sebastían Álvarez, former Chilean Air Force pilot and death-defier, hasbecome the first man to fly in an active volcano. He jumped from an orbiting helicopter 2.2 miles above ground level to build sufficient speed, heading towards the 650' crater at 180mph. A first for unpowered human flight, he descended below the rim, entering the crater for dozens of seconds before pivoting skyward once again. 

The jump took years of planning and preparation, said Álvarez, as he has little recourse to add velocity while in the volcano. He chose the location, according to an interview with BioBioChile, as part of his project to show the beauty of Chile to the world. He understood the dangers well, acknowledging that "It's an active volcano, super dangerous, it has a dark side, no doubt. No one knows what could happen exactly, but the conditions we needed were there." 

The jump may have gone smoothly, but it was not without peril. At one point in the crater, he said it "took so much training to do, it was psychologically, physically hard. There was a moment where I found myself hitting the wall, where I could have suffered real consequences," he said, describing his descent inside the volcano. "In Mapuche they call it the 'house of the devil', I felt like I was entering hell itself, wanting to leave the second I arrived." Álvarez was inside the crater for 40 seconds, with all his thoughts focused on the mental calculus required to maintain enough energy to fly back out. "The sensation... is one of the most dangerous, rare, and terrifying I've ever experienced. I had a talk with the volcano in order to do it, and even though it does whatever it wants, if I screwed up, I'm stuck in that hell forever." 

His planning paid off, however, allowing his escape from the crater just in time to pull his chute and slowly descend back to earth. Describing his feat as "basically doing the impossible", he is already planning his next project. "I'm studying for my next one for the beginning of 2022. This project in Villarica marks a before and after point for my career, I don't know if I can ever do something as impactful as this. But, we'll have a surprise!"

FMI: www.redbull.com