October 16, 2008 — Some people climb mountains for excitement. Others skydive for the thrill. But no one really merged the two adventures together until earlier this month.
The Times Online reported that on Oct. 5 a British woman became the first to freefall at extreme altitude above Mount Everest. Two others immediately followed her.
“It was amazing, just spectacular,” Holly Budge, 29, told the Times Online after making a safe landing at Shyangboche, the highest “drop zone in the world,” organizers said, at 12,350 feet above sea level. “We had one minute of freefall and while we were above the clouds you could see Everest and the other high mountains popping out of the top.”
Budge, Wendy Smith, from New Zealand, and Neil Jones, from Canada, jumped out of an aircraft at about 29,500 feet, just higher than the peak of the world’s highest mountain.
They fell at speeds reaching 140 mph, hurtling past the highest ridges of the Himalayas, before each released a parachute, made three times the size of a normal canopy to cope with the thin air, the Times Online reported. The jumpers wore oxygen masks to prevent their lungs from collapsing as they fell, as well as wearing neoprene underwear to prevent them from freezing to death.
High & Wild, an adventure travel company based in the United Kingdom, organized the Skydive Everest event.
"Everything that we've developed for this adventure, from the oxygen systems to the face masks to the gloves, everything has worked perfectly," said skydiver and organizer Ralph Mitchell.
According to Budge’s blog, to prepare for the jump she spent eight days trekking through the Himalayas to get acclimated to the high altitude. Before making her jump, Budge had told the Hampshire Chronicle that the event was “first and foremost a challenge to myself. It’s all about taking yourself out of your comfortable norm.”
But besides setting a world record, Budge, who has previously jumped about 2,500 times, also raised more than £10,000 for The Hampshire Autistic Society and other charities.
Weather permitting; about 30 others planned to skydive over Everest in the days that followed. High & Wild will offer another skydiving trip to Everest in May 2009.
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An Everest Skydive team member leaps from an aircraft over Shyangboche airport, during a parachute jump over Mount Everest. Three skydivers entered the record books on Sunday, plunging from above the height of Mount Everest to land at the world's highest drop zone. (AFP/HO)
An Everest Skydive team member prepares to land at Shyangboche airport, after a parachute jump over Mount Everest. Three skydivers entered the record books on Sunday, plunging from above the height of Mount Everest to land at the world's highest drop zone. (AFP/Ho)
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