Alexey Galda scanned the morning sky at Utah’s tiny Tooele Valley Airport as broken clouds merged and became menacing. They weren’t in the forecast. It could scuttle his plans for a practice flight ahead of the USPA National Skydiving Championships in California.
The world and U.S. champion wingsuit performance flyer, however, knows when it’s too dangerous to jump from a plane and become a human wing.
“The weather doesn’t look good,” Galda said. “I might not be able to train today, but we can wait and see if things change.”
Galda, clean cut and wearing his USA Team Parachute hoodie, mingled with people waiting to get their recreational skydiving jumps at Skydive Utah. They’re a boisterous bunch, gearing up in an open-ended tent on the side of the runway as music pumps from mounted speakers.
“The skydiving community in Utah is very tight-knit,” Galda said. “That’s why I love it, you get people from all walks of life. We all share the same plane and the same passion and the group is always supportive.”
Though Galda lands with a parachute like skydivers do, his wingsuit sets him apart. Once he jumps out of the aircraft, it inflates and he rockets across the sky at 200 miles an hour — in a two-minute burst of adrenaline.
“It has these air scoops that catch the air and lock it in so it doesn’t escape. Within two seconds of exiting the aircraft, you’re essentially trapped in this inflatable mattress,” he explained.
He’s the only wingsuit performance flyer among the skydivers on the tarmac today in Tooele, and likely the only person with a Ph.D. in theoretical physics.
Galda was born and raised in Siberia. He attended grad school in the United Kingdom and secured a job in academia at the University of Chicago.
But he wanted a more picturesque place to fly his wingsuit and moved to Utah two and a half years ago.
“It’s very different from where I used to jump, which was the suburbs of Chicago, where it’s mostly cornfields and you see almost nothing else,” he said. “It is just so spectacular here in Utah with the mountains and the lake. It amazes me every time we climb to 13,000 feet how lucky we are to be jumping here.”
Rainbows eventually appeared, and the clouds parted. It was go-time, with the skydivers and Galda hustling on to a small white plane.
Galda’s fascination with the sport isn’t just about the thrill. He collects data from his jumps to plug into a computer at his home office in Salt Lake City. He uses it — and his scientific knowledge — to inform future flights. It helps him gain an edge on competitors who train more often, while Galda works his day job in quantum computing at a pharmaceutical company.
“I have all of my wingsuit flights — about 1,800. They’re all logged with GPS devices, so I have this data available to me to analyze all of my jumps from different places, different altitudes, different times, different suits. I am able to maximize my performance more efficiently than if I was just relying on my memory or flying by feel.”
Back at the airfield, the sky had turned a vivid blue, and the flight took off. Skydivers jump at a lower altitude, so Galda was the last person out of the plane as the Great Salt Lake glistened nearby.
From the ground, he’s just a tiny dot hurtling across the sky. He becomes fully visible after he opens his parachute and lands his deflated wingsuit on the grassy field below.
Then he laid out his verdict.
“Beautiful skies, a good run, a good jump. We got to full altitude, and I was able to execute what I was planning to,” he said. “Maybe it wasn’t a world record-breaking flight, but it’s good to do what I know how to do and train my muscles one more time before the nationals.”
And while he is focused on winning, it’s important to him to share free technical advice and coaching with new competitors.
“I want people to do well, especially in their first competitions, because I remember how excited I was 10 years ago when I first joined this sport. So, I’m excited to see a lot of new faces compete and hopefully fall in love with this sport.”
And right now, somewhere high above the Elsinore Valley in Southern California, Galda is once again testing his skills, trying to land another title.
