Jeb Corliss Tianmen Cave
Fly through mountain cave in China
Take a look behind the scenes as Jeb Corliss fufills his quest to make history. The first person to fly through Heaven’s Gate in Tianmen Mountain, China.
Tianmen Mountain is a mountain located within Tianmen Mountain National Park, Zhangjiajie, in northwestern Hunan Province, China.
A cablecar was constructed by the French company Poma from nearby Zhangjiajie railway station to the top of the mountain. Tianmen Mountain Cableway is claimed in tourist publications as the “longest passenger cableway of high mountains in the world”, with 98 cars and a total length of 7,455 metres and ascent of 1,279 metres. The highest gradient is an unusual 37 degrees. Tourists can walk on kilometres of paths built onto the cliff face at the top of the mountain, including sections with glass floors. An 11 kilometres road with 99 bends also reaches the top of the mountain and takes visitors to Tianmen cave, a natural hole in the mountain of a height of 131.5 metres.
A large temple is also located on the summit with chairlift or footpath access. The original temple here was built in the Tang Dynasty. Today a more recent construction with Tang dynasty architecture occupies the site and includes a vegetarian restaurant in the 10000 sq mi of setting.
On September 25, 2011 Jeb Corliss glided through the 30 m wide archway in the mountain using a wingsuit. The flight began from a helicopter at 1,800 m, and ended with a safe landing on a nearby bridge. The World Wingsuit League held the first and second World Wingsuit Championships in Tianmen. On October 8, 2013, during a training jump for the second world championships, Viktor Kováts plunged to his death when he was unable to open his parachute.
In August 2016, a glass skywalk overlooking Tongtian Avenue, called the “Coiling Dragon Cliff, was opened to the public.