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BASE jumper dies
Man's chute didn't open before landing
By Cassidy Friedman
Times-News writer
TWIN FALLS - An unidentified man was killed BASE jumping off the Perrine Bridge on Tuesday afternoon when his parachute did not open and he landed on the southeast bank.

At 4:46 p.m., someone called Southern Idaho Regional Communications to report the accident.

The jumper had alerted dispatchers, according to protocol, that he would be BASE jumping from the bridge, according to Nancy Howell, spokeswoman for the Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office. At that time, sustained 24 mph winds were clocked at Joslin Field, Magic Valley Regional Airport, with 30 mph gusts - the windiest day since Feb. 23.

No laws prohibit jumping from the Perrine Bridge when weather conditions are severe.

Twin Falls Sheriff deputies are leading the investigation.

Deputies examined the scene and an Audi station wagon bearing Massachusetts plates and a parachutists' association bumper sticker that was parked in the visitor center's parking lot.

Darwin has claimed another.

I'm not sure if how this represents actual conditions at the bridge since this report is for for the general township.

You might be the next, and there will be another jerkoff who will write this about you

You might be the next, and there will be another jerkoff who will write this about you

tly jumpable. Some may agrue that it was not "safely" landable. but this was not a landing accident.


RIP. we will miss you.

You get sensitive when you put a real face on the name in the accident report

what way was the wind going? this pic is north-oriented from google earth.

all five Perrine Bridge fatalities, including this one, involved pilot chute problems.

And that has "trend" written all over it.

So the real question is why?

You get sensitive when you put a real face on the name in the accident report

to clarify: when the conditions are "perfectly jumpable" but not landable i would not jump.
Please do not pull the words out of context

To me if somebody says "it's jumpeable", that includes all aspects of the jump. If I say it's jumpeable I mean all aspects of the jump. I don't think anything was being put out of context.

11:23 a.m. -- BASE jumper dies after leaping from Perrine Bridge
- The Associated Press
Edition Date: 04/11/07

TWIN FALLS — A 29-year-old man from Massachusetts died when his parachute failed to open after he jumped from a bridge spanning the Snake River Canyon in southern Idaho, authorities said.
Yegor Drozdov of Revere, Mass., died Tuesday after jumping from Perrine Bridge, a popular area for BASE jumpers, who parachute from high, fixed objects, Twin Falls sheriff’s spokeswoman Nancy Howell said.

BASE is an acronym for building, antenna, span, earth, the four categories of objects from which one can jump in the extreme sport.

Howell said Southern Idaho Regional Communications received a call at 4:26 p.m. Tuesday from someone reporting that a BASE jumper would be jumping off the bridge, standard procedure for BASE jumpers who are asked to check in before leaping.

Twenty minutes later, the sheriff’s office received a call from a witness “saying they had seen someone jump off the bridge and their parachute didn’t open and they hit the land below,” Howell told The Associated Press today.

Howell said Drozdov’s body was recovered by authorities who reached the area by boat.

More than 5,000 jumps are made annually from the 486-foot-long bridge that spans the Snake River Gorge. The bridge is the world’s most-frequented BASE jumping location.

Two people died BASE-jumping from the bridge last year. Tuesday’s death is the first BASE-jumping death reported this year, Howell said.

Earlier this year a woman’s nude body was found under the bridge, and police determined she had been stabbed and then thrown off the bridge. Police said the main suspect in that case appeared to have committed suicide.

we will never know the truth.

a certain memorial-day weekend incident comes to mind

Knowing the jumper leads me to believe that he is more likely to take a longer delay.

I do think that the exit and deployment would have been quite doable if you did a full floater, but I don't think a forward facing exit in these conditions would be a very good idea.

Parachute problem may have doomed BASE jumper
Mass. man was an extreme sports fanatic
By Cassidy Friedman
Times-News writer
TWIN FALLS - A BASE jumper who died Tuesday jumping from the Perrine Bridge may have entangled his hand while attempting to release his parachute.

Yegor Drozdov, 29, of Revere, Mass., landed on the southeast bank beneath the bridge shortly before 5 p.m. West winds were blowing at sustained speeds of 24 mph with 30 mph gusts.

An extreme sports buff, Drozdov raced cars, skied and had logged more than 200 sky dives and 50 BASE jumps, his wife, Katerina, said Wednesday.

Twin Falls County Sheriff's deputies called Katerina at the couple's home in Revere, a suburban beach town north of Boston.

They described their investigation to her, which she recounted in a phone interview with the Times-News.

"His hand got tangled in the bridle of the pilot chute," deputies had said, according to the widow. "When they found him it was still tangled around his hand. They said it was very windy and must have got tangled while he was falling because it's about five seconds that you have to open."

The "bridle" is a pilot chute linked to the rig that BASE jumpers hold as they jump and throw outwards to deploy their chute.

Drozdov was the owner of Alliance Motor Group, a car dealership with branches in Longmont, Colo. and Revere. Less than one year ago, Drozdov rented a second home in Longmont.

In Colorado, he began jumping at Mile-Hi Skydiving near Denver. At least once, he and a friend traveled to Twin Falls to BASE jump from the Perrine Bridge, Katerina said.

But on his last visit Drozdov told no one, she explained.

After staying with some friends in Sacramento, Katerina flew home Sunday. Her husband was scheduled to drive to Colorado either Monday or Tuesday.

"I guess he decided to stop on the way back," Katerina said. "He didn't tell anyone that he was going there."

It appears Drozdov was jumping alone, according to Nancy Howell, spokeswoman for the Twin Falls County Sheriff's Office.

At 4:46 p.m., an observer called dispatchers, reporting a BASE jumper's parachute had not opened.

Drozdov had made a courtesy call, according to protocol, alerting dispatchers he was planning to jump.

"He was very adventurous," Katerina said. "He like the extreme stuff."

The couple, who married five years ago, have no children.

Drozdov is a naturalized citizen who moved 15 years ago with his family from Moscow, Russia. His family lives in Kennebunkport, Maine.

His funeral will be held Monday in Salem, Mass.

"His hand got tangled in the bridle of the pilot chute," deputies had said, according to the widow. "When they found him it was still tangled around his hand. They said it was very windy and must have got tangled while he was falling because it's about five seconds that you have to open."

The "bridle" is a pilot chute linked to the rig that BASE jumpers hold as they jump and throw outwards to deploy their chute.

Don't forget the problem of landing in water that is cold or fast moving. Too many people erroneously believe that landing in the river is an acceptable "out" during the winter. You wouldn't believe how many people I saw jumping over the middle of the river when the water temps were in the 30s! At least this guy was "smart" enough to jump over the land (the water is still fairly cold).

Do we know his name yet? I live in Mass and am trying to figure out who it is. Thanks in advance!

If the report said wind was a factor in casuing the entanglement, then I was wondering how that does not happen to pilot chutes in skydiving since altitude winds can be very high?

Don't forget the problem of landing in water that is cold or fast moving. Too many people erroneously believe that landing in the river is an acceptable "out" during the winter. You wouldn't believe how many people I saw jumping over the middle of the river when the water temps were in the 30s! At least this guy was "smart" enough to jump over the land (the water is still fairly cold).

THe station you're getting your information from is NOT located at or near the exit point.

Obviously the conditions were not safe for jumping, why would you say they were?

im not tom however,

Hand held (imo) is a safe method w a tailwind, but your bridle still can entange though. ALso some exit points dont make this easy. If you do go stowed this is what i do:

1. make a SOLID grip on PC
2. extract pc to full arm stretch palm up (PC above hand).
3. release, rotate arm counter clockwise.

But if you're used to exiting headhigh and don't adjust it for the tailwind...

If the winds are so strong that you have to put yourself intentionally head down on a short delay then maybe not jumping is the sensible option. it's not jumpable.

Re-fixed. His version was better.

For example, you make a 2s delay in 20mph tailwind. Your vertical speed in 2s is 43mph. The PC is extracted along the relative wind line which is atan(20/43) = 25 degrees to vertical. If your body is 25 degrees headlow, the extraction will be perpendicular to your body as if you pulled flat in zero wind.