Duluth-Native and Red Bull extreme skydiver talks to about his latest ground breaking stunt
Mike Swanson, Marko Waltenspiel and Dani Roman perform during the Red Bull Ultimate Aerial Obstacle Course in Barcelona, Spain on September 24, 2024.
(Joerg Mitter / Red Bull Content Pool)
DULUTH, Min. & MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN, Cal. – Duluth-native Mike Swanson is on the the “Red Bull Air Force” and they just pulled off what has been labeled the “Most Extreme Flying Obstacle Course Humans Have Ever Attempted”.
The “Ultimate Aerial Obstacle Course“ is a 15-stage airborne flight connecting open skies, mountains, and city skylines in what appears to be one flight line. It was filmed across eight countries and involving 34 athletes.
The course was the vision of a lot of athletes coming together. It blended wingsuit flying, skydiving, paramotors, aerobatics, and drone formations.
Swanson told FOX21, “We were all together talking about our ideas for individual projects, and we decided to put them all together into one large project. Took two years from that point. Coming-up with the idea to to put it together and film.”
The stunts were film in Croatia, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, United States, Bahamas, and United Arab Emirates.
Swanson says it takes lots of planning to make stunts look great and are done safely, “People think… They’re like, You’re crazy, you know, but they they don’t understand the amount of time preparation training that goes in, that we’ve all put into it to be able to do these things. We’re not just going out and hawking ourselves out of airplanes or off cliffs or through hoops or through targets. It’s years and years of preparation and training to be able to do this safely for a long period of time.”
Mike was born at St. Luke’s and grew-up in Normana Township. He says doing extreme sports is just part of the family! “Well, my father is a skydiver and a base jumper, and so I grew up around the sport. When I turned 16, it was just like learning to drive you. You went and you made your first skydive. So I made my first skydive then, and just fell in love instantly. And it’s all I wanted to do. And just kind of followed that dream around the us and eventually around the world.”
Right now mike is in Mammoth Mountain, California working on another project. He can’t reveal too much about other than it will involve a “speed rider”.
Mike Swanson, Marko Waltenspiel and Dani Roman perform during the Red Bull Ultimate Aerial Obstacle Course in Barcelona, Spain on September 24, 2024.
(Samo Vidic / Red Bull Content Pool)
Mike has also done stunt work on some big movies. CLICK HERE to hear Mike talk about the movies on our YouTube Channel.
Red Bull says the Ultimate Aerial Obstacle Course, “redefines aerial sport by merging multiple flight disciplines into one visual and technical narrative. It demonstrates how creativity, precision, and teamwork can transform the skies into a shared playground, expanding the future of aerial entertainment and cross-disciplinary sport.”
Mike has compiled a track record of more than 20,000 skydives, over 3,000 wingsuit jumps and more than 1,000 BASE jumps.
