When you give an athlete the chance to fulfill career dreams it can be surprising what they will come up with. Red Bull gave Chuck Berry this very chance, to activate “Uncharted” a personal project to access previously unexplored and uncharted areas in the most remote and spectacular of vistas, the B.A.S.E playground of the Southern Alps in New Zealand.
Over his extensive career Chuck has formed long distance relationships with the cream of the B.A.S.E world, borne from mutual respect of others that share the same intense passion of life, the same positive attitudes that infect all who come in contact and the same undying quest to push the boundaries of their sport to new levels and highs. The quest to push into "Uncharted" territories purely for the thrill and the love of their sport.For Chuck it would be only fitting to have his closest friends on the spot to share in this unique experience Miles Daisher, Shane McConkey and Sol Vallis would get the invite for the project of a lifetime. With 3 years in the making, hours of planning, many long nights and dozens of phone calls across the globe Chuck would finally see "Uncharted" brought to life bringing together an eclectic and humorous group of talented individuals with interesting pasts to say the least. The team is some of Chuck's best friends and one thing is for sure when Chuck places faith in people, you know they will come through 100% to get the job done.
The hectic schedules of the athletes allowed a weather window of 6 days to complete the project. Part one of the project was B.A.S.E jumps from 2 previously un-jumped peaks in deep within the Milford Sound. The first Terror Peak, a 4600ft granite pillar that rises from the valley floor, and secondly, 'Sinbad' the highest peak in the Sinbad Gully. Not only did the team intend to B.A.S.E these peaks they were aiming to wingsuit from them to increase the free fall times into the over 30 second range.
With an expert pilot such as Jeff Shanks from Milford Helicopters, dropping the team right on money was never going to be a problem. Once atop Terror peak work commenced on the ropes to secure the team as they explored the cliff edge looking for the best jump location. This is what had brought Chuck, Miles, Shane and Sol together, to stand side by side on a cliff face with the next minute of your life determined by the trust in your own skills and abilities. A humbling experience, but one which all four repeat as often as possible.
With the team truly in 'Uncharted' territory is was time to do what they do best. Without hesitation and being the test jumper or "wind test dummy" Chuck stepped up to claim the first ever jump from Terror Peak, closely followed by Shane flying out from the cliff in a wing-suit. Miles after seeing the two flight paths flung himself into a 'Gainer' a forward jumping back flip captured on film from the hovering chopper across the valley.
Second time around Sol followed Shane in his wing-suit to capture some flight footage, with Miles chasing down Chuck as they flew around the corner in formation to both pop their chutes successfully and float into the drop zone on the valley floor to share in some high fives in celebration of successful jumps. Terror Peak was conquered.
On to Sinbad gully for leaps from another world first, a new exit point affectionately named "Singood" Here the team feeling a little more relaxed threw themselves into a variety of jumps from their trick bags. Gainers, front flips and even a GFS from Chuck were all captured on film by Sol as the heli buzzed about the valley.
With Part one of Uncharted now complete it was time to clock up some fixed wing time and get some wingsuit formation flights happening. Glenorchy turned on a beautiful day and some great wingsuit flights were had by all. With the day running out the call was made to grab the heli for a late run up to Earnslaw peak with the hope of completing a double stager, by jumping off one peak, landing and repacking chutes further down the same peak then jumping again. This would be the first ever double stager completed in NZ and Shane and Miles did just that. Exiting from "The Gambler" they landed further down the peak right into 'Uncharted' territory, repacked chutes and christened a new exit point "Berry Good" after team leader Chuck Berry. Miles threw down a double gainer and Shane a front flip to finish the double stager with some major style points.
With all the athletes having truly been into 'Uncharted' territories the event was a total success and left the team with some great memories and a sense of real satisfaction. "Time with Chuck Berry in his backyard was an amazing life experience that I will never forget" a comment echoed by all as footage was reviewed on the pack down day. A final quote from Miles Daisher sums up the mission remarkably well "We are living the dream and flying into Uncharted Territories"
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