How did you spend the longest day of the year? Miles Daisher spent the extra hours of daylight on the summer solstice, June 21, 2017, by throwing himself off a bridge — 63 times, to be exact.
The feat earned him the record for the most unassisted BASE jumps in 24 hours.
A BASE jump is parachuting or wingsuit flying from a fixed object. The acronym BASE stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: building, antenna, span, and Earth (cliff).
An unassisted BASE jump means that the jumper cannot use an outside source (such as an elevator or crane) to return to the jump point — he must get there by walking, hiking or climbing.
Daisher set the record jumping off the I.B. Perrine Bridge, a 486-foot-high truss arch span located above the Snake River in Twin Falls, Idaho.
The bridge is a mecca for BASE jumpers, as it is one of the only man-made structures in the United States where BASE jumping is allowed year-round without a permit.
After each jump, Daisher landed on the bank of the Snake River and climbed up a treacherous, rocky trail out of the canyon. Throughout the 24-hour period, Daisher climbed more than 30,500 vertical feet, about 1,500 feet higher than Mount Everest.
Daisher originally set the record in 2005 with 57 jumps, and his record stood until 2016, when Dan Weiland jumped 61 times.
In addition to now holding the 24-hour unassisted record, Daisher also holds the unofficial record for most BASE jumps ever, having jumped 4,520 times in his lifetime.