Greg Crozier facing Everest

Greg Crozier made his 10,000^th jump, on his 27^th year in the sport in a very special way – over Mount Everest, jumping with Karine Joly.

We asked the freefly World Champion about this awe-inspiring experience…

It was the beginning of 2024 when I realized that I would reach my 10,000^th jump around November or December. Right away I started to think about this special jump. What could I do to make it unique?

It’s not that easy when you’ve jumped in many places doing special jumps for the past 6 years. With Karine Joly and Ewan Cowie, we got to jump over Copacaba in Rio de Janeiro, Pyramids of Giza, Pyramid of Chichen Itza, Lyon, Marseille, Monaco, Seychelles, Maldives and even Bora Bora and Ayers Rock. I also had the chance to do base jumps, night jumps, Halo Jumps, military jumps, hot air balloon jumps, hundreds of big-ways and even a naked jump (a 12-way in Kenya). I have jumped from 23 different planes including 74 jumps from the incredible C130 Hercules, and 5 different helicopters, including the Black Hawk. So… what to do?!

Then I got it… I remembered that my friend Omar Alhegelan was going every year to Nepal after the Egypt Boogie. That was it, that was the best idea ever!! I was like, let’s call him and ask him if it is possible. He said YES, right away. He was as excited as me about this idea. 

Of course, “possible”, does not mean “easy”. We needed to find the equipment, the rigs and the hardest: a sponsor. A ‘normal’ jump over Everest costs 20,000€. It was impossible to personally finance this jump for Karine and me. But I was sure that we would find a way

What were the other challenges?

We had to deal with many challenges, some bigger than others for sure. Let me explain the whole plan:

• Find 2 identical rigs with 210 sqft canopies to land at 3,900 meters (12,800 feet).
• Find a sponsor to cover the heavy expenses of carrying all the equipment and pay for oxygen and the helicopter cost
• Land safely in an aircraft at Lukla Airport (the most dangerous airport in the world)
• Hike from 2,800m to 3,900m 
• Prepare a jump that would work with 25 seconds of freefall
• Get the necessary permissions from the authorities
• Climb to 7,000m (23,000 ft) with a EC350 helicopter
• Have a good exit, good jump and, if possible, a great video of the jump
• Avoid hypoxia and land our canopies safely at 3,900m.

Mount Everest – called Sagarmatha by the Nepalese, meaning “Godess of the Sky” – is still 25km away. The problem is, that if you exit closer to the peak, you quickly lose freefall time. There are two closer possible exit spots, but one has only 10 seconds of freefall, the other is “hop and pop only”.

It was purely amazing. I could not have hoped for a better team for this 10,000^th jump. Omar is a legend for me since 2008, when I got to meet him in person for the first time in Arizona.

This is unique. The air is very thin, so it requires very solid flying and a lot of experience to be smooth. Karine and I were happy to have already done two Halo Jumps before from 25,000 feet to get to know the equipment. And also, that we had made thousands of jumps together, so we were sure the jump would work.

My first lessons when I was a young skydiver were the values of the parachutists: courage, trust, dedication, surpassing yourself, goodness, healthy lifestyle, mutual help.

What I can say today with 27 years in the sport, what I am the proudest about in our community is the goodwill and the mutual aid. Each of the very special jumps over truly unbelievable places I got to experience happened only thanks to the genuine help of the people who were living there.

I had the chance to be invited to jump in many amazing places. I have visited 180 dropzones, and Nepal was my 50th country to skydive in. Mentioning the most special memories, it’s very hard to say. The furthest countries are often the most exotic for us. So right away what comes to my mind are Brazil, Australia, Namibia and Kenya. The memories are really different and beautiful. My breathtaking recollections have different values, depending on the people or the emotion or the landscape. For example, Namibian drop zones and landscapes are quite hard to beat, the genuine generosity of the Brazilian is wonderful, the fresh craziness of the Australians is exciting (and there are amazing beaches), the sweetness of Kenyan people and the perfect temperature are exceptional – and there are amazing beaches!

There are some key elements to create the team:

• Find a great name that will represent you the most, to fit your approach and your style, whether you are a fun team, an amateur team or pro team
• Find the suits that will represent you best, again according to your type of team. If you are pro, consider to be mainly white with the logo of your federation and the flag of your country. Your suit is your uniform, and even if you don’t get support from your federation, you represent it for people who look at you – skydivers, non skydivers, judges and media.
• Plan a realistic schedule that will enable you to reach the number of jumps that would allow you to achieve your objectives:
  • Funny team: 60 jumps
  • Amateur team: 150 jumps 
  • Pro team: +300+ jumps 
• Ask help, support and advice from people who do what you do. Not your family and friends!
• Dare to realize your dreams.
• Meet or contact people who inspire you and share your project with them. You could have some unexpected help and energy! 
• Start to tag sponsors you wish to represent one day, share them your projects and send them news. If you want to get sponsors you need to send them your team plan, goals and expectations for 1,3 and 5 years.

The next goals are:

• Beat the 2015 World Record 164-way head-down. We have a chance in August but let’s hope we will be allowed to make an official 170 or 180-way before doing 200-way attempts again
• Jump over Paris
• I have another goal… but it is secret! 🤫

Video compilation by Omar Alhegelan

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•  🇫🇷 Artistic Skydiving World Champion 🏆
• 10,000th Jump (over Everest)
• 27 years of skydiving
• 3,500 hours flying in a wind tunnel 
• 179 dropzones
• 80 Wind tunnels
• 50 Countries
• 10 World Records
• 32 competitions 32 podiums (16 gold, 8 silver, 8 bronze)
• 10 years in the French Team
• 3 years as French Team Captain
• 2 years as Elite Sportsman
• AFF Instructor
• Freefly Examiner
• Tunnel Trainer and Coach, training 800 athletes, 9 coaches, 9 instructors
• Sport Ambassador

• Knight of the National Order of Merit
• Carrier of the Olympic Flame for Paris Olympics 2024
• Two times Medalist of Honor from the Ministry of Sports 
• Medal of Honor of the National Assembly 
• Gold Medal of the city of Saint Etienne 
• Medal of honor of the city of Nice 
• Sports Medal of the Principality of Monaco