“Cliff jumping”: when jumping off cliffs becomes a perilous trend

The videos all begin with a countdown, sometimes even shouts, just to motivate each other. 3… 2… 1 then the big jump. Long seconds of falling into the void. Some do twists, others somersaults, still others stand straight as an I before hitting the water. On social media, cliff jumping enthusiasts, often young teenagers, all male, do not hesitate to share their exploits in videos that each accumulate millions of views. Particularly popular during the summer, this extreme sport follows a simple modus operandi : jumping into the water from a cliff.

While it's difficult to pinpoint a birth date for this practice, cliff jumping has exploded in recent years. Today, nearly 600,000 posts mention it on Instagram. The most popular all come from the same account: that of Jérémy Nicollin, followed by 627,000 subscribers. He currently holds the French record for cliff jumping with a jump from 47 meters high , the equivalent of a 14-story building, in free fall at 110 km/h, achieved at the Chaudron waterfall on Reunion Island in 2024.

The 34-year-old man told Libération that he has been jumping off cliffs since he was a child: "When I was 7, my father took me jumping, he threw me everywhere and I loved it."