this time last year I received a pretty
interesting phone call it was a phone
call from an ad agency asking me if it
was possible to jump from a mountain fly
down in my wingsuit and grab a bag of
donuts mid-flight if they’d asked me to
do that 15 years ago I would have said
they were out of their mind I was a city
girl and I was very comfortable in my
city girl lifestyle when I turned 18 I
wanted to try something different and I
wanted to see how it felt to push myself
outside of my comfort zone so I went
skydiving riding up on that airplane
I felt like everything was moving very
very fast we arrived at jumping altitude
the instructors strapped me on and we
went to the back of the airplane and
before I knew it we were falling my
senses were on full alert
I remember hearing the sound of the wind
rushing by I never knew when could sound
like that and feeling the force of that
wind pushing against my body I never
knew something invisible could be so
strong I was so overwhelmed but I wasn’t
breathing and it wasn’t until 15 seconds
into my jump that I told myself I had to
breathe and oh my gosh this is the cool
thing they’re all they can’t leave I’m
falling through the sky whoa when I
landed I feel like my body was going to
explode with that excitement my life had
changed I went from being that CD girl
to what we call a drop zone rapped
someone who spends all their extra time
at the airport jumping as much as
possible I was even out there in the
middle of the winter and I had to put
hand warmers down my sleeves
yesö I could stay warm as I was falling
through the snow Scott I’ve been opened
my eyes to a whole new world of
adventure sports
I started paragliding rock climbing snow
kiting wingsuiting BASE jumping and that
was all ten years ago
now my preferred sport is mixing the two
disciplines of wingsuiting and BASE
jumping into one I take wingsuit
skydiving where I’m jumping at 13,000
feet above the ground it feels like I
have all the time in the world to fly my
seat around and it’s quite safe because
I’m in the middle of nowhere BASE
jumping is a little bit different and
BASE jumping I’m jumping from a fixed
object or a cliff I only have a few
seconds of freefall
before I have to open my parachute and
when my parachute opens I’m still right
next to that clip I just jumped from so
I don’t have much time to fix it if my
parachute is facing any direction other
than directly away from that wall which
is why BASE jumping can be quite
dangerous and this is all also why
wingsuit BASE jumping seems like a safe
alternative in wingsuit BASE jumping now
I’m jumping off that cliff and flying
down out away from that mountain now I
can open my parachute in the middle of
the valley instead of just a few seconds
of freefall now I have up to a minute of
flight where I’m flying with the
mountain following its training features
just a few feet off the ground
once I realized everything that wingsuit
BASE jumping had to offer I knew I
wanted to dedicate my life to it so I
quit my nursing job in the US and I
moved to France
three two one
[Music]
[Applause]
now I’m always looking for that next big
challenge which is why I was so excited
to get the phone call asking me if I
wanted to grab this bag of doughnuts
will fly my wings to only a handful of
people this time had actually hit a
target while flying in their wingsuit
and I wasn’t one of them
and of the few people who had hit a
target they were hitting targets that
were nearly double our arm span now I
was gonna try to hit a target the size
of a paper bag and not only was it going
to try to hit this target I was gonna be
the first person to ever try to fly away
with something like this I knew it was
gonna be tricky and I had to be
methodical with how I approached it so I
broke it down into two major components
there were the physical aspects and the
mental aspects physically I had to be
able to hit a target and I needed to
learn how to fly away with one mentally
I needed to not crack under pressure so
I started out with some target practice
we set up a mock target in the enca
couloir at the Brabant this is a
beautiful line to fly it’s very smooth
and natural and it looked a lot like a
runway which is perfect for getting me
to my target I first jumped it jumped
off the cliff turned around the corner
and then I dove down into the couloir I
looked up to get an eye on my target and
I couldn’t see anything I was flying at
180 km/h just a few feet off the ground
I was much more concerned about what was
coming up in my immediate future but I
couldn’t see a little target at a
distance I realized I was going to need
set up set up some landmarks to help get
me to my target a week earlier there had
been a small avalanche in this couloir
and thanks to this recent snow slide
there was a beautiful line of snow right
down the middle of the couloir I used
this as my first landmark to get me
there then
I asked my assistant to dress in really
bright colors that way when I got closer
the closer to the target I knew exactly
where it was after making a few more
jumps I was able to slowly start piecing
together all these visual cues and after
a few days of jumping I was finally
hitting his target consistently now that
I knew I could hit a target I needed to
know if I could fly away with one no one
had ever tried to be something like this
before
and this is probably for obvious reasons
when we’re flying is to keep feet off
the ground
we want our seats to fly as efficiently
and if there’s little drag as possible
just a small fold in my leading edge can
affect how I fly so imagine what putting
a paper bag on my leading edge would do
I had no idea I decided to do a test
jump from a helicopter at 10,000 feet
above the valley jumping at 10,000 feet
would give me plenty of space and time
to get a feel for flying with this bag
in a safe environment when we arrived at
10,000 feet I grabbed a hold the bag and
I jumped out but immediately I was
struggling to stay in control this bag I
was holding on to was I can make a giant
handbrake and it was trying to drive me
in circles in a situation like this I
can’t freeze up I have to manage the
situation
so I started moving my body into all
these new awkward positions trying to
compensate for this awkward bag I was
flying with and eventually I found a
solution I had to completely bend one of
my legs to counteract that force that
was driving me in a circle now I could
open my parachute and land safely but in
a position like this I’m not flying I’m
falling and in the BASE jumping
environment just a few feet off the
ground
this wasn’t gonna work I realized I
would need some serious airtime if I
wanted to be able to fly with this bag
and not have it hinder my flight
performance so I went skydiving jumping
from 13,000 feet above the ground gives
me up to three minutes of freefall every
jump I make the first few jumps out
there I was having a really hard time
flying my suit felt really twitchy and
the friends I was flying with her flying
much faster than me but after jumping
all day every day for a week I came up
with some techniques and now I was
flying with that bag and I didn’t even
notice it was there finally I was
physically ready to do the stunt but
this is where the mental aspects come
into play when I’m BASE jumping it’s
just me the mountain and a few friends
but for this project there was going to
be the ad agency the client the
production team the construction team
some donut artists the hele team and the
athlete team and they were all counting
on me so needless to say I was under a
bit of pressure so in order to decrease
my level of stress I chose to do this in
a location I know very well I’ve been
jumping at this mountain for years I
know which lines I can fly and which
size I can’t when I’m flying close to
the ground I try to choose a line it’s
very smooth natural and easy to follow
but unfortunately the line that I love
to fly this mountain doesn’t have a safe
location for a target however just 20
meters to the right there was a perfect
location for a target but by moving my
target just 20 meters to the right
my approach completely changed instead
of having a nice smooth line to follow
now my approach look more like a
rollercoaster and it was really hard for
me to analyze it because I was having a
hard time analyzing my approach I was
getting stressed and when I’m stressed I
get tense
then when I’m tense I don’t fly well I
was putting more and more pressure on
myself and getting more and more
frustrated the more jumps I made the
lower and shorter I was coming up I’m
coming up on this target I couldn’t
understand what was happening because I
knew I could fly this line I’ve been
doing it for years and then I got some
wise advice my friend Ellen when you’re
thinking you’re sinking
I was overthinking and I needed to find
a way to clear my mind so I asked my
air-to-air cameraman to jump off the
cliff in front of me so I could watch
him fly and I know it might sound
strange but for me it’s really relaxing
to watch somebody fly through the air
and now with him leading the flight I
don’t have to navigate anymore I can
keep my head down with my eyes on him
and in a position like this I’m flying
much more efficiently now that I was
relaxed and flying efficiently I was
arriving at my target so much higher now
had a beautiful bird’s-eye view of my
entire approach I found a few different
landmarks I wanted to put in place to
help get me there and after making a few
more flybys I had finally dialed in my
line I’ve been jumping for four days now
and I still hadn’t hit the target we’d
arrived at our fifth and our final day
of filming I rapped at the top of the
mountain the air was still the sun was
shining
everything felt perfect I walked up to
the edge of the cliff put my toes over
the edge took in a deep breath and
[Music]
Oh Nonna’s bumpy I had to bail
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
hey cookout oh great ring I broke all
the strings on the bottom of the bag I
was just that much too low it says hard
cuz it’s so close we’re gonna wrap this
up in the evening I’m just gonna go do a
flyby and I look over at the Dunkin
Donuts and I was like oh I’ve got this
okay this is mine
[Music]
the coolest thing ever
it was perfect like everything felt so
good I got good speed good altitude like
coming right in on the bag seen
everything exactly how it should be such
an amazing thing to accomplish accepted
a challenge that most people thought was
impossible and I didn’t do it because
I’m particularly skilled but because I
worked really hard and I believed in
myself and I know it’s cliche but it’s
true the confidence is key and I believe
that anything is possible if you have
the confidence to do it thank you
[Applause]
interesting phone call it was a phone
call from an ad agency asking me if it
was possible to jump from a mountain fly
down in my wingsuit and grab a bag of
donuts mid-flight if they’d asked me to
do that 15 years ago I would have said
they were out of their mind I was a city
girl and I was very comfortable in my
city girl lifestyle when I turned 18 I
wanted to try something different and I
wanted to see how it felt to push myself
outside of my comfort zone so I went
skydiving riding up on that airplane
I felt like everything was moving very
very fast we arrived at jumping altitude
the instructors strapped me on and we
went to the back of the airplane and
before I knew it we were falling my
senses were on full alert
I remember hearing the sound of the wind
rushing by I never knew when could sound
like that and feeling the force of that
wind pushing against my body I never
knew something invisible could be so
strong I was so overwhelmed but I wasn’t
breathing and it wasn’t until 15 seconds
into my jump that I told myself I had to
breathe and oh my gosh this is the cool
thing they’re all they can’t leave I’m
falling through the sky whoa when I
landed I feel like my body was going to
explode with that excitement my life had
changed I went from being that CD girl
to what we call a drop zone rapped
someone who spends all their extra time
at the airport jumping as much as
possible I was even out there in the
middle of the winter and I had to put
hand warmers down my sleeves
yesö I could stay warm as I was falling
through the snow Scott I’ve been opened
my eyes to a whole new world of
adventure sports
I started paragliding rock climbing snow
kiting wingsuiting BASE jumping and that
was all ten years ago
now my preferred sport is mixing the two
disciplines of wingsuiting and BASE
jumping into one I take wingsuit
skydiving where I’m jumping at 13,000
feet above the ground it feels like I
have all the time in the world to fly my
seat around and it’s quite safe because
I’m in the middle of nowhere BASE
jumping is a little bit different and
BASE jumping I’m jumping from a fixed
object or a cliff I only have a few
seconds of freefall
before I have to open my parachute and
when my parachute opens I’m still right
next to that clip I just jumped from so
I don’t have much time to fix it if my
parachute is facing any direction other
than directly away from that wall which
is why BASE jumping can be quite
dangerous and this is all also why
wingsuit BASE jumping seems like a safe
alternative in wingsuit BASE jumping now
I’m jumping off that cliff and flying
down out away from that mountain now I
can open my parachute in the middle of
the valley instead of just a few seconds
of freefall now I have up to a minute of
flight where I’m flying with the
mountain following its training features
just a few feet off the ground
once I realized everything that wingsuit
BASE jumping had to offer I knew I
wanted to dedicate my life to it so I
quit my nursing job in the US and I
moved to France
three two one
[Music]
[Applause]
now I’m always looking for that next big
challenge which is why I was so excited
to get the phone call asking me if I
wanted to grab this bag of doughnuts
will fly my wings to only a handful of
people this time had actually hit a
target while flying in their wingsuit
and I wasn’t one of them
and of the few people who had hit a
target they were hitting targets that
were nearly double our arm span now I
was gonna try to hit a target the size
of a paper bag and not only was it going
to try to hit this target I was gonna be
the first person to ever try to fly away
with something like this I knew it was
gonna be tricky and I had to be
methodical with how I approached it so I
broke it down into two major components
there were the physical aspects and the
mental aspects physically I had to be
able to hit a target and I needed to
learn how to fly away with one mentally
I needed to not crack under pressure so
I started out with some target practice
we set up a mock target in the enca
couloir at the Brabant this is a
beautiful line to fly it’s very smooth
and natural and it looked a lot like a
runway which is perfect for getting me
to my target I first jumped it jumped
off the cliff turned around the corner
and then I dove down into the couloir I
looked up to get an eye on my target and
I couldn’t see anything I was flying at
180 km/h just a few feet off the ground
I was much more concerned about what was
coming up in my immediate future but I
couldn’t see a little target at a
distance I realized I was going to need
set up set up some landmarks to help get
me to my target a week earlier there had
been a small avalanche in this couloir
and thanks to this recent snow slide
there was a beautiful line of snow right
down the middle of the couloir I used
this as my first landmark to get me
there then
I asked my assistant to dress in really
bright colors that way when I got closer
the closer to the target I knew exactly
where it was after making a few more
jumps I was able to slowly start piecing
together all these visual cues and after
a few days of jumping I was finally
hitting his target consistently now that
I knew I could hit a target I needed to
know if I could fly away with one no one
had ever tried to be something like this
before
and this is probably for obvious reasons
when we’re flying is to keep feet off
the ground
we want our seats to fly as efficiently
and if there’s little drag as possible
just a small fold in my leading edge can
affect how I fly so imagine what putting
a paper bag on my leading edge would do
I had no idea I decided to do a test
jump from a helicopter at 10,000 feet
above the valley jumping at 10,000 feet
would give me plenty of space and time
to get a feel for flying with this bag
in a safe environment when we arrived at
10,000 feet I grabbed a hold the bag and
I jumped out but immediately I was
struggling to stay in control this bag I
was holding on to was I can make a giant
handbrake and it was trying to drive me
in circles in a situation like this I
can’t freeze up I have to manage the
situation
so I started moving my body into all
these new awkward positions trying to
compensate for this awkward bag I was
flying with and eventually I found a
solution I had to completely bend one of
my legs to counteract that force that
was driving me in a circle now I could
open my parachute and land safely but in
a position like this I’m not flying I’m
falling and in the BASE jumping
environment just a few feet off the
ground
this wasn’t gonna work I realized I
would need some serious airtime if I
wanted to be able to fly with this bag
and not have it hinder my flight
performance so I went skydiving jumping
from 13,000 feet above the ground gives
me up to three minutes of freefall every
jump I make the first few jumps out
there I was having a really hard time
flying my suit felt really twitchy and
the friends I was flying with her flying
much faster than me but after jumping
all day every day for a week I came up
with some techniques and now I was
flying with that bag and I didn’t even
notice it was there finally I was
physically ready to do the stunt but
this is where the mental aspects come
into play when I’m BASE jumping it’s
just me the mountain and a few friends
but for this project there was going to
be the ad agency the client the
production team the construction team
some donut artists the hele team and the
athlete team and they were all counting
on me so needless to say I was under a
bit of pressure so in order to decrease
my level of stress I chose to do this in
a location I know very well I’ve been
jumping at this mountain for years I
know which lines I can fly and which
size I can’t when I’m flying close to
the ground I try to choose a line it’s
very smooth natural and easy to follow
but unfortunately the line that I love
to fly this mountain doesn’t have a safe
location for a target however just 20
meters to the right there was a perfect
location for a target but by moving my
target just 20 meters to the right
my approach completely changed instead
of having a nice smooth line to follow
now my approach look more like a
rollercoaster and it was really hard for
me to analyze it because I was having a
hard time analyzing my approach I was
getting stressed and when I’m stressed I
get tense
then when I’m tense I don’t fly well I
was putting more and more pressure on
myself and getting more and more
frustrated the more jumps I made the
lower and shorter I was coming up I’m
coming up on this target I couldn’t
understand what was happening because I
knew I could fly this line I’ve been
doing it for years and then I got some
wise advice my friend Ellen when you’re
thinking you’re sinking
I was overthinking and I needed to find
a way to clear my mind so I asked my
air-to-air cameraman to jump off the
cliff in front of me so I could watch
him fly and I know it might sound
strange but for me it’s really relaxing
to watch somebody fly through the air
and now with him leading the flight I
don’t have to navigate anymore I can
keep my head down with my eyes on him
and in a position like this I’m flying
much more efficiently now that I was
relaxed and flying efficiently I was
arriving at my target so much higher now
had a beautiful bird’s-eye view of my
entire approach I found a few different
landmarks I wanted to put in place to
help get me there and after making a few
more flybys I had finally dialed in my
line I’ve been jumping for four days now
and I still hadn’t hit the target we’d
arrived at our fifth and our final day
of filming I rapped at the top of the
mountain the air was still the sun was
shining
everything felt perfect I walked up to
the edge of the cliff put my toes over
the edge took in a deep breath and
[Music]
Oh Nonna’s bumpy I had to bail
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
hey cookout oh great ring I broke all
the strings on the bottom of the bag I
was just that much too low it says hard
cuz it’s so close we’re gonna wrap this
up in the evening I’m just gonna go do a
flyby and I look over at the Dunkin
Donuts and I was like oh I’ve got this
okay this is mine
[Music]
the coolest thing ever
it was perfect like everything felt so
good I got good speed good altitude like
coming right in on the bag seen
everything exactly how it should be such
an amazing thing to accomplish accepted
a challenge that most people thought was
impossible and I didn’t do it because
I’m particularly skilled but because I
worked really hard and I believed in
myself and I know it’s cliche but it’s
true the confidence is key and I believe
that anything is possible if you have
the confidence to do it thank you
[Applause]
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