Wikimedia CommonsFelix Baumgartner in 2014.
Felix Baumgartner lived his life on the edge. A daring skydiver and BASE jumper, he set a number of world records, and even became the first human to break the sound barrier in freefall. But though he reached great heights during his life, he sadly lost his life while paragliding in 2025.
Before he died at the age of 56, Baumgartner was known for his daring, breathtaking stunts. He jumped off the tallest buildings in the world, leaped from Rio’s Christ the Redeemer statue, flew across the English channel using carbon fiber wings, and partnered with Red Bull to pull off a stunning 24-mile plunge from the stratosphere.
But in the end, Baumgartner’s passion for adventure became his death knell. On July 17, 2025, Felix Baumgartner died in a paragliding accident in Italy.
The Early Life Of Felix Baumgartner
Felix Baumgartner was born on April 20, 1969, in Salzburg, Austria. According to The Telegraph, Baumgartner was fascinated by heights from an early age. As a young boy, he constantly asked friends and family to throw him high in the air, and when he was just five years old, he drew a picture of a man with a parachute, captioned: “I had a dream…and this was it!!!”.
Red BullFelix Baumgartner, seen here climbing a tree at a young age, was drawn to heights even as a boy.
Drawn to the adrenaline and thrill of jumping, Baumgartner went on his first parachute jump at the age of 17. Then, while completing his National Service in the Austrian army, he honed his skydiving skills on the army’s parachute display team. By the time his military service ended in the 1990s, Baumgartner decide to devote himself to skydiving — and BASE jumping.
While skydiving is a popular pursuit for many, BASE jumping is far more dangerous. BASE stands for “buildings, antennae, span, earth,” and it involves jumping from fixed objects such as skyscrapers, cliffs, or bridges. And since BASE jumping involves jumping from much lower heights than skydiving, it calls for extreme focus and precision. There is far less room for error.
Felix Baumgartner became very, very good at it.
The Daredevil Career Of Felix Baumgartner
In 1999, Felix Baumgartner leaped from the the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The buildings, at 1,483 feet, were the tallest in the world at the time, and Baumgartner set a world record for highest parachute jump.
Baumgartner wanted more. Later that year, he set out to jump from the hand of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Because it was a “short” distance (roughly 100 feet), Baumgartner had no room for error. According to the BBC, the organizer of the jump called Baumgartner “the craziest base jumper in the world,” adding, “normally, you need [160 to 200 feet]. It’s extremely dangerous.” But Baumgartner pulled it off.
Next, Baumgartner took things even further — he set out to fly.
In 2003, Baumgartner set out on one of the most ambitious wingsuit flights ever. Working with Red Bull, he jumped out of airplane flying 30,000 feet over England and “flew” over the English Channel in a carbon-fiber wing suit.
Wikimedia CommonsThe suit Felix Baumgartner used to fly across the English Channel.
But even these stunts weren’t enough to satisfy Baumgartner’s hunger for height. In 2004, he became the first person to leap from the Millau Viaduct in France, then the highest bridge in the world. Three years later, he jumped from the Taipei 101 in Taiwan, then the world’s highest building.
There was only one place higher that Felix Baumgartner could jump from: the stratosphere.
The 2012 Red Bull ‘Stratos’ Jump
Seeking greater heights, Felix Baumgartner worked with Red Bull to break the record for the highest freefall parachute jump. Baumgartner would jump from the stratosphere, a full 24 miles from the Earth’s surface.
In this case, it wasn’t only the height of the jump that was daunting. Baumgartner needed to wear a special suit for the jump, and it was absolutely vital that the suit worked. If something went wrong, Baumgartner’s blood could boil, and he would be dead in just 15 seconds. But Baumgartner struggled with claustrophobia while wearing the restrictive suit. He ultimately sought out sports psychologists to overcome his fear, and after two test jumps in 2012, set out for the main event.
On Oct. 14, 2012, eight million watched live as Baumgartner risked it all.
Baumgartner took a helium balloon up into the stratosphere, and prepared to jump from a tiny exterior platform at 128,100 feet. “I know the whole world is watching now,” he said, “and I wish the world could see what I see.”
Red BullFelix Baumgartner just before he leaped from the stratosphere — and plummeted 24 miles back down to Earth.
Then he jumped.
The daredevil plummeted to the earth at more than 800 miles per hour, but never lost consciousness. He deployed his parachute after entering Earth’s atmosphere four minutes after jumping, breaking three world records: highest freefall, highest crewed balloon flight, and first person to travel faster than the speed of sound in freefall.
As his family watched, Baumgartner landed safely — and triumphantly — on the ground.
The Death Of Felix Baumgartner
Given all the great risks that Felix Baumgartner had taken, a simple paragliding outing didn’t seem all that dangerous. But on July 17, 2025, Baumgartner tragically died while paragliding in Porto Sant’Elpidio, Italy.
Baumgartner appeared to lose control of the motorized paraglider moments after takeoff, with witnesses seeing him crash into the swimming pool area of a seaside resort. Baumgartner died at the scene. He was 56 years old.
A subsequent investigation found that Felix Baumgartner’s death was due to human error. The paraglider had been in perfect condition. Somehow, Baumgartner had lost control of the device.
“He fell into a spiral, and he could not get out,” Prosecutor Raffaele Iannella stated. “He was unable to do the maneuver that he should have done to exit.”
Wikimedia CommonsA commemorative stone to Felix Baumgartner in Vienna.
Baumgartner’s death prompted widespread tributes from fellow pilots, skydivers, and BASE jumpers, as well as extreme sports athletes around the world. Red Bull remembered him as a loyal, brave, determined person.
“You always sought out the greatest challenges and mastered them with sharp thinking, relentless precision and a good dose of courage,” the company wrote after his death. “You delved deep into every project. No detail was too small, no risk too great – as long as you could calculate it.”
Indeed, Felix Baumgartner’s name is now synonymous with daring and bravery. During his life, he pushed himself to jump from greater and greater heights — until there was no more sky left to conquer.
After learning about Felix Baumgartner, read about skydiving Google executive Alan Eustace, who later broke Baumgartner’s altitude record. Then, learn about daring stuntman Karl Wallenda.
The post The Story Of Felix Baumgartner, The Extreme Skydiver And BASE Jumper Who Astonished The World, Then Perished Tragically appeared first on All That's Interesting.
Source: News – allthatsinteresting
