Ueli Gegenschatz
Encyclopedia
Ueli Gegenschatz was a Swiss
BASE jumper
, paraglider
and skydiver
who held several world records.
Ueli Gegenschatz was known for his expert paragliding, skydiving and BASE jumping and his flight in a high-tech flying-squirrel-inspired wingsuit
.
A member of the Swiss national paragliding team for four years, Gegenschatz co-founded the Red Bull acro team in 1995. Among his BASE jumping achievements, many of which are available as YouTube videos, were jumps off Eiffel Tower, the Petronas Towers in KL as well as jumps off of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau peaks all in one day.
On November 11, 2009, during a jump from the Sunrise Tower in Zurich
, Switzerland
, a gust of wind hit Gegenschatz and he lost control of his jump. He hit the ground and was seriously injured. He died on November 13.
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
BASE jumper
BASE jumping
BASE jumping, also sometimes written as B.A.S.E jumping, is an activity that employs an initially packed parachute to jump from fixed objects...
, paraglider
Paragliding
Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure...
and skydiver
Parachuting
Parachuting, also known as skydiving, is the action of exiting an aircraft and returning to earth with the aid of a parachute. It may or may not involve a certain amount of free-fall, a time during which the parachute has not been deployed and the body gradually accelerates to terminal...
who held several world records.
Ueli Gegenschatz was known for his expert paragliding, skydiving and BASE jumping and his flight in a high-tech flying-squirrel-inspired wingsuit
Wingsuit flying
Wingsuit flying is the sport of flying the human body through the air using a special jumpsuit, called a wingsuit, which adds surface area to the human body to enable a significant increase in lift. Modern wingsuits, first developed in the late 1990s, create the surface area with fabric between the...
.
A member of the Swiss national paragliding team for four years, Gegenschatz co-founded the Red Bull acro team in 1995. Among his BASE jumping achievements, many of which are available as YouTube videos, were jumps off Eiffel Tower, the Petronas Towers in KL as well as jumps off of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau peaks all in one day.
On November 11, 2009, during a jump from the Sunrise Tower in Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, a gust of wind hit Gegenschatz and he lost control of his jump. He hit the ground and was seriously injured. He died on November 13.