Air Division

Air Division Collab - The thin line between Fear and Freedom

_____________________________________________________________

Wake up, fly, repeat - this is what a day in the lives of Matt Munting and Nicholas (Nick) Scalabrino entails. These two committed to an extraordinary lifestyle: they jump out of airplanes, from the top of mountains, buildings, cliffs - multiple times a day. Matt and Nick are BASE jumpers, wingsuiters and skydivers, based somewhere between Dubai and Europe, wherever the wind takes them. They jump up to six times a day,  hike up mountains for hours to jump from the top, and if the jump was not good, they do it again - five days in a row if that is what it takes to achieve the line they wanted. 

Matt and Nick, who met at a dropzone as inexperienced wingsuiters and have ever since founded the “Matt and Nick Show” under their main sponsor Squirrel, are not interested in a common lifestyle. Their passion, to them, is not about the money but rather the memories they make. According to Matt, it is about “finding something that makes you excited about getting up in the morning” and that’s what he and his “broey” Nick bond over. They dedicate their lives to the feeling of being the most alive they can possibly be and operate on the thin line between fear and freedom. 

According to countless studies, wingsuiting is considered the most extreme sport of them all. Many people may wonder what drives a person to expose themselves to such risk and may classify them as “adrenaline junkies”. However, Matt and Nick do not consider themselves adrenaline junkies at all. “We’re workaholics”, Matt explains, “we skip parties to make it to the dropzone the next morning, we jump when it’s hot, it’s cold, it’s windy; we give it everything because that’s the only way you can achieve what you want''.

Surprisingly, the two athletes experience fear just like everybody else would in their position. Besides the years of calculation, preparation and practice that is happening behind the scenes, the communication and connection between them is what contributes the most to the safety aspects of the jumps. Their teamwork is what keeps them safe and helps them deal with fear, according to Nick. When in the dropzone, as Matt describes, their bodies often react before their brains as they dive head-first into a free fall. 

Matt and Nick are a part of Dirty Habits, an inclusive group of extreme sport athletes who are not attracted by the mainstream existence either, founded by professional South African kiteboarder Graham Howes. Together they launched their new collaboration “Dirty Habits X Air Division”, featuring a clothing line for everybody who dares to step out of their comfort zone, which is now available on www.dirtyhabits.com.