5 min read

Bertrand Cloutier, also known as “Papa Oiseau”, is a true icon in the world of BASE JUMP. JACKALOPE.tv has decided, this summer, to document his crazy ideas in a web-series that will be available on Thursday. Bertrand dreamt of the moon… so we went and got it for him. 

“Legendary” says skydiver Phil Boisjoli when asked to describe Bertrand. With all he has done for BASE JUMP and skydiving, he is quite exceptional. He was one of the first people to bring the sport to Quebec.”

BASE JUMP is an extreme sport consisting of parachuting from buildings, antennas, bridges or cliffs. You’ve got to either be an adrenaline junkie or have a few loose screws to practice this sport.

The adrenaline of this discipline is mainly linked to finding new places and the challenges they represent. Our colleague Yann explained this sport in details in this article right here.

On June 6, Bertrand Cloutier celebrated his 66th birthday. For the occasion, he had set himself 3 objectives to achieve. What he called his project 666, “the Devil’s number”!  This is also the name of our first episode Project 666.

“I ran 11.1 kilometers a day for 6 days, which gives 66.6 kilometers … and I did that while fasting, says Bertrand. The project was also to have a full moon jump.”

Last June, our team moved to Shawinigan to accompany Bertrand Cloutier in this ultimate goal. Essentially, he wanted to jump out of a structure in the middle of the night, before a majestic moon in the background… and since we were in Shawinigan, why not choose its iconic location : the Cité de l’énergie.

“It’s one of the most technical jumps I’ll ever do in my life,” Bertrand explains in the episode. The moon is a moving target and I have to jump at the same time as it passes behind me. The technical team will have to move around to find its ideal location and they’ll have to say, ‘Go right now!’”

The challenge was great and everything had to be calculated to perfection so that Bertrand could make his jump from this 330-foot structure just as the moon was shining brightly behind him.

“We jumped this structure several times,” said Bertrand. It must have been 25 years ago the first time I jumped it. But this year, we really wanted to take this picture with the moon and it was a lot of logistics. The group of cameramen who were there were very doubtful that it could be done…”

After a busy day of jumping from the top of the Cité de l’Énergie, the moon came out… and the technical team had no room for error. Especially not for such an important project for Bertrand.

To find out if we have succeeded in making the dream of the legendary Bertrand Cloutier come true, don’t miss this episode of “JUMP OFF : Project 666” on Thursday, November 19 on JACKALOPE.tv! Subscribe to our Instagram and Facebook accounts to make sure you don’t miss anything.