With the jagged peaks of Cape Town’s Table Mountain beneath him and the wind roaring past his wingsuit, South African Jean-Jacques Wallis is redefining the limits of human flight — and putting South Africa on the global map of extreme aerial sports.
Wallis, 35, is one of the world’s fastest wingsuit flyers, achieving speeds of 230km/h.
After more than two decades mastering the sport, he is preparing to take aim at one of the world’s most prestigious aerial competitions — the 11th WWL Grand Prix, set to take place in mid-September at Tianmen Mountain, Zhangjiajie, China.
He will compete in two high-stakes formats: the slalom speed race, which tests precision and velocity through tight turns, and the target punch competition, where pilots must hit a designated mark mid-flight — a challenge requiring pinpoint control at speeds exceeding 200km/h.
“I’ve pushed the sport of wingsuiting and base jumping to quite a high level and some jumps are a lot more technical than others. I have to put in a lot of training to do them,” Wallis said.
Wingsuit flying remains one of the most dangerous aerial sports. Global data shows injury rates between 1% and 3%, with fatalities estimated at 0.25% to 0.5% per jump.
“Skydiving is a very diverse sport. It has a lot of variety. I think there’s a bit of a misconception that it’s very dangerous or extreme,” Wallis said.
His recent jumps over Table Mountain — captured in July 2025 — show him gliding within meters of the ground before deploying his parachute and landing at dusk. His flights have helped position South Africa as a rising hub for wingsuit flying. — Sisipho Skweyiya, (c) 2025 Reuters
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- Main image: Jean-Jacques Wallis coaches a participant ahead of a practice dive near Malmesbury in the Western Cape in late July — Esa Alexander/Reuters