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Daring Base Jumper Uses Rug Instead of a Wingsuit for an “Aladdin-Style” Carpet Ride

By Regina Sienra on September 2, 2024

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Una publicación compartida por Bungy Niouc (@bungy_niouc)

Have you seen Aladdin? One of the most iconic scenes from the Disney animated feature film includes a romantic ride on a magic carpet. And while many have dreamed of flying their own magic carpet, it is, unfortunately, an impossibility. However, French base jumper Fred Fugen has found the next best thing. The daring athlete traded his wingsuit for a large rug, creating the illusion of flying on an actual magic carpet as he descended down the Italian Dolomites.

Fugen has launched a project, named Alladin Skylab, using his 20 years of experience with paragliding wings, ultralights, hang gliders and wingsuits to make this a reality. After a year of preparation, Fugen developed a low-tech minimal base jumping rig (without the help of inflatable components) that relies only on the rigidity of his tensed body to maintain its form.

Once he had managed to “domesticate and ride this furry carpet,” Fugen made 40 training jumps before the big one, which he described as his “masterpiece with this rug.” He captured the thrilling moment with the help of a drone, although fellow jumpers also helped to film the stunt.

“Now that the real magic carpet got out of its secret Ali Baba cave somewhere in France,” writes Fugen, “we can let us taste and feel the magic of the pinnacle meeting between the very low-tech ancestral minimalist carpet science, and the very high-tech, high-end wingsuit technology with two of the best acro wingsuit pilots in the world, @arvidendler and @daniroman from @redbull carving around like a flying caroussel [sic], never seen before.” Fugen also added that his “Aladdin” point-of-view was like sparkling stars turning around while the wingsuiters must have seen something like a surrealistic UFO flying carpet.

Fugen is not done with his base jumping experiments, as he is now testing an even more outlandish accessory—a trash bag. To stay up to date with his adventures, you can follow Fugen on TikTok and Instagram.