Re: [Brodes] Oh, Oz . . .
From :
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/...29960%5E2702,00.html NickD
BASE 194
Jumper dies on way to funeral
by Natasha Robinson
October 30, 2004
THEY gathered yesterday to bury one of the heroes of their sport. But at the Canberra funeral of the man they called "Slim", a BASE jumper who packed more into one short life than most would in 10, news was breaking in the jumping community that just 100km away, another of their own was lying dead at the bottom of a gorge.
Roland "Slim" Simpson died last Friday in a Canberra hospital from injuries suffered when he slammed into the roof of a Shanghai building after jumping from the 421m-high Jinmao Tower on October 5.
Yesterday, one of Slim's mates was on the way to Canberra to bid him farewell. He had travelled from Brisbane for Slim's funeral, and stopped off at a cliff jump-site bordering the Morton National Park, near Goulburn, for a dawn plunge.
He never made it to the funeral. At 7.16am, an anonymous 000 call was logged: something had gone terribly wrong at Slot Canyon.
Three hours later, after calling in the police helicopter and rescue squad, Goulburn police made the grisly find. The body was so badly injured that they did not expect to be able to positively identify the man for several days.
The BASE jumping community was doing all it could last night to assist police, who are preparing a report for the coroner. It was the third such tragedy in a month, with another BASE jumper severely injuring himself after jumping from Sydney's North Head on October 13.
Yesterday's death might have shocked BASE jumping enthusiasts, but it could hardly have surprised them. The highly experienced Brisbane jumper in his late 20s, also a gymnast and springboard diver, was known for his dangerous manoeuvres.
During yesterday's tragic final jump from the canyon -- which has walls that tower 275m above the scrub below -- the somersault he attempted proved too difficult even for the most agile of men. "He was a very, very experienced BASE jumper who was trying something very advanced, a very difficult, tricky, advanced move, and unfortunately he hit the cliff," friend Glenn Singleman said.
But Mr Singleman had no doubt his mate died doing something he loved.
Yesterday's death, the North Head accident and Simpson's funeral follow the death of Australian Dwain Weston a year ago in Colorado, in the US, when attempting a complex jump from a plane.
Although illegal in Australia, BASE jumpers insist their sport is legitimate, and should command respect. "We see ourselves as people passionate about pushing our own boundaries, discovering what is possible," Mr Singleman said.
At the funeral yesterday, many jumpers were asking "Why do we do this?", Mr Singleman said. Eulogies on Simpson's fearless spirit provided one answer. "In a way, it's sort of a statement of the human condition," Mr Singleman said.
