Unexpected action scenario at a landmark in Vilnius: On May 5 Cedric Dumont made the first ever BASE jump from the Vilnius TV tower. Freefalling from 170 meters, the Belgian added Lithuania to his long list of achievements.
At 326.5 meters, Vilnius’ TV tower is the tallest building in Lithuania. As it is surrounded by unpredictable lateral winds, jumping from it requires milliseconds and millimeters of precision. On May 5 the tower became the new challenge for Cedric Dumont. The 39-year-old Belgian was the first BASE jumper ever to dare to face this unique building, while performing a 170-meter BASE jump.
Dumont was extremely fast: Around 11 a.m., he took the lift to the viewing platform, in a few moments evaluated the situation down on the ground and chose the spot for jumping. Then he threw a roll of toilet paper down – to check the wind strength and direction. As the weather conditions were perfect, there was no time to waste. Cedric took his position, checked his flying equipment – tightened the belts of his weighing bag and … took off! After just four seconds he landed in front of surprised viewers, and escaped.
‘From the viewing platform upstairs you can see the whole of Vilnius, but when you jump, your whole life passes by,’ said Dumont after the landing. ‘These four seconds of freefalling will stay in my mind forever. It’s the first time I’ve performed a BASE jump in Lithuania. The country is great and I will definitely be looking for new challenges here.’
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