The Highest Skydive Records and Famous Skydivers in History

Table of Contents

• The Highest Skydive Records Through the Ages
• From Static Line to Freefall
• Science and Technology Behind High-Altitude Skydives
• The Future of High-Altitude Skydiving

Key Takeaways

Skydivers have been chasing higher altitudes since André-Jacques Garnerin made the first jump from 3,200 feet above Paris in 1797. Today, Alan Eustace holds the record for the highest skydive at 135,890 feet, following Felix Baumgartner’s sound-barrier-breaking jump from 127,850 feet and Joe Kittinger’s 1960 jump from 102,800 feet, which still holds the record for the longest freefall at 4 minutes and 36 seconds. Jumping higher takes more planning, because there’s less oxygen as you climb. The USPA sets license, experience, and oxygen requirements that get stricter at intermediate, high, and extreme altitudes. There’s no set limit on how high a skydive can go. As the technology improves, skydivers will keep pushing the sport higher.

Skydiving is all about pushing boundaries, both physical and mental. After all, humans were never meant to fly through the air in the first place! And in that spirit of challenge, skydivers have been taking the sport to new highs, literally, since the day the first jump was made. That’s why of all the skydiving world records, the highest skydive is the one that continues to dazzle jumpers and non-skydivers alike. 

While the current highest record is incredible, it’s not the only one that deserves mention. Many people have risked life and limb throughout history to push the upper altitude of skydiving higher, and they’re all worth talking about.

Altitude records can also be broken down into different categories: highest skydive in the world, longest freefall, and even most skydives in 24 hours (which currently sits at 640 jumps!). There are many different ways to enjoy the highest points in the sky, and skydivers do their best to find them all.

The Highest Skydive Records Through the Ages

As you might have guessed, skydivers are a little bit altitude-obsessed. Many of us get into the sport because we can’t get enough freefall, and higher altitude equals more of that sweet hang time.

André-Jacques Garnerin

The first highest-skydive record belongs to the man who made the very first parachute jump. On October 22, 1797, Frenchman André-Jacques Garnerin went up over Parc Monceau in Paris under a hydrogen balloon. At about 3,000 feet, he cut himself loose.

His “parachute” wasn’t much like the canopies we fly today. It was a frameless, umbrella-shaped canopy made of white canvas, about 23 feet across, with a basket hanging underneath for Garnerin to ride in. It worked, but not smoothly! The basket swung violently all the way down. Garnerin landed uninjured anyway and made parachuting history.

The swinging problem was later solved in 1804, when astronomer Jérôme Lalande suggested cutting a vent into the top of the canopy to let air escape. It’s the same basic idea many parachutes still rely on for stability.

Garnerin kept jumping and made the first parachute descent in England in London in 1802. Skydiving was a family affair from the start, too. His wife, Jeanne Geneviève Labrosse, became the first woman to make a parachute jump in 1799, and his niece Élisa went on to make dozens of professional descents.

Alan EustAce

So what is the highest skydive to date? That record belongs to Alan Eustace, a senior executive at Google who quietly broke the altitude record on October 24, 2014.

Eustace launched from an old runway in Roswell, New Mexico. A huge helium balloon carried him up to about 135,900 feet (41.4 km), more than 25 miles above the Earth. He didn’t use a capsule like earlier record jumpers. He hung beneath the balloon in a custom pressure suit developed with Paragon Space Development.

Once he cut away from the balloon, Eustace fell for 4 minutes and 27 seconds and reached more than 822 mph, fast enough to break the sound barrier. He covered 123,414 feet of freefall, the greatest freefall distance on record.

One detail makes his jump different from Baumgartner’s: Eustace used a small drogue parachute to keep himself stable during freefall. Because of that, the FAI (the governing body for air sports records) tracks the two jumps in separate categories. Eustace holds the record for the highest jump overall, and Baumgartner still holds several records for jumps made without a drogue.

Maybe the most surprising part is that the whole project was kept low-key. There was no big sponsor or live broadcast. Eustace simply wanted to see if it could be done!

Felix Baumgartner

Before Eustace, the highest skydive belonged to Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner. On October 14, 2012, as part of the Red Bull Stratos mission, Felix rode a pressurized capsule under a helium balloon for about 2.5 hours, also from Roswell, New Mexico. He stepped off at 127,852 feet (about 39 km).

How long did Felix Baumgartner fall? His freefall lasted 4 minutes and 19 seconds, and the whole jump from capsule to ground took roughly 9 to 10 minutes. On the way down he reached 843.6 mph (Mach 1.25) and became the first person to break the sound barrier without engine power. It wasn’t a smooth ride, either. Felix went into an uncontrolled spin during the first minute before he got stable again.

His jump set records for:

• Fastest speed in freefall (843.6 mph)
• Longest freefall distance without a drogue (119,431 feet)
• Highest manned balloon flight at the time (later topped by Eustace)

The world was watching, too. More than 9.5 million people streamed the jump live on YouTube, a record for concurrent viewers. Guiding him from mission control was none other than Joe Kittinger, whose 1960 altitude record Felix broke that day.

Felix Baumgartner died in July 2025 in a powered paragliding accident in Italy. He was 56. His Red Bull Stratos jump remains one of the most famous skydives in history.

Joe Kittinger

Perhaps one of the more impressive records, because it was done long before modern technology, belongs to U.S. Air Force Captain Joe Kittinger. On August 16, 1960, as part of Project Excelsior, Kittinger rode an open gondola under a helium balloon to 102,800 feet above the New Mexico desert and stepped out.

Project Excelsior wasn’t a stunt. The Air Force was testing a multi-stage parachute system to help pilots survive ejecting at very high altitudes. Getting to that point was dangerous. On his first test jump in 1959, from 76,400 feet, a stabilizer chute opened too early and wrapped around his neck. He went into a spin at 120 revolutions per minute and blacked out. His automatic main parachute saved his life.

His record jump brought its own trouble. On the way up, the pressure seal in his right glove failed, and his hand swelled painfully in the thin air. Kittinger kept that to himself so the mission wouldn’t be called off.

Once he jumped, Kittinger fell for 4 minutes and 36 seconds and reached 614 mph. His full descent to the ground took 13 minutes and 45 seconds. He held the records for highest jump and fastest human speed for 52 years until Felix Baumgartner broke them in 2012, with Kittinger himself guiding Felix from mission control. And if you can believe it, Kittinger’s freefall is still the longest on record, longer than both Baumgartner’s and Eustace’s!

Bonus Fact: Most skydivers actually keep a running log of their own personal freefall record 

From Static Line to Freefall

In the early days of sport jumping, skydivers completed what are known as static line jumps. Their parachute would be attached directly to the airplane (or held by someone still inside the plane) and would deploy as they left the aircraft. This didn’t leave much time for freefall, and these jumpers never even reached terminal velocity. Exit altitude was much lower than today because there was no need for the extra time of freefall.

Throughout the ’70s, skydivers began jumping from higher altitudes and using altimeters and timers to know when to deploy their parachutes. Jump altitudes became increasingly higher until they reached the 10,000 feet and above mark we’re at today. This also created a need for student programs so that new jumpers could safely learn how to fly their bodies in the air.

Science and Technology Behind High-Altitude Skydives

Higher-than-normal skydives require extra planning and equipment. That’s why every single skydive doesn’t happen from the stratosphere (trust us, if we could, we totally would). And the higher the skydive, the more planning is required.

The higher you go into the atmosphere, the less oxygen there is to breathe. Oxygen deficiency, also known as hypoxia, causes confusion, headache, anxiety, and even loss of consciousness. To avoid the risk of developing hypoxia, skydivers will breathe oxygen during the ride to altitude, or sometimes even during freefall.

There are actually rules and requirements set out by the United States Parachute Association (USPA) that help skydivers prepare for high altitude jumps depending on how high they are jumping from:

For intermediate-altitude jumps (15,000-20,000 feet MSL):

• Participants should hold at least a USPA B license and have made 100 jumps.
• All participants should put on masks and begin breathing oxygen at 8,000 feet MSL. Jumpers should stay on oxygen for as long as possible, removing their masks at the “climb out” or “exit” signal.

For high-altitude jumps (20,000-40,000 feet MSL):

• Participants should hold a USPA C license and have made at least one jump from 15,000 feet MSL or below using the same functioning bailout oxygen system.
• All participants should put on masks and begin breathing oxygen at 8,000 feet MSL. Two minutes prior to exit, skydivers should activate bailout bottles and disconnect from the aircraft oxygen system.
• Additionally, all skydivers should pre-breathe 100% oxygen under the supervision of the oxygen monitor for 30 minutes before takeoff when the goal altitude is above 25,000 feet MSL. 

For extreme-altitude jumps (40,000 feet MSL and higher):

• Participants should hold a USPA D license and have made at least two jumps from below 35,000 feet MSL using the same functioning bailout oxygen and pressure systems.
• Standard oxygen procedures are not established but must be developed for the specific mission and equipment.

High-altitude jumps are no joke! Safety considerations must be ramped up, and preparation is key to a successful jump, regardless of altitude. 

The Future of High-Altitude Skydiving

With all this information, you might wonder: What is the highest skydive allowed? What is the longest free fall distance allowed? There are technically no blanket rules around altitude and freefall distance. The only limitation is technology and skydiver courage. And as technology improves, we’ll continue to see brave skydivers use those innovations to push the sport farther and higher. 

Fun fact: Where is the highest skydiving place in the world? Skydivers actually jump over Mount Everest!

Are you ready to set your very own skydiving height record? Book your tandem today and taste some extreme altitude! Blue skies!!