While shooting the latest Blank Collective movie, Josh Daiek came across a gap he had been considering for years. The Gap is over Highway 50 as you leave South Lake Tahoe toward San Francisco. Hazen Woolsen and Sean Haverstock (drone angle) shot the footage of this unbelievable jump, and Josh Daiek is here to tell you in his own words how this all went down.
"I've wanted to hit this jump for the past decade, but it only fills in on big snow years. When the boulder field that makes up the landing began to smooth over with snow, I knew I had to strike. From the east-facing aspect which gets immediately cooked after storms to snow plows tossing wet, dirty snow on the landing. Not to mention the take-off is in the most active avalanche path on the pass. All this is just to paint the picture of how rarely the stars align for this gap to even be doable.
I built the jump the night before, with no visibility and not being sure exactly how close we truly are to the edge. The night build also made it difficult to know precisely what direction to build the takeoff and prep the in-run. The next morning, I found myself back on the cliff as the sun rose. I was terrified! Not only was it the biggest cliff I would ever attempt to land on my feet, but the consequence of missing the landing was certain death. As I was side stepping up to do a speed check, I thought to myself, "What the hell are you doing up here? Are you trying to prove something? Is this worth dying for?"
You're up here because this is something you've wanted for the last 10 years. This is not about fame or recognition, this is about conquering something that is perceived to be undoable. Something that I know I can do. I cleared all fear and doubt from my mind, transforming that energy into focus and concentration. After a few more speed checks, I was confident in the speed and trajectory. I sidestepped up the runway, visualizing in my mind how the jump would play. Before I knew it, I called over the radio "Dropping in 5". Seconds later, I was ripping down the in-run, fully committed.
I popped off the lip and laid back into what I like to call a "lazy backflip". Time stood still as I stared up at the sky waiting for the rotation to come around. As I became fully inverted I saw the landing and was relieved to see I would clear the highway with no issue. I pulled my feet under me and prepped for a heavy impact. Turns out dropping out of the sky from over 100' is violent. It took everything I had to land and ride this air out. It was a bit of an emotional roller coaster but I couldn't be more happy to finally conquer the gap!"
Watch the full 7 Stages of Blank movie down below :
