Rick Sylvester (born April 3, 1942) is an American climber and former

stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

, most famous for his BASE jumping using skis and a

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

parachute from

Mount Asgard Mount Asgard ( iu, ᓯᕙᓂᑎᕈᑎᖑᐊᒃ, ''Sivanitirutinguak'') is a twin peaked mountain with two flat-topped, cylindrical, rock towers, separated by a saddle. It is located in Auyuittuq National Park, on the Cumberland Peninsula of Ba ...

in Canada for the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 19 ...

movie '' The Spy Who Loved Me'' in July 1976. In 1971, he skied off the top of

El Capitan El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith is about from base to summit along its tallest ...

in California and descended approximately 914 metres (3000 feet) by parachute. This was conceived as "the world's greatest

ski jump Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...

". There were two more jumps made in secrecy to avoid arrest by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government within the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of ...

; Sylvester wanted more footage shot from different angles. These jumps were made in 1972 and 1973. Already an expert skier, he spent three weeks learning sky diving to make this jump. Sylvester also worked in another Bond film, '' For Your Eyes Only'', where he did the stunt when Bond falls off the side of a mountain he is climbing in

Meteora The Meteora (; el, Μετέωρα, ) is a rock formation in central Greece hosting one of the largest and most precipitously built complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries, second in importance only to Mount Athos.Sofianos, D.Z.: "Metéora". ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

. In 1978, Sylvester, along with famed mountaineer

Jim Bridwell Jim Bridwell (July 29, 1944 – February 16, 2018) was an American rock climber and mountaineer, active since 1965, especially in Yosemite Valley, but also in Patagonia and Alaska. He was noted for pushing the standards of both free climbi ...

, helped rescue approximately 40 people trapped in a ski tram in blizzard conditions. A 17-ton cable that supported the tram had come free and sliced through the tram car, killing several tourists. Sylvester, Bridwell, and others set up a pulley system on-the-fly to free the survivors and lower them to safety.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sylvester, Rick American stunt performers Living people American male alpine skiers 1942 births