The Leap of Your Life

CHAPTER 1Daring to Dream

Rate: 833.9 miles per hour. When you’re freefalling at this speed, you’re only thinking about one thing—the desire to live.

The lead-up to this moment had been a lifetime of bold decisions and redefining risk at every turn. However, none of that mattered now. The radio was silent as the spin became more violent. This silence was deafening.

At 128,000 feet, everything is precarious. During an uncontrolled spin, there are only a few possible outcomes. One, blood rushes to the limbs and rids the brain of oxygen. A total blackout results. Unconsciously spinning in space. The alternative is too much blood rushing to the head—and then the pressure inside the skull builds like the pressure in a beer can that’s been left in the freezer for too long. Eventually your blood has only one way out—your eyeballs.

No good. When you’re spinning uncontrollably for 67 seconds, it feels like an eternity. Alone, every second is your life flashing right before your eyes.

Felix Baumgartner is still here to tell his story—and he regained control in time to accomplish one of the biggest feats in the history of human free fall.

Was it risky? It depends on who you ask.

The Dream of a Lifetime

Just 67 seconds earlier, Felix had been standing on the edge of a custom-made space capsule. Decked out in a handmade spacesuit adorned with the Red Bull logo, the whole world was watching—including his girlfriend, a mother who couldn’t bear to watch, and a close circle of friends, all ...