{"id":39091,"date":"2021-12-14T16:45:22","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T16:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/?p=39091"},"modified":"2021-12-21T13:13:58","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T13:13:58","slug":"catching-up-with-fred-fugen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/catching-up-with-fred-fugen\/","title":{"rendered":"Catching up with… Fred Fugen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fred Fugen is a household name in the skydiving community. Well, if you haven\u2019t heard of him, let us introduce this incredible athlete! <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Photo by Andy Nettleton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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He has over 18,000 skydives, 1500+ BASE jumps, a handful of VFS world records, he\u2019s a Red Bull athlete, Private Pilot, and Speed Riding pioneer. Most notably, Fred is one of the flying \u201cJetmen,\u201d and a part of the Soul Flyers<\/a> project. Today, we get a rare opportunity to sit down with him, tour the JetMan facility, talk about the loss of his dear friend Vince Reffet, and talk about the future.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Getting into skydiving<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fred grew up in a town near the romantic, tourist destination of Paris, France. \u201cIt was a nice little town but for me, it was not so interesting. I did whatever I could to go to the dropzone as I was excited to go skydiving every weekend. As soon as I could, I was there full time.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What many might know about Fred is that he is a second-generation skydiver. Both of his parents were skydivers and Fred grew up on the dropzone watching skydivers. \u201cIt was natural to be there every weekend,\u201d<\/em> he said. When he was 10 years old, Fred\u2019s dad allowed him to go on his first tandem jump with French freefly pioneer Philippe Vallaud who took a grip and wowed Fred. After about 10 tandem skydives and right before his 17th birthday in 1996, Fred started AFF. \u201cIt was just normal to go skydiving, to see skydivers, and to that, I wanted to jump. It was my life and the life of my parents,\u201d <\/em>he reiterated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His first tandems weren\u2019t as notable as his first AFF. \u201cI wasn\u2019t really nervous, I was really excited to do it. I knew what was going to happen because of all the tandems and being around the dropzone all the time,\u201d<\/em> he shared. He added that it was an amazing experience because it was something he had been waiting for a very long time to do. \u201cI felt free in the sky, not being attached to somebody.\u201d<\/em> Fred breezed through his AFF training and his biggest takeaway? \u201cFor me, it was the door to freedom.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Early days
Photo courtesy of Fred Fugen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Freeflying<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI knew what path I wanted to take in skydiving. When I was a kid I was watching videos and having done my tandems with Philippe Vallaud, my hero in skydiving. I was attracted to something other than belly flying. I wanted to sit fly. Then about a year later I saw this video by Patrick Passe called Anti Gravity<\/a> which showcases Phillipe and it was the first time I saw freeflying. It was amazing to see this guy being able to move across the sky like this on his head and floating on his back I was just amazed! I really wanted to do that!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo courtesy of Fred Fugen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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When Fred began skydiving, it was just the beginning of the newest discipline at the time, what we know as freeflying. This was a time before MFS, VFS, and big way head down or upright records. \u201cI was very lucky to learn when I did as it was the beginning of freeflying and I just got sucked into this discipline. There were no rules of freeflying, no competition, no counting points, no relative work \u2013 it was pure freedom and having fun, and I was attracted by that,\u201d <\/em>he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After honing his skills he was on one of the first freefly teams with Vince Reffet. \u201cWe managed to win three World Championship titles, 2 freefly World Games victories and 1 freefly World Cup.\u00a0Wingsuiting and BASE jumping came after but freeflying was my first love and it was the root, the beginning of it all,\u201d <\/em>Fred commented.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freeflying was my first love and it was the root, the beginning of it all<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Photo courtesy of Fred Fugen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Jetman<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore I ever jumped the Jetman wing, I did about 60 jumps with a wing with no engine,\u201d <\/em>he started. \u201cI was helped a lot by Vince and Yves Rossy with a lot of training, briefings, and safety procedures. The flying itself was not too hard, but it was more about the safety procedures and having good reactions if something goes wrong. I was ready to do it.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Ewan Cowie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They did a lot of preparations by briefing the pilot, reviewing the flight path, and preparing the landing area for his first jump. \u201cThe jetwing is like a small plane and it\u2019s an incredible feeling because as soon as you turn on the power you feel the wind lifting and pushing you horizontal and then a crazy feeling is about when you look up to the sky and you lift your torso and then you feel the wind is completely pushing you up. This is the weirdest feeling as a skydiver to be able to go up instead of going down all the time! You just fly up, up, up and you see the ground going away is just one of the most amazing feelings!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the weirdest feeling as a skydiver to be able to go up instead of going down!<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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