Glenn Singleman

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Dr. Glenn Singleman (born 12 October 1958) is an Australian physician, professional adventurer, wingsuit pilot and BASE jumper (he holds three official world records). He is also a documentary filmmaker, and practicing medical doctor specializing in remote and rural medicine. His film BASEclimb, about a world record setting BASE jump from The Great Trango Towers in Pakistan, won 21 International awards. [1] [2]

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He led the BASEClimb High Performance Wingsuit Team in a flight across the Grand Canyon, from the North Rim to the South Rim - a world first.[ citation needed ] The team, which included Singleman's wife, Heather Swan, Roger Hugelshofer, Vicente Cajiga and Paul Tozer flew 11.6 kilometres, exiting a Cessna Grand Supervan flown by Ray Ferrell at 28,000 ft. They landed on Hualapai Indian Nation land.

In 2012, Singleman was a key member of the ‘Challenger Deep' [3] team that successfully sent James Cameron to the deepest point on the planet – The Mariana Trench – in a submarine designed and built in Australia. Dr. Singleman was a member of the management team, the Expedition Doctor, [4] one of the life support supervisors and Second Unit Director of the National Geographic 3D Feature Film released in 2013. This was Dr. Singleman’s third project with Cameron ( Avatar , Titanic , The Terminator ). – the others being Cameron's Aliens of the Deep (3D IMAX) and Last Mysteries of the Titanic [5] (Discovery Channel).

Singleman is also a motivational speaker [3] and media commentator [6] on extreme sport, fear and managing risk and has spoken all around the world. [7] Dr. Singleman continues to work as a medical practitioner, [8] working in the Intensive Care Unit at Sydney Adventist Hospital in Sydney. [9] He is also a specialist in remote and rural medicine and a Fellow of the Australian College of Remote and Rural Medicine (ACRRM). Archived 25 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine

Expeditions and achievements

February 1988 - Mount Minto, Antarctica [10]

Singleman made first ascent of Mount Minto – highest mountain in the Admiralty Ranges of Antarctica (4163 M) as part of Bicentennial Antarctic Expedition with Greg Mortimer, Lincoln Hall, Lyle Closs, Chris Hilton and Jonathan Chester. He was also the expedition doctor and co-directed/co-produced/co-edited the documentary of the expedition (The Loneliest Mountain [11] ).

November 1988 - Puncak Jaya, Irian Jaya

Second Australian ascent of Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid) in Irian Jaya via new route on west ridge.

June 1989 - Highest black tie dinner Party [12]

Glenn was the Expedition doctor, location director and cameraman for Social Climbers Expedition to have highest black tie dinner party in the world at 6768 M (22,205 ft) – a charity mountaineering event that raised $20,000 and was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records . The expedition was led by Chris Darwin (great great grandson of naturalist Charles Darwin)

October 1991 - First hot air balloon flight over Mount Everest [13]

Glenn was the Expedition doctor and cameraman filming the first hot air balloon flight over Mount Everest (an expedition led by Australian balloon pilot Chris Dewhirst and UK adventurer Leo Dickinson).

August 1992 - The Great Trango Tower world record [14]

Glenn Singleman and a Nic Feteris BASE jumped from a ledge at 5880 M (19,300 ft) on The Great Trango Tower [15] in the Karakorum Himalaya in Pakistan. This was the first ever Himalayan BASE jump and established a world record for exit height that stood for 14 years. The expedition was led by Singleman. One of the members of expedition was famous awards-winning Russian mountaineer Владислав Павлович (Влад) Мороз

May 2006 - Altitude BASE jumping and Wingsuit BASE jump World Record [16]

In 2006, with his wife Heather Swan, Singleman set a new World Record for high altitude BASE jumping [17] (6604 M highest exit point [18] ) and the highest Wingsuit BASE jump (exit point) from Mt. Meru (6672M) in Garwhal Himalaya in India. [19] The Australian Geographic Society recognised the achievement with a Spirit of Adventure Award – the third awarded to Singleman. The expedition was also led by Singleman.

July 2008 - Highest wingsuit jump world record [20]

Singleman set an unofficial world record for the highest wingsuit jump (37,650 ft) from a hot air balloon over the Australian outback. [21] The jump was featured on 60 Minutes [22] and was an 11-page feature article in Australian Geographic Magazine. [20] The expedition was led by Singleman.

December 2011 - First and only wingsuit flight across Sydney Harbour [23]

Singleman and his wife, Heather Swan, and Vicente Cajiga made the first and only wingsuit flight across Sydney Harbour [24] exiting at 13,500 ft above Rose Bay and landing at Barangaroo. The jump took three years to organize and required approval from 9 government departments.

Film making credits [25]

1987 – A Spire [26] – Co-Producer/Co-Director/Cameraman documentary for ABC about first ascent of Sydney Tower at Centrepoint (by Chris Hilton)

1988 – The Loneliest Mountain [27] – Co-Producer/Co-Director/Cameraman documentary for Film Australia about Bicentennial Antarctic Expedition

1991 – Fire on the Wind [28] – Location Director and cameraman documentary for National Geographic and ZDF about Social Climbers expedition

1993 - BASEClimb [29] (aka The Most Dangerous Jump in the World, aka Jump from 6000M, aka Over the Top) – produced and directed by Singleman about the Trango Tower BASE jump expedition - . Critically and popularly acclaimed the film won 21 International Awards [30] screened in 154 countries and was featured as part of the Best Of National Geographic Television and excerpts appeared in the National Geographic Millennium Special, Footage of the jump has been described as the most powerful ever shot of BASE jumping. BASEClimb was voted one of the best 10 adventure documentaries of all time by American Men's Journal. [31]

1994 – A Glorious Way to Die [32] – treatment writer documentary about Siberian river rats. Produced by Fleur Films

In 2000 - 2002 Glenn wrote, produced and directed BASEClimb 2 Defying Gravity [33] for ABC, which told the story of his wife Heather's quest to learn to mountaineer and BASE jump so she could break his world record from the Great Trango Tower. BASEClimb 2 screened around the world on free-to-air and NationalGeographic cable and quickly surpassed the original BASEClimb documentary commercially.

2003 – Expedition doctor and 3D camera assistant for James Cameron’s Aliens of the Deep [13] (3D IMAX documentary).

2005 – Expedition doctor and camera operator for Last Mysteries of the Titanic [3] – live television documentary from the Titanic wreck with James Cameron

2011 – Expedition doctor and Producer/Director/Co-Editor of No Ceiling – the BASEClimb 3 story [34] – documentary for international television release on free-to-air, cable and DVD.

Personal life

Married to Heather Swan. [35] He has two children, David and Nathan from his first marriage to Irina Tolkunova

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BASE jumping</span> Sport of jumping from fixed objects using a parachute

BASE jumping is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend to the ground. BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antennas, spans (bridges) and earth (cliffs). Participants jump from a fixed object such as a cliff and after an optional freefall delay deploy a parachute to slow their descent and land. A popular form of BASE jumping is wingsuit BASE jumping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wingsuit flying</span> Variant of skydiving

Wingsuit flying is the sport of skydiving using a webbing-sleeved jumpsuit called a wingsuit to add webbed area to the diver's body and generate increased lift, which allows extended air time by gliding flight rather than just free falling. The modern wingsuit, first developed in the late 1990s, uses a pair of fabric membranes stretched flat between the arms and flanks/thighs to imitate an airfoil, and often also between the legs to function as a tail and allow some aerial steering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trango Towers</span> Granite spires in mountains in Pakistan

The Trango Towers are a family of rock towers situated in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, in the northern part of Pakistan. The Towers have some of the world's largest cliffs and offer some of the most challenging big wall climbing opportunities. Each year, climbers from around the world embark on expeditions to the Karakoram region to climb these granite faces. The Trango Towers are situated to the north of the Baltoro Glacier and are part of the Baltoro Muztagh, which is a sub-range within the Karakoram mountain range. The highest point within the group is the summit of Great Trango Tower at 6,286 m (20,623 ft), the east face of which features the world's greatest nearly vertical drop.

Roland Simpson was a BASE jumper with over 1,000 jumps. He was born in Australia in 1969. He was a qualified tandem master and a wingsuit instructor. He became the US national exit style champion in 1998, and the US national champion in 1999.

Lincoln Rossl Hall OAM was a veteran Australian mountaineer, adventurer and author. Lincoln was part of the first Australian expedition to climb Mount Everest in 1984, which successfully forged a new route. He reached the summit of the mountain on his second attempt in 2006, miraculously surviving the night at 8,700 m (28,543 ft) on descent, after his family was told he had died.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ueli Gegenschatz</span> Swiss skydiver (1971–2009)

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Ski-BASE jumping is the recreational sport of skiing at a high speed off of a cliff or mountain and free-falling through the air, using a parachute to descend to the ground, therefore combining the two sports of skiing and BASE jumping. Participants often perform tricks or manoeuvres during the freefall and remove their skis mid-air in order to safely deploy the parachute and land.

References

  1. ↑ "Glenn Singleman and Heather Swan - Baseclimb - Never Let Fear Stop You From Living Your Dreams". Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  2. ↑ "www.celebspeakers.com". Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "Glenn Singleman ... Australia's most adventurous doctor. | Saxton Speakers Bureau". Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  4. ↑ "DEEPSEA CHALLENGER Blog – National Geographic". Archived from the original on 30 May 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  5. ↑ "DEEPSEA CHALLENGE Blog – National Geographic". Archived from the original on 30 May 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  6. ↑ "Glenn Singleman & Heather Swan - Celebrity Speakers". Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  7. ↑ "Speaker Glenn Singleman – Speakers Bureau ICMI". Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  8. ↑ "Record breaking daredevil wingsuit BASE jumper Heather Swan – Telegraph". Archived from the original on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  9. ↑ "People - Entertainment - smh.com.au". Archived from the original on 17 August 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  10. ↑ "Glenn Singleman and Heather Swan – Photo Gallery". Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  11. ↑ "National Film and Sound Archive, Australia // Loneliest Mountain, The". Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  12. ↑ "Glenn Singleman and Heather Swan - Photo Gallery". Archived from the original on 19 March 2012.
  13. 1 2 "Speaker Glenn Singleman - Platinum Speakers & Entertainers Bureau". Archived from the original on 16 October 2009.
  14. ↑ BASE jump Great Trango Pakistan on YouTube
  15. ↑ http://www.abc.net.au/dimensions/dimensions_future/Transcripts/s834923.html [ dead link ]
  16. ↑ "Leap from the top of the world".
  17. ↑ BASE jumpers Heather Swan and Glenn Singleman on YouTube
  18. ↑ "The Guestroom – Dr Glenn Singleman and Heather Swan – ABC Darwin – Australian Broadcasting Corporation". Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  19. ↑ "Jumpers back to base - National - theage.com.au". Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  20. 1 2 "High adventure: flying with a wingsuit - Australian Geographic". Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  21. ↑ "High adventure: flying with a wingsuit - Australian Geographic". Archived from the original on 5 April 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  22. ↑ "High Drama". Archived from the original on 10 April 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  23. ↑ "Watch Crazy People Wingsuit Jump Into Sydney Harbour". Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  24. ↑ Sydney Harbour First (& only) Wingsuit Flight on YouTube
  25. ↑ "Screen Australia". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  26. ↑ A Spire - Climbing Sydney Centerpoint Tower on the Outside on YouTube
  27. ↑ The Loneliest mountain (VHS tape, 1988) [WorldCat.org]
  28. ↑ "Glenn Singleman | Celebrity Speakers (NZ)". Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  29. ↑ BASEClimb | Orana Films
  30. ↑ "Glenn Singleman and Heather Swan - Baseclimb - Never Let Fear Stop You From Living Your Dreams". Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  31. ↑ "Glenn Singleman and Heather Swan – Baseclimb – Never Let Fear Stop You From Living Your Dreams". Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  32. ↑ "A Glorious Way to Die (1994) - Full cast and crew". Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  33. ↑ "ABC TV Documentaries: BASECLIMB 2 – DEFYING GRAVITY". Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  34. ↑ "Conquering your fear in a single bound – Medical Observer". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  35. ↑ "Record breaking daredevil wingsuit BASE jumper Heather Swan – Telegraph". Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
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