Owen Leeper Calculates Exact Height Of 100+ Foot Cliff He Launched Off Last Week
Owen Leeper, the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyoming, local, sent it off a 100+ foot cliff last week near the resort boundaries of JHMR.
At the time, Ian Greenwood reported on the story, and the exact measurement of the cliff wasn't know, but Ian noted "at a certain point, ski cliff jumping becomes another sport entirely, focused less on clean rideaways and more on survival without injury."
Here's the action footage to get a sense of the impact.
Now, however, the number is out, and it's a big one. Owen "estimated the vertical drop of the cliff at 128!"
He relied on not just one, but multiple methods of calculation to ensure the number was spot on.
Leeper explained, "First I used a laser rangefinder from the bombhole to the takeoff, it was 46 yards, then I used a clinometer app to get the angle from the takeoff to the landing, which was 68 degrees. Then using trigonometry, I figured the vertical drop at 128' Then I went back with drone, in the bombhole again, flew up to the takeoff and it showed 131' vertical from the landing."
"I wasn't sure about the accuracy, so I attached a string at home to the drone, and flew to 100 feet, and it did have a little loose string, but was within 3 feet of 100."
"Third, I used a freefall calculator, with estimated exit vertical speed of 7mph, and air time of 2.53 seconds was 129 feet. Air resistance is negligible for that short of fall, probably around 4 feet using the drag coefficient of a sky diver."
In a conversation with POWDER, Leeper conversates with Ian about his landing, which appeared to be a backslap. Now, we know this landing happened from 128 feet.
To the untrained eye, it looks like you crashed off this cliff by landing on your back. Can you explain why it's not possible to land on your feet after jumping off a 100+ foot cliff? Why is landing on your back necessary?
Hitting a cliff this size, you impact the snow at about 60 mph. Unless the landing is super steep, there is no way your legs or spine could support that force. By landing on my back, I spread the impact over as much surface area as possible on the soft snow.
Now we know he was hitting this landing from 128 feet up. "Think that's a good measurement?"
From the footage we've seen, it looks like everything checks out.
Related: Utah Resort To Receive Up To A Foot In Next Two Days
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