BASE Jumping
They built a giant human catapult inside Europe's tallest chimney
Launching from a giant catapult sounds extreme enough. Doing it inside Europe's tallest chimney helped Dani Roman and Fred Fugen set two world records. Here's what it was really like.
Part of this story
Imagine being fired out of a giant chimney at 180kph. That's exactly what Spanish wingsuit flyer Dani Roman and Frenchman Fred Fugen did in Slovenia, setting two Guinness World Records® titles in the process.
The pair took to the skies above Trbovlje using the world's largest human catapult, built inside a 360-metre chimney – Europe's tallest. The specially designed 60-metre system launched them straight upwards, accelerating from 0 to 180kph in just 2.15 seconds. After a brief moment of weightlessness at the top, they began falling back towards the ground before opening their parachutes and landing safely.
01
Two world records in one incredible feat
Roman claimed the first Guinness World Records® title for the greatest height by human catapult, rising 100.36m after leaving the launch capsule.
Dani Roman gears up for a world record attempt
© Joerg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool
It’s just ‘bam!’ – you go from zero to 180kph in two or three seconds
But that wasn't the end of it. Roman, 35, and Fugen, 47, then took on a simultaneous launch, setting a second record for the greatest combined height by human catapult. Between them, they gained 151.72m in height, with Roman reaching 75.97m and Fugen 75.75m above their release points.
“The most intense part is when you get into the catapult because you know what is coming," said Roman, who also joined up with Fugen in 2025 in the Ultimate Aerial Obstacle Course. "You have the countdown. In that capsule you cannot really move. You are really stuck in there. You feel the pressure in your back, pressure in your belly.
"Then it’s just ‘bam!’ – you go from zero to 180kph in two or three seconds, shooting straight up out of the chimney. You keep going up and up, then suddenly it feels like everything around you is moving in slow motion before you start accelerating downward again. It has been one of the most intense jumps that I've ever done."
Shot out of Europe’s tallest chimney, accelerating to 180kph
© Samo Vidic/Red Bull Content Pool
02
Human Catapult: key facts
- Location: Trbovlje, Slovenia
- Date: November 5, 2026
- Athletes: Dani Roman (Spain) and Fred Fugen (France)
- Chimney height: 360m – Europe's tallest chimney
- Catapult length: 60m – the world's largest human catapult
- Top launch speed: 180kph
- Acceleration: 0-180kph in 2.15 seconds
- Highest flight point: 456.7m above ground level
- Guinness World Records® titles: Greatest height by human catapult (100.36m) and greatest combined height by human catapult (151.72m)
03
Two and a half years in the making: Behind the record-breaking feat
Pulling off something like this doesn't happen overnight. The Human Catapult project took two and a half years to develop, with Slovenian stunt and engineering team DD Squad building the enormous launch system inside Europe's tallest chimney. At full power, it subjected the athletes to forces of up to 4.2G.
The reality of what happened here is crazy
For Fugen, the biggest challenge was stepping into the unknown, even with thousands of jumps behind him.
"The reality of what happened here is crazy," he said. "With a catapult of this scale, we’re going into something quite unknown, and we have to rely on all of our experience to handle the jump after a launch that is so unique and extreme. It’s something you cannot train for, but we fully trust DD Squad.
"I've been trying in my career to always try to push the limits of the sport and try new things in B.A.S.E. jumping and skydiving, and in aerial sports in general. And definitely this is what happened today."
Two Guinness World Records for Fred Fugen and Dani Roman
© Joerg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool
The project, supported by Prada Linea Rossa, also put a new spin on B.A.S.E. jumping. Usually, the sport involves parachuting from fixed objects rather than aircraft. B.A.S.E. stands for Building, Antenna, Span (bridge) and Earth (cliff or mountain) – the four types of places jumpers typically launch themselves from.
Watch Roman and Fugen take on another high-flying challenge in the Ultimate Aerial Obstacle Course.
Between them, Roman and Fugen have completed more than 32,000 parachute jumps. But even with all that experience, being fired out of a chimney at 180kph was something completely new. And they've now got two world records to show for it.
Part of this story