The Travis Pastrana jump at Long Beach, New Year's Eve 2009/10

I was one of the video engineers for ESPN. One of my cameras was the one he ran into on the landing bardge.

On New Year’s Eve, action sports icon Travis Pastrana made history in Long Beach, ringing in 2010 with a bang. The four-time Rally America Champion and nine-time X Games Gold Medalist broke boundaries and accelerated himself into the history books by accomplishing an amazing feat of skill and calculated risk at Red Bull: New Year. No Limits.

At approximately 9:00 p.m. local time (midnight ET), Pastrana launched his Subaru Impreza STI rally car off the Pine Avenue Pier in Long Beach at 91 miles per hour, soaring 269 feet over Rainbow Harbor and successfully landing on a floating barge. The jump put Pastrana almost 100 feet over the former record, which stood at 171 feet. Red Bull: New Year. No Limits. was telecast live on ESPN/ESPN HD to a worldwide audience and was witnessed live in Long Beach by more than 75,000 fans, according to authorities.

Constructing the jump.

Strightaway. The "road" was made of plywood and painted grey.

The finished jump.

Miles of fiber to connect all the cameras, audio and intercom all over Long Beach.