Red Bull Athlete Trained In Lake Elsinore For Wild Ride On Bay Bridge Suspension Cables

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A person leaping out of a helicopter and then riding the Bay Bridge's cables via a skysurf board is not a sight you see every day, but that's exactly what took place Saturday — and his training for the big event took place in Lake Elsinore.

American skysurfer Sean MacCormac jumped out of a helicopter 5,500 feet above the San Francisco Bay, with a custom skysurf board strapped to his feet. Guided by a parachute, he "began his three-minute flight path toward the bridge cables," said Red Bull's Laurie Timmers. He "rode" the cables with his board and then safely landed on a floating barge.

MacCormac, a Red Bull athlete who has completed over 22,000 skydives, described it as "probably the most intense, wildest project" he has done.

The feat, dubbed "Bridge Rider," took several months of "preparation, engineering analysis, and coordination with local authorities," stated Timmers.

Leading up to the event, MacCormac trained at Skydive Elsinore in Southern California, getting in multiple practice runs on a 55-meter crane rig "designed to mimic the Bay Bridge cables" and "replicate the challenge of lining up with the bridge," according to the Red Bull team.

“To be able to complete this project brings me an incredible sense of accomplishment. We put such incredible focus, math and science into lining up the cable and landing safely on the barge,” said MacCormac.

Check out a video of MacCormac's feat here.