The green light flashed, and four wingsuit pilots dropped into the Dubai sky with 15 obstacles between them and a clean run. This was not a race against each other. It was a coordinated human flight formation threading gates, balloons, and human targets through open air at speeds that left no room for hesitation. The world’s highest obstacle course had a simple rule: miss one, go back to the start.
Fifteen obstacles, four pilots, and no margin for error
The course was built to push wingsuit flying further than it had been pushed before. Sandy took the lead on the human gate section, calling the formation left and right as the pilots spread across their assigned lanes. One pilot locked the center line. Another drove right. A third held left. The precision required to hit three separate targets simultaneously at those speeds meant the team had to think less like individual fliers and more like a single airborne machine.
The balloon obstacles came next, and one pilot called the approach clearly: ‘I’m going to do a little bit of an S turn back this way.’ The adjustment worked. They came in hot, hit the target, and the team’s energy spiked hard over the radio. ‘Oh my god. This is awesome.’
Phase two introduced a latch sequence, a mid-air connection requiring a countdown from five and a precise moment of contact at speed. Amber confirmed she was ready. The team came in and stuck it. What followed was a brief, clean break, and then a handoff that sent one pilot out alone toward the city skyline.
A free-rider pickup above the skyscrapers, then back to the course
With the Dubai towers rising below, a solo pilot left the main formation and went looking for his ride, a loose aircraft that would carry him back into position for the next phase. ‘Where is my ride? I see you now.’ He found it, latched on, and the group reassembled over the city.
Dropping back into the course with a ten-second countdown, the team re-entered the obstacle field in formation. The radio chatter tightened. ‘He’s matching us on the left. Awesome.’ Then the left turn call came hard and fast. ‘LEFT. LEFT. Right turn.’ Straight up. Then a push through the final gate sequence.
Then someone went off course. One pilot hit the water. The radio confirmed what everyone already knew: ‘I guess we got to do it again. We got to go back to the start.’
The balloon that ended a clean run
The balloon obstacle that had felt satisfying in phase one became the course’s defining frustration. After a full run through the Dubai sky, threading human gates, surviving latch sequences, and navigating skyscraper-level turns, one missed target sent the entire team back to zero.
A single red balloon, still floating at altitude after the contact attempt fell short.
The pilots climbed back up. The course was waiting.
