Skydive Everest, Nepal
On October 5 2008, Holly became the first woman to freefall in front of Mount Everest. She exited the Pilatus Porter at 29,500ft, falling at 140mph, in -40C wind chill conditions, getting a bird’s eye view of some of the world’s most breath-taking mountain scenery before landing on the world’s highest dropzone at 12,350ft. Holly’s parachute was much larger than normal to account for the faster speeds of descent in the thinner air. She also used a skydiving oxygen system and purpose-made thermal jumpsuit and headgear to ensure none of her body was exposed to the biting cold. Holly first completed a six-day acclimatization trek through the Himalayas, joined by her 58-year-old mum, Linda, a huge fan of her daughter’s adrenaline-fuelled adventures.
Holly says: “I did my first skydive over Lake Taupo in New Zealand and I was absolutely blown away by it. I thought it was brilliant that people were getting paid to jump out of planes for a job and I decided that was what I wanted to do.” Six months later Holly became a freefall camera flyer in Lake Taupo. She now has over 2000 jumps, 1,200 have been with a camera strapped to some part of her body! Holly and cameraman Rohan Tully filmed this unique expedition in HD and are currently making the documentary. Read more...
On August 31st 2009, Holly set a new world record, completing the world’s longest horse race of 1000kms in 9 days.
Holly spent up to 13 hours in the saddle everyday, navigating through the Mongolian wilderness, overcoming a hazardous night in the mountains without water, losing one of her steeds and recovered another from sinking in a bog. Holly shed all of her modern equipment along the way to lighten her load and to experience the real Mongolian culture, eating only mutton and goat, drinking fermented mare’s milk and sleeping in local Mongolian gers, in temperatures fluctuating from 35 degrees to sub-zero.
She says: “The Mongol Derby was a truly awesome adventure. I experienced Mongolia in a very unique way, riding in vast wildernesses with total freedom, eating Mongolian food, including Marmut and sleeping in nomadic family gers most nights!”
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