How Pros Prepare for a High-Stakes Building Jump (Full Transcript)
[00:00:06] Speaker 1: How do you prepare a jump like this, mentally and physically? Well, the preparation started years and years ago. Obviously, I've been skydiving for like 20 years. I've been base jumping for 9, 10 years. So for the approach, we're just trying to fly it smooth and controlled so that the team can fly together. And we practice that a few times just from skydiving, so jumping out the plane up high. We get together, we fly. We kind of simulate how many seconds we're going to fly straight when the turn comes, when the dive at the building comes, just so that that's second nature, pretty much. Nick just dived down. He's about to go through. And there they go. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my. It was cool. It was flying through the glass, you know, having the reflection. It's like flying through a narcissistic funhouse. So it was great for us. How many jumps have you done? Skydives over 20,000 and probably about 3,000 base jumps. Does it ever get boring? Does it lose that feeling? I don't know. We don't get to fly through a building every day. So, no.
- Preparation relies on long-term experience plus targeted rehearsal for specific jumps.
- Teams practice smooth, controlled approaches and formation flying during regular skydives.
- Key timings (straight flight, turn, dive) are simulated until they are automatic.
- Unique environments (like flying through reflective glass) create novel sensations and keep the sport exciting.
- Even highly experienced jumpers report that exceptional jumps do not become boring.