As if wakeskating across the world’s highest outdoor pool was not daring enough — Brian Grubb decided to hit a ramp and jump off a 77-storey skyscraper in Dubai.
Waveskating is like waveboarding but one is not tied to the board. Also, imagine a skateboard without wheels and then riding it on a body of water while you’re holding on to a rope. That’s wakeskating.
Grubb, an American wakeskating pioneer and three-time world champion, took the extreme sport to the infinity pool perched atop the sky bridge of Dubai’s Address Beach Resort — at 294m above sea level.
On November 29, he had himself towed by a drone as he wakeskated 94m across the rooftop pool. Then, he took his board to a skating ramp that launched him off the skyscraper.
In a world first, the wakeskating thrill turned into a 77-storey base jump that landed him on the beach below. It was a project Grubb aptly called ‘Wakebase’.
“I wanted to be the first person to do a combination wakeskating switch into base jump and push myself to the highest level in my sports,” he said. “I’ve had this idea for seven years, and not a day goes by when I’m not thinking about it.”
Here’s a video of the stunt:
Behind the action
For Grubb and his team, it’s been a long time coming. Pulling off the “sickest thing” he had ever done on a wakeskate was no walk in the park.
A drone had to be built specifically for the stunt, and Grubb had to undergo extensive training.
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He enlisted the expertise of Miles Daisher, a legend with over 4,500 basejumps to his name. Daisher designed a rigorous training programme to build Grubb’s skills.
“Mentally, this project was very demanding, but my training schedule prepared me for every moment. I’ve been training for base jumping all year with Miles Daisher to prepare for everything during the jump,” he said, as he described the programme that saw him training from the US to Switzerland.
In total, Grubb clocked up 106 base jumps under Daisher’s supervision.
Dubai was a natural choice for the stunt, given its reputation as a hub for adventure seekers.
“When we got this idea, we looked for high water and there’s not much out there. Then we saw the Address Beach Resort in Dubai with the highest invisible edge pool in the world and we had to come take a look at it.
“The building is set up for us, the way the pool curves is perfect for me as I’m right foot forward and the shape is what we needed for the ramp and then there’s this nice big landing area on the beach. As soon as we got eyes on it in person, we knew it was on and that’s when the real mission started,” Grubb said.