it’s probably for some other sport like a bobsleigh? If you’re flying wing suit you probably want a well controlled gradient and no places where the ground jumps up unexpectedly.
As with other extreme sports, some of the thrill-seeking types are going to continue to push the boundaries until the boundaries slap them down. The desire to show off their successes (and near misses, and nonfatal failures) is inherent in that impulse… and to some degree hardwired into the animal; a lot of human pack status is based on the hedonic “hey, look what I can do!” and that operates whether it’s useful or just impressive.
There’s a reason extreme sports are called extreme… and called “stupid human tricks” by many. And why technical climbing is not an extreme sport, if you’re doing it properly.
I agree that advertisers who push for people to do things that are beyond any reasonable safety zone bear some of the responsibility for the outcomes. (Only some; said people can and should say “no” and/or demand a high enough price to account for the possibility of not just killing themselves but wrecking themselves for life without killing themselves). I’m not sure how much responsibility one takes on when republishing existing vids, especially non-advertising vids; I see the argument but I can’t come up with a reasonable way to judge the net cost/benefit.
Wingsuit per se need not be an extreme sport; flying close enough to the ground that any mistake will kill you is. I can definitely see the temptation; it looks like a hell of a lot of fun … if you survive, or if at least your death is instantaneous. The area between those two, however, is Really Unpleasant.
(Famous last words: “Hey, watch this…”)
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The ‘trench’ is called a couloir. It’s a ski run and this particular one is in Chamonix.
For those who want more than :39 of this type of thrill spectating… check out the excellent docu “Birdmen” (streamable on NetFlix - http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Birdmen_The_Original_Dream_of_Flight/70285637?trkid=2361637). It starts with the history of wingsuits and is a bit dry in the beginning, but at around 19 minutes in it gets INSANE. Palm sweating INSANE.
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Terribly sorry for your loss but Monkey See Monkey Do is no basis for limiting information
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What’s the trench that’s in the col?
This is a similar flight:
I’ve done a wings run in a trench coat…
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He’s training for the wingsuit Kessel Run.
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Well, similar in that Jeb does get very close to the ground (for a brief moment). The dude in the OP is ridiculously close to the ground for a pretty significant amount of time.
Its only the last half inch that hurts 
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I think it might be a natural channel for snow run off.
What’s the numerical ratio of these guys who:
- Have done this and retired happily and in one piece
and
- Have killed themselves?
I’m guessing its about 1:4
It costs tens of thousands to pursue this hobby. And you can’t even use a wing suit until you’re completely qualified as a parachutist. Just how is someone going to casually “copycat” this?
Presumably, actual parachutists have already decided for or against this avenue of experimentation and a few youtubes aren’t going to make them “go crazy.” They’re either already crazy or they’re not.
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Riskier then driving a car.
I wonder if future harm-reduction advocates will recommend the establishment of locations where extreme sport enthusiasts can strap themselves into VR rigs and shoot up on as much epinephrine as their heart can handle without the risk of epic crunches.
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