A fearless enthusiast of extreme sports tragically lost his life while vacationing in Turkey. Vyacheslav Gribanov, aged 37, crashed into rocks on Babadag mountain after launching from a height of nearly 6,000 feet. This incident marks the third fatality in recent weeks involving free flying on the Turkish Riviera. Speed flying, a high-adrenaline activity, entails rapid descents near the ground using a compact, high-performance wing, distinct from traditional paragliding equipment.
Reports indicate that shortly after commencing his solo flight, Gribanov lost control and met a fatal end. Video footage captures the moment the thrill-seeker embarked on his final flight before the tragic outcome. Speed flying presents considerable risks, with participants reaching speeds of up to 95mph and often flying in close proximity to the terrain. The smaller wings utilized in this sport enable higher speeds and steeper descents. Gribanov’s camera was lost in the accident, prompting an ongoing investigation to determine the circumstances leading to the tragedy.
Another flyer’s footage showcases the location of the fatal fall. Gribanov, an experienced paraglider who operated a construction company in St. Petersburg, had recently transitioned to speed flying and was undergoing training with an instructor. Reports also mention the deaths of a German tourist in a flying incident and a Polish individual as a passenger during a descent, characterizing the number of fatalities as “unusual.”
In a separate incident from July, an influential figure in extreme sports met a similar fate after crashing his bicycle and falling 600 feet into a ravine. Andreas Tonelli’s family raised concerns when he failed to return home from a biking excursion in the Dolomites, Italy, prompting a substantial helicopter search late in the evening. His body was discovered in the Vallunga region of Val Gardena a few hours later and retrieved the following day. Authorities suspect that Tonelli plunged from the mountain into the ravine following a bicycle mishap.
Tonelli, aged 48, boasted a substantial following on Instagram, where he regularly shared daring videos of his mountain biking adventures. His final Instagram story depicted him smiling at the summit mere moments before the tragic incident. Known for organizing bike expeditions since 2003 across Italy, Europe, and globally, Tonelli also had a passion for photography, hiking, and climbing, including a notable bicycle ascent of the active volcano Nevado Ojos de Salado in Chile.
Among his remarkable achievements were conquering the challenging L’Onda di Hokusai (‘Hokusai Wave’) route in the Dolomites, predominantly consisting of frozen mountaintop, and a successful climb of the Tupungato volcano in central Chile.
