Seal Island Bridge daredevil hopes cliff-jumping becomes his career

A Glace Bay, N.S., man hopes his six-year hobby of "jumping off big stuff" becomes a career for him.

"It's the closest feeling to flying that you can get," Logan LaTulippe, 23, told CBC's Information Morning Cape Breton.

He became a viral sensation in the summer of 2017 when he did a back flip off the Seal Island Bridge in Victoria County. A video of that jump posted to Facebook has almost 150,000 views.

LaTulippe said that video made him take his hobby more seriously.

His pursuit of more and higher jumps has since taken him to Costa Rica, Bermuda and various locations around Canada and the United States. His most mind-blowing leap to date was a triple front flip with a half twist from a height of 31 metres at Abiqua Falls in Oregon.

How he got his start

LaTulippe got his start doing what many Cape Breton kids do for a summertime thrill — jumping off the relatively low-altitude Mira Gut and Albert Bridges. But it was watching cliff-jumping videos online that inspired his Seal Island stunt.

As part of the cliff-jumping community, LaTulippe gets invited to travel to group jumps. He saves up his earnings from his day job doing commercial photo and video work, and travels on the cheap. A trip to Costa Rica was largely paid for by a tour company that wanted LaTulippe and his friends to jump off waterfalls for the entertainment of tourists, and then teach the tourists how to do it safely.

Safety tips

He said he's learned safety from his fellow jumpers. The basic checklist includes the water depth, the solidity of the take-off spot and the absence of obstacles in the jump path.

"As long as you land safe enough, with your feet and not your face, you should be all right," LaTulippe said.

While he's avoided broken bones so far, his body has taken some abuse. Times where he's accidentally done belly or back flops or landed on his butt have left him sore for a few days. His most serious injury to date was a burst eardrum.

Given the risks, LaTulippe said he always jumps with a partner, who can retrieve him from the water if necessary — a precaution recommended by RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Jennifer Clarke.

"We would like [people] to consider their personal safety and hope that they've made a contingency plan to prepare for any type of emergency that might come up as a result of their activities," she said, noting jumpers are also responsible for ensuring they're not breaking any laws, such as trespassing.

At the time of his Seal Island Bridge stunt, RCMP issued a similar warning to discourage potential imitators.  

LaTulippe's next scheduled event will take him to Arizona in May. He also has his sights set on Mexico, Slovenia and possibly Chile.

"I've met all kinds of great people. I've gotten to see all kinds of really cool places that I don't think I would have gotten to see otherwise," he said.

"And the adrenaline rush, you just can't beat it ... it really makes me feel alive."

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