Jean-Marc Boivin

Jean-Marc Boivin (6 April 1951 – 17 February 1990) was a French mountaineer, extreme skier, hang glider and paraglider pilot, speleologist, BASE jumper, film maker and author.

The holder of several altitude records for hang gliding and paragliding, the creator of numerous first ascents and first ski descents in the Alps, a member of the team that broke the record for a sub-glacial dive and the first person to paraglide from the summit of Mount Everest, Boivin was a pioneer of extreme sports.

[5] In 1975, Boivin and Gabarrou made first ascents of the direct north faces of Les Droites and the Aiguille Verte, followed by the Supercouloir on Mont Blanc du Tacul, and came to be seen as "the young new wave of the moment".

[7] He is well known for being one of the leading practitioners of the concept of enchaînement, in which several difficult climbs are undertaken in one outing (with descents often being made by hang glider, paraglider or ski).

[8] On 20 February 1985 he made the first winter solo ascent of the Bettembourg-Thivierge on the Aiguille Verte, descending the Whymper Couloir by ski.

[3] Two years later, in 1981, he set an altitude record together with Dominique Marchal for a two-man hang glider by launching from the summit of Aconcagua (7,021 m (23,035 ft)).

[17] On 16 February 1990, while being filmed by a TV crew for the French programme Ushuaïa, le magazine de l'extrême, Boivin made a c. 1,000 m (3,300 ft) BASE jump down Angel Falls in Venezuela, the highest waterfall in the world.

Another witness account maintains that Boivin hit the cliff, landed in the tree-tops, and that the helicopter team thought that his waving was a sign that he was not injured, rather than an attempt to summon help.