Speedflying Mount Etna 2012

World premiere!!!

Speedflying at Mount Etna, Italy

May 2012

 

It`s Europe`s biggest and most active volcano: Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy, peaking 3,329 metres above the Mediterranean Sea. Last week, two speed flyers celebrated a world premiere: they were the first speed flyers ever to descent the volcano with paragliders and skis - during an active phase!
Since the beginning of the year, Mount Etna has made the headlines several times, erupting four times since January 2012. During the last eruptions, two Italian speed flyers were intensively trying to find a time gap that would make the ascent and the first flight over the live volcano possible.
Felice Boccanegra is a legend. He already became a talking point with his first flights over some of the biggest six- and seven-thousanders of the Andes and the Himalayas. Since eight years, he has been the coach of the second speed flyer, Jody Barratin from Italy.
Together with two extreme mountaineers and two guides, they dared the dangerous ascent during two active phases of the volcano. Afterwards, they got back down to the valley by paragliders and skis. The world record is set!