Freestyle cliff jumping is an extreme sport that, at its most basic, requires jumping off heights into water with no equipment. But the sport is anything but basic. In addition to the intense training and planning it requires, there is a high degree of detail involved in each jump. Cliff jumping is more versatile than its cousin, cliff diving, with which it is often used interchangeably. Cliff jumping allows for a greater level of flexibility in the types and combinations of tricks preformed, and its judging is not as rigid and prescribed as many other sports. There is a sort of fluidity to the sport that meshes with the adventure-seeking drive that powers its participants. Mainly, it's a community of like-minded athletes that come together to challenge one another and bring each other to new heights — literally and figuratively.
Reagan Popoff
Reagan Popoff: Professional Freestyle Cliff Jumper
What is Popoff?
Yes, Popoff is Reagan's real, given, legal last name. But it's also a mindset he has come to embody. Reagan sees Popoff as a verb, and hopes that it will become a brand that inspires other people to dedicate themselves to something they love, conquer their fears, and Popoff!
What is Freestyle Cliff Jumping?
Who is Reagan Popoff?
Reagan grew up in Plano, Texas. For those who don't know it, it's not quite the hotspot for cliff jumping, to say the least. As a child, however, Reagan was always in motion; he rode bikes and climbed trees with his two older brothers and was involved in anything with a ball — basketball, baseball, soccer, football, and lacrosse. In high school, he narrowed in on golf. Golf, professionalism, and a bit of family history brought him to Preston Trail Golf Club, where he worked from ages 17-21. Enrolling in an online school allowed him to do this full-time. After high school, Reagan studied business for two years while continuing to work at Preston Trail.
At this point, the pandemic hit, disrupting the trajectory of Reagan's life. He lost a lot of family during this time — all three of his remaining grandparents within the span of three years. At the same time, however, Reagan also found a new passion. He found a gym, Tempest Freerunning Academy, where he was immediately hooked and bought a membership on Day 1. The passion that Reagan had lost for golf and for his studies, he found in his training. He learned to treat his body like an athlete's and created a new routine for himself that included training 6x a week. Around this time, Reagan also met some like-minded people who introduced him to bridge jumping and parkour. Between these activities, Reagan forged a new form of dedication and productivity.
He began surrounding himself with athletes that were much better than him in different specialities. "You always want to be the worst in the room," Reagan says. "When you are the best in the room, you are not pushed to be better — it's easy to stay comfortable. When you are the worst in the room however, you are constantly being pushed out of your comfort zone, forcing you to grow." With Reagan's competitive nature and persistency, he began to out work everyone around him. This gave him the confidence to take his training to the next level.
In February of 2021, Reagan and a good friend of his, Jon Nyberg (@jonnygoeshard), created a small event in Jon's backyard in McKinney, TX called DODS in the Dirty South. This was the first death diving event in the US.
With his inspiration fueled, Reagan continued his training, and ramped it up by getting his skydiving license in March of 2021.
In the summer of 2021, Reagan participated in a
Cliff Cruise event in Colorado. The Cliff Cruise is a unique, novel, annual event that hosts over 200+ of the best cliff divers, adventure enthusiasts and content creators in the world. Founded by Travis Sims — a professional cliff diver, content creator, environmentalist and event producer — the event occurs in a different state each year and combines a 10 day camping road trip to best cliffs and waterfalls each state has to offer with a Freestyle Cliff Diving Competition, camping/ music festival and massive clean up event that aims to pick up trash from each site of natural beauty and leave it better than when they found it. Participating in this event allowed Reagan to make a name for himself in the cliff jumping community and really take off.
Around this time, Reagan took a leap of faith by leaving the security of his job at Preston Trail and pursuing cliff jumping and "Popoff" full time. He used this freedom to allow cliff jumping to take him to new places. He spent many months backpacking around Hawaii and then worked his way down to central America. In Costa Rica, Reagan teamed up with Paddle 9, a full service adventure tour company in Manuel Antonio that offers waterfall tours, among other experiences. Reagan spent time serving as a guide and creating content for Paddle 9 and hopes to continue this collaboration in the future. Reagan also looks forward to attending the great Splash Jam event in Guatemala hosted by The Cliff Cruise in the very near future.
Further out, Reagan hopes to continue growing his brand. Currently, he has a line of shorts on its way out through collaboration with Uhventure — an apparel company that inspires others to adventure, live, act, and conserve without hesitation by offering clothing made for fitness and action that leads in both appearance and functionality while supporting environmental non-profit organizations with a portion of its profits.
Reagan has a bright future ahead of him, but so do you. So, how will YOU Popoff?
Start a Collab!
If you are a(n)...
- fellow cliff jumper that would like to hit a cool place with Reagan
- property owner of what you think would be the ideal location for Reagan's next jump and want him to highlight it
- brand that would like to sponsor/collab with Reagan
- adventure company that would like to have Reagan join your team
- venue interested in a showcase
- or anyone else with a fresh idea for a way to work together to elevate one another
... then please reach out!
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