Pro Skier Recounts Terrifying Winch-Powered BASE Jump

Daiek has a reputation for attempting high-octane moves that blur the boundaries between skiing and flying. In 2019, on the same road gap shown in his latest video, he launched and landed an enormous backflip, soaring over Highway 50 near South Lake Tahoe, California.

For the winch-powered BASE jump, he returned to the same gap in 2023, but, as Daiek admits, a few pieces of the puzzle didn’t align. Rather than cruising down into the valley, he collided with the snow just below the highway.

Here’s what went wrong, according to Daiek. First, the snow became slushy after baking in the sun. This slowed down Daiek as he was dragged into the jump by the winch, meaning he didn’t garner enough airtime. Second, his parachute had a ninety-degree off heading, which sent him careening towards the hillside.
 
The level risk here can't be understated. Daiek’s stunt—and ski BASE jumping as a broader discipline—is incredibly dangerous. Margins of error are thin to non-existent.
 
“I got super lucky on this one,” said Daiek in the video. “And to be honest, I’m pretty embarrassed to even be putting this out there, but I also think it’s important to share failures and show that we’re human.”

Human? Maybe. Daiek is clearly operating on a different level from the rest of us. Entering this realm of heightened consequences is something few people truly understand. It can also draw criticism—a fact Daiek himself acknowledged in the description of his video.

“Some will praise this stunt, others will criticize it,” he wrote.

We wanted to hear more from Daiek, so we shot him an email and had a quick chat. Read on for some words from the man himself.

Do you think you experience fear like most people? If so, how do you conquer it to try stunts like this?

I experience fear just like anyone else, but one key difference is that I face it almost daily during the winter months. Over time, I’ve become accustomed to that feeling of being scared. When fear arises, I work to rationalize it: Why am I scared? What are the critical points? How do I navigate them? Is this feasible? What are the exit strategies? What details require my absolute focus? These questions guide me, whether I’m tackling a gnarly line or attempting a stunt like this one.

Relentless training and constantly pushing myself have built a deep familiarity with my craft, allowing me to approach the mountain with confidence. When I analyze a line or a stunt, it’s backed by decades of trial, error, and experience. This experience makes me very aware of what I can and cannot get away with on skis. While there are always going to be occasional hiccups or minor misjudgments, my skiing is very calculated.

This stunt is obviously very dangerous and, as you noted in the video's description, is sure to draw some criticism. What would you say to those who question what you're doing?

We live in a time when it’s easy for people to hide behind their screens and talk sh*t. Social media is full of it, and I definitely get my fair share of haters and trolls about my skiing. But I don’t let that negativity into my life. People don’t see the mountain the way I do, so I can’t expect them to understand my vision or my drive.

I'm pushing my personal boundaries for myself—not to prove anything to anyone else. When I look at the mountain, I see what’s possible and what I’m capable of achieving. To be honest, my vision for this gap was spot on, and this road gap obviously works.

On that note, how much planning and preparation goes into a high-consequence stunt like this?

As I mentioned earlier, this stunt is the result of decades of training. I’ve been skiing 200 days a year for over 20 years and started BASE jumping in 2007. Since then, I’ve completed around 50 ski BASE jumps and several hundred sub-terminal jumps. It takes all those years of experience in both skiing and jumping to understand and confidently execute something like this.

Finally, do you plan to attempt the BASE road gap again?

I’d definitely like to do it again! However, there are a couple of prerequisites. First, it requires a significant amount of snowfall to properly fill the in-run and takeoff. Second, I need a new cog fabricated for the winch to generate more speed. Once these two factors align, I’m excited to hit this gap the way I originally envisioned.