Patrick de Gayardon (French pronunciation: [patʁik də ɡajaʁdɔ̃]; 23 January 1960 in Oullins, Rhône – 13 April 1998 in Hawaii) was a French skydiver, skysurfer and a BASE jumper.

De Gayardon was famous for pushing the boundaries of skydiving. He was one of the first people to develop the unique style of skysurfing, in which skydivers use a snowboard to make aerobatic maneuvers. He also made many famous stunts with his development of a ram-air wingsuit, starting modern-day wingsuiting.[1][2] In 1998 Patrick fell to his death in Hawaii during a skydive with Adrian Nicholas using the wingsuit while testing a modification to his parachute container; his death is attributed to a rigging error he made while making the modification.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Schatz, Bryan (2 April 2012). "A Life in Flight: Wingsuit Pioneer Loci Jean-Albert, "The Flying Dude"". Adventure Sports Journal. Adventure Sports Journal. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  2. ↑ van Dongen, Costyn; Cordia, Jarno. "Wingsuit History". FlyLikeBrick. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  3. ↑ Abrams, Michael (2006). Birdmen, Batmen, and Skyflyers: Wingsuits and the Pioneers Who Flew in Them, Fell in Them, and Perfected Them. New York: Harmony Books. pp. 211–220. ISBN 978-1-4000-5491-6.


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