FREE FALLING FROM BEAUTIFUL SKIES NOW

Some people want to soar up high in the sky. But today, we feature spectacular record-breaking feats in falling or diving down from it. Just back from an awesome Tom Petty concert last week, we’re hearing his Free Fallin’ drifting through our minds.

1. FUGEN & REFFET - MONT BLANC

This past summer, French skydivers and B.A.S.E. jumpers Fréderic Fugen and Vincent Reffet from Team Soul Flyers made the insane free fall jump through the frigid skies above Mont Blanc in the Alps.

After months of intense training, the two daredevils jumped from a height of almost 40,000 feet, higher than most planes cruise -- so high, they required special oxygen masks -- so high they could see the curvature of the earth!

They dived, at a speed of 250 mph, for 40 seconds, and, as they reached 20,000 feet, the two skydivers then opened their canopies.

They call their sport “freeflying.” Using a variety of skydiving techniques, they maneuvered and swooped. After a seven minute dive, they landed in Courmayeur, Italy.

2. WORLD RECORD BASE JUMP

Fugen and Reffet also took over the base jumping world this past spring, when they jumped off of the world’s tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai, wearing wingsuits.

Fugen and Reffet wore cameras, as did another jumper, to capture the experience on video. They were supplemented by a camera-mounted helicopter. It was a beautiful sight as they, in their  bright-yellow wingsuits, released orange smoke, and dropped, with grace, from the sky.

The two had a record jump off of this building before in 2010, jumping from 2,204 feet high. This time, they jumped off a temporary platform, perched at 2,717 feet high, breaking their previous record.

Want to watch?

3. WORLD RECORD - 63 WOMEN

Another great skydiving feat was accomplished this summer when a group of 63 women, aged 20 to 53, from 18 countries, broke the World Record for the largest female vertical-formation skydive. They looked like a huge human flower as they fell from the sky.

Skydiving is more than jumping out of a plane and falling to the ground. It takes knowledge, skill, training, and lots of practice. This group spent 2 years in preparation. They made 12 attempts to break the record before they scored.

The group used 3 aircrafts so they could time and choreograph the specific formation coming together and disbanding perfectly. Dropping head-first, at a maximum speed of 165 mph, from almost 20,000 feet in the air -- high above Arizona --  with 90 seconds of freefall. The women were supported by a team of 32 people.

Read more about Beautiful Sky, as they relate to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including Beautiful Sky Illusions Now, Incredible Sky Phenomenon Explained Now, Dinner & Pie in the Sky Now, Sky as Impressionist Painter Now and Deep Dark Pockets of Starry Skies Now.

Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Sky in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 09.14.14. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!

PHOTO CREDITS:

1. Photo: by Dom Daher/Red Bull Content Pool. Vincent Reffet during skydive.  
2. Photo: Courtesy of Redbull. Fugen and Reffet during the skydive.
3. Photo: Courtesy of Redbull. Fugen skydiving.
4. Photo: Courtesy of Redbull. Jumping from 33,000 Feet.
5. Photo: Courtesy of Skydive Dubai. Fugen and Reffet during the world record base jump.
6. Photo: Courtesy of Skydive Dubai. Preparing for the world record base jump.
7. Photo: Courtesy of Skydive Dubai. World Record Base Jump.
8. Photo: by Niklas Daniel. 63 Women Skydiving.
9. Photo: by Niklas Daniel. 63 Women Skydiving.
10. Photo: Courtesy of Redbull. 63 women skydive mid-flight.
11. Photo: Courtesy of Redbull. Skydive.
12. Photo: Courtesy of Dropzone. Skydive.