Exactly a year ago, on April 1, 2016, David Wise went where no skier had ever gone before: 14.2 meters (46.5 feet) above a massive “hip” of snow. The feat took place during the famed Suzuki Nine Knights event in South Tyrol, Italy, and although Wise says he didn’t plan on breaking any world records when he showed up, the gargantuan feature was just begging for it. The three-time X Games SuperPipe Gold Medalist and 2014 Olympic champion had plenty of thoughts racing through his mind while way up in the sky, and he says these 10 were the very best of them all.
1.
Get the grab. Don’t flail, don’t flail, don’t flail. Gahhh—pretty sure I just flailed.
2.
Look at that, I forgot to crank up my DIN. Hope that doesn’t come back to bite me…
3.
Oh boy, Dave, now you’ve done it. Straight in, mini-tuck, no speed-checks… Did that really seem like a good idea 15 seconds ago?
4.
That 11-meter-tall axe disappeared pretty quickly. I wonder if this is the record…
5.
This weightless feeling is really nice. Man, I feel awesome; this must be what Bruce Lee feels like all the time.
6.
Mute grab? Highest air out of a hip feature ever on skis and that’s the best grab I could come up with? Maybe I should switch to tail… I probably have enough time… Nah, I’d probably miss it and just look like I was rolling down the windows.
7.
That landing looks tiny from here. Dear God, please help me land high up on the transition.
8.
Am I dreaming? This feels like one of those skiing dreams where you hit a jump way too fast and just never come back down.
9.
I sure hope I remembered to turn the GoPro on…
10.
Yeehaw! This is awesome. And terrifying. Really hope I only have to go this high once.
