See the incredible pictures of Shropshire man Hans as he parachutes over Everest
A death-defying Shropshire man has just returned from an expedition to the Himalayas where he has been skydiving over Mount Everest.
Hans Donner, aged 45, has been parachuting for 29 years. He currently works as a safety officer for British Skydiving and has conducted more than 6,000 parachute and base jumps in the last three decades and has leapt from planes, helicopters, cliffs and monuments.
But he said a chance to take to the skies above the world’s highest mountain was too good an opportunity to turn down.
Hans, who is from Wilcott in Shrewsbury, said: “I’d always wanted to travel to base camp and visit Nepal and I managed to bump into all the right people and was able to arrange sponsorship to arrange this expedition.”
He said he set off for Nepal in October, and did two jumps in specially adapted helicopters over Everest.
“I started off making sure my fitness was on point as I had to take all my own kit. We got to Nepal and Kathmandu and met the team then landed at an airfield 13,000 feet above sea-level, so that's already extremely high," he said. “We then took to a specially converted helicopter, which is as light as possible to make the jumps.”
He said while the helicopters can not travel as high as the summit of Everest, which sits at 29,000 feet, Hans, who was equipped with oxygen, leapt out at 24,000 feet on October 26
“It was incredible - the closest I will get to being Superman.
"The second jump felt calmer as I had more time to take it in."
Bit his adventures did not stop there, as Hans and his team got stuck on Everest after attempting to hike to base camp.
“We were in Nepal for a couple of weeks, but most it was just acclimatisation. We did two jumps and then took a separate expedition to base camp - but ended up getting stuck in a snow storm for five days - so it was an eventful trip.
“It was all a bit mind-blowing but I’m now trying to come back down to earth now I’m home."
You can see more of Hans adventure to Nepal at: https://www.instagram.com/_hansdonner_/?hl=en
