They say that experiencing death-defying moments together strengthens their relationship.
Here is Sam & Karlee’s story
We first met at a skydiving centre in California and liked each other immediately. We had so much in common – ambitions, music, views on life and more. We are also both from big families, which made for lots of conversation. A few weeks after meeting we missioned down to a skydiving boogie in Elsinore, which was epic. Late on the Sunday evening afterwards, we made a spontaneous decision to go to Vegas for a 12 hour five star gambling experience.
We are both full time skydiving instructors teaching freefly, wingsuit and tandem masters. Karlee started skydiving at the age of 17 and you could say she was born into it because her whole family jumps too. She now has 8 years experience with over 6,000 jumps and three world records to her name. She is a rad but humble chick. As for myself, I started jumping at the age of 17 in Madrid but continued my climbing and kayaking guide jobs in France, Africa & Nepal, before returning to skydiving. I now have three years full time experience, 1,500 jumps to my name and a passion for wing suiting and base jumping.
Our adventures continued after Vegas – we drove from North California down to Mexico on a 3,500 mile mission through the mountains and danger zones. We spent 5 months living in a beautiful house together on Mexico’s west coast, skydiving every day as well as climbing and surfing. I will never forget when we jumped a building on New Year’s Eve during the countdown! We were 350ft up at the height the fireworks were exploding, just about to jump… and this was when I fell in love with the girl of my dreams.
Our European trip began with our camper van early this year. We base jumped in Switzerland, Italy, France and Belgium. We spent three months flying through the mountains, living next to the rivers and sharing the most beautiful experience together. I will admit it was sometimes difficult to stand on an exit point holding the hand of the person you love, not knowing whether or not they would survive this jump.
We filmed our trips over the last year and had them edited by Burned Head, a friend of ours called Mike Safa from Belgium. We have also just signed a contract with epictv. Our videos have gone viral in the UK and USA, capturing amazing base jumps with some awesome camera angles. Ep.1 was set in France when I based jumped off a moving van over a bridge. Ep.2 was based in Chamonix with an insight into our lives and relationship. Ep.3 will be out soon with some great base jumps in Switzerland. Ep.4 will be out in November with some wing suit base jumping in Italy.
Los Bandidos is our name. Here are the links to our videos:
· Ep.1: http://www.epictv.com/media/podcast/man-base-jumps-off-bridge-from-moving-van—elemental-ep-1/235848
· Ep.3: http://www.epictv.com/media/podcast/base-jumpin–guitar-rippin-%7C-los-bandidos-ep-3/251529
