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One

Magnus

“You fucked up!” Ottar says yet again

Not exactly the thing you want to hearyourself off a 3,200-foot cliff and free fall to the fjord below

But in this case, as Ottar has spent the last fiveinto my head what an idiot I a yourself off a cliff see to do in this situation

As I run toward the edge of Kjerag Mountain, I keep h the valley like a blue knife, and let all thoughts, all worries, all self-awareness, melt away

I jump

Those first few seconds of free fall are what I i rush as you’re propelled from the solid and steady world you know into the cold abyss There’s nothing like it, leaving safety and life for what should be certain death

Then you’re flying, arel’s descent, a step beyond being human

Then you’re falling

Wind rushing against your face, pulling your skin back into a s anyreatest adrenaline rush you’ll ever know Better than sex, even

Maybe

The ti the rush before ether I quickly reach into the chute to deploy it and I’ for a second as the parachute spreads and the easy descent begins

Usually this part of the jump is where your heart starts to slohere you realize where you are, what you’re doing—that you made it You’re safe As you float down to earth, you carry nothing inside you but awe, knowing that you’re just a tiny bright-colored parachute soaring toward a cerulean-blue fjord, eagles at eye level

But there is no peace and tranquility today

There is none of that sharp focus and clarity that always co a jump, where my scattered world seems to pause, just for one wonderful minute as I fall from the sky

All I can focus on are Ottar’s words slicing through my head I fucked up And it’s not just his words either It’s my sisters, it’s my parents, it’s the press It’s the damn prime minister

When you’re royalty and you do so stupid, everyone in the whole world, let alone the whole country, gets to weigh in on it

And I’m the Crown Prince of Norway, heir to the throne, and e of our country back another hundred years

No wonder it was easier to jump today than most days

A screah I can see nothing above me but the electric yellow of the chute That was Ottar’s screauy has BASE jumped, and for him, it’s one too many Hell, no sane person would attenus the Mad” for a few good reasons

The screa seems to stop after a bit, which round to worry about

Focus, fuckface, I tellaround and work before it’s too late Everything is throwing rab the pulleys in front ofon the s Ottar follows suit His last landing was about as graceful as a cow being flung from a catapult

There’s only a s to smash into rock or the ice-cold waters of the fjord Maybe it’s becauseup fast and I know that this is going to hurt like a mother

My feet strike the ground andpain upup just before my shoulder hits a slab of rock

Helvete

All the bystanders standing around are gawking at raceful arrival

I push ive the when the alternative is death,” I say with a big smile

A few of them clap These people just see the shore, cameras around their necks to capture the crazy fuckers like me who do this famous jump

And Ottar

He’s screa out as he rapidly descends toward us, his ar on the handles, completely out of control If he doesn’t slon and steer he’s going to sht into a few people, and then the rocks behind them