Where eager Gauls dare: French stuntmen's jawdropping jumps and highwire walks off 1000ft Orkney cli
11 Jun 2012 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
A group of French daredevils wanted more than just afternoon tea and union flag merchandise from their first trip to Britain, so decided to risk their lives BASE jumping off a 1,000ft cliff.
Members of Skyliners, a group of like-minded adrenaline junkies, took death-defying leaps off the cliffs at St John’s Head, Orkney, as well as performed high wire walking acts on some of the island’s most iconic landmarks.
After travelling to Oban in a former fire engine, the group headed to Orkney to demonstrate their fearless prowess for jaw-dropping suspended stunts in mid-air. Walk the line: Antoine Moineville, member of Skyliners, performs the daredevil stunt as the sun sets over Orkney Antoine Moineville walks the wire and one member of the team balancing on a pole
Cartwheeling off crags and jumping into the abyss between mountains, the Skyliners have toured the world filming their stunts — from backflipping over the waters in Norway, suspending themselves at nail-biting altitudes over Chamonix’s Mont-Blanc, and spanning the Parisian skyline, hundreds of feet up, on nothing but a highline.
The group, who live in different areas of France, came together to drive to Oban where they chartered a yacht and sailed to Orkney. Risking his life a stuntman base jumps off a 1000 foot cliff. Base jumping is the most fatal recreational activity in the world with one fatality per 60 participants
Using Stromness Marina as a base, they sailed out to the various locations to perform their stunts, on the west coast of Orkney, which were captured on film by award-winning documentary maker Seb Montaz.
BASE jumping at St John's Head was never going to be enough for the Skyliners.
They also walked on a highline wire put in place between North Gaulton Castle sea stack and the cliffs.
While at the same stack, which is considerably lower than the cliffs at St John's Head, group member Trancrede Melet performed a base jump into the sea. Haywire on high wire: the stuntmen's only protection is a safety rope connecting them with the wire should they fall
The group performed the circus-like stunts with ease, despite being in potential life threatening situations.
Trancrede explained: ‘The remote beauty of the islands makes it the perfect destination, and we're excited to film and push ourselves to attempt jumps and lines which have never been seen before.
He called his experience jumping off the 1000 feet high cliff on Hoy an ‘adrenaline rush’ adding: ‘When you are BASE jumping, no one tells you to jump. You make your own decisions and your own judgements.
The jumps from the top of St John's Head, to the water below, took only seconds. An eight second drop followed by five to eight seconds in flight, after the parachute opens.
Member Eudeline Melet explained: ‘Being on the stack was very poetic; it was a new experience for us. We try not to do the same thing again and again.’
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