The improbable true story of the World Record Cliff Jump

The improbable true story of the World Record Cliff Jump – Part 1:

Before the X-games, park, pipe or street skiing, before snowboarding, before ‘freeskiing’ or ‘extreme’ there was only Hot Dogging. Kudos consisted of hucking your carcass off a big cliff. The earliest cliff jump records are lost in the mists of time. But we have to start somewhere – this is Tod McCoy in 1971 at Sun Valley Idaho. I’m calling 50 foot… inverted. 

A history of the World Record Cliff Jump – Part 2:

A history of the World Record Cliff Jump – Part 2:

A recurring motif in skiing progression is this: it’s always easier when someone else has done it first. At the start of the 1980s people weren’t sure if the human body was able to handle a 100-foot drop into snow. Water; sure. Concrete; probably not. But snow? Nobody knew for sure. Step up the most iconic figure in the history of freeskiing: Scott Schmidt smashing through the 80-100 foot barrier at The Palisades, Squaw Valley California in 1983/4.

​

A history of the World Record Cliff Jump – Part 3:

A history of the World Record Cliff Jump – Part 3:

During the late 80s and early 90s Paul Ruff and John Tremann fought a battle royale for cliff hucking supremacy. While filming for Warren Miller at Kirkwood CA in 1989 Tremann set the first recorded ‘official’ world record of 105 feet. Moments later Ruff dropped the same cliff, sailing past Tremann’s bomb hole for 112 feet. Shit, as they say in the classics, was about to get real. This was the start of one of the most epic rivalries in ski history…
​

A history of the World Record Cliff Jump – Part 4:

A history of the World Record Cliff Jump – Part 4:

Paul Ruff kept his record less than two years. When John Tremann dropped 145 feet at Donner Summit in California 1991 it triggered a serious of events that left one of the protagonists dead and the other a born-again Christian. There is a teaser of the jump in this trailer for “Skiing Extreme IV- Extreme Force” (Possibly the most epic title in the history of cinema) at 1:40…
​

A history of the World Record Cliff Jump – Part 5:

A history of the World Record Cliff Jump – Part 5.

Paul Ruff wanted to retake the world record, cement his legacy, sell the footage for perhaps $500,000 and retire from the game. On the 29th of March 1993 he stood atop a 160-foot cliff in the Kirkwood backcountry. It wasn’t a straight drop: significant speed was required to clear the rocks at the base of the cliff. Just before take off, for reasons known only to himself, Ruff speed checked. He landed on his back 10 feet short of the snow on a rock shelf at the cliff base and bounced thirty feet into the air. Ruff suffered massive internal injuries including tearing his aorta away from his heart and was dead within the hour. At the time Ruff’s death was invariably reported as a cautionary tale; the jump was too risky, the payday a pipe dream, just the tragic tale of a washed-up poster boy. I prefer to see Ruff as chasing the American Dream: confidently rolling the dice whatever the odds. This, surely, is the most attractive characteristic of the citizens of that great nation. 
​

A history of the World Record Cliff Jump – Interlude:

A history of the World Record Cliff Jump – Interlude.

Before we count down the current podium positions let’s consider the record inverted cliff jump: Julian Carr with a lazy 210-foot front flip in Engelberg Switzerland. Carr prefers to front flip from these monster cliffs – the rotation offers more control and less wind interference than trying to maintain a static position. Julian also holds the World Record Cliff in Competition: a 140-foot front flip at the 2006 US Freeskiing Nationals. Crazy? Nah, he has been doing these hucks for too long for it to be anything but cold, calculated athletic achievement…

A history of the World Record Cliff Jump – Part 6:

A History of the World Record Cliff Jump – Part 6.

When Kiwi ripper Paul Ahern pulled into the start gate of a Big Mountain Freeride comp in the 1990’s the banter stopped; cigarettes dangled from lips, knuckles whitened clutching beer bottles, and all eyes were fixed on Paul. You never knew what to expect: big drops or goat lines at the outer limits of what is skiable. Ahern would ski away from crashes that would put most competitors in the meat wagon. Paul never ragdolled – he was strong enough to fight the laws of physics all the way down. In 1999 he secured 6th place at the World Heli Challenge despite a crash on the extreme day off a 60' cliff.

Paul had regularly dropped cliffs of around 100 feet when he saw the video of John Tremann’s 145-foot world record. Ahern reckoned that with a low-profile ski tip and rock-solid body position he could go bigger – and land cleaner. He started training by dropping the 40’ “Breakfast” rocks at The Remarkables, New Zealand, first run every ski day. As a jump master for A J Hackett Bungy Queenstown he used the unlimited free jumps (with skis on) to practice holding form.

When Paul stepped up to this cliff above Lake Alta at The Remarkables in 1995 conditions were not ideal. At the top he was “scared as hell” but after waiting for about an hour for the clouds to clear he realized it was now or never. The death of Paul Ruff (killed attempting a 160 footer) weighed heavily on him. One of his reasons for dropping this cliff was to prove it was possible and vindicate Ruff whose death was an error of technique rather than concept.

Paul Ahern launched 225 feet into a flatish (38 degree) landing of what could charitably be described as springtime mush. His impact was spectacular; a freight train hit that left him tender for a couple of weeks. According to Paul, “I figured I was going 83 Mph on impact and I made a six-foot crater, which converts to 37.33 G's. Comparably, the average plane crash is only 25 G's.”  His first thoughts after landing (besides “Sorry God”) were “I am never going to do this again”. Strength and solid body position allowed him to ski away with just a suspected broken sternum. Paul spent the night in Frankton Hospital under observation but full body X-rays didn’t reveal any fractures. For cliffs of this size Paul advises a body check; “Don’t land on your feet unless you want to push your knee caps through your collarbones and wind up two feet tall…”

Final shout outs from Paul: “Thanks to Martin Jones and K2 NZ for keeping me in ski gear, A J Hackett, and my ski buddy Matt Duncan who recently passed away.”
​
Thanks to Casey Cane for this awesome throwback – the jump is at 42:18...

​

A history of the World Record Cliff Jump – Part 7:

A History of the World Record Cliff Jump – Part 7.

Fat Cantab favourite and the ultimate balls-out huckster Jamie Pierre holds a special place in ski history. He undoubtedly possessed the styliest mute grab when floating 150+ feet above the snow. Never given the respect his due in his lifetime his escapades were often reported in the North American ski press with hauteur and derision. Photographer Lee Cohen, who worked with him frequently, was on the money: “Jamie didn't get his due credit as a skier. He was more talented than anyone knew."

Here at FC we’ve always loved Jamie’s body of work: a relentless attack on the mountain invariably taking the hardest option. Pierre was the first to land and flip over the Pyramid Gap and the first to Lincoln loop over 160 feet – his resume looks like a bunch of stills from a computer game.

In 2006 he stepped up to this 255-foot monster behind Grand Targhee resort. It’s around 20 feet higher than the Golden Gate Bridge. The only reason people drop that one is in order to die. Google’s Sergey Brin estimated that Pierre was almost at terminal velocity when he hit the ground. Jamie suffered a cut lip when they shovelled him out but was otherwise uninjured. See the video below.

Jamie Pierre died in an avalanche at Snowbird, Utah on 13th of November 2011. He was 38. 

A history of the World Record Cliff Jump – The Finisher:

A History of the World Record Cliff Jump – The Finisher.
​
While filming a warm-up run in the Alps in 2008 Fred Syversen made a 352-foot wrong turn and unintentionally set the World Cliff Jump Record. Or did he? Controversy reigns but consider this: when Fred realized at the last minute that he was about to be sent airmail he made three decisions that saved his life: (1) He pointed it (2) he made a slight right hand turn to take him away from the rocks and (3) in mid-air he turned to his side so that he didn’t land on his ABS gas bottle and break his spine.
Fred was buried 2.5 metres deep and was unconscious when his crew dug him up but soon recovered his sparkle – if only to punch out the chopper pilot for missing the shot. Syverson skied away with only minor damage to his liver.
Former record holder Paul Ahern doesn’t think this jump counts: “He needs to go back up there and do it again. It’s gotta be deliberate.”
What do you think?