About

XRW (Extreme Relative Work) in my wingsuit with Jonathan Tagle flying his Velocity 71.

I am a skydiver, wingsuit flyer, writer, adventurer, Africanist, and humanitarian. There are three framed pieces of paper on my wall: Harvard diploma, Princeton diploma, and US National Skydiving Record (largest wingsuit formation, 68 people). I worked equally hard for all three.

My current skydiving projects include organizing the next Wingsuit World Record formation, to be held in September 2012 in Perris, California, and Project XRW (eXtreme Relative Work) with the PD Factory Team in Sebastian, Florida, and Dubai. 

In 2009, I co-founded a skydiving non-profit called Raise the Sky to connect the skydiving community with charitable outreach and fundraising. We have partnered with organizations from City Year in Los Angeles to the American Cancer Society in Portland, Maine, to the Pastoral Centre Preschool and Creche in Soweto, South Africa. This work inspires me every day and has given me opportunities to push myself as both a skydiver and a human being.

Although I actually responded to a question about where I live recently by saying “I’m world-based”, my favourite city is Johannesburg, South Africa. For someone who enjoys being on the edge, Jozi’s pace can be oddly comforting. Rian Malan said it best: “If it is true, as Buddhist sages maintain, that materialism coarsens the spirit and that life itself is an illusion, Jo’burg is a fine place to pursue enlightenment. Theft is so common that it’s hardly worth mentioning. Everyone knows someone who was murdered. You either allow the danger to poison your psyche and deaden your soul, or you learn to be brave, and laugh at the prospect of your own annihilation. Foreigners think we’re nuts, coming back to a doomed city on a damned continent, but there’s something you don’t understand: it’s boring where you are.”

You can find my one-page profile in Parachutist magazine here.