Valery Rozov and the B.A.S.E. jump off Shivling in Himalaya

B.A.S.E. Jumping: Buildings, Antennas, Span, Earth. There aren't that many who do this spectacular "discipline", but we have to say that over the years we've noticed a slight increase in the number of people who climb a mountain and then, to descend, opt for the short-cut and leap off the summit.

The latest to capture our attention - and the thin air - is Russian alpinist Valery Rozov who after his Mont Blanc Grand Pilier d‘Angle leap last year has now jumped off beautiful Shivling in the Indian Himalaya.

Rozov reached the summit together with Alexander Ruchkin and Victor Volodin at 13.30 on 25 May 2012 after a six day ascent. The 47-year-old then located an ideal starting point and lept off from an altitude of 6420m. During his flight Rozov reached 200 km/h before landing on the glacier below at 2200m. His spectacular flight lasted 90 seconds, while his climbing companions safely returned to Base Camp two days later.

Shivling, also known as the Matterhorn of the Himalaya thanks to its extraordinary beauty, was first ascended in 1974 via the West Ridge by a Hindu-Tibetan team led by Hukam Singh which included Ang Tharhay, Pemba Tharkay, Laxman Singh and Pasang Sherpa. It is worth remembering two other outstanding climbs: the route up the North Pillar forged in 1993 by Hans Kammerlander and Christoph Hainz and Shiva's Line, for which the first ascentionists Thomas Huber and Iwan Wolf received the Piolet d'Or 2001.

We mentioned before that B.A.S.E. jumping is on the rise. Watch out now for Tim Emmett who is about to make his way to the Trango Towers in Pakistan to attempt to repeat the famous and difficult Eternal Flame, put up by Wolfgang Güllich, Kurt Albert, Christof Stiegler and Milan Sykora, before descending via a B.A.S.E. jump. The project is similar in some respects to that of the Australians Glenn Singleman and Nic Feteris who, in 1992, leaped off the nearby Great Trango Tower. At the time their (completely fearsome) jump was the highest in the world, a record 5950m which if we're not mistaken resisted until just a few days ago. When Rozov leaped off Shivling.