Two B.A.S.E. Jumpers Launched Out Of 360-Metre Chimney From World’s Biggest Human Catapult

B.A.S.E. jumpers Dani Roman and Fred Fugen launched from a 60-metre human catapult built inside the top section of Slovenia’s 360-metre Trbovlje chimney – with a vision of reimagining the possibilities of human flight.

The athletes accelerated from 0 to 180 km/h in just 2.15 seconds before leaving the catapult’s launch capsule and continuing vertically into the air. After a brief zero-gravity moment upon reaching the flight apex, the athletes then transitioned into freefall, reaching similar speeds before eventually deploying their parachutes and landing safely. Here is all you need to know:

• When describing the experience, Roman said: “You’re standing in the capsule waiting through the countdown, and then at five seconds to go, you take a deep breath and tense your whole body. Then it’s just ‘bam’ and you go from zero to 180 km/h 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’s just surreal, and really good fun.”

• The Red Bull Human Catapult project was done in collaboration with Prada Linea Rossa as the official project partner. The 60-metre catapult was developed specifically for the project by Slovenian stunt acrobats and engineers DD Squad. It featured a two-ton multi-spring system with a launch mechanism that had Roman and Fugen experience acceleration forces of up to 4.2G during the chimney exit.

• “The reality of what happened here is crazy,” Fugen 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. Knowing they’re athletes themselves and that they understand the importance of focusing on safety and control over maximizing power made us feel fully confident stepping into that launch capsule.”
• The feat also earned the athletes two new Guinness World Records™ titles. Roman, 35, set the record for greatest height by human catapult, gaining 100.36 metres in vertical height after being released from the catapult in a single-person launch.
• During a dual launch Roman and Fugen set the record for greatest combined height by human catapult, with an official accumulated result of 151.72 metres where Roman reached 75.97 metres and Fugen 75.75 metres when launched simultaneously.
• The project took two and a half years to develop and explored a new way of beginning a B.A.S.E. jump. Instead of jumping from a fixed object or exiting an aircraft, the athletes used a mechanical launch to generate their initial speed and upward momentum. The idea took inspiration from Ultimate Aerial Obstacle Course, which involved Roman and Fugen.
• That project featured a catapult system built by DD Squad, which was used to launch wingsuiters into flight during the course’s sky-to-mountain transition segment. This inspired the team to explore how far the catapult concept could be taken.
• Initial development began with a smaller catapult test over water and continued with the six-metre catapults used in the obstacle course. The team later tested a 12-metre version at Sass Pordoi, Italy, which exposed the athletes to approximately 4G to prepare them for the acceleration of the final chimney launch.
• For Red Bull Human Catapult, the launch system was scaled up to 60 metres – this time designed for vertical launch. It took around two months to build it inside the Trbovlje chimney, with the final version engineered for both single-person and dual-person launches. Safety and control were central to its development, with the team testing the system beyond the demands expected during the final launch to create an additional safety margin. “This project became our whole life for two months,” said Gašper Novak, CEO of DD Squad.
• “We worked on the chimney six days a week, around 14 hours a day, and even slept at the top of the chimney one night during the build. From an engineering perspective, the challenge wasn’t simply to create as much power as possible. It was to find the right power while keeping the launch as controlled as possible to ensure safety.”
• Additionally, Prada Linea Rossa equipped Roman and Fugen with functional clothing and accessories throughout the project. The outfits included technical pants, jackets, sweatshirts, footwear and eyewear, combining comfort and functionality through Prada Linea Rossa’s distinctive performance-driven aesthetic. The collaboration forms part of an ongoing partnership supporting athletes as they prepare for and take on unique sporting challenges.

Watch the Red Bull Human Catapult now on Red Bull Instagram.