Watch: Red Bull Athlete Boulders an Airplane in Flight at 2,500M

BY MARY ANDINO

Normally, boulderers climb a couple of meters off the ground, but Red Bull athlete Domen Skofic decided to take the sport sky high. On September 30, the climber completed a V11 boulder set on the external body of an airplane, as it flew above 2,500m.

Let that sink in: Not only was he inverted under the wings, but he was also on a boulder problem that was moving at 100kph, nearly 2.5km off the ground!

Equipped with only a parachute, Skofic successfully climbed the route in mid-flight and then safely skydived (via backflip) to the ground.

What went into the stunt

Every move and element of the stunt was carefully designed and rehearsed. Red Bull flew an L-13 Blanik plane, which it described in a press release as a “stable, slow-flying, aluminium-built glider, ideal for the route.”

Skofic’s father, an engineer, designed the holds, which had to withstand up to 1.2 tons of force.

Photo: Mirja Geh/Red Bull Content Pool

Skofic is an accomplished Slovenian climber who was the Lead World Cup Champion in 2016. In preparation, he spent months practicing in wind tunnels.

Unlike normal climbing, he had to worry about a whole lot more than just gravity, enduring significant G-forces and heavy drag. Temperatures were as low as -10°C, which quickly made his fingers go numb.

“Unlike traditional routes, each move had to be timed at ‘neutral moments’ between gravity and aerodynamic pull, requiring millimeter-precise coordination with the pilot,” the press release stated.

Pilot Ewald Roithner, left, and climber Domen Skofic. Photo: Mirja Geh/Red Bull Content Pool

Pilot Ewald Roithner explained, “Domen knew exactly how I would fly, and I knew his moves just as precisely. In the air, communication was minimal, but trust was absolute.”

How the stunt went

When the plane hit around 2,500m over Austria, Skofic exited the cockpit and began climbing the figure-eight route that traversed around the wings of the plane. After roughly a minute of climbing, Skofic backflipped off the plane and parachuted down.

Skofic celebrates on top of the plane and prepares to jump. Photo: Mirja Geh/Red Bull Content Pool

“It was an incredible feeling — much harder than the preparation on the ground. I started to doubt whether I could do it, but the route was just challenging enough. Something like this has certainly never been done before,” Skofic said.

“Climbing always gave me the urge to jump. Combining climbing with skydiving in this project was a dream come true.”

The climb is the first of its kind, but it’s part of Red Bull’s ongoing tradition of pushing the bounds of sport and human ability. “The Plane Climb merges climbing and aviation into one unprecedented challenge,” the brand said.

This story first appeared in GearJunkie.