Russia's version of Evel Knievel has taken the title for the world's highest-ever BASE jump, reported USA Today.
48-year-old Valery Rozov jumped from the north face of Mount Everest, gliding down more than 23,000 feet with only his winged suit and parachute to break the descent.
The Red Bull-sponsored event was held May 5, in observance of the 60 anniversary of the first summit of the 29,030-foot tall mountain. The energy drink company released a video on Wednesday of the daredevil taking his leap of faith down a four mile-high ledge-a height of about 16 Empire State Buildings.
The extreme sportsman spent three weeks prior to the event preparing for his descent, getting used to the altitude at base camp, then embarking on a four-day hike with a group of Sherpas to arrive at his jump-off point. (See video below).
Clad in a royal blue wingsuit bearing the Red Bull emblem, Rozov soared from the tip of a jagged rock, gliding for a full minute while he reached a speed of about 125 mph, then opened his parachute and landed at 19,521 feet.
Rozov had forward and backward cameras attached to his helmet, which capture the snow-capped mountains and rocks surrounding him.
"I have just landed on the bottom of the north wall of Everest," he said to Yahoo after gaining his footing on land. "Even in the air, I feel that, woo! I did it."
Rozov took two years to plan this particular leap, one that he says really drained him.
"Only when I got back home did I see how hard it was for me both physically and psychologically," he said to USA Today.
Rozov has made over 10,000 jumps in his BASE jumping career. He has soared into an active volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula, as well as a 21,000 foot practice jump from Shivling in the Himalayas.
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