Valery Rozov, Russian Daredevil, Sets World Record For Highest BASE Jump Off Mount Everest

Posted: 05/29/2013 3:49 pm EDT | Updated: 05/30/2013 12:41 am EDT




Valery Rozov lept from Mount Everest at a jumping point 23,688 feet above sea level.

A daredevil from Russia reportedly set a world record for highest BASE jump when he leaped from Mount Everest -- from a point 7,220 meters (about 23,688 feet) above sea level.

Valery Rozov, 48, made the leap on May 5 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first successful ascent of the world's tallest mountain by Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953, according to the Telegraph.

A video of the historic moment was released on Wednesday, showing the daredevil's bird-like descent.

The extreme sportsman prepared for the leap for more than two years, even developing a new, special wing suit, ITN News reported. He reached speeds of more than 120 mph during the jump and glided in his winged suit for more than a minute before coming to a landing at a spot 5,950 meters above sea level.

Before the jump, Rozov spent three weeks at a base camp to acclimate to the altitude, ABC News reported. He and his team then completed a four-day hike to the jump point.

“Only when I got back home did I see how hard it was for me both physically and psychologically,” he told Red Bull, a sponsor, after the jump.

The Huffington Post contacted Guinness World Records to confirm Rozov's record, but has not yet received a response. According to its website, the current Guinness World Record for the highest altitude BASE jump is 6,605 m (21,666 ft), set by a pair who jumped from a ledge on Mount Meru in India in 2006.

Rozov's video release comes just one week after an 80-year-old Japanese man became the oldest conqueror of Mount Everest by climbing to the 8,860-meter (29,035-foot) peak.