Daredevil dies during Himalayan base jump
Rozov was first person to skydive into a volcano crater and first to jump off slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro
Russian base jumper Valery Rozov was known in the world of extreme sports as “the limitless man”, a world-famous daredevil who could leap from the world’s greatest heights.
He was the first person to skydive into a volcano crater, the first person to jump off the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world. Even in his early 50s, he was breaking records.
“For the Russian legend, boundaries are made to be pushed and limits are made to be exceeded,” Red Bull wrote, “nothing seems to be too much of a challenge for him”.
‘Seven summits’ quest
But on Saturday, the freefalling legend took his final flight. Rozov, 52, died in a base jumping accident while leaping from the 6,800-metre-high mountain AMA Dablam in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal, expedition organisers said on Sunday. The details of the incident are still unclear, Rozov had been on a “seven summits” quest.
He aimed to base jump from the highest mountains on each of the seven continents. According to the Kathmandu-based newspaper, the Rozov crashed into a cliff as he leapt from the mountain in a wingsuit.
A rescue team in a helicopter recovered his body on Sunday morning and airlifted it to Kathmandu, Mingma Gelu Sherpa of Seven Summits Club, which organised the expedition, told the Himalayan Times.
Red Bull, which had worked with Rozov since 2004, reported his death over the weekend “with deep sorrow”, offering condolences to his wife and sons.
“The Russian received international recognition as a highly professional athlete, an aerial adventurer who tirelessly set himself against increasingly difficult goals,” Red Bull wrote in a blog post.