Competitors practice for the 2015 Alberta Wingsuit Performance Competition at Eden North Parachute School west of Edmonton. Video by Bruce Edwards, Edmonton Journal.
EDMONTON
- When a skydiving group came through Valemount, B.C., in 1994, Reg
Hurlbut would stop at nothing to make sure he was one of the people who
went high up in a small plane only to plummet to the ground.
“I was working in the bush at the time and I was trying to get out so I could do this jump,” Hurlbut said, his grey hair tied back in a small ponytail. “I literally had to say, ‘OK. Fire me,’ and off I went. So I got fired, later hired and jumped out of a plane all in the same day.”
Twenty-one years later, the 65-year-old has about 3,500 skydiving jumps under his belt. Roughly 2,000 of those have been in a wingsuit, an inflating skydiving uniform that makes the person wearing it look like a flying squirrel — and reach speeds of 160 km/h on average.
Hurlbut and 11 others spent Friday morning repeatedly jumping out of a small plane more than 3,600 metres above ground near Onoway — all while wearing wingsuits. The men were preparing for the 2015 Alberta Wingsuit Performance Competition, which started later Friday afternoon and continues through the weekend.
Throughout the day, the competitors crammed into the back of the tiny plane at the Eden North skydiving facility. Pilot Paolo Parjan pointed the nose of the plane high into the sky, making sharp turns throughout the ascent to the perfect drop location.
Then, one by one, they jumped. Gliding through the air, the competitors looked like tiny planes from the ground. About two minutes later, they all landed safely back to earth.
Blair Egan, a veteran skydiver who organized the competition, says wingsuit jumping has taken off in the last three years.
Since you need at least 200 skydives to wear the wingsuit, Egan says he is seeing more and more people take up skydiving in the hopes that they will one day dress in the wingsuit gear.
Wingsuits have made the news in Edmonton recently. Gabriel Hubert, a well-known local BASE jumper, died in June after jumping off a peak in Canmore while wearing a wingsuit. Egan was friends with Hubert, but says what they are doing this weekend is drastically different.
“He was wearing a wingsuit, but it was a BASE jumping accident,” Egan said. “There’s a huge difference from what he was trying to do and what we’re doing here.”
The competitors insist there is no feeling quite like flying in a wingsuit.
“It’s a fun way to spend time in the sky by yourself,” Egan said. “Rather than falling straight down, you can fly around, do barrel-rolls, flips and stay up for longer.”
“It’s the closest thing you’re going to get to being a bird,” said Gary Guy. “You get so much more flight time. You can look around, change your course, it’s really cool.”
“I won’t be stopping any time soon,” Hurlbut said.
“I was working in the bush at the time and I was trying to get out so I could do this jump,” Hurlbut said, his grey hair tied back in a small ponytail. “I literally had to say, ‘OK. Fire me,’ and off I went. So I got fired, later hired and jumped out of a plane all in the same day.”
Twenty-one years later, the 65-year-old has about 3,500 skydiving jumps under his belt. Roughly 2,000 of those have been in a wingsuit, an inflating skydiving uniform that makes the person wearing it look like a flying squirrel — and reach speeds of 160 km/h on average.
Hurlbut and 11 others spent Friday morning repeatedly jumping out of a small plane more than 3,600 metres above ground near Onoway — all while wearing wingsuits. The men were preparing for the 2015 Alberta Wingsuit Performance Competition, which started later Friday afternoon and continues through the weekend.
Throughout the day, the competitors crammed into the back of the tiny plane at the Eden North skydiving facility. Pilot Paolo Parjan pointed the nose of the plane high into the sky, making sharp turns throughout the ascent to the perfect drop location.
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At
first, the wingsuit jumpers sat calmly in the back, making small
adjustments to their helmets while they waited for the plane to reach
perfect height. As soon as they sensed the moment was near, they began
fist bumping each other, wishing each other luck.Then, one by one, they jumped. Gliding through the air, the competitors looked like tiny planes from the ground. About two minutes later, they all landed safely back to earth.
Blair Egan, a veteran skydiver who organized the competition, says wingsuit jumping has taken off in the last three years.
Since you need at least 200 skydives to wear the wingsuit, Egan says he is seeing more and more people take up skydiving in the hopes that they will one day dress in the wingsuit gear.
Wingsuits have made the news in Edmonton recently. Gabriel Hubert, a well-known local BASE jumper, died in June after jumping off a peak in Canmore while wearing a wingsuit. Egan was friends with Hubert, but says what they are doing this weekend is drastically different.
“He was wearing a wingsuit, but it was a BASE jumping accident,” Egan said. “There’s a huge difference from what he was trying to do and what we’re doing here.”
The competitors insist there is no feeling quite like flying in a wingsuit.
“It’s a fun way to spend time in the sky by yourself,” Egan said. “Rather than falling straight down, you can fly around, do barrel-rolls, flips and stay up for longer.”
“It’s the closest thing you’re going to get to being a bird,” said Gary Guy. “You get so much more flight time. You can look around, change your course, it’s really cool.”
“I won’t be stopping any time soon,” Hurlbut said.
asiekierska@edmontonjournal.com
Twitter.com/alicjawithaj
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