Damn! Base Jumper Uses A Carpet And Rides It Like A Scene Out Of Aladdin

Posted • August 20, 2024: Daredevil French base jumper Fred Fugen has fulfilled a childhood dream by going on a magic carpet ride, though in the Italian Dolomites, rather than the deserts of the Middle East. It’s a project he’s called Alladin (sic) Skylab, and he’s been prepping for it for over a year, though he has 20 years of experience with paragliding wings, ultralights, hang gliders and wingsuits. He describes Alladin Skylab as, “a one-year process of testing, base jumping with many different minimal suits and clothes.” His mission was to create a low-tech minimal base jumping rig that relied solely on the rigidity of his tensed body to maintain its form with no inflatable components.

Having created a rig that he thought was up to the task, he’s spent the last few months testing it out, and finally managed “to domesticate and ride this fury carpet.” Great turn of phrase! Fugen made 40 training jumps before being ready for what he calls his “masterpiece with this rug,” and teases that there’s “More to come soon!”