Category Finalist 2007: wings

Thomas Ulrich

In the 1980s, I passed close by this tower which stands on the west ridge of the Eiger in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland. I was in a helicopter and saw the Pilz (“mushroom”) tower from the heli window. With me was a friend of mine, Xavier Bongard, a climber and BASE jumper. We discussed what we saw and decided to go take a closer look at this tower; Xavier wanted to know whether it was possible to jump down from it. A few years later, I was on the Pilz to take this shot of Ueli Gegenschatz and Hannes Arch BASE jumping from the strange tower. The pictures I took were seen around the world, and in a very short time, the Pilz became famous within the small but well-informed global BASE jump community as one of the most attractive BASE jump locations.

Athletes: Mike Robinson, Dave Major
Location: Pilz, Eiger, Switzerland

TECHNICAL INFO

• Camera: Nikon F5
• Lens: Nikon Nikkor 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye
• Film: Fuji Sensia 100 ASA