Russian Valery Rozov Sets World Record For The Highest B.A.S.E. Jump; 23,667 Feet Above Sea Level

Nearly 60 years to the day after Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay climbed the world's highest mountain (29,029 ft.), 48-year-old Russian Valery Rozov has B.A.S.E. jumped off the north face of Everest at 23,667 ft. to set a world record for the highest B.A.S.E. jump. Rozov has more than 10,000 jumps to his name and has made headlines around the world in recent years for his spectacular leaps, including a 2009 jump into an active volcano in the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula, a 2010 leap from the Ulvetanna Peak in Antarctica and a 2012 jump from the Shivling mountain in the Himalayas. The Himalayan jump, from an altitude of 21,466 feet, in effect served as the final test for Everest.

More than two years were spent preparing for the jump, including considerable time and effort devoted to developing a special new wingsuit, a special jumpsuit that shapes the human body into an airfoil, creating lift and, with it, "human flight." Rozov and his team, which included four sherpas as well as photographers and camera crew, spent nearly three weeks in the Himalayas before the jump on May 5.

The ascent began on the Chinese side on the famous north route. Rozov had selected a spot for his leap at an altitude of 23,600 feet, and it took four days to climb from the base camp to the jump location. At precisely 2:30 p.m. local time he jumped despite adverse weather conditions with temperatures at -1 Fahrenheit. The initial moments of the leap in the rarefied high altitude air were the most critical phase, as Rozov needed more time than usual to transition from free-fall to flying. But once the wingsuit took effect, he flew for nearly a full minute at speeds of about 124 mph along the north face before he landed safely on the Rongbuk glacier -- at an altitude of 15,520 ft.

"Only when I got back home did I see how hard it was for me both physically and psychologically," said Rozov after returning home to Moscow. "When you look at the videos you realize that it took a lot longer than usual to get from falling to flying."

B.A.S.E. jumping is an activity that employs an initially packed parachute to jump from fixed objects. "B.A.S.E." is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antennae, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs).

(Image provided by Red Bull)

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