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http://www.police.be.ch/...sid=25536&cat=tn

BASE Jumper fell and got injured deadly

Tuesday afternoon a Base Jumper crashed from Staldenfluh during a jump and got deadly injured

Tuesday, 9th of October 2007 shortly before noon, a group of 9, 5 BASE Jumpers and 4 “Wingsuit Pilots” went to Staldenfluh, to the exit La Mousse. All 9 Jumpers wanted to jump simultaneously. For one of the jumpers, a BASE Jumper, the canopy opened late do to reasons still under investigation, so that he crashed almost without any speed reduction into the ground underneath the wall. The Doctor who arrived immediately after the crash declared the man dead.
The deadly injured BASE Jumper is a 46 year old man from the Republic Kazakhstan



This is very sad! My vibes and thoughts to Family and friends.
It is very probable that this will be one of the last fatalities in Lauterbrunnen, in Switzerland also known as Death Valley

condolences to the family and friends.

Andy

Condolences to family, friends, and fellow jumpers.


Because you expect that jumping will be shut down there?

Because of the season or because of political reasons?

Whilst it bears no relation to the incident, it is worth knowing that it is my understanding that there was also a fatality in the valley within the last month where a hiker slipped and fell to his death.

condolences... so sad. its been a bad year.

maybe,...but when you see what happend the last 2 years then the authoritys will come to the conclusion that basejumping is not safe and they start to refuse it....the waterfall is closed because the people that life there dont want to see this accidents anymore....right above the village....
2 1/2 years ago we jumped the waterfall on a day where the valley was full of tourists....
the streets and market was crowded with manys tourists and locals...
after the jump i go to get some food and all the locals on the street look up to the staubbach with this fear in the face" please dont let something happend there"....
and everytime a chute opens i saw this look in the eyes of some people...
so i start to talk with this persons and they said to me that they are afraid that a accident or another fatality will wipe out all the tourist off the valley...
like it happend before...
maybe they have to much fear, but we have to respect it because the non-jumpers didnt know why some things happen....
they think about "their" valley and its not ours...
yeah, we and air glassier know that many more accidents and fatality happend around LB due climbing, paragliding and skiers....
but that doesnt affect the locals....
OUR shit happend in their yard!!!

jesus,...why people do a 9 way from la mousse???
dont get me wrong...i dont want to blame somebody.....but we have to see that when we want to jump futher in LB we need to think and jump more conservative.....maybe its too late...and why?

sad day....

fly free brother...

is it possible, that this was the same group jumping at ITW the days before!?

condolences to family and friends.

DRU

i think as well as long as we keep dying in the valley, they will shut it down. 3 in a month doesnt make a great name for jumpers.

condolonces
BSBD
-e

This whole thing is very sad, but there is things to say about this. Im sorry for the guys that got lost and for all the trouble that will come out of this. All my condolenses to all their friends and family. All my respect to everybody.

But.
THis is what happends when people wit low experience jump in the valley, THis is what happends when experiensed/inexperiensed people with poor tracking skills jump there.

I have been repetedly saying that IF you are going to jump in the valley you need to be able to exit without trouble, you need to be able to track well. And when I say well I meen be able to pass the forest line from any exit and still be high enough to get a 15 seconds canopie ride.

If you end up in the trees, either you just impacted or just landed from a 0,5 sec canopie ride you did not track well. If you have problems with your exit, once or twise, you are maybe not ready to jump in one of the most dangerous places in the world.

Lauterbrunnen looks pretty and safe with the over hangs. but every cloff in lauterbrunnen exept yellow ocean is Positive and should there fore be treated like a positive cliff.

I recomend you all to be EXPERIENCED big wall jumpes before getting in to subterminal walls. Its an easy conclution...

And again IM not saying that these last incidents are related to what I just said. I just meen what I just said as what I think.

And again to be an experienced jumper means to have many jumps (hundreds) and to have spend time in the sport, and to ask for advices when you wonder something, to be mature enough to decide that no-one will care about my low pull... its just me and my free fall.


stay safe everybody. and stop dying!

 

To comment on what Martin has said. I also agree that people NEED to learn how to track before they go to the swiss valley. I spent a total of 6 weeks there this summer and daily I saw close calls that could easily have been fatalities. People are going there without tracking gear and without tracking skills. I saw people fall in the box man position and pull half way down the wall, all while wearing a track suit. I saw numerous people take extreamly short delays, as in sub 5 seconds, and one guy that took a 2-3 second delay slider up from yellow ocean. People don't seem to realize that cliff behind you can easily kill you and you need to get the hell away from it. While there have been 3 fatalities in a month, there have been at least 2 other wall strikes that never made it on the incident forum. Just because you have a track suit doesn't mean you can track.

Also, the local townspeople really do get upset when people die. They may not come up to you and say hello when you are walking down the street, but they are very compassionate. I know of a local hostel owner who doesn't want base jumpers staying with her because she has had 3 different jumpers die while staying with her. She ends up being the one having to sort through their luggage to find their passport and help contact their family. These deaths effect many people...

Go to Switzerland with the right gear and the right skills so we can all enjoy its beauty for many years to come.

 

 Guys–
As someone dealing with the latest fatality right now, I am sad to see these unsubstantiated rumors being spread around.

No one of those who posted in this thread has been witness to the fatality; no one has any solid information; yet everyone is quick to jump to a conclusion, possibly relevant and correct for some situations but not necessarily so in this case.

Please wait until conclusive information is provided. Right now this discussion is a disgrace to the deceased.

We have two video POVs. The gear is currently withheld by the police.

Saying that “9-way. . .[was executed by jumpers whose] average experience is terribly poor” is once again an unsubstantiated claim. The 13-way from La Mousse on August 13, the pictures of which are proudly hung in Horner for all to see, was pulled off by jumpers with quite a bit less experience than the 9-way – but I have yet to see it dissed here.

I will also add that it being a multi-way was not a contributing factor at all in this incident.

We hope to complete the analysis tomorrow when the gear is released by the police.

my comments are not pointed to the last jumper fatality. Talking in general as I do believe that there is wrong trend together with poor skill staring to play the big role,
13-way from La Mousse-nice! What is next 15-way?! Can u see my point?! Even if it is 100-way it is not worth to take that risk because the place will be closed! Also, less proud we might be heaving three pictures of our BASE brothers in Horner too.
Don't you think ?!

Answer to "victorchik"

wait a minute here...

I know things are a bit hectic in the heat of the battle and that things go sensitive around an incident. Beleve me Ive been there several times.

The comments I put there before refered to any case no matter what. Im not saing the way or the other to give shit to the people involved in these accidents. Actually I dont give a shit whos doing what and who didnt.

As I said before Im sad about the tragedies and the lost we all share. some more than others. and condolenses to alla of you close ones.

Im pretty sure Robi wasnt refering to the "big way" that was taking place at the last accident, he was probably refering to big ways in general. It doesnt matter if the big way it self did not affect the jumper who got in the accident. WHat matter is that we over and over again have to come up with bigger and better stuff, just to breake som record or to get that special fealing of " wow this is scary...but fun.. but scary still... hope it works out... yea it did . great. man Im cool"

again this is not refering to this special jump.. just in general...IM one of the guys who contantly do this so IM not blaiming anybody here.

BUT STILL

I have been jumping enough to know what IM talking about, and even if you think IM talking shit or that I might put the limits so high that you might not need them I do know what Im talking about and if you dont beleve me try talking to somebody else experienced enough to answer that question.

Here are som basic survival skills in The Swiss Valley ( and other places as well)

1. Use tracking gear (there are many good models)
2. make sure that you can handle your tracking gear without, it fucking up your jump. (practice)
3. Make sure you know how to track fast and start fast. This you will learn by knowing your gear. and to practice from aeroplane AND big walls first.
4. Be as current, experienced and secure with your exit that you KNOW that you ALWAYS will nail the exit.
5. Track as far from the wall so that IF you get an offheadding, you will end up on the tallus or the grund. If that sounds to low for you, you might not track as far as you think. then go learn how to track.
6. make sure you know your gear and that you pack just as precise EVERY time.
7. Get to know the weather and the nature before you jump. ask locals for advices.
8. Allways call Air Glacier and Allways get their insurance and make sure your insurance at home covers you for the rest.
9. If you are alone. team up with somebody OR allways call Air Glacier and tell them that you are allone and should call back when you land.
10. If you think you can track far enough, you probably cant.. go practice and get sure enugh. If you KNOW you can track far enough, you are probably lying to wyour self... or you track far enough sometimes... Go learn more about big walls before you go to sub terminal walls.

I have allways put my limits for jumpers in the valley to minimum 200 jumps (at least 100 cliff jumps) before they go to LB, and its for a reason.

learn forst then you go.

Why the fuck are you guys tootling here? Isn't it offtopic? If you want to moralize about nasty youth why don't you start another topic? This one is dedicated to one particular accident. What I want to see here is information and analysis, not well-known fucking commonplaces.

Why don't you choose another soap box?

+1 Airgasm

Information about tracking is very important BUT this topic is not about how to track!!!!

...the topic is that a poor soul died....
because he didnt track like he should on this site...

so its ok to talk about it so maybe the rest of us can learn.....and survive...

maybe i am alone with this attitude...but if someone read this thread completly, maybe he understands and did not do the same mistake like many others before...

fly free bro....

Really? Where does it say that?

I am awaiting to hear the cause of this accident, as I have heard "hearsay" from other sources, but dont know if its true or not.

I think history proves that generally the masses dont fucking listen and learn from mistakes..

now this is turning fun.

Im off. go on moralize and demoralize as much as you want.

things are getting ut of hand anyway.

fine I totaaly agree that it is out of the topic to talk about tracking, it needs its own topic/thread. But on the incident forum we can not have the angle that we cant attack on weak points in skills and ask our self what went wrong and why.

but as I said. Im of this one.
sorry for disturbing you.

SOUNDS more like a low pull or deployment problems than tracking issues,
Lets see what the investigation concludes.

okay...okay....got the message.....
i dont say anything anymore....
when the "offical" report is out we will see...

when nobody should learn why we talk about this?

history will teach us nothing.....hell yeah....!
go on like that...

PM Sent to Martin and Elduderino....

Name: Alexander Bogoroditskiy
Country: Kazakhstan
Age: 45
Skydiving experience: 2500+ jumps
BASE experience: 97 prior jumps
Number of objects: 26
- Norway: *******
- France: *******
- Italy: *******
- Switzerland: *******
- Dagestan: 2 exit points for slider-down jumps.

The 98th jump took place on 9 October 2007, 11:30 AM in Lauterbrunnen, off La Mousse.
Weather conditions: 3-6 MPH wind, clear sky, light haze.
Equipment: Gargoyle DOM June 2004, Troll 265, with the original
bridle. The PC was a fine-mesh 38" with an external handle (a smooth plastic piece of piping).
The container does not have a bridle-retainer pocket inside BOC pouch.

The jump was to be a 9-way: 4 jumpers in Vampires, 4 in tracking gear, 1 in Prodigy.
Exit order: first the trackers, followed by the wingsuits
Alexander was jumping in a tracksuit. He was the jumper on the far left.

On the video we have a good close-up shot of his rig just before the jump. There is nothing visibly wrong with the gear at this point.

The launch went well, each jumper in his assigned sector. Many video POVs reveal no collisions or bumps of any kind. There were 5 cameras + 1 from the ground. We can see Alexander's jump from two video POVs. He appears to have an efficient and stable track all the way down until deployment. He pitches at around 200m, the first of his group. Immediately after pitching he goes into boxman. The pilot chute tows after him inflated at about 1m (3-4ft), i.e. the pilot chute does not reach full bridle stretch. Quickly realizing something is wrong, Alexander moves both arms back. The first video POV ends here. The other video POV shows him falling with his legs tucked in and his arms behind his back. He is not stable at this point as he is fighting to clear the malfunction. The pilot chute is still towing after him inflated at about 1m from his back. He impacts still fighting and towing the pilot chute at forest line (the closest to the field). The container remains closed until impact, there is no part of the canopy out. He dies immediately at impact.

Ground inspection: The impact has caused the container to open and the canopy to fall out. The canopy has reached line stretch, but the primary stow is still in place. The bridle and the pilot chute are not wrapped around anything or constricted in any way.

At this point the police ask everybody to leave and collect the gear.

The police allow us to further inspect the gear on 11 October 2007 at 8-30 AM. Inspection at this point reveals no wear, abrasions, burns, or any unusual traces on any part of the rig. The bridle is also clear of any wear/abrasions. It is not clear what may have caused the total malfunction.

http://foto.mail.ru/mail/viktor_7777777/2/36.html
http://foto.mail.ru/mail/viktor_7777777/2/37.html

I am very sorry for your loss.
I met him in Kjerag this year.

This is very very very scary!!!
I don't know how many already are on the list do to pc hesitations or pc bridel entangelments.
This is one of my bigger fears in BASE Jumping, to go in with a PC in tow

Very sorry for your loss, this is indeed very sad, and scary.

I would very much like to understand what caused this malfunction, so hope you don't mind some more questions:

So the PC was fully inflated? No signs that it was caught in the turbulence?

Is it possible to tell from the videos how the bridle is routed from the PC to the container after tossing the PC?
(I suppose it goes straight down from the PC's bridle attachment point since the PC is inflated, or was the bridle somehow entangled with the PC?)

Any knowledge of how the PC and bridle was packed and how the bridle was routed prior to this jump?

Have you checked if there's any snag points inside the BOC pouch?

Terrible terrible accident, sorry for the loss of your friend and condolences to family and friends.

Sometimes in this sport accidents happens and we don't really know the cause, we just have to be more careful with ourselves and with our fellow jumpers.

Gabo

"Technically difficult wingsuit exit points" are a very bad idea at this experience level. It was not a contributing factor on his last jump, but could have been on another one or two i observed earlier this summer.

bsbd!

Yuri.

i saw him during the heliboobie....
i applologize if i made in this case the wrong conclusion....
my info from people at the scene was that he impact in the talus....
ok.. isten and learned ...thx for this detailed report...

sorry for your loss...

Thank you for a very detailed report. Even though we cant see the actual incident mecanism I am very thankful to hear about the experiences from this sad lost.

Im sorry for all you guys.

Possible reasons could be entangeled bridle in either the rig or the legs, or maybe a pin-lock. but who knows. The pilot probably got attached in some trees on the way down, causing the rig to open...

but thats just thaughts.

best regards!

Questions:

1) Does anyone have a copy of the photos linked in this thread (they are apparently no longer at the linked locations) that they can send me?

2) Did this container have dynamic corners?

3) What color was the bridle? Specifically, was it red?

Thanks for any help.

Can anyone tell me why a system of closing loop cutters or cutaways would be a bad idea? I'm very new to the sport, but it seems that this could be a nice backup in the event of a pc hesitation or malfunction.

there are several reasons I can think of-
1- it adds complexity and weight to an already overly-complex system of BASE gear.
2- at altitudes a lot of people deploy at, there would not be time for them to realize a problem, and deploy this 'cutter/release'
3- it would be a false 'go to' thing. it would cause hesitation, if there were a mild bridal wrap, the persons first idea would be to cut pins,
4- the likeliness of a pin tension induced total are extremely rare, and that is the only thing this closing loop release would solve.

in my earlier days a few years ago, i thought it would be a good idea as well, but changed my mind after a while.

It could also fix a total caused by a misrouted bridle.

I think your other points are valid, and I don't think a pin cutter or jesus string is the way forward at this point but there are other uses for them than the one you mentioned.

fair enough.

in the cases of a un-removed packing ribbon, this would solve the total mal there.

At this point, what do you believe was responsible for this fatality? Pin induced total?
The report says the pilot chute appeared inflated 1m off his back, and that gear inspection revealed no bridal entangement. Was he using the bridal stow inside the BOC?

I have no idea, my last 3 posts have been about a tangent in this thread. my bad.

Hello BASE World,

what I know is, that the investigation of this is still in process and not officially completed.

At the moment I only can conclude this in something everybody should know anyway:
If you use a pinrig you have to pay careful attention that the bridle is routed correctly. Follow the guidelines which the manufacturer gives you.
If you don't do so you risk the possible potential of a total or partial container lock.
You also have to make sure that the bridle is able to pull the pin(s) when the pc loads it.
In other words: However you pack, the bridleload should never get stuck on a container flap or its stifner avoiding that pullforce reaches the pin.

No more to say
M.

There was no bridle stow pouch (secondary pouch inside the BOC) on this rig.

i am terribly sorry to hear this. my condolances.

Possible malfunction...

Possible in general, or possible cause of death in this specific incident?

i think after the impact you would still see the missrouting...but in this specific inccident the bridle was clear...

I agree. Several feet of bridle would have to magically slide back through the legstrap.

Nasty looking pic, though. Would hate to see that on someone's back.

This has been bothering me a bit.

With this misrouting of the bridle, if you open the pin flap and only check the pins (orientation, tension, etc...) but do not check the bridle routing between the bottom pin and the BOC, you'll miss this deadly malfunction.

If your bridle is routed this way you will tow the PC to impact. There is almost no chance that the malfunction will clear prior to impact.

On top of that, when you impact, the bottom closing loop will probably break and the canopy will come out of the container.

Once the bottom closing loop is broken, the bridle will be clear and the only evidence of the malfunction will be damage to the bottom grommet, a broken closing loop, and possible damabe to the closing pin.

I'm not saying that this is what happened in this incident, but it is possible to miss this malfunction even with a pin check.

Be careful out there!

Doc - Is the bridle routed around the closing loop beneath the flap - as in pulled up to close the bottom with the bridle not clear? Can't quite make it out in the photos.

That makes sense though. Solid theory.

- Harvey

That's correct.

The bridle (incorrectly) runs around the closing loop.

The most likely way this could happen is if a jumper opens the packjob after it's been packed (for whatever reason) and leaves the PC in the BOC, then re-closes the container.

(I've seen jumpers re-close rigs with a pullup cord after accidentally popping a pin on gear check at the exit point. I've never seen anyone take the PC out of the BOC for this.)

The routing between the bottom pin and the BOC must always be verified proir to exit. It's easy.

1.) Open the pin flap
2.) Untuck the bridle from underneath the right side flap.
3.) Check the pin-tension and orientation of pins.
4.) Check for slack above the top pin and between the pins
5.) Tuck the bridle back under the side flap.
6.) Re-close the pin flap.
7.) Slap your hand on the container to signal completion of pin check. (I don't know...everyone does that for some reason...)

interesting hypothesis, but let me second this


there is nothing more important on any packjob, than ensuring a straight path from pilotchute to pin.

period.

maybe i'm a bit off here.. but just got back on the site again after some time, and that was one of the first threads to pop up..

two weeks ago there was a documentary on swiss tv, called "the basejumpers from lauterbrunnen". they filmed the same months when those fatalities happened, there was ueli gegenschatz that pretty much hosted the show, bodybags with blood-stains were shown. the local priest had a slot. the guy that owns the field where all the deceased from the staubbach impacted..

actually, that guy, a real paysan that cut and collected every piece of grass on that field since WWII, had tears in his eyes, talking about all this young guys that happened to die in his backyard. but being swiss, he'd rather yell at everyone with a stashbag on their backs, and shake a fork at them. but he really cares!

the paramedics that talked about the fatality-rate wasnt worse than any mountaineering otherwise in the area, or in general.

the priest was cool too, he expressed how he felt sorry, but that he also understood the need for some to jump.

ueli, expressing that BASEjumping was a sport that could be practised safely, with proper training and equipment..

the swedish chick, what was her name again, that works at the hostel, was shown, doing a little jump here and there before or after work. her mother was shown, crying too. they had kind of some dont ask - dont tell agreement about BASE going on between them.

of course, they also had your general nutjob, all dressed in black, guess who, yea, infamous jeb corliss.. they showed him how he planned on a low-pull, but since he jumped a WS, got somehow tangled up, and probably had a canopy-ride of about 2 seconds.. canopy opens, he swings back, pretty much impacts.. lays still for minutes until a guy decides to jump after him to check up, then dear jeb got up. showed him later drinking coffee and telling everybody how badass he was..

other than that, it was a very positive exposure! people in the valley dont mind the jumpers, quite the opposite in fact. of course, they dont like anyone to die there. but still.. i dont think jumping in the valley is endangered.

just remember to be careful, be friendly and say hi to the people living there! yea, be careful, dont die! if you do, dont think people hate you for it! they'd rather like to see you alive and smile, even if that meant for you to jump..

safe landings!

The Swiss doctor was also pretty cool. When asked if BASE jumping should be banned, he spoke about freewill and that people should have the right to express themsleves.

Swiss-German is a bitch to follow, but my overall impression was that that the film was very neutral (from a typical media perspective) and well done.

yea, the only one who maybe casted a damning light on BASE was Jeb Corlis with his sick lowpull.

agreed.
No doubt on that

not so much when you're swiss, actually, it comes quite natural..

i mentioned the doctor, called him a paramedic. those "dok"-type films are always very good! neutral, usually they show both sides of the coin, as it should be. they let the people speak for themselves and dont make any assumptions at all. neutral, swiss, that is..

the only down-turn really was jeb.

The guys a bit of a twit but he has some nice jumps and aerials under his belt...

sure does, still..

tv-team around, pull of a stunt, goes shit, almost kills himself.. that would have put a real bad spot on the community, dont you think? i think he's a bit of an egomaniac.. but thats just me. prolly takes one to know one..