New Zealand sky divers have made history by jumping out of a plane over Mount Everest. Now another Kiwi, the mother of singers Daniel and Natasha Bedingfield, is waiting for her turn.
Diving through the clouds is what it looks like to float over Everest. New Zealander Wendy Smith captured the moment with a camera strapped to her helmet, shooting fellow skydiver, Brit Holly Budge.
They leapt from a record height of nearly nine thousand metres.
“All you can see are mountains peeping out the top, but oh just incredible,” says Holly Budge.
Smith is an aerial cinematographer, who has made more than fifteen thousand jumps and already broken records, including one for speed skydiving.
Watched by a group of amateur and professional skydivers, she was the first to land at the world's highest drop zone.
The jumpers used parachutes three times bigger than usual because of the thin air.
They also needed oxygen tanks strapped to their waists as they coped with temperatures of minus 40 degrees.
32 people are attempting the dives, including Molly Bedingfield, the Kiwi mum of pop stars Daniel and Natasha.
Her skydive for charity was held up when clouds grounded the plane.
“Since I've been here I've started to get really excited,” says Bedingfield.
Daughter Natasha is not so confident.
“I'm terrified that my mum is going to jump from the height of Everest, but she's going to do it and I'm sending my boyfriend out there to make sure she's ok,” says daughter Natasha.
The chance to leap does not come cheap. They have each paid thirty five thousand dollars for the privilege.
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