Wingsuit Flyer Leaps Off Himalayas and Into Record Books (UPDATE)
Two-time skydiving world champion and self-described "BASE climber" Valery Rozov, 47, set a new world record late last month after he successfully completed a wingsuit jump from a 4-mile-high mountain in the Indian Himalayas.
After a 30-day expedition, including a six-day ascent, the ‘BASE climber', as he calls himself, and climbing partners Alexander Ruchkin and Victor Volodin stood on the summit of Shivling in the Indian part of the Himalayas at precisely 13:30 on 25 May. After stopping to catch his breath, Valery found a perfect take-off spot at 6420m from which to start his world record attempt. Just 90 seconds later, having hit speeds of 200km/h as he sped through the air, the Russian landed 2200m further down on the glacier.
To put his feat in perspective, the distance traveled by Rozov in a minute-and-a-half took his companions three whole days to descend.
UPDATE: Red Bull has retracted the claim that Rozov set a world record during his latest jump after it came to light that Glenn Singleman and Heather Swan are the actual record holders, having jumped from 6,604 meters above see level. Reached for comment, Rozov said "I don't care if it is a record, or if it is not a record."
