The Birdmen
In the latest craze that has killed several extreme adventurers, men don wing suits, jump off mountain tops and glide at speeds of 140 miles per hour.
60 Minutes' Steve Kroft reports, "Some people call them "birdmen," -- and we first learned about them on the Internet."
Transcript:
To the extent that Holmes and the others ever get nervous, it usually comes at a time that many people might consider one of the most mundane legs of the trip, when the end is in sight.
When asked what the most dangerous part of the jump is, Holmes said, "The most important thing is to open that parachute, you know. Just that moment, when you reach back. And throw the pilot chute out there, which extracts your parachute. That's the most critical thing. I mean, if you don't do that, you're not gonna live through it."
But getting down the mountain, which only takes a minute or so, is just part of the extreme sport. The much longer and arduous part involves scaling the mountains you are going to jump off.
"How long does it take to get up to the ledge where you go from?" Kroft asked.
"This one's about an hour and a half. But, you know, some of 'em are up to four, five, six hours for the big, big mountains around here," Holmes explained.
There are no chairlifts, which explains why Holmes, Julian Boulle, and Tom Erik Heiman are members of such a small and exclusive club. You have to be a skilled climber, an accomplished skydiver and an experienced outdoorsman to even attempt to do this.
"You know, it's that first view, looking over the edge that really hits you. You're like, 'Whoa, cool. This is an amazing spot to fly,'" Holmes said.
"Money can't buy you this experience," Boulle explained. "You've got to have the passion to do your time. If you haven't done the time, you just can't get there. You can't arrive with like $10,000 and buy a wingsuit experience."
"What do you have to know? What kind of skills do you have to have to be able to do what you do?" Kroft asked.
"You need to just have some mountain sense. You know, 'How long am I gonna be? What if something goes wrong? How long is it gonna be until I can get back if the weather comes in?' You need to know yourself. 'How much water do I need to have? Can I realistically walk up this mountain for two hours? Or is that not within my physical capabilities?'" Holmes said.
It looks spontaneous, but the birdmen put together a detailed plan every time they jump.
Full Transcript at CBS.com
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