Jamie Pierre: 245 Footer.

[JayB]

TGR Link

 

Lived. Maybe there's something to that faith in Jesus stuff he was spouting after the 165 footer...

[cman]

that is amazing, i can't wait to see some more pictures. i wonder how his back/knees are feeling.

[cman]

http://www.jacksonholenews.com/

 

Skier hucks world record

 

By Angus M. Thuermer Jr.

Jackson Hole Daily

 

 

Salt Lake City skier Jamie Pierre claimed a world-record cliff jump at Grand Targhee Resort on Wednesday, flying 245 vertical feet off the back of Freds Mountain.

 

 

Pierre, 32, said in a telephone interview from his home in Salt Lake City on Friday that he made his record-breaking jump as a vehicle to spread the Christian word. A veteran cliff jumper who had dropped 180 feet previously, Pierre said his feat was calculated and his landing spot probed for perfect snow.

 

 

“It wasn’t just some yahoo stunt,” Pierre said. “I chose to do it so it would open up doors so I could witness my faith in Christianity.”

 

 

Pierre said he had looked at the cliff for at least seven years before determining his ability and the conditions were right for the jump. He said observers with Teton Gravity Research, a filmmaking company that specializes in radical ski feats, measured the distance from the cornice takeoff to the landing hole with a range finder used for parachute BASE jumping to confirm the world record.

 

 

Such jumps are not without peril and a spokeswoman at Grand Targhee was quick to issue a warning against attempting to duplicate or mimic Pierre’s huck.

 

 

“This is nothing that an average recreational skier or snowboarder should consider doing,” Susie Barnett-Bushong said Friday. Even for elite and prepared skiers “we would never recommend anybody try this,” she said.

 

 

Attempting smaller jumps than Pierre’s has killed one skier in Jackson Hole. In January, 2005 valley skier Brent “Newt” Newton, 39, died after jumping a 50-foot cliff at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

 

 

Pierre himself said his jump was dangerous.

 

 

“I’m lucky I’m still alive,” he said. “I’m lucky I didn’t get hurt.”

 

 

The father of a two-month-old daughter, Pierre said he took grief from his relatives.

 

 

“My wife was not impressed,” he said. His parents also took him to task, Pierre said.

 

 

A Minnetonka, Minn., native who moved first to Crested Butte, Colo., and then Salt Lake City to ski, Pierre said practice, preparation and patience were key.

 

 

“I waited and waited and waited,” he said of the time spent anticipating the perfect snow conditions. Asked if he ever had second doubts, he responded quickly “absolutely not.”

 

 

Five photographers and three cinema shooters recorded the event, said Josh Nielsen of Teton Gravity Research.

 

 

“It was a really, really heavy and intense experience for all of us,” he said. The event was managed by Pierre, he said; “We were kind of along for the ride.”

 

 

Observers were solemn and quiet before and during the jump, he said, and Pierre said a prayer before taking off. He clocked four full seconds of air time, Nielsen said. Some 100 feet into the jump he said Pierre could not keep his skis under him and went upside down. He landed head first and blew a hole six feet deep in the snow.

 

 

Photographer Adam Clark rushed in and dug him free, Nielsen said. “Jamie pretty much walked away with a cut lip,” he said.

 

 

Pierre said he doesn’t make enough money as a skier to sustain himself. He works with his father as a custom furniture maker and also on lawn irrigation systems.

 

 

He said his landing was in the perfect spot; “I hit the nail on the head,” he said.

 

 

“The fact I came out unscathed and landed where I planned - faith played a role in it,” he said.

[olyclimber]

as was stated there....

 

[ashw_justin]

Doesn't count! Didn't stick it!

 

I wonder how badly he'd have been injured if he'd landed skis first?

[EWolfe]

Whatever.

 

Here's the crux: “My wife was not impressed,” he said. His parents also took him to task, Pierre said.

[Pinecone]

Fuckin' crazy biblethumpers.

[willstrickland]

"He landed head first and blew a hole six feet deep in the snow."

 

That's no record. That's just a collosal fuck-up.

[iain]

That's the total vertical of many midwest ski areas.

[TrogdortheBurninator]

This is insane, but how is it any different than jumping off the same cliff in sneakers or any other mode of transportation. More of a daredevil stunt than a display of skill IMO. The most impressive part of it is the patience and intelligence to wait for adequate conditions.

[JoshK]

This is insane, but how is it any different than jumping off the same cliff in sneakers or any other mode of transportation. More of a daredevil stunt than a display of skill IMO. The most impressive part of it is the patience and intelligence to wait for adequate conditions.

 

Exactly what I was thinking...

 

"Observers were solemn and quiet before and during the jump, he said, and Pierre said a prayer before taking off. He clocked four full seconds of air time, Nielsen said. Some 100 feet into the jump he said Pierre could not keep his skis under him and went upside down. He landed head first and blew a hole six feet deep in the snow."

 

So if I attached some water skis to my feet and jumped 200 feet head first into the snow, could I be the first person to waterski it? I do like the tennis shoe idea however - that would be a feat!

[iain]

Say what you want, it takes some guts to do this:

 

sick

[tomtom]

If he had miscalculated and snapped his little neck, would he be a martyr as well?

 

I classify this under "Stupid Human Tricks."

[Shaun]

Land on his head or not, he still skied off the cliff.

 

I come from the world of white water kayaking, and if you land upside down after a waterfall, you still kayaked the waterfall.

 

Takes balls, you will never see me doing that.

[JosephH]

JackAsses for Jesus...

 

Now, if we could get them all to give it a whirl...

[Dechristo]

The dude, no doubt, has got some stones; everyone will have their own assessment whether he has 'em hangin' or rattlin' around in his head.

[cj001f]

or rattlin' around in his head.

He admits to averaging over a concussion a year since the early 90's. Somethings been rattling about quite a bit....

[ZimZam]

Thats one ballsy MF. Not to fear though. Jesus had him on autopilot.

[Lowell_Skoog]

I'm trying to understand what Christian values were demonstrated by Jamie Pierre deliberately doing something that he said was "lucky" to not leave his wife a widow, his daughter an orphan, and his parents witnesses to his funeral.

 

I'm also wondering whether the folks at TGR had any reservations about being enablers for this act. Is there anything that they won't film?

[ZimZam]

for clarifications sake. by my previous post i in no way endorse jesus, christianity or any other religion for that matter. i can only assume that pierre feels that god is his co-pilot, and that by completing these feats he shows that. now where were we lucifer.....

[whidbey]

wait till his next stunt ZimZam.. should take care of it.

[ZimZam]

i guess going to church on sunday was to mundane.

[whidbey]

When he's dead and gone doing his for god stuff.. I hope his wife and kids feel good about it.

[RogerJ]

Good thing he landed on his head, otherwise he might have broken something functional.

[ashw_justin]

But does he Believe yet?