We have all seen kayakers do crazy things while firmly grounded on water, but paddling 13,000 feet in the skies? That is definitely something new! Welcome to a new extreme sport, called Skyaking!
The sport, if one can call it that, is the brainchild of Miles Daisher, the world's leading B.A.S.E. jumper (2,485 jumps) and skydiver (2,500 dives), who thought up of this new idea, about eight years ago.
Unable to convince anyone to allow him to jump off an airplane on a kayak, he started by jumping off static objects. His first jump was off a 600ft. bridge on the Feather River, in California. A year later, he received permission to jump off an airplane and he and his team have been perfecting the sport, ever since.
The 39-year old from Twin Falls, Idaho, says the sport is quite tricky - one in which a lot could go wrong. Unlike skydiving, where the athlete opens the parachute, in skyaking, the parachute strings are automatically pulled by a static line that is attached to the object being jumped off.
Miles says that while in skydiving he pulls his chute open at about 2000ft., he sets it to open at 5,000ft. during skyaking, so that he has more time to get situated for the final drop in the water.
Thanks to the weight of the kayak, the pace at which he comes down is much slower - about 98mph, as opposed to 120mph in B.A.S.E. jumping, and between 160 - 180mph for skydiving. Also, due to the larger surface area of a kayak, a successful jump requires a lot more balancing.
Since he began skyaking, Miles has jumped off static structures and planes from many parts of the world, ranging from Mexico to Dubai! The latest jumps were performed over California's Lake Tahoe, for a new 3D movie entitled 'Human Flight', that will feature the world's most talented free flyers.
sources:dailymail.co.uk, redbullairforce.com