by Frenchman Tom Pagès became the first person on Earth to jump a motorcycle from a height of 135 meters. A parachute had to be attached to the motorcycle for the trick. The stunt was performed in Avoriaz, at a ski resort in France.
Before reaching the 7-meter (23-foot) ramp located at the edge of the 135-meter (443-foot) cliff, Tom first performed three freestyle exercises. Then he reached the final ramp at a speed of 80 km/h and executed two forward flips before pulling the parachute and landing 55 meters from the edge. Before pulling the parachute, he accelerated to 150 km/h and then “flew” for 30 seconds and landed.
The project was so insane that Pagès required new technologies to complete it. Equipped with helmets, boots, and protective gear, not to mention a motorcycle, he needed a way to deploy the motorcycle parachute. Stefan Zunino helped him with this by developing a motorcycle parachute with a manual release built into the seat.
The idea of doing a motorcycle base jump came to Pagès many years ago when he started skydiving. Later, when he began base jumping, the five-time X Games gold medalist in freestyle motocross says he couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like with a motorcycle.
He intended to try it in 2020, but the pandemic thwarted this plan. Eventually, he managed to find a place where he could combine the fields of base jumping and freestyle motocross.
