Although we have been seeing jumps of all kinds for many years, there is always one that is even more difficult, and Tom Pagès has just executed it. We have seen Tom give his best for many years in the most important freestyle competitions, and we also know that he has competed in both motocross and speed. In fact, right now he is competing with a Yamaha R7 in the French Yamaha R7 Cup.
But returning to freestyle, to the jumps, which is what has made him world famous, Tom has prepared not only a jump, but the most complicated and cinematic stunt we have seen to date.
You may remember that Tom Cruise was the star of the last Mission Impossible movie because he jumped off a cliff and then opened his parachute. Well, Tom Pagès’ jump is a lot more complicated because, first, there is no ramp and, second, he does it with a motorbike and a paraglider.
Pagés made the jump in the French Alps
The Frenchman, from the top of a mountain in the French Alps, heads downhill until he has enough speed for the paraglider to be able to support both of them. It is perhaps not as wild as the scene with Tom Cruise because he does not jump into the void as if nothing happened, but rather it is a much smoother and more controlled jump.
But that doesn’t take away any of the spectacular nature of the flight, which is actually more complex than it might seem. In a way, we could say that Pagès has “invented” a new style of paramotor, in which the mechanics are only used for takeoff, although this version is more complicated.
And perhaps flying is the easiest part, something that we see from the video of the previous tests that it is not, but landing requires even more skill. Because to control the descent he cannot let go of the paraglider’s controls at any time, but to be able to land safely he has to be able to control the motorcycle. In the end, using the mastery that characterizes him, Pagès achieves the perfect landing for the longest jump in the world… even if it has a trick.
