Ball's Pyramid is the tallest volcanic stack in the world: a 572-metre blade of rock rising straight out of the Pacific, about 20 kilometres south-east of Lord Howe Island. Seen from a wingsuit, as in this footage of American BASE jumper Jeb Corliss and Luigi Cani flying past it, the stack looks like a stone fin in an empty sea.

Aerial film view of Ball’s Pyramid rising from the Tasman Sea
Aerial film view of Ball’s Pyramid rising from the Tasman Sea. A still from a specialist wingsuit production.

Ball's Pyramid: the world's tallest volcanic stack

The pyramid is 1,100 metres long but only about 300 metres wide, which is why it looks so thin from some angles. It is the eroded volcanic plug of a shield volcano and caldera that formed about 6.4 million years ago. Waves have worn away everything else, leaving the hard core standing alone in deep water.

Royal Navy Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball reported the rock in 1788, on the same voyage in which he found Lord Howe Island. It stayed unclimbed until 14 February 1965, when Bryden Allen, John Davis, Jack Pettigrew and David Witham of the Sydney Rock Climbing Club reached the summit. New Zealander Jack Hill followed with Pettigrew the next day.

Ball’s Pyramid from the air, wingsuit film still 2
Ball’s Pyramid from the air, wingsuit film still 3
Ball’s Pyramid from the air, wingsuit film still 4

The wingsuit flight over Ball's Pyramid

The film follows Jeb Corliss and Luigi Cani as they fly their wingsuits past the stack, with the camera tracking the rock face and the open ocean around it. Corliss, born in 1976, is one of the best-known proximity flyers in the world. In 2011 he flew through the 30-metre-wide arch of Tianmen Mountain in China, and in January 2012 he broke both ankles and a leg bone in a crash on Table Mountain in Cape Town.

Video: Jeb Corliss and Luigi Cani above Ball's Pyramid.

Ball’s Pyramid from the air, wingsuit film still 5
Ball’s Pyramid from the air, wingsuit film still 6

A last refuge for the Lord Howe Island stick insect

The bare-looking rock hides one of conservation's great comeback stories. The Lord Howe Island stick insect was presumed extinct after 1920. In 2001, researchers climbing Ball's Pyramid found 24 of them living under a single Melaleuca howeana shrub, in a patch of about 6 by 30 metres some 100 metres above the sea.

Two breeding pairs were taken to mainland Australia, where captive populations have since been raised with the aim of returning the species to Lord Howe Island. The Australian Museum has documented scientific trips to the pyramid and how hard it is to land and work there. To protect the insect, climbing was banned in 1982, all access was closed in 1986, and since 1990 only strictly controlled visits have been allowed.

Ball’s Pyramid from the air, wingsuit film still 7
Ball’s Pyramid from the air, wingsuit film still 8
Ball’s Pyramid from the air, wingsuit film still 9

Visiting Lord Howe Island and seeing the pyramid

The Lord Howe Island Group was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. Only 400 tourists are allowed on the island at any one time, so book accommodation early. QantasLink flies from Sydney in under two hours, with other flights from Port Macquarie, Newcastle and the Gold Coast.

  • Seeing Ball's Pyramid: the stack is reached by boat from Lord Howe when the sea allows; recreational climbing is not permitted.
  • Diving: trenches, caves and volcanic drop-offs around the pyramid are among the island group's most dramatic dive sites.
  • On the island: the west-coast lagoon sits behind the most southerly barrier coral reef in the world, and the guided climb of 875-metre Mount Gower takes about eight hours return.

Keep a spare day in your plan: the open sea between the island and the pyramid is often rough, and boat trips depend on the weather.

Sources