Ueli Gegenschatz
Ueli Gegenschatz at TED 2009 Ueli Gegenschatz (January 3, 1971 – November 13, 2009, Zurich) was a Swiss BASE jumper, paraglider and skydiver who held several world records. Ueli Gegenschatz was known for his expert paragliding, skydiving and BASE jumping and his flight in a high-tech flying-squirrel-inspired wingsuit. A member of the Swiss national paragliding team for four years, Gegenschatz co-founded the Red Bull acro team in 1995. Among his BASE jumping achievements, many of which are available as YouTube videos, were jumps off Eiffel Tower, the Petronas Towers in KL as well as jumps off of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau peaks all in one day. On November 11, 2009, during a jump for Red Bull from the Sunrise Tower in Zurich, Switzerland, a gust of wind hit Gegenschatz and he lost control of his jump. He hit the ground and was seriously injured. He died on November 13.