IAF daredevil sets record in Everest lap

A 37-year-old parachute jump instructor from the Indian Air Force, along with a Kiwi world skydiving champion and an American pro, set a world record for the highest landing in the lap of Mt Everest.

Wing Commander Jai Kishan, stationed at the Paratroopers' Training School at the IAF station in Agra, Wednesday broke the record of an earlier IAF hero, Wing Commander Ramesh Chandra Tripathi, by jumping from a height of 21,000 ft and landing at Gorak Shep, a plateau at a height of 17,192 ft in the lap of the Himalayas.

His partners in the stunt were New Zealander Wendy Smith, the world skydiving champion with over 18,000 dives under her belt, and American Tom Noonan, a freelance skydiving instructor.

"It was the fulfilment of a long dream," said Kishan, who dived with the photographs of his dead parents in his pocket in remembrance of their constant encouragement.

The IAF officer took loans and pledged his provident fund to raise money for the adventure, which cost between 10,000-15,000 pounds.

It was a personal quest and not sponsored by the IAF though Kishan said he was indebted to his officers for granting him leave. The Parachute Federation of India gave him his parachute and the Aeroclub of India the altimeter used by skydivers to calculate when they should end their freefall and open the parachute.

It took him a month's preparation and planning for three years to achieve the deed.

The three divers had planned to choose a higher altitude but settled for 21,000 ft due to inclement weather.

Kishan kept his fingers tightly crossed since his attempt to ascend Mt Everest in 2005 as part of the IAF expedition was thwarted due to bad weather, which killed an officer.

Two years ago, his second attempt to summit Mt Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain at a height of 8511m, was also aborted due to bad weather.

The dive was fraught with dangers since the divers fell through jagged peaks where strong gusts of wind could dash them to death.

They had to also fly over open crevasses and a fall into them also meant death.

"I can't say I was not scared," Kishan said. "People who say they are not, are lying."

The IAF officer advised another successful diver from Nepal, Ganesh Pandey, not to think of anything when he jumped off the aircraft.

"Just say Jai Pashupatinath and jump," he advised.

Wednesday's feat eclipses the record set last month by three daredevils - Britons Leo Dickinson and Ralph Mitchell and Wing Commander Tripathi, who jumped from 20,000 ft to land at the same altitude.

Kishan said more and more Indians were taking part in mountaineering and extreme sports.

"Indians have the passion for sports and the courage to push themselves beyond their limits," he told IANS. "In the past, we lacked exposure but now, we have awareness as well. I saw lots of Indians at the Everest base camp."

Last updated on Oct 29^th, 2009 at 15:51 pm IST--IANS