Wind turbines – love ‘em or hate ‘em, would you jump off the top of one?
A bunch of crazy guys have been doing just that this weekend, from our turbine at Ecotech Swaffham, the world’s first ever legal base jump off a windmill apparently. 😉 In fact this is the final round of UK Pro Base championships 2008.
Hot off the virtual press is this video:
Modern parachutes are amazing, just 80m to open and land – on a target!
A bunch of us have abseiled of the turbine at Ecotech before, and we thought that was pretty cool, and ‘out there’… but this is whole nother level.
Even if they do make it look easy. Fair play.
Source video by Hot Under The Collar
Music ‘Carcinogens’ by Sawtooth>
Great film Dale. Were you tempted to jump too?
I can see an off-shoot business coming out of this – base jump centres at all your turbine sites! Think of the income you could generate on non-windy days. And it’s so much greener than using a plane to get to altitude.
Jan
Thanks Jan, you know what? I’m normally tempted to join in/try stuff myself, but in this case it never even entered my mind – must have a self preservation gene in there somewhere then.
Apparently you can’t take part unless you’ve completed shed loads of parachute jumps – these guys are all real experts and the organisers totally safety focussed. Guess you need to be when jumping 80m from the ground.
Def a greener way to get your kicks than using a plane to take you up. Don’t think it’ll turn into a business but we’d host them again… 🙂
Cheers.
Huh! Did my first (and only!) jump from 13,500′ with no training. B^>
Rgds
Damon
Apologies if this is a bit random for this particular blog. But it’s relevant to the group (and I’m sure Peter may appreciate this!:)
If you’re against:
-The New Coal fired power station.
-The 3rd runway at Heathrow.
-Unsustainable agro-fuels.
And pro massive renewable investment. Take part in the global day of action on December 6th:
http://www.campaigncc.org/
Speakers will include George Monbiot, Caroline Lucas (leader, Green party) and Michael Meacher (ex-environment minister).
Thanks for this Chris, I think it’s very relevant. Cheers.