{"id":39475,"date":"2022-01-26T09:16:28","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T09:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/?p=39475"},"modified":"2022-01-26T13:03:10","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T13:03:10","slug":"beyond-breathtaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/beyond-breathtaking\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond Breathtaking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

All those who have ever jumped above the last existing ancient wonder of the world, the great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt, agree that this is the jump of a lifetime. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A once in a lifetime experience
Photo by Ralph Wilhelm <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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As the pyramids have been there for around 4.600 years, it might not be necessary to rush if you want to jump there, but seriously, this is something you want to do as soon as possible. <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

There is more than one provider offering jumps above the pyramids of Giza and other cool places in Egypt. The December 2021 event, called \u201cSpread the Wings\u201d, organized by Skydive Egypt<\/a> offered an excellent opportunity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to Egypt <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While some skydivers prefer to stay in a mobile home at the dropzone, the organizer selected a nice 5 star hotel. So instead of the usual briefing in a less than clean training classroom, the briefing was held in a large ballroom. However, there was a significant disadvantage of staying in such a good hotel. Because due to the large buffets in the morning and the evening, some jumpers noticed that their jumpsuits started to shrink around the waist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As there is only a helipad at the pyramids, the participants were transported to a military airbase near Cairo in buses that were beautifully labeled with skydiving scenes. However the moment one stepped off the bus this was forgotten in an instant, as the Hercules C130, the airplane for the event, was an overwhelming sight. Jumping a plane that easily swallows three times the jumpers of a Skyvan, is a pretty intense feeling. The hydraulic opening of the large ramp is the next impression that is engraved in one\u2019s memory forever. Not to mention the view onto the Cairo metropolitan area with its 19.3 million inhabitants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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All the participants truly enjoyed jumping this monster of an aircraft – the C130 Hercules
Photo by Ralph Wilhelm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Load organisers <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Behind the ramp, a luxury problem awaited the participants. Skydive Egypt had invited, what could justifiably be called, the most impressive line-up of load organizers that ever jumped the Egyptian skies. Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, Martial Ferr\u00e9 and Doug Barron for belly flyers. The “vertical” fraction got a beautiful selection of load organizers,  in the true meaning of the words, as Domi Kiger and Alethia Austin took care of the freeflyers. In the very flat flying section, revolutionary wingsuiters Marine and Vincent Descols completed the organizers lineup, while the top-notch camera crew consisted of Adrian Daszkowski, Gustavo Cabana and Ralph Wilhelm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Headdown with the eyes fixed on the Pyramids
Photo by Adrian Daszkowski<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jumping over the Pyramids<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As said, this was a problem. Given the visuals that waited for the jumpers at the end of the ramp, some were tempted to do a solo belly jump, in order to first enjoy the view of the huge plane and then the view of an even bigger city and the pyramids. The load organizers took care of the \u201cproblem\u201d by creating simple jumps, with few points, in order to give the jumpers time to look around. While on every bigway around the world, no matter if it is belly, head-up or head-down, load organizers hammer the phrase \u201cDon\u2019t look away from the base\u201d into the participants, Dan BC gave the participants permission to look around in freefall and especially down. However you could read \u201cDid I really say that?\u201d on his face. Anyhow, there is a video proving that the master of large formation himself looked down in freefall to enjoy a one in a lifetime view. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the open parachute the overwhelming visual input continued. As the landing area was directly next to the pyramids and due to the pattern, the participants had to fly next to the ancient buildings.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Load organizer Dan BC living one of his dreams
Photo by Gustavo Cabana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The faces of all jumpers after landing could only be described with one word: priceless. The joy and the overwhelming optical input the jumpside gave the participants was described by most simply as the jump of a lifetime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vincent Descols, inventor of the wingsuit tandem, performed the first ever wingsuit tandem jump in Egypt. He also did a wingsuit flyby with his base rig next to the Cheops pyramid and finally hung loose with Domi Kiger, meaning they did a Wingsuit rope jump. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wingsuit extravaganza over the Pyramids – rope jump with Vincent Descols and Domi Kiger
Photo by Marine Descols <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jumping in Luxor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While for part of the group the adventure ended after jumping over the pyramids, another part had additionally booked some jumps in Luxor. Here the skydivers\u2019 toughness was tested, as this group had to catch a domestic flight at 6 a.m. The hotel, also a 5 star place, was situated on an island in the middle of the Nile river, resulting in beautiful sunsets and more jumpsuit tightening food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first jump was above the river Nile onto that island, resulting in great views on the huge temple complex in Luxor. The military helicopter, an Mil Mi-17, could best be described as a Skyvan with a rotor. The biggest difference compared to a Skyvan besides the drive is the removed tailgate. As the pilots flew low over the city, the jumpers had an amazing view onto the city of Luxor and the temple complex.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Gustavo Cabana <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The second jump was done over the ancient burial site of the Egyptian pharaohs, the Valley of the Kings and the Hatshepsut temple. As both sites were visited the day before while spotting the landing area, Domi Kiger and Marine Descols had the idea for a great video. Domi dressed up as ancient Egyptian queen Hatshepsut and Vince as god Horus for a tandem wingsuit jump, which landed directly at the Hatshepsut temple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buying the dress at a local store and bargaining with the shop clerk is another great story, but would go beyond the scope of this article. While the tandem pair came in rather slowly, Adrian Daszkowski, who is not only a skilled cameraflyer but also a competitive canopy pilot, came in rather hot when swooping the temple. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wingsuit tandem over the Hatchepsut Temple<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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