Fire and ice go together like “Sharkboy and Lavagirl,” but not for humans. A wingsuit daredevil makes history as he flies in and out of an active volcano.
First and foremost, Sebastián “Ardilla” Álvarez, a former Chilean Air Force pilot and wingsuit daredevil recently became the first person to fly in and out of an active volcano. His nickname means “Squirrel” and it’s probably because of this stunt he did.
Red Bull posts a video that shows the 36-year-old accomplishing what could’ve been deadly. It takes place last month at Villarrica, which is a volcano in Chile that the indigenous Mapuche calls “the Devil’s House.”
CNN recently sat down with him to ask him a few questions about the experience.
“Everything started because I had the dream of flying,” Álvarez answers. “Ever since I was a kid, I just wanted to fly and somehow, I made it happen.”
The Flight to the Active Volcano
The adventurer first jumps out of a helicopter at a 2.2 mile altitude with reaching 180 miles per hour. He was zooming in and out of the 656-foot-wide hole of the explosive volcano.
Here is a clip of a guy going in and out of a volcano. This gives you an example of how Álvarez achieved this experience.
“This is by far the most extreme project I’ve ever done. That’s for sure,” he continues telling the news station. “Especially because of all the factors. It was an active volcano at high altitude. It was also cold, windy, and I had a lot of things that I needed to take care of.”
Mentally, it was extremely hard for him to process because his mind didn’t want to be there. But he pushes and forces himself to do it, so it can actually happen. “I really enjoy doing these projects because I like to push the sport a little bit more,” he adds.
The Preparation
To be honest, I don’t know of anyone else who would try this, so props to him for following through with it. It’s inspiring to hear about someone going inside a volcano and making it out alive. And this is something that involves a lot of dedication and practice. You just have to trust yourself and go for it.
However, it took this daredevil more than a year to prepare for this stunt. He did 500 practice jumps to perfect the technique, so he knew what he was getting himself into. The main idea is to survive.
“The preparation for this was all my life, pretty much, it’s been all my life. You need to be a skydiver, a base jumper and if you are a pilot, even better,” he says to CNN as advice for dreamers like him.
Nothing is ever impossible, so go out there and live out your dreams. After all, you only live once. But make sure you prepare first!
