A World First Stunt with ASG Athlete Mike Hitchcock
We spoke with ASG represented athlete Mike Hitchcock as he goes viral on social media with his latest air sport stunt, the world’s first wingsuit trapeze jump.
Who is Mike Hitchcock?
I’m a professional wingsuit pilot and BASE jumper living in a camper van touring the world in the pursuit of human flight. My specialities are air sports that do not require an engine such as BASE jumping, paragliding, speed flying or wingsuit flying as well as combining these sports in various interesting ways. My ethos is one of a minimalist way of life with full commitment to air sports, I look after myself, eat healthily, live sustainably, meditate and stretch every day all with the goal of pursuing a lifestyle immersed in air sports.
How did you start jumping?
It was my mum’s fault, she bought my first skydive as an 18th birthday present 11 years ago and I was hooked from the start.
What is your most memorable jump?
Impossible to choose between the first wingsuit flight over Mount Snowdon with my friend Sam Laming, Terror Peak in New Zealand, the zip line jump or a whole bunch of others. That’s an impossible question!
“We are not fearless, fear helps us make good decisions”
A lot of people think that you are fearless, what do you say to them?
Clearly this is inherently a dangerous game, but when you see a 30 second clip on social media it does not give the full picture. Most BASE jumpers are not adrenaline junkies, far from it! Good jumpers progress slowly and risk assess their jumps extensively and we have a wide array of tools such as laser rangefinders and GPS trackers to help us make informed decisions. Also for sure we are not fearless, fear helps us make good decisions and excessive fear is an important indicator that something is wrong!
Tell us about the world’s first wingsuit trapeze jump. How did the idea come to life?
I first tried it in skydiving several years ago just hanging from the chest strap of the wingsuit pilot and thought it would be cool to try in the mountains, but put the idea on the back burner because I didn’t have the necessary skill sets to do it safely. So when Antony Newton approached me saying he had successfully trialled his zip line trapeze setup out of a helicopter I was sold!
Can you explain the preparation that went into the stunt?
We are both professional, confident and experienced wingsuit pilots as well as regular base jumpers with an extensive background in ‘stunts’, for want of a better word! This allowed us to work together with an understanding of both roles. The site we chose is a very overhung cliff, which made the stunt safe for me as the jumper hanging underneath the wingsuit. If there was going to be a problem, then I could simply let go, turn away from the cliff and safely deploy my parachute. We trialled the concept from a helicopter first, we then risk assessed and discussed our plans for dealing with various potential complications. Before jumping we visualised the process together and finally ran through the exit 10 or so times to make sure we would push at the same angle and strength. If you can't be good then you can at least be careful!
What are you planning next and where can we follow the preparation and next stunt?
Oh so much! We have a lot of plans including everything from LED light up ‘UFO style’ wingsuits, huge rope swing BASE jumps and just about everything in between! You can follow my adventures on instagram, TikTok or YouTube by searching for Mike Hitchcock Wingsuits.
If you want to see more from Mike, click on the links below!