Daredevil reveals how he cheated death after plummeting 1,000 feet from a 77-story hotel, setting the world wake-BASE record

World

A DAREDEVIL athlete has revealed how he trained for seven years before throwing himself from a 77-storey hotel to set a new world record.

Brian Grubb, 43, defied death when he skated down the world's highest infinity pool Dubaiperforming a breathtaking stunt that was the first of its kind.

A special ramp had to be built to allow Brian Grubb to evacuate the buildingCredit: Predrag Vuckovic / Red Bull Content Pool

Brian set two world records with the heartbreaking stunt in DubaiCredit: Predrag Vuckovic / Red Bull Content Pool

Brian is a world champion wake skaterCredit: Predrag Vuckovic / Red Bull Content Pool

Brian defied death when he skated awake from the world's highest infinity poolCredit: Red Bull Content Pool

The swimming pool is located in Dubai and is 300 meters highCredit: Red Bull

Brian first presented the ambitious idea to Red Bull seven years ago – and it took hours of work to make it happen.

He was already a three-time world champion wakeskater before the stunt, but wanted to add another string to his bow.

Wakeskating is a variant of water sports wakeboarding, where the rider is not tied to the board.

Speaking about his decision to take up BASE jumping, Brian told The Sun: “It's a very dangerous sport. I didn't know if I really wanted to get into it.”

But since he already had many skydives to his name, he decided to give it a try and “fell in love”.

Describing the extensive planning process, Brian said, “A lot of things went into the project that we had to imagine and build.”

This included a drone powerful enough to pull him along and launch him out of the building – and the monster gadget took more than a year to design.

A special ramp to give Brian enough momentum to safely clear the building and open his parachute was also custom built.

The jump required hours of training and Brian had the help of legendary BASE jumper – Miles Daisher – to supervise and guide him.

Brian also had to find a sponsorship partner for the project and chose Prada luxury sportswear line Linea Rossa.

I'm the 'last viking on earth' – I've cheated death dozens of times with daring stunts

Although the team had made as much preparation as possible, the stunt would not have a rehearsal at all.

Brian managed to make his dream come true, but would have faced a terrifying situation if just one thing went wrong.

He said his “biggest” safety problem was getting tangled in the board tether and explained that there “weren't many outs.”

“If I got caught in it, I could have been hanging under the drone,” he said.

“The (drone) pilot wouldn't have been able to see me because I would have gone under the building.”

Brian had one radio so he could interact with the drone flyer but never have to use it.

“When I got on my board the speed was perfect and I didn't say a word to him the whole time,” he said.

“We just did it on the first try.”

A clip of the remarkable stunt has become the most watched Red Bull Instagram video of all time – good for 66 million views.

In the images, Brian skates along the skyline at a height of 300 meters, pulled by a specially designed drone.

The height of the building isn't initially apparent from the camera angle, but the clip takes a stomach-churning turn when a huge ramp appears.

Brian – dressed in a full Prada outfit and bleach blonde her – skates up the ramp and floats off the edge as he falls free from a skyscraper.

Once in the air, the athlete races to the ground before deploying his parachute.

After a short flight down, Brian lands on the beach below and is greeted by cheers and high fives from a stunned crowd and his support team.

Although Brian risked his life to achieve this feat, he managed to keep his nerves at bay.

“I slept great the night before I woke up, just like before my alarm. I was super excited to go there and see it,” he said.

But the prospect of the jump going ahead initially seemed bleak as the weather was not on their side.

“Around 8:15 a.m. we were like, 'this is probably not going to happen,'” he said.

I've been thinking about this for years and years – just the moment I was in the pool, got on my board, hit the slope

Brian Grubb

He added that the winds were “unfavorable” and “gusting at 13 miles per hour.”

But the team got a 'sign' that they might have one more chance.

“It was a bit crazy, this balloon floating out of the ground,” he said.

“We have no idea where it came from or anything, but we saw this balloon going up the whole side of the building and it wasn't moving.

“It just came straight up. It was a perfect wind indicator. It was so amazing. We were like, 'this is like a sign.'”

At 8:24, a duration of four minutes countdown began.

Brian said he didn't do anything special to prepare, except take a sip of Red Bull energy.

He said he was “very calm and ready and very excited to do it.”

“I've been thinking about this for years, just in this moment of being in the pool, getting on my board and hitting the slopes,” he said.

The team had just “three hours” to make the jump as it was done from the top of a busy five-star hotel.

Although the Address Beach Resort was “very accommodating,” they were unwilling to stand in the way of sunbathers flocking to the pool.

The stunt was fraught with danger, but fortunately “everything went exactly to plan”.

“I had a perfect opening and was basically safe at that point,” he said.

“I was super, super excited. I could hear everyone on the beach cheering.”

“It was just a really great moment for both of us and for everyone on the team.”

And a place in the history books wasn't the only bonus for Brian, as he and his team were invited to stay at the lavish hotel in the run-up to the jump – and Brian also got himself some free designer clothes.

Brian said: “It was a beautiful hotel with great food.”

“It was like the full experience of jumping off the roof and staying in the hotel.”