Austrian wingsuit athletes fly among hot-air balloons over Cappadocia

Austrian wingsuit athlete Marco Waltenspiel performed a high-speed flight between hot-air balloons over Türkiye’s Cappadocia region.

Waltenspiel, the head of the Red Bull Skydive Team, jumped from a hot-air balloon at an altitude of approximately 2,800 meters (9,186 feet).

He transformed balloons flying at different altitudes into a slalom course, navigating between them at a speed of about 200 kilometers (124 miles) per hour.

The flight required Waltenspiel to repeatedly adjust his route because of changing wind conditions at different elevations.

“In wingsuit flying, you always move together with nature. But during this project, we encountered different wind conditions at every altitude,” Waltenspiel said following the flight.

“Each time I approached a balloon, I had to recalculate my route and make the correct decision within seconds,” he said.

Waltenspiel described performing the flight against Cappadocia’s distinctive landscape as one of the most memorable experiences of his career.

Fellow Red Bull Skydive Team athlete Marco Furst accompanied him during the flight as aerial coordinator.

“This project required not only speed but also flawless coordination,” Furst said.

“We had to follow each other while simultaneously adapting to constantly changing weather conditions,” he added.

Furst said the preparations behind the flight were as impressive as the resulting images. In 2015, Waltenspiel famously flew directly over an active volcano in a wingsuit and in 2024, he was joined by Furst to be the first to fly through the London Tower Bridge.

Cappadocia, located in central Türkiye, is internationally known for its distinctive rock formations, underground cities and sunrise hot-air balloon flights.