Who Is Valery Rozov? Daredevil Athlete Dies After Jumping Off 22,000-Foot Mountain

Valery Rozov, a world-famous Russian base jumper died after leaping off a 22,000 feet Himalayan mountain, media reports said Sunday. The horrific accident took place Saturday when the 52-year-old smashed into a cliff during his latest stunt on Mount Ama-Dablam, eastern Nepal.

According to reports, Rozov was pursuing a quest of the "Seven Summits," which involved jumping from the highest peaks of all the seven continents. Rozov, who is survived by his wife and sons, had the world record for the highest base jump in a wing-suit, leaping from the Changtse peak in the Everest region from a height of 23,688 feet.

"With deep sorrow, we report the tragic death of our friend Valery Rozov during an expedition on Mount Ama-Dablam in the Himalayas, eastern Nepal," Red Bull, which sponsored the daredevil's stunt, said in a statement. "Valery Rozov had been a member of the Red Bull family since 2004."

"The Russian received international recognition as a highly professional athlete, an aerial adventurer who tirelessly set himself against increasingly difficult goals. Valery will always remain in our memory: strong in spirit, professional, modest, full of energy, an eternal dreamer who was forever burning with new ideas and projects. We express our deepest condolences to Valery's wife and sons, whom he loved and valued very much," the statement added.

In 2013, Rozov glided down to the Rongbuk glacier, located in the Himalayas of southern Tibet, more than 3,280 feet below, setting a new world record for highest base jump. He performed the stunt using a specially-developed Red Bull wing suit. According to reports at the time, Rozov spent more than two years preparing for the jump. It took Rozov four days to climb from the base camp to the jumping location. Three years later, he broke his own record by jumping from a height of 25,262 feet on Mount Cho Oyu, also in the Himalayas.

In 2009, Rozov jumped into an active volcano in the Kamchatka Peninsula, a 775-mile-long peninsula in the Russian Far East. In 2010 he leaped from the Ulvetanna in the Antarctic and in 2012 he jumped from the Shivling mountain in the Himalayas.