40 jumps, 230km/h: Dubai skydiver reveals how he flew through world's tallest hotel

Dubai: Ever since the foundation work of Ciel Dubai Marina began a few years ago, Nicholas Scalabrino watched the skyscraper rise floor by floor from the premises of Skydive Dubai.

As the world's tallest hotel took shape, so did a dream: one that would see him hurtle through the narrow opening on top of the building, his body just metres from the glass-clad façade.

The dream finally came true as Nicholas, fondly called Nic, and four other members from XDubai’s wingsuit flying team performed what has been described as an unprecedented aerial stunt to mark the official opening of the hotel on January 26.

In an exclusive interview with Gulf News, the 35-year-old South African wingsuit pilot shared the story behind the daredevil act.

“As soon as I saw the picture when they started digging the foundation and put up what the building was going to look like, I was just hoping it would be taller than the Cayan Tower [that is adjacent to Ciel Dubai Marina] so it would be possible to fly through it,” said Nicholas.

“We were watching the building being built, seeing the hole, talking about it with friends, talking about how it would be to fly through it,” he recalled.

Once they realised that it was possible, the team’s dream got wings, literally.

The team behind the feat

Nicholas led the five-member elite wingsuit athletes through precision flight around the 377-metres hotel with 82 floors, with the team leader himself "threading" the narrow architectural opening dubbed “the eye of the needle.”

Joining Nicholas in the formation flight were fellow wingsuit athletes Rodney Crossman, Julian Ortiz, Ciaran Walsh, and Darren Burke.

Simon Whittle also flew alongside the team, capturing the stunning visuals that would later captivate millions online.

40 jumps for perfection

Nicholas said the preparation was meticulous. The team conducted around 40 training jumps, practising their formation and approach trajectory. They flew past the building and over its top repeatedly, with each member memorising visual references and understanding exactly what the final flight would look like.

“We were training flying together like we usually do, but then also the approach to the building. We had to determine where we get out of the plane, at which altitude, how far away from the building, so that everyone has time to make the formation and then line up with the building with the correct trajectory,” he explained.

The team first visited the building on foot, inspecting the architectural opening from the pool deck level to understand its dimensions and positioning. Only then did they begin aerial rehearsals, gradually building confidence in their approach vectors.

“We did that many, many times so that everyone gets the visual, everyone understands what it's going to look like when we're actually flying through the hole,” he said.

"Threading the needle"

On the day of the stunt, the team achieved a top speed of 230km/h, gliding at a 2.5:1 ratio, meaning they travelled 2.5m forward for every metre they descended, he revealed.

The wingsuits, weighing 2kg each, inflated with air pressure, requiring considerable strength to maintain control.

As team leader, the focus of Nicholas was divided between leading his teammates and maintaining the perfect altitude, close enough to the water on the pool deck for dramatic effect, but not dangerously close.

It was euphoric!

Recalling the moment he flew through the opening, he said: “Once you fly through the hole, it's just euphoric. You get a short glimpse of yourself in the reflection, which was unique and really, really beautiful. I really enjoyed that part of it.”

The decision to have only one wingsuit pilot fly through the gap was deliberate. “One after each other is pretty difficult because there's wake turbulence behind each other. When we're flying the formation, we fly close to each other, but everyone has enough space between them,” Nicholas explained.

The team landed around half a kilometre from the base of Ciel Dubai Marina, completing a journey that began at 6,000 feet above Dubai.

Managing fear and risk

When asked about fear, his answer revealed the mindset of an elite athlete who has completed over 20,000 skydives from planes and around 2,500 base jumps from mountains, cliffs, and buildings over 18 years of full-time skydiving.

“A lot of fear comes from not being prepared. With preparation, planning, we know what to expect. I've been training for decades…it’s been 20 years of skydiving, 10 years of flying wingsuits, so you know what you can do, you know what you can't do, you know what you need to think about on the day.”

While acknowledging that their activities are not risk-free, he emphasised the importance of setting parameters and following them. “Once you've planned it and you've got your set parameters that we follow, there's not really much to worry about.”

Jumping off Burj Khalifa twice

The stunt's relatively lower altitude compared to Nicholas previous achievements of BASE [Buildings, Antennas, Spans (bridges), and Earth (cliffs)] jumping off Burj Khalifa required different risk calculations based on parachute deployment zones and approach factors.

He had jumped from the very top of Burj Khalifa at 828 metres, flying through The Address Downtown hotel for a commercial in 2019 and again from the 139th floor balcony of the world’s tallest building for the Exit 139 event in February 2025.

Julian Ortiz, who was part of the Ciel stunt, also participated in the Exit 139 event where 31 of the world's best BASE jumpers leapt from a custom-built platform.

The highest jump Nicholas has made was from 23,000ft during a group skydive as part of a record formation. He also holds a Guinness World Record for the largest flag flown while skydiving under an open parachute.

From South Africa to Dubai's skies

Nicholas’s journey into skydiving began in 2006 in South Africa, where both his parents were skydivers. “I felt it was pretty natural for me to get into skydiving,” he said.

He moved to Dubai in 2013 after splitting time between New Zealand and California for seasonal skydiving work.

“I had some friends who had just moved out here, so I came to visit them in 2011. I really, really loved the place, really enjoyed what was happening here, and decided that I needed to move here. Dubai has been incredible. It seems like every year there's something new being built with a new opportunity. I've really been enjoying it here.”

Dubai skyline as playground

When asked about how it feels to have Dubai skyline as his playground, Nicholas said: “The feeling is indescribable…Anytime you jump out of the plane for skydiving, it's a feeling of freedom. It's a feeling of being able to move your body freely. With the wingsuit, we can move even further, we can really glide and have that sensation of flying to where we want to be. It's wonderful.”

As for what's next, Nicholas remains cryptic but optimistic. “Dubai has some things that we've been looking at. We just have to make things happen,” he said with a smile.