Vinny T, as Vincent Tupin is known in the scene, has seen everything there is to see in gravity mountain biking. The Frenchman has taken part in races and hair-raising freeride events. Vinny has jumped the world's biggest kickers at the legendary Fest Series and has taken part in the Red Bull Rampage - the unofficial world championship of freeriders. But Vinny T also took on the toughest downhill race in the world, the Red Bull Hardline in Wales. With the Superdrop in Valais, the Frenchman has now created another monument for himself, even if the stunt didn't go quite as he had imagined.
BIKE: Have you lost your mind, Vincent?
Vincent Tupin: You might think that when you see the video clip, I know. But I was really convinced that I would succeed in landing the drop. You have to be, otherwise you'd never do it.
How do you find a cliff like this?
I didn't find it at all. My friend Seb Giraldi drove past it. He immediately thought of me when he saw the drop-off. The drop is in the municipality of Liddes in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
A monster drop with monster dimensions
Have you measured how high the drop is?
Yes, we measured the cliff after my stunt. The gap drop is 25 metres down, 14 metres out and 31.3 metres diagonally to the landing.
Only then did you measure the cliff? That's crazy! Based on the data, this seems to be the highest drop ever attempted. I know from the Jah drop in Kamloops, the reference of all bone-breaking drops, that it measures almost 17 metres vertically. And apparently the drop that Gee Atherton failed on at Rampage 2023 was 22 metres high.
Yes, I knew it was damn high.
By the way: If you want to know what the Jah drop looks like: Brage Vestavik jumps the Jah-Drop
Thoughts in your head, a head full of thoughts
What was going on in your head when you put on your goggles up there?
Please don't jump too short! And not too far either! Those were my biggest fears and I don't even want to imagine what would have happened. You have to realise that it was anything but a spontaneous decision.
How long had you been struggling with yourself?
For a year. We kept looking at the cliff, shaping the landing, thinking about the best run-in. The weather also had its own whims. I knew that everything had to be right. Especially my head. But I never doubted it, I knew I would jump, I just didn't know when.
Afraid?
Oh yes, a lot of fear.
How did you manage to set off at the right speed?
That is actually the biggest difficulty. Of course you can throw stones and look at the trajectory, but in the end a lot depends on your experience and intuition. It was also difficult to throw stones here, because the terrain is so steep that it was almost impossible to get to the edge of the drop-off safely. And I had no reference, because I'd never done anything this big before. So I could only trust my instincts and my gut feeling and hope that I would do the right thing spontaneously. But I can tell you: I still ended up with a lot of stones.
The drop, the fear, the airtime
And then: Over the edge and: Airtime!
Long airtime. I knew that I would be sailing for a long time. But then I was amazed that it took so long. I've never done a base jump, but that's exactly how I imagine it.
Did you think in the air that everything would be fine?
Yes, at first. I thought: great, it's going perfectly. But then I was in the air for so long that I started to feel anxious and somehow suspected that I wouldn't be able to land. Not after this monster flight downwards.
Not a good prerequisite for a successful landing.
No, certainly not. But that's what my gut told me when I came rushing in. I felt that there was far too much energy involved. No matter how much I held on to the handlebars, this impact would be too hard to absorb.
And so it was.
Yes, I literally exploded. My chin almost came down to the fork, the front wheel folded in and I rolled up very small. It was a landing like a car crash.
"Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing." (Pilot saying)
The fall looked brutal. Above all, you were damn lucky that you tumbled straight down and not to the side, because there were big boulders lying there.
Yes, I was incredibly lucky. I rolled up and let the fall wash over me. Then I got up, knocked the dirt out of my trousers and thought: I'm alive! How awesome is that? I can remember everything and nothing hurts. Absolutely no injury!
Congratulations! And now? Do you want to try again?
No, I won't do that again. Definitely not. You only dare to do a drop like that once in your life. I don't want to push my luck again, because you can only take a landing like that once.
Was the landing perhaps too shallow?
I know it looks flat on the video, but it was very steep. I think the drop is too high, the impact too hard, no matter how steep the landing.
Drop with camber = no go?
There's a rule among BMXers that only landed stunts are allowed. What do you think?
I know. That's actually how I see it too. But the drop is too high to land. Similar to Josh Bender's Jah drop back then. That's why we decided to show the stunt.
Did you also want to show it to recommend yourself for the Red Bull Rampage?
Yes, I actually had that thought. I thought that if I managed to land this drop, I might get another invitation to the Rampage this October.
How was the feedback you received on your stunt?
The other riders were all very positive. They showed me respect and congratulated me on my new life. Laughs. Non-bikers, however, were of the opinion that I had completely lost my mind and wanted to kill myself.
Dimitri Lehner
Editor
