JEB CORLISS ON THE FLYING DAGGER
On September 28, 37-year-old Jeb Corliss will attempt what he says is his most challenging jump yet. He will drop out of a helicopter and pilot his wingsuit through a crack in a roughly 900-foot-long, 870-foot high rock. We called him up to find out more, and discovered he’s using a revolutionary new technology to train.
What will be different about this flight?
A lot of us have done a lot of very precise flights, like I’ve hit the string on balloons, and gone by the arms of the Christ statue, and flown through a waterfall. But in those jumps I was only super precise for a split second—two seconds max. This time, I’m going to have to be super precise for somewhere between 10 to 30 seconds. The length of time makes it different.
So can you describe for me the feeling you get after a megastunt? Take the jump at Tianmen Cave or what you might feel after you’ve done “The Flying Dragon”?
I can’t tell you what I will feel after this one, because it’s always different. And these feelings are a little bit complicated. You have all these dreams. It takes you months, and in some cases years, of practice. When you finally get to the place and succeed in turning one of your dreams into a reality, the feeling is one of pure joy. It makes you feel like you can do anything. It’s very powerful. It gives my life meaning.
