You’ve probably seen many edited wingsuit jumps with a music soundtrack. They’re fun, but I think those are nothing compared to these unedited flights. There’s something about them — perhaps the anticipation and the actual sound — that really puts me on edge.
These are the adventures of Julie Minot and his friends. In their “home” videos you can see how they get ready, how they concentrate and wait. Listen to their breathing as they prepare to jump. You can feel their nervousness, their excitement, then their exhilaration as they zoom through the skies until the land. As an unrepentant voyeur, I find it fascinating.
I’ve spent the last hour watching all these videos, overtaken by anxiety and a deep sense of amazement, wondering why I’m sitting on a couch instead of trying to do the same. Or at least live life not through the screen and keyboard but by experiencing it with my eyes and the rest of the sense. I’m jealous now. I need to head south and at least dive for days.
(The last ones have a bit of editing to show you different angles from different people, but they retain the same fly-on-the-wall live quality.)