VIDEO: Speedrider's GoPro Shows Heart-Stopping Ride Down Utah Slope With Skis, Parachute
— -- Of the handful of extreme athletes pioneering the sport of speedriding, Jon DeVore might just be the most fanatic.
“Speedriding is a perfect blend of big mountain skiing and high-performance parachute flying and what it does is allow people like myself to go to terrain and do lines that were never thought ride-able before because they closed out in big crevasses or big cliffs,” DeVore said.
Watch the full story on "Nightline" tonight at 12:35 a.m. ET
An Alaska native, DeVore was practically born on skis, taking to the slopes at a young age. By 17, he was restless for something more. He became obsessed first with big mountain skiing and then human flight.
Eventually, he found speedriding, which allowed him to push the limits on both. DeVore is now sponsored by Red Bull and is the manager of the Red Bull Air Force, a team of professional pilots, BASE jumpers, skydivers and para-gliders. DeVore is also featured in a new RedBull documentary, "The Unrideables: Alaska Range," available now on RedBullTV.
“Some people might go to a shrink and talk to a doctor, other people might do something else to find a way to shut their mind off but for me you know when I get out to the air that’s when – that’s my meditation. That’s why I call this my air therapy,” DeVore said.
“I think it’s very special and very lucky to be able to turn my passion into my profession. I feel like I got a shooting star.”
DeVore, along with his flying partner and Red Bull teammate Andy Farrington, and veteran guides Clark Fyans and Mike Olsen, took “Nightline” up to a narrow ridge called High Ivory in Utah, 10,000 feet above sea level, to experience speedriding with the pros.
They have to check for “countless” variables on the slopes, such as rocks, trees, wind speed – DeVore also has an avalanche air bag and a lightweight canopy, or parachute, he called his “Ferrari” as part of his gear.
“The scariest part of speedriding is that if you land heavy on your skis and you unload pressure, and you don’t have taut lines, the canopy doesn’t know what to do,” DeVore said.
But while on his jump, DeVore ran into trouble, and tore his ACL. In 21 years as a professional extreme athlete, who even worked as a stuntman in “Iron Man,” “Iron Man 3” and “Transformers 3,” it was his first injury in a line of work that has killed many.
So DeVore sent “Nightline” back up with Farrington to try the High Ivory run again.
Watch the video of Farrington’s run HERE and in the video player above. See the full story on “Nightline” tonight at 12:35 a.m. ET.
