On 25 June 2026, Red Bull issued a press release announcing that a group of eight of the world’s best wingsuit pilots had completed the longest terrain formation flight ever, launching from above Mont Blanc.
The project, led by Fred Fugen and Dani Román, brought together an international team of wingsuit pilots and camera flyers to perform an uninterrupted formation flight at extreme altitude. This world-first achievement took two years to accomplish and combined elite performance, precision teamwork, and continuous aerial footage captured from within the formation.
Having previously completed the longest terrain wingsuit line ever flown over Mont Blanc, Fred Fugen returned to Europe’s highest peak with a new idea. This time, he aimed to transform a historic solo flight into a formation flight that could be experienced from within.
For Fugen, bringing together the right people and building the mutual trust required to achieve the goal was just as important as carrying out the flight itself.
“The goal of this project was to reunite a group of expert wingsuit pilots and to fly together above Mont Blanc, in Chamonix where I live, and to do some very technical flights together and achieve a world first. It has been a dream to get this kind of team together,” said Fred Fugen.
The project brought together wingsuit pilots from five countries, forming an elite international team representing the highest level of the sport. The line-up included Marco Fürst (Austria), Marco Waltenspiel (Austria), Aurélien Chatard (France), Sebastián Álvarez (Chile), Mike Swanson (USA) and Andy Farrington (USA) and, certainly, the godfathers of the project, Fred Fugen (France) and Dani Román (Spain). Each of them had already demonstrated extensive experience in technically demanding aerial projects.
Wingsuit pilot Dani Román, the formation’s co-leader, played a pivotal role in the flight. During the descent, the eight-person formation split into two groups of four before rejoining, adding another layer of technical complexity to an already demanding flight. He helped to lead the second group of skydivers while maintaining alignment with the movements of the lead formation. His role demanded precise timing, constant communication, and complete situational awareness, helping to ensure the precision and flexibility essential to the success of the flight.
Making the flight a reality required two years of detailed planning, testing, and coordination. Every stage of the project had to be carefully considered – from the positioning of the wingsuit pilots and the synchronisation of the entire formation to ensuring sufficient safety margins for landing.
The formation began its flight above the summit of Mont Blanc, one of Europe’s most iconic mountains. After jumping from a helicopter hovering at an altitude of 5,500 metres, the team flew into the Chamonix Valley, completing a historic aerial feat against the backdrop of Europe’s highest peak. The flight route combined altitude, distance and technical flying, pushing the participants’ performance and precision to their limits.
From the summit to the landing, the skydivers covered 7,500 metres horizontally and approximately 3,800 metres of vertical descent. They completed the entire flight in around 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Flying at speeds of approximately 180 – 200 kph, the wingsuit pilots had to maintain their positions while monitoring the terrain and preserving the formation in real time.
“The biggest challenge flying here is to always keep some margin to be able to land safely. Once we jump from the helicopter, there is almost no place to land until we reach the valley at the bottom,” explained Fugen. “We have to manage the line and the flight all together while doing some technical moves but still be able to have enough altitude to open the parachute safely and land together on the ground.”
The group included two professional air-to-air cameramen – Vincent Cotte from France and Scott Palmer from the USA – who captured the entire flight from within the formation. This gave audiences a closer look at the speed, spacing and control required to fly over such challenging terrain, making the final footage feel more immersive and immediate.
The entire project was built on mutual trust, communication, and shared commitment among the participants, who relied on one another to maintain their positions and react instantly while in the air. This level of cooperation is one of the factors that elevates the flight beyond the boundaries of sport. It is also a story of teamwork and athletic progression.
The result was a unique perspective on Mont Blanc, combined with a striking demonstration of speed, control and shared focus by a team of world-class wingsuit pilots.
“Definitely a jump like this, a world first over Mont Blanc, with this group of friends, is a once-in-a-lifetime, huge achievement for all of us. To describe the experience in a few words is pretty hard, but I can say it was beautiful, it was wild and it was very intense. Best jumps of my life,” summarised Dani Román.
Cover photo: The world-first wingsuit formation flying over Mont Blanc. Vincent Cotte / © Red Bull Content Pool.
Information from the Red Bull company press release were used.
