by Matt Higgins
dying in such far-flung locales: BASE Fatality List, Blinc Magazine, http://www.blincmagazine.com/forum/wiki/BASE_Fatality_List.
physiology of fear: Transcending Fear, Brian Germain (Brian Germain, 2007), pp. 22–28; “Terrorists at the Tea Party,” Amanda Ripley, National Geographic Adventure, August 2008.
BASE Fatality List: Blinc Magazine, Blincmagazine.com, http://www.blincmagazine.com/forum/wiki/BASE_Fatality_List.
catechism: GBB, Gerdes, pp. 82–163; Todd Shoebotham interview, October 2011.
printed table: GBB, p. 262.
With the ground coming up: Technical, mechanical, and ethical aspects of BASE, particularly the sequence and perils, were drawn from GBB and conversations with Todd Shoebotham, October 2011.
CHAPTER 2: INTERNATIONAL LAUNCH
Much of the material in this chapter was drawn from interviews with Gary Connery from January through May 2013, and from access to his military records.
3 PARA: http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regiments/parachute/24106.aspx.
Consolidated Rigging: GBB, p. 168; Consolidated Rigging, http://www.crmojo.com/; “BEFORE YOU LEAP: Where, When, and How to BASE Jump . . . or Not,” Anna Bahney, NYT, October 25, 2003, http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/25/travel/before-you-leap-where-when-and-how-to-base-jump-or-not.html.
Deep Purple: http://www.billboard.com/artist/300672/deep-purple/biography.
Bad Gastein: Sports Illustrated, February 17, 1958, http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1001833/1/index.htm.
Saslong: Saslong.org, http://www.saslong.org/?pagid=89&artid=36&lang=eng.
not the first: “Para Death Video,” Mike Sullivan and John Kay, The Sun (UK), May 22, 1992.
CHAPTER 3: A CHILD CALLED X-RAY MUJAHIDEEN
Much of the material in this chapter was drawn from interviews with Jeb Corliss, Todd Shoebotham, Anne Helliwell, Gigi Fitzmorris, Shawn Stern, and Brian Terwilliger from July through October 2011.
Georgia O’Keeffe: OKeeffemuseum.org, http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/about -georgia-okeeffe.html.
hikikomori: “Hikikomori: Why Are So Many Japanese Men Refusing to Leave Their Rooms?,” William Kremer and Claudia Hammond, BBC World Service, July 4, 2013, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23182523; “Shutting Themselves In,” Maggie Jones, New York Times Magazine, January 15, 2006.
“counterphobia”: “The Counterphobic Defense in Children,” Elva Poznanski, MD, and Bette Arthur, PhD, Child Psychiatry and Human Development, vol. 1, no. 3, Spring 1971, http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/43947/10578_2005_Article_BF01433642.pdf;jsessionid=FA0975354D9051F59C8A51D5F8BF4C15?sequence=1.
insurance brokerage: “2 Execs Buy Benefit Adviser Pacific Resources,” Chicago Tribune, February 13, 2012, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-02-13/business/chi-2-execs-buy-benefit-adviser-pacific-resources-20120213_1_employee-benefits-pacific-resources-adviser.
MTV Sports: “John Vincent Says He’d Jump Off Gateway Arch Again,” Pat McGonigle, KSDK.com, February 25, 2013, http://archive.ksdk.com/news/article/365208/3/John-Vincent-says-hed-jump-off-Gateway-Arch-again.
“When I was sixteen”: This and the following quote from Fitzmorris came from Daredevils: The Human Bird, Firecracker Films, which aired in September 2009 on Channel 4 in the UK, http://www.firecrackerfilms.com/documentaries/daredevils -the-human-bird/.
eight-thousand-square-foot house: Source was the following online real estate listings: http://losangeles.blockshopper.com/property/4466006010/6957_whitesands/ and http://losangeles.blockshopper.com/news/story/2400154629-Advisory_firm_founder_sells_Malibu_5BD_for_9M.
Foresthill Bridge: Golden State Bridge, Inc., http://foresthillbridgerenewal.com/ history.html; “BASE Tandem Jumps in Foresthill Bridge Future,” Gus Thompson, Auburn Journal, August 16, 2012, http://www.auburnjournal.com/article/media-life-base-tandem-jumps-foresthill-bridge-future.
CHAPTER 4: GIMME DANGER
“It’s a hard”: The Things They Carried, Tim O’ Brien (New York: Broadway Books, 1998), p. 192.
A growing body: “Toward Behavioral Genomics,” Peter McGuffin, Brien Riley, and Robert Plomin, Science, February 16, 2001, pp. 1232–49, http://www.sciencemag.org/content/291/5507/1232.full.
born that way: Much of the material about the biological roots of personality in this chapter are drawn from Biology of Personality and Individual Differences, Turhan Canli, ed. (New York: Guilford Press, 2006), http://www.acofps.com/up/uploads/files/acofps-6fda57861f.pdf#page=56.
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: “High Prevalence of Rare Dopamine Receptor D4 Alleles in Children Diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder” Molecular Psychiatry, vol. 8, January 2003, pp. 536–45, http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v8/n5/full/4001350a.html.
novelty seeking: “Dopamine D4 Receptor Gene (DRD4) Is Associated with Novelty Seeking (NS) and Substance Abuse: The Saga Continues . . . ,” J. M. Lusher, C. Chandler, and D. Ball, Molecular Psychiatry, September 2001, vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 497–99, http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v6/n5/full/4000918a.html#bib1.
“psychiatry’s repeat offender”: “The DRD4 Gene: Psychiatry’s Repeat Offender,” Edward R. Winstead, Genome News Network, September 22, 2000, http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/09_00/DRD4_gene.shtml.
There was little disagreement: The sections on dopamine, MAO, and the interplay between neurotransmitters and pleasure are drawn from several sources: Biology of Personality and Individual Differences, pp. 56–74; telephone interviews with Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, September 2012; “Skydivers and Risk-Taking Behavior,” Vic Napier, Parachutist, December 2009; “Jumping at the Chance for Danger,” Charles Duhigg, Los Angeles Times, July 2, 2004; “BASE Jumping: Not Suicide, but Sure Looks Like It,” Michael Y. Park, Fox News, May 22, 2006; “What’s the Lure of the Edge?,” Richard A. Friedman, MD, NYT, June 20, 2005.
“sensation-seekers”: Information on high-sensation seekers and Zuckerman’s research were drawn from phone interviews with Zuckerman in September 2012, and his book Behavioral Expression and Biosocial Bases of Sensation Seeking (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994).
Car accident victims: The concepts of “time dilation, reallocation of resources, and the range of reactions to fear” are explained in Extreme Fear: The Science of Your Mind in Danger, Jeff Wise (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), pp. 32–78.
“flow state”: “Go with the Flow,” John Geirland, Wired, April 1999, http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.09/czik_pr.html; “Superhuman,” Steven Kotler, Playboy, February 2012, http://www.stevenkotler.com/articles/superhuman/.
unpredictability: “Addictive Personality? You Might Be a Leader,” David J. Linden, NYT, July 23, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/opinion/sunday/24addicts.html.
Omer Mei-Dan: “Daredevil Doctor Dives into Denver,” Mark Couch, CU Medicine Today, May 2013, http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/medicalschool/administration/alumni/CUMedToday/profiles/Pages/Omer-Mei-Dan.aspx.
Such a moment: The jump from the tower outside Camarillo, and its aftermath, was assembled from phone conversations with Jeb Corliss (July 2011), Anne Helliwell (August 2011), Gigi Fitzmorris (September 2011), and Shawn Stern (October 2011) and “The Man in the Black Flying Suit,” Popular Mechanics, June 30, 2010, http://www.popularmechanics.co.za/features/the-man-in-the-black-flying-suit/.
Kjerag: Stavanger B.A.S.E. Klubb, http://www.basekjerag.com/rogaland/stavanger/svg_base.nsf/id/5752837A5B65F24AC1256E0B00699EE8?OpenDocument.
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238112/.
Beachy Head: “Base: The Final Frontier,” BBC News, November 22, 1999, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/532131.stm. A video of Gary’s appearance on TV and his launch from Beachy Head and the Hilton Park Lane can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71qHMnv-lNs.
CHAPTER 5: WINGS
One day up on Brento: The account of the Russian jumper with the homemade wingsuit on Brento was drawn from live and phone interviews with Jeb Corliss from January
2008 through September 2011.
His timing was impeccable: “The Birdman of DeLand,” Michael Abrams, Forbes, May 26, 2003, http://www.forbes.com/forbes-life-magazine/2003/0526/054.html.
Bird cults: Man and His Symbols, Carl G. Jung (New York: J. G. Ferguson Publishing, 1964); Myths, Dreams and Religion, Joseph Campbell, ed. (Putnam, CT: Spring Publications, Inc., 1988).
“the Michigan Icarus”: Much of the material concerning Clem Sohn and the air shows during the Depression, and the development of his wings, comes from BBS, Abrams, pp. 41–52; and “Transport: Wing Man,” Time, March 11, 1935. A newsreel of Sohn flying his wingsuit over Hanworth, England, can be viewed at the website of ITN Source, http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist/BHC_RTV/1936/05/04/BGU407210479/. Footage of Sohn’s fatal plunge can be seen at the website for British Pathé, http://www.britishpathe.com/video/news-in-a-nutshell-bird-man-falls-to-death-hard.
Vincennes: “‘Bird’ Man Plunges to Death,” International Herald Tribune, April 25, 1937, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/opinion/100-75-50-years-ago.html?_r=0; “Transport: End of Sohn,” Time, May 3, 1937.
The culture: The description of wingsuit flight in the postwar years was drawn from sections of BBS, Abrams, including “Death’s Angels,” p. 94.
U.S.P.A.: BBS, p. 205, and USPA.org, http://www.uspa.org/aboutUSPA/history/tabid/113/default.aspx.
Domina Jalbert: Parachuting: The Skydiver’s Handbook, Dan Poynter and Mike Turoff, p. 98; “They’re Not Just Toys Anymore . . . Kites Go Scientific,” Ben Kocivar, Popular Science, March 1972.
Deug: The material related to Patrick de Gayardon’s life and wingsuit designs was drawn from BBS, Adams, pp. 211–20; phone conversations with Loïc Jean-Albert in October 2007 and February 2008; “Wing Flight,” Bruno Passe, Paramag, issue 129, February 1998, http://paramag.fr/contenus/archives/n129/article/article-us.html; “It’s a Bird . . . It’s a Plane . . . No, It Isn’t. It’s Adrian Nicholas,” Daniel Michaels, Wall Street Journal, September 30, 1999, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB938646293927411674.html; the websites of Troy Hartman, http://www.troyhartman.com/oldsite.htm; and Joe Jennings, http://www.joejennings.com/patrick.htm; and X Games history, http://espn.go.com/extreme/xgames/xalmanac_summer.html. A video compilation of Deug’s stunts for the Sector No Limits campaign can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUR8ZpYCRt0.
Hawaii: The episode surrounding Deug’s death was drawn from “The Longest Flight,” Patrick Passe, Paramag, issue 132, May 1998; and Adrian Nicholas’s obituary in the Daily Telegraph (UK), September 22, 2005, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1498884/Adrian-Nicholas.html; “Look! Up in the Sky . . . ,” Stephanie Kendrick, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, May 4, 1999, http://archives.starbulletin.com/1999/05/04/features/story2.html.
CHAPTER 6: THE WORLD IS A PLAYGROUND
old guard: Descriptions of the schism in BASE come from interviews in July 2011 with Todd Shoebotham and Jeb Corliss, in August 2011 with Nick DiGiovanni, Karin Sako, Todd Shoebotham, Anne Helliwell, and Jeb Corliss.
tar-and-feathering: Interview with Nick DiGiovanni, August 2011, and “A Sport to Die For,” Michael Abrams, ESPN.com E-Ticket, http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=basejump.
Felix Baumgartner: BBS, Abrams, pp. 248–51; “Profile: Felix Baumgartner,” BBC News Europe, October 14, 2012, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19942836; Redbull.com, http://www.redbull.com/en/athletes/1331578987345/felix-baumgartner.
Thor Alex Kappfjell: “Norwegian Who Parachuted from World Trade Center Pleads Guilty,” AP, April 3, 1999, http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=norwegian-who-parachuted-from-world-trade-center-pleads-guilty-1999-04-03; “Thor Kappfjell, 32, a Daredevil Who Leapt to Fame in New York,” NYT, July 8, 1999, http://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/08/world/thor-kappfjell-32-a-daredevil-who-leapt-to-fame-in-new-york.html; video of Kappfjell’s stunts can be viewed from the program Extra, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qdHgtCMLMo.
Venezuela: Jeb described his adventures in Venezuela during phone interviews in June 2008 and live interviews, July 2011, and “The Man in the Black Flying Suit,” Popular Mechanics, June 2010.
Canaima National Park: UNESCO.org, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/701 andhttp://www.unesco.org/archives/multimedia/?id_film=172&id_page=33&s=films_details; “Conan Doyle’s Lost World Gets Connected,” Will Grant, BBC News, October 9, 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8295819.stm.
Real TV: Interviews with Jeb Corliss in November 2008 and July 2011 and Jordan Stone in August 2012.
Milner Peak: Jeb Corliss described his and Yuri’s jumps during live and phone interviews in July and September 2011. Summitpost.org, http://www.summitpost.org/milner-peak/151995.
Howick Falls: Descriptions of this jump and Jeb’s hospital stay come from interviews with Jeb Corliss in June 2008, July 2011, and January 2012; and video from A Year in the Life and The Ground Is the Limit.
Cave of Swallows: Details of this expedition come from interviews with Jeb Corliss and his documentary, A Year in the Life; Atlas Obscura, http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cave-of-swallows-sotano-de-las-golondrinas.
CHAPTER 7: DWAIN, SLIM, AND DR. DEATH
Dwain Weston . . . called Slim: Details and descriptions of Dwain and Slim are drawn from interviews with Jeb Corliss in July and September 2011; Iiro Seppänen in July 2011; Todd Shoebotham in October 2011, Nick DiGiovanni in August 2011; Karin Sako and Gary Cunningham in July 2012; and Confessions of an Idiot, Chris McDougall.
Dr. Death: Details about Dr. Nikolas Hartshorne are drawn from interviews with Jeb Corliss in July 2011; Karin Sako in July 2012; and the following sources: “Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain Was High When He Shot Himself,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 15, 1994, http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1994-04-15/features/1994105028_1_kurt-cobain-cobain-suicide-heroin; “Police Say Evidence Consistent in Death of Alternative Rock Star,” AP, April 15, 1994.
Video of Weston’s monologues: http://vimeo.com/12608117.
Given his reputation: Interviews with Gary Cunningham, July 2012, and “A Sport to Die For,” Michael Abrams, ESPN.com E-Ticket, http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=basejump.
Perrine Bridge: “Huge,” Tim Sohn, Outside, February 2006.
“For sure, Jeb”: Iiro Seppänen live interview, September 2011.
Hongping Li: USC Trojan Athletics, http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/w-swim/mtt/li_hongping00.html.
Iiro Seppänen: The material concerning the meeting between Iiro and Jeb Corliss and Iiro’s background come from interviews with both men in July and September 2011, and from “Iiro Seppänen, a Rogue Magician’s Tricks in the Night, and at Work,” Pete Suhonen, City (Helsinki newspaper), May 7, 1996, Google, tr., http://www.city.fi/ilmiot/iiro+seppanen/3301, and “Iiro Seppänen: Magician King,” interview by Joona Rinne, City, August 4, 2006, Google tr. http://www.city.fi/ilmiot/iiro+seppanen/158.
Skylon Tower: This episode and the others in Manhattan were drawn from interviews with Corliss and Iiro Seppänen in July 2011, and from “Been There, Leaped Off That,” Bill Hutchinson, NYDN, April 28, 2006; Skylon.com, http://www.skylon.com/niagara-falls-attractions/observation-deck/.
Circus Circus: Descriptions of this jump are derived from The Ground Is the Limit; interviews with Jeb Corliss in June 2009 and March 2012; and Iiro Seppänen in July 2011; and a description of the casino was drawn from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson (New York: Random House, 1972) p. 46.
Eiffel Tower: This scene was drawn from interviews with Jeb Corliss in July 2011, and The Ground Is the Limit.
Golden Gate: The descriptions of the Golden Gate Bridge jump and the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas were drawn from The Ground Is the Limit and interviews with Jeb Corliss in July 2011 and April 2012 and Iiro Seppänen, July 2011. A video of the jump from the Stratosphere, narrated by Seppänen, can be found at Break.com, http://www.break.com/video/ugc/base-jump-from-stratosphere-tower-in-las-vegas-605541.
Bridge Day: The jump s
equence was drawn from The Ground Is the Limit and from interviews with Jeb Corliss in July 2011 and Iiro Seppänen in September 2011. Description of Slim’s injuries come from Confessions of an Idiot, pp. 163–64; “A Leap Too Far: Leading Base Jumper Killed in Shanghai,” Hamish McDonald and Philip Cornford, Sydney Morning Herald, October 9, 2004, http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/08/1097089572149.html.
CHAPTER 8: CHECK, PLEASE!
in the winter: The descriptions from the Extreme Air event and Karina Hollekim’s subsequent BASE training were drawn from interviews with Karina Hollekim in July 2012, and Jeb Corliss in October 2008, and a documentary about Hollekim’s life in BASE, 20 Seconds of Joy, http://www.20secondsofjoy.com/; Omer Mei-Dan Extreme Productions, Ltd., http://www.extremegate.com/; The Northface.com, http://uk.thenorthface.com/blog/eu/en/karina-hollekim.
Lauterbrunnen Valley: The description of jumping in the valley with Weston and Hartshorne was drawn from interviews with Jeb Corliss in July 2011, and Karin Sako, July 2012. Details of Dr. Nikolas Hartshorne’s death come from the following sources: Swiss BASE Association, Lauterbrunnen BASE Fatality List, http://www.basejumper.ch/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26; “A Sport to Die For,” Michael Abrams, ESPN.com E-Ticket, http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=basejump.
High Nose: Swiss BASE Association, http://www.basejumper.ch/documents/SBA_Valley_Jump_Info.pdf.
Palace Hotel: The circumstances surrounding the jump from the Palace Hotel were drawn from interviews with Jeb Corliss in January 2008, June 2008 and July 2011; Karina Hollekim in July 2012; and Gigi Fitzmorris in July and September 2011; in addition to the videos A Year in the Life and The Ground Is the Limit.
CHAPTER 9: SKYDIVER OF THE DECADE
Loïc Jean-Albert: Descriptions of Jean-Albert’s early life and career are drawnfrom interviews with Jean-Albert, October 2007 and February 2008; BBS, Abrams, pp. 227–30; Flyyourbody.com, http://flyyourbody.com/en/content/25-about-us; Redbull.com, http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/Profile/Jean-Albert-Loic-021242746282381; and “Wing-Suit: A Suit That’s a Wing,” Bruno Passe, Paramag, http://home.nordnet.fr/~paramag/archives/n145/article1GB.html.