Highest parachute jump

The records

The entire skydiving world remembers Felix Baumgartner in 2012 with his free fall departure at 39,000 m from the balloon and then that of Alan Eustace in 2014 who climbed to 42,000 m. These are phenomenal experiences, sponsored with several hundred million dollars. We can call them crazy experimental adventures on the fringes of any sporting logic. These events were covered in the media around the world. Of course, this takes absolutely nothing away from the courage and skill of the two men.

The highest Swissboogie drop was carried out with the Pilatus HB-FEV, with Noldy Widmer at the controls in 1988, at the controlled altitude of 11,030 m by military radar. 

Swissboogie, in collaboration with the national civil aviation authorities, transported parachutists and thereby opened the door to commercial skydiving at Shyangboche, in front of Everest, on October 2, 2008. Skydiving was not previously known in Nepal.

With the drops aboard the Pilatus HB-FKP, in front of Everest, it is Swissboogie which gets the ball rolling. The drops take place at 9,000 m above the roof of the world, with candidates jumping in tandem. 22 candidates arrive from the four corners of the planet for this “sensational and first adventure”.

HALO Skydiving

Currently, in civil operations, non-pressurized aircraft that can be used for parachuting are approved for an altitude limited to 25,000 feet, which represents 7,600 m. In fact, very high altitude jumps called HALO (High Altitude, Low Opening) are definitely limited to this height.

It's still very, very high with a very, very long free fall of more than 5 km! We are in the airspace reserved for commercial airliners. To operate there, specific authorizations must be obtained specifically from case to case. Swissboogie-HALO flights are directed and monitored on all ascent and descent flight paths by air traffic controllers at radars in Zurich or Geneva.

In Switzerland, even in Europe, apart from military operations carried out by special units of the Air Force, only Swissboogie has installations with oxygen equipment. The same goes for the experienced professional staff to offer and instruct this category of jumps. Its instructors, led by Bruno Lanz, also have military experience in day and night HALO jumps.

For the general public

To do a HALO tandem parachute jump , the Swissboogie school requires the candidate to make two jumps. A first test jump at 4000 m in which he will have to demonstrate good behavior with mask and oxygen in climb flight and free fall. Then, on the same day, the same instructor will give him the complete lesson to repeat and finalize all the details to know before boarding for the second jump, at 7600 m. In the ascent flight there is also a second specialist in the field who monitors whether everything is going well and according to the rules of the art.

In 2018, Pro Sieben, a very successful German TV station, commissioned Swissboogie to shoot a film with a very high altitude HALO jump in the Swiss Alps. The star is Jeannine Michaelsen, the tandem master Bruno Lanz, the fall cameraman Sven Krause and the pilot at the controls Polo Misteli. The group's landing takes place on the Petersgrat glacier. The show is enjoyed by more than 10 million viewers.

The HALO jump, solo or in tandem, is to experience a fascination that goes beyond even our imagination.