BASE jumpers Dani Roman of Spain and Fred Fugen of France used a custom-built human catapult inside 360-metre chimney in Slovenia to set two Guinness World Records for vertical mechanical launches.
Roman first achieved the greatest height by human catapult, rising 100.36 metres vertically. In a subsequent simultaneous launch, Roman and Fugen set the greatest combined height by human catapult at 151.72 metres: Roman reached 75.97 metres and Fugen 75.75 metres.
The records were made possible by a 60-metre catapult installed in the chimney’s upper section. Developed specifically for the project, the apparatus used a two-tonne multi-spring system and enclosed launch capsules. It propelled each athlete from 0 to 180 km/h in 2.15 seconds.
At the top of their ascent, the jumpers briefly experienced near-weightlessness before entering freefall, then deployed parachutes and landed safely.
