GUIYANG, China, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Not for the first time, Mateo Leo Massoni perched on the edge of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge. As a fine drizzle misted the air, the 22-year-old French BASE jumper leapt Monday afternoon from the world's highest bridge - a jump made with the calm confidence of a seasoned veteran.
Soaring 625 meters above the Beipan River in southwest China's Guizhou Province, the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge is nearly nine times as tall as San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge opened to traffic Sept. 28.
Since Sept. 23, 31 top athletes from 21 countries and regions - including China, Russia and Italy - have been on a one-week tour of Guizhou for the 2025 International High Bridge Extreme Sports Invitational Tournament. Their destinations included some of the province's world-class bridges.
Guizhou now has more than 32,000 bridges either completed or under construction - a tenfold increase since the 1980s. The province is home to nearly half of the world's 100 highest bridges, including the top three.
Massoni began skydiving in France at 15 and has completed more than 700 BASE jumps and 1,000 skydives. When given the chance to leap from the world's highest bridge, he knew it was an opportunity he couldn't pass up.
"Sometimes you're presented with the opportunity, and sometimes you have to seize it," he said. "I just wanted to enjoy a beautiful jump off the world's tallest bridge, and I was quite happy."
On the bridge deck, safety officer Jp De Kam of the Netherlands made final preparations, checking wind speed and direction. With 13 years of BASE jumping experience, De Kam also works as a stunt performer and event organizer. Although the weather was less than ideal, he said "top athletes from all over the world felt lucky just to be invited here."
Despite being the youngest contestant in the field, Massoni embraced the challenge. On Sunday afternoon, he launched in a wingsuit, flew for several seconds, then executed a midair turn to glance back at the colossal bridge and the karst landscape - a view impossible from the deck itself. He then returned to a belly-down position, glided another 10 seconds and deployed his parachute, landing safely on a raft below.
"China's landscapes offer endless possibilities for explorers like us. I will definitely come back," Massoni said.
Julian Astor Asdurian Bidogia of Italy also took part, choosing to jump from the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge on opening day. "I'm here to defend my crown!" he said with excitement.
In 2023, Bidogia completed his first wingsuit flight in China, becoming the first Italian to leap from the Beipanjiang Bridge, then the world's highest. "China keeps building higher bridges, and I need to make sure no one takes that title before I do," he said. ■
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