Perris , California ( CNN ) -- No one has ever intentionally taken a nose dive off the roof of the world before . In the 61 years since Edmund Hillary and sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached the top of Mount Everest , most of the 5,000-plus people have descended from the summit the same way they came up : on foot . A few have paraglided down . Joby Ogwyn has other plans . Everest men : On top of the world in 1963 . The ultra-daredevil plans to plunge off the world 's tallest mountain in May while wearing a custom wing-suit equipped with cameras to share the jump with a TV audience . `` I 'm very scared . I think it 's the fear of death or destruction that kind of keeps you above that , '' he told CNN on Wednesday at skydiving practice . `` But I 'm not afraid to die . I 'm not afraid to live my life on my own terms . And this is my dream and I am willing to risk everything to make it happen . '' It 's not like the 39-year-old Ogwyn is unfamiliar with the 29,035-foot tall mountain . He was 24 the first time he reached the summit , which at the time made him the youngest American to do so . He 's scaled the mountain from a base-camp in just 9Â½ hours . And three years ago , he did a test jump from an airplane . Mount Everest : By the numbers . The star of the National Geographic television show `` Adventure Wanted '' learned the effect the thin air at that height would have on his summit jump . `` I thought I would fall out of the sky a little bit , '' he said . `` In fact what I did was fly faster and further than I could have in that thicker air ( at lower altitudes ) . '' When he flies in May , he expects to reach speeds of 150 mph during the 10,000-foot dive to base camp . Wingsuit flier dies after cliff crash horror . `` I never saw myself as a very gifted athlete , '' said Ogwyn , who was raised in Louisiana . `` I do have a very high threshold for pain and suffering at very high altitudes . '' He said it 's important to win the mental battle . What 's in your head and heart are more important than what 's in your arms or legs , he said . The Discovery Channel , which televised Nik Wallenda 's tight rope walk over the Grand Canyon last year and Felix Baumgartner 's jump from the edge of space in 2012 , has said it will show Ogwyn 's jump live , though no firm date has been set . Ogwyn said he will reach the summit then change into his suit and put on his helmet . He 'll take three or four steps . `` And I will be out of there . '' Police to be stationed at Everest base camp following mountain 'brawl ' last year . Climbers recount deadly traffic jam on Everest . CNN 's Steve Almasy contributed to this report .
Like many , Joby Ogwyn has scaled Mount Everest then hiked back down . But now he wants to leap from the top in a special suit and fly to a base camp . Louisiana native says he has a high threshold for pain . Score: 6