Man Dies After Falling From Pulpit Rock, The Cliff Featured In ‘Mission Impossible’

A tourist died after falling nearly 2,000 feet off an iconic cliff in Norway, which was also featured in a ‘Mission Impossible’ movie. Nina Thommesen, a police attorney for the local authorities, confirmed to CNN that a man in his 40s died on June 2 after falling from the cliff. An eyewitness stated the man slipped and fell from the cliff. 

Authorities have not released the man’s identity but said they recovered his phone and identification.

”The police are investigating the case as a fall accident. We have no assumptions that anything criminal has happened,” Ms Thommesen said.

Notably, Pulpit Rock, known as Preikestolen locally, is one of Norway’s most popular tourist destinations. The plateau of rock which measures approximately 25m x 25m, offers wonderful views of the surrounding landscape. More than 300,000 nature-loving hikers visit the renowned rock formation every year.

Though it was already famous, Preikestolen grew in fame when it was featured in the sixth ‘Mission Impossible” film, starring Tom Cruise. In the final minutes of ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout” the two main characters fall off the cliff in a nail-biting action sequence. For the premiere of the film, 2,000 people hiked 4 kilometres (2.4 miles) to the cliff to see it projected by lasers at night. 

Director Christopher McQuarrie previously said in behind-the-scenes footage for the movie … “The first time I came here, I didn’t want to get within 50 feet of the edge. Watching Henry and Tom go over — they’ve done so much extreme stuff in this movie that I don’t think it really occurred to any of us that it was as scary as it looked.”

Lonely Planet has described Pulpit Rock as ”one of the world’s most spectacular viewing points,” and often features at the top of the list of natural wonders worldwide.