How tempted would you be to try a new sport if I told you that one in every 20 people die while participating? That it’s even banned in all U.S. national parks? You would have to be insane to sign up, right?
Yet, people are continuing to do it all over the world.
I’m talking about wingsuiting. And it’s essentially people who have the ultimate adrenaline addiction, putting on a nylon bird suit and base jumping off incredibly high cliffs, sometimes to their deaths as they attempt to become famous by jetting through tight canyons or brushing the ground at speeds faster than a train.
Jon Frankel of HBO’s ‘Real Sports’ traveled to the magnificent Swiss Alps to watch a hand full of wingsuiters jump off cliffs, reaching 100 miles per hour as they traverse through a metaphorical and literal valley of death. One woman has even lost two partners to the sport yet continues to jump herself.
The video is 15 minutes long, but well worth every minute.
The sport is only 15 years old and of about 2,000 people worldwide who wingsuit, 100 have died, 30 on the Swiss Alps alone.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of CraveOnline Sports
