Wingsuit Flying
Meet Aurélien Chatard: BASE jumper by the day, baker by the night
The Frenchman talks about his varying passions and how he likes to balance a life of sport with that of homeliness.
2 min
The Taj Mahal Fly-by
Frédéric Fugen, Vincent Cotte and Aurélien Chatard fly by the Taj Mahal
On the afternoon of 11th October 2022, three men clad in wingsuits tumbled out of the sky, about 1,500 metres above sea level and flew past the Taj Mahal in Agra as close as 510 metres. One of them was Aurélien Chatard, an expert skydiver, a tandem BASE jump master and a baker.
“During the winter, I am a baker. I make baguettes,” he says with a hint of amusement. “They are two very different things, but I enjoy doing it,” he continues about his love for aerial sports and baking.
While his two interests seem very diverse, they are reflective of his unusual journey: the Frenchman wasn’t averse to exploring the detours in the road that life offered.
Born in Lyon, France, in a larger-than-average family of six, he said his parents were busy making ends meet. A young Aurélien wasn’t too interested in studies, and when the school offered him to instead choose a trade at 15, he was more than happy to pick baking.
“I used to like making cakes, so I thought why not give it a shot,” recalls the 37-year-old. After dabbling in stunt biking for five years, the self-confessed adrenaline junkie set his sights on BASE (Buildings, Antenna, Span, Earth) jumping.
“But to become a BASE jumper, you must start from skydiving,” he says.
“I remember my first solo skydive jump. It was in Lyon. I wanted to do BASE jumping, and I knew that was a shorter jump. My first solo skydive had almost a 50-second freefall. When I opened my parachute, I thought to myself, ‘Damn! that was super quick. How will I be able to do the BASE jump? Because even when it is that high, it’s too fast.’ I clearly remember that thought”
Frédéric Fugen, Vincent Cotte and Aurélien Chatard fly by the Taj Mahal
© Focus Sports
It took him more than a 100 solo skydives and two years to be more “comfortable in the air” and confident enough to attempt BASE jumping. His craft took him close to the mountains. The French Alps were where his kin flocked, and Aurélien moved to Haute-Savoie and used that as a training base for 10 years.
The Frenchman now splits his time between France and Switzerland, and is constantly on the move, pursuing skydiving and BASE jumping, in search of more exciting assignments. He works in a ski resort in Verbier, Switzerland, during the winters, where he does BASE jumps during the day and bakes in the night. Aurélien, a certified tandem instructor, also has his own business in tandem jumps (BASE and skydive) in France.
Over the years he has been involved in some very interesting projects. In 2012, he completed a BASE jump off the 421-metre Kuala Lumpur Tower in Malaysia during the International Tower Jump festival. In September 2022, Aurélien posted a video of ‘The human zipline’, an innovative flying formation which was an instant hit with his tight-knit community.
Having met Frédéric Fugen and Vincent Cotte a few years ago, he has also done a few high-profile projects with them like flying past French mountain resort Avoriaz or the wingsuit flight over Lebanon – including over the country’s highest mountain of Qurnat as Sawda (3,088m, known as The Black Peak) in June 2021.
“Fred and I share a passion,” he says. “Mountaineering is more my stuff. Fred is better in freefall and sky dive. We exchange ideas; help each other out. For example, I sometimes help him to get to the mountain and sometimes he shows me how to fly. Same with Vincent Cotte.”
In October 2022, the French trio of Frédéric, Vincent and Aurélien came together for the Taj Mahal Fly-by and completed two successful jumps on 11th and 12th October. They were the first proximity jumps near the protected UNESCO World Heritage Site without the use of an aerial vehicle.
“It was a really good experience,” the 37-year-old says. “It was my first time in India. To be able to fly above the Taj Mahal was something incredible. This place has a lot of history. It’s not easy to get the permit to fly next to it, so it was something really special. Although it was not very technical, it was an interesting flight and a beautiful flight.”
Vincent, Frédéric and Aurélien after landing at Gyarah Sidi
© Focus Sports
Having notched up a first on his first trip to India, Aurélien is hoping to achieve more feats in the country, or neighbouring Nepal or Pakistan. Along with some of his friends, the Frenchman is working on high-altitude base jumps.
“So maybe jumping from above 6,000m and do the highest flight in the world,” he says about his dream project. The bar is meant to be raised.
