Terrifying video footage of American daredevil, Jeb Corliss, crashing into a cliff after jumping off Table Mountain, Cape Town, has appeared on YouTube.
The accident, which happened last month, left Corliss, 35, with both of his legs broken. The professional Basejumper had leapt from the famous South African landmark while wearing a wingsuit (a specialist jumpsuit with wings), while being filmed for a television documentary.
Since being airlifted to hospital from the scene of the accident on 16 January, the stuntman has reportedly remained hospitalised for the last five weeks.
Corliss, who formerly hosted a Discovery Channel programme called Stunt Junkies, was banned under a court ruling from the Empire State Building in New York in 2010 after attempting hurl himself off the 102-floor skyscraper.
The footage (removed) shows Corliss hurtling towards a jutting cliff at a frightening rate, hitting it and then falling a large distance to the ground, before being tossed from rock to rock as his parachute drags him along.
RickMasters wrote:The footage (removed) shows Corliss hurtling towards a jutting cliff at a frightening rate, hitting it and then falling a large distance to the ground, before being tossed from rock to rock as his parachute drags him along.
I don't like the idea of showing videos glorifying an activity and then pulling the one video that shows the consequences.
Join a National Hang Gliding Organization:US Hawks at ushawks.org View my rating at:US Hang Gliding Rating System Every human at every point in history has an opportunity to choose courage over cowardice. Look around and you will find that opportunity in your own time.
Famed BASE-jumper Jeb Corliss says he will continue to jump for the rest of his life despite sustaining devastating injuries in a crash that saw him barrel into rocks at a speed of 120 miles an hour. “That’s what I live for,” Corliss told ABC News’ Dan Harris in an exclusive phone interview today from the South African hospital room where he is recuperating from the crash. “The only reason I’m getting better is so that I can jump again,” he said. “That’s what I do. There’s absolutely nothing in this world that’s going to stop me from jumping.” Corliss, 35, has spent the past five weeks in a South African hospital after a Jan. 16 crash on Table Mountain in Cape Town that was captured on camera and posted on YouTube. The video shows Corliss, known as “Bird Man,” taking off in one of his specially designed wing-suits and zipping down the mountain before misjudging the size of the mountain’s ledge, slamming his lower body into the rocks and then spiraling into the air and crashing into bushes. Corliss, who has made a name for himself making more than 1,000 jumps, including from landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge, said he was convinced that this was the jump that had killed him. “One part of my brain was just going through this concept of fly, fly, fly, fly, keep going, keep going,” he told Harris. “And then the other part of my brain was like going, well, why even pull at all, basically you’re dead dude.” Corliss was rescued by authorities at Table Mountain National Park and airlifted to a hospital with broken bones throughout his legs. He is expected to be released from the hospital Friday and vows the experience won’t dissuade his passion. “That’s so cute, hahaha,” Corliss laughed when asked if he was now going to quit jumping. Profiled by “20/20” in 2010, Corliss explained that jumping has been his passion his entire life. “I was about 5 years old and I was watching these birds, and I remember seeing them open their wings and start to fly,” Corliss told “20/20.” “And I remember going, you know what, when I get older I’m going to do that.” Corliss uses a flying squirrel-style wing-suit to travel at speeds of up to 300 mph and steer through the air during freefall. Watch Corliss explain how his suit works here. “If you want to do something spectacular, something special, you have to be willing to take really unique risks,” he told “20/20.” After his accident, authorities at Table Mountain National Park said that they do not issue permits for BASE jumps and that Corliss did not have permission to jump at the park. They said they will fine Corliss and could also press charges against him. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2 ... ep-flying/
An observation: Paraglider pilots like to criticize me for pointing out what I consider excessive injuries and fatalities from equipment failure (collapse, spiral dives, loss of controlability in turbulence) when I do not complain about other dangerous sports such as skydiving, hang gliding and base jumping. While I am not a critic of dangerous sports in general, I do strongly believe that a man's equipment and skill is supremely important. Paragliding equipment appears to be crap to me, and when a PG pilot gets killed or hurt, he usually has little or no control authority. I believe maintaining the ability to control your aircraft is paramount in any aviation sport. Paragliding fails to meet this requirement. But in the video, Jeb Corliss was in full control of his wingsuit. He made a judgement error while in full control. I hope his legs heal up.
I've got this hypothesis that some people are born to seek out death. Man has evolved in ways that made it favorable that one or more in (let's say) a party of hunters or warriors was ready to take the "ultimate risk" for the advantage of the group. Such an act, at times, may have been for the group and/or "moral" good.
But the much more typical way it works is that the "ultimate risk" taker is actually very selfish. They take extreme risks because they LOVE the adrenalin rush. They become "addicted" to it. While excitement makes many people's lives more enjoyable, the absolute "Adrenalin Junky" does not feel alive without the "rush". They feel dead without the rush.
The adrenalin rush addicted personality doesn't have any appreciable survival instinct. Even the intense physical pleasures involved in human reproduction are feeble compared to the "RUSH". Normal human enjoyment of such things as watching your kids grow and turn into adults, . . . it doesn't even register on the emotional scale of this kind of Supreme Adrenalin Junky.
Now, if I was in a battle type situation I would LOVE having one of these Adrenalin Junkies as a fellow soldier. They're likely to draw fire away from me! But in more typical peacetime situations what does such an Adrenalin Junky do? First, they discover their true interest - experiencing the thrill associated with near death situations. Next, they seek out their "favorite" version of those near death situations. Some may become criminals - for the danger it involves, others may pursue high risk sports. Those who choose high risk sports are sure to move in the direction of the EXTREME edges of those high risk sports. The extreme Adrenalin Junky is not really living to live LIFE, they are living to DIE.
Since there are degrees of all kinds of behaviors, I would expect that BASE jumpers and wing suit participants are closer to the "dead" side than some others. Between hang glider pilots and collapsible canopy occupants, I would guess that the later are closer to the "dead" side. Kind of puts typical hang gliding in the realm of being a mamby pamby minimal aviation sporting activity. The kind you love telling your great grand kids about when your still alive and kicking (and maybe flying) at age 85!
There are advantages to flying air framed wings. Such as, living to see the next best wing to come out. Oh, and good sex will always be better than seeing how close we can (intentionally) come to death. Somehow I think that links up with the concept - Survival of the Fittest.
Interesting stuff! My personal experience has been to back off after a close call.
I've been whitewater boating for 38 years now. I rafted up to class 5 rapids (the most difficult and dangerous most advanced whitewater boaters will do). Back in 1996, on the Magpie River in Quebec I flipped in a big hole and had to go through 1/2 mile of whitewater before I could exit the river. I was hanging on to the side of my cataraft, frequently going under, when suddenly the urge to just let go and give up came over me with a lot of whitewater yet to go through. The realization that my own brain would tell me to do this scared me more than the situation I was in. I was 62 years old at the time and I decided I would be perfectly happy doing mellower whitewater from then on. I've stuck to that, and have been very happy, now into my 80th yr and still doing mellower rivers. In May 2012 I attended the Oregon 40th anniversary of hang gliding at Cape Kiwanda. I also took my packraft and spent an afternoon paddling the class 2 river there, it was a very beautiful and enjoyable afternoon.
In my hang gliding and foot launched ballooning (hangstat) years I also had close calls that convinced me to back off to safer conditions and terrain. I feel fortunate to have survived and learned lessons from those situations that could have killed me. I guess the difference is that I never did like to feel too much adrenaline.
One time at Escape Country I had decided not to fly because of conditions. Another HG pilot at the launch said to me; "if you are afraid to fly you should just quit hang gliding altogether". I told him that if he was not afraid that day he is the one who should quit HG.
George Worthington explained it as a matter of turning fear into respect. I adopted that. Both of us just wanted to fly. Adrenaline wasn't part of it. It's not a question so much as "going for it" or running away, but rather taking a stand and using a form of detached judgment in evaluating your fear. This helps keep you calm and cool in the midst of danger so you can find your way out. It worked for George until the Wanderer's sliding hatch jammed. It's worked for me, so far. https://web.archive.org/web/20110916143653/http://www.cometclones.com/legend.htm
How to cure an epinephrine (adrenaline) junkie. Slip a propranolol tablet in their coffee or orange juice each morning. Propranolol is a Beta blocker.
Years ago I was alarmed when I experienced a long run of premature ventricular contractions (PVC’s).
My doctor told me the (PVC’s) were not life threatening and almost everyone has some. My situation had me missing the next regular heart beat which allowed me to detect a flutter in my chest during the next normal heartbeat. Since the doctor saw that I had my shorts in a twist over the PVC’s he put me on Propranolol tablets. (Fixed the PVC’s) A side effect to taking the prescription was I no longer felt the adrenaline rush at the hang gliding launch or when a deer ran across the road in front of my car at night. Some people take it for severe stage fright or high blood pressure and other reasons. I noticed I was less worried on launch and thought I might have lost past signals that my body had been providing me to keep me cautious. I adopted hard and fast rules at that point. One rule was I will not launch in any wind under 5 mph at our cliff launch site in Alamogordo NM. (USA)
Beta blockers (β-blockers, beta-adrenergic blocking agents, beta antagonists, beta-adrenergic antagonists, beta-adrenoreceptor antagonists, or beta adrenergic receptor antagonists) are a class of drugs that are particularly used for the management of cardiac arrhythmias, protecting the heart from a second heart attack (myocardial infarction) after a first heart attack (secondary prevention),[1] and, in certain cases, hypertension.[2][3]
Beta blockers block the action of endogenous catecholamines epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) -in particular on adrenergic beta receptors, of the sympathetic nervous system, which mediates the fight-or-flight response.[4][5] Some block all activation of β-adrenergic receptors and others are selective.
Three types of beta receptors are known, designated β1, β2 and β3 receptors.[6] β1-adrenergic receptors are located mainly in the heart and in the kidneys.[5] β2-adrenergic receptors are located mainly in the lungs, gastrointestinal tract, liver, uterus, vascular smooth muscle, and skeletal muscle.[5] β3-adrenergic receptors are located in fat cells.[7]
Beta receptors are found on cells of the heart muscles, smooth muscles, airways, arteries, kidneys, and other tissues that are part of the sympathetic nervous system and lead to stress responses, especially when they are stimulated by epinephrine (adrenaline). Beta blockers interfere with the binding to the receptor of epinephrine and other stress hormones, and weaken the effects of stress hormones.
In 1964, Sir James W. Black [8] found the first clinically significant beta blockers—propranolol and pronethalol; it revolutionized the medical management of angina pectoris[9] and is considered by many to be one of the most important contributions to clinical medicine and pharmacology of the 20th century.[10]
In comparison with other antihypertensive drugs, beta-blockers are less than optimal for the treatment of primary hypertension, with a raised risk of stroke.[11]
“Fear is an incredibly strong emotion,” Davis told me. “If something scares us, the body immediately releases endorphins, dopamine and norepinephrine. Endorphins mitigate pain, dopamine and norepinephrine are performance enhancers. There haven’t been direct studies on so-called action sports, but the general scientific thinking is that the more fearful a certain sport makes you, the greater the release of these chemicals. The greater the release of these chemicals, the greater the addiction-like symptoms.”
It also helps to remember that cocaine—long considered the most addictive substance on earth—does nothing more than flood the brain with dopamine. Norepinephrine, on the other hand, mimics the second most addictive drug on earth: speed.
Nor are our neurochemicals one to one matches for these illicit drugs. In fact, they’re significantly more powerful. The most common endorphin produces by the body is 100 times more powerful (thus more addictive) than morphine.
Which is to say, the particular neurochemicals produced by action sports are far more potent than any drug single drug around and—since one cannot cocktail massive amounts of speed, cocaine, and heroin without ending up dead—adrenaline sports are really the only way to get this kind of taste.
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But in more typical peacetime situations what does such an Adrenalin Junky do? First, they discover their true interest - experiencing the thrill associated with near death situations. Next, they seek out their "favorite" version of those near death situations. Some may become criminals - for the danger it involves, others may pursue high risk sports. Those who choose high risk sports are sure to move in the direction of the 
