Basejumper.com - archive

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/...tuck-in-trees-in-nsw

A prominent jumper. I knew him very well.

More details when they come to hand.

RIP

Can you release the name yet. Some on this side of the world have a hard time getting a hold of you guys.

RIP

His name hasn't been released as yet, so maybe best to wait until that occurs.

plummy

I knew him also. Sad news, so sad.

Ill take one for him tonight

RIP.

Ouch. He lived hard, pushing the limits, and will be missed.

Sad news for sure, condolences to his family and friends.

RIP

Name and picture released, wingsuit not mentioned.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/...frewt0-1225793129068

Oh no, not Jimmy....

He helped my out on my first (and so far only) base experience in Oz. What a rush. He kept amazing me after that. Last time we met, we even shared a room. Damn, I will miss him.

Condolences to family and friends.

Ronald

I was big fan of him long time ago and in september i meet him in Brento.I was so surpiced that he is younger then me-such a good jumper.And about the since of humor that he has..

We just bumped into each other in Dolomites a couple of weeks ago... damn! RIP Jimmy!!!

R.I.P. Jimmy, one talentent mutha farka always going hard out Aussie style.
condolenses to family and friends.

It was really good to see you again in Europe this past September. It's really hard to believe this. Fly free brother........

Met you in LB in 2005. I was there at YO by myself getting ready to do my first jump in my phoenix suit.
You showed up with Jeb and edgar and his 35mm camera. For the newbie i was a the time it felt quite sureal to meet these 3 very talented jumpers.

I will not forget that aerial you pulled with Edgar filming you!

Amazing talent! and such a laid back attitude!

RIP

RIP Jimmy.

oh no...we'll miss ya buddy! cya in hell!

damn...RIP Jimmy...

:-(

RIP brother.

Name public now. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/...frewt0-1225793129068

From skysurfer.com.au

Yeah, a damned shame. A different personality to be sure.
I had the pleasure of taking him on his first and early jumps, and then watched him overtake me at a great rate of knots.
Got to do some really cool stuff with him. Cutaways and tandems and swings and . . . . off bridges, rope swings, beat him (Wentworth, Ill Bend, etc) or get beaten by him (Grand, Bridal Veil, etc) in pioneering sites, eat KFC, made his first "promo vid", get frustrated by him, policed him, dive training at the pool, get inspired when he would call and say "lets got to blah and do blah "fatboy", . . . . .

And then watched him grow and "spread his wings".

Many people had the shits with him - he was controversial and there were a few things he did where I shook my head . . . . . and then nodded. For that was Jimmy. I know he used to get the shits with me at times. Especially in my policing role (safety) in the ABA.

Establishment????? Huh? Ha! ....

When I made & tried my first wingsuit in 97/98, he was fascinated and came along for the "test jumps". He was a good tracker and had the body for it. He stayed with me a bit on the first few jumps. And then he borrowed my suit . . . . . . . . .

Another one bites the dust.

A message for all you budding contour and proximity flyers out there - death is imminent. Be careful out there. There are many great men / flyers who are no longer with us. Your margins are low. Non-existent in some cases.

If you are trying something difficult, don't. But because I know you will, maximise prep, and minimise your exposure. Don't do that really difficult thing multiple times. More times means more chances.

There will be more. This cycle of mourning will repeat itself - for that is the nature of the wonderful people we choose to associate and play with.

RIP Jimmy.


Condolences to family and friends and to loved ones from the past and present.

Stay Safe
Have Fun
Good Luck

Tom B

Tom, sad news to hear. He was a limit pusher for a fact. Not expecting to see his name pop-up on the fatalities .
.

I met Jimmy a month ago in the Valley, and enjoyed jumping with him. He was a fun and entertaining character, and definitely had the "go hard" Aussie attitude. He invited me to join him and another jumper on a hike to the Jungfrau exit, completely undeterred that none of us knew the way! At the very last moment I decided not to join them. A couple of hours later I saw him at the Horner Pub: "Good call not joining us! We got lost and had to hike down", he told me!


Wise words indeed. From what I've heard of the site, it's an extremely challenging wingsuit jump - a 600 ft wall followed by very shallow forrested "talus", and perhaps only achieved once before. I'm guessing he returned from his European trip feeling current and confident with his wingsuit flying, and from what I saw of it, he had good reason to be.

Sadly, this wasn't enough.

BSBD

Fly forever free legendary Jimmy
It has been a honor to fly with you !
R.I.P.

So long Jimmy. Nice spending some time with you again in the valley with the other Aussies. Appreciated the video and tips. Condolences to his family and friends.
Neil-NZ

I remember the first time i done the exit point in question. As we were gearing up i got told about the story of Jimmy taking a wingsuit off that exit and opening up down in the valley.. a truely amazing feat and for anyone who has seen the exit point will know how difficult it must have been..

I think that sums up Jimmy..

I only met him a handful of times, but he certainly had alot of talent.

Fly Free Jimmy...
Condolences to family and friends...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWKP_Eohol4
Eddie's Video.
Jimmy is at 24 sec and 2:20.
Take care,
space

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWKP_Eohol4

 
Jimmy was a good friend and an incredibly talented jumper. Will miss you mate.

Photo is from Christmas day 2005, I am the short fat one

Jimmy leaves behind with memories, skills and incredible feats. He opened many exits.
Most people think Shane taught me how to jump, but it was Jimmy. he taught me to jump, to pack, evaluate/open an object. I will remember all those firsts with Jimmy. First Antenna, first cliff, first aerials...

Some jumpers have close calls because they are sketchy, not confident, foolhardy...

Jimmy had the occasional close call, but it was because he chose to do very hardcore things.
2009 claimed both my base mentors. Damn.

To those wishing to contribute photos, funny stories/anecdotes and footage to his family and for the funeral, an e-mail account has been setup: forjimmyf@gmail.com

Big hugs to everyone
xxjasmin

RIP Jimmy....
thanks for the jump in Australia a few years ago

hugs back to you Jasmin!

isn't that plummy at 2:20?

Yeah it is.

My mistake. But what a compliment
Take care,
space

I just reconnected with Jimmy last week after a few years of no contact... I miss you brother.

as this is an incident forum, what actually happened?

Wingsuit flight.

Following details are info I have received. I was not there.

600 ft cliff, followed by sloping tallus with tall gum trees, followed by steep dip into ravine / creek with shitty landing area.

Attempt to exit cliff, outfly the slope with trees, deploy above creek, and "land".

Wingsuit flight had very low decent rate - but also very low forward speed. Hence could not outfly slope with trees. Late / lower deployment. Partially opened canopy snagged into top of trees causing excessively rapid deceleration forces. This led to whiplash and broken neck.

Note that Jimmy had successfully completed this jump a few times prior.

Human error!

Went to the funeral, very sad day. RIP jimmy. I had only met him a few times and was really surprised at how helpful he was to me a virtual stranger. He spent quite a bit of time answering my questions regarding skydiving photography. Jimmy was an all round nice guy.

Picture taken by me in China...

Condolences to all . . .

Note to photo posters:

The one thing we all could agree on is the BASE community is so huge now it's possible not everybody knows everybody else.

When you have three blokes in the pic it leads to those situations where you run into the other two, at a party or something, and it's "Wow, I thought you were dead!"

NickD
BASE 194

I basically agree with you but in this case all three of them are world famous jumpers:
Jimmy on the left, in the middle is Gee, one of the best base jumpers on earth, and on the right is Frank the ...ank, another top of the cream jumper, known for his unique flying style and for beeing one of the fastes living packers on the planet. In my opinion, it is party know how to know who Gee and Frank are, it should be tought at every fjc

i didn't know any of these jumpers. they are on a completely different part of the planet from where I reside and jump. :|

"World famous" and "best base jumper / top of the cream jumper" (Frank, what's in a name?) are two different things of course. But then, with bj.com, blinc, nationalbasesites, facebook, twitter (? god help us), etc. around, I feel that knowing has taken on another meaning by know. You must have been in the dark not to know Jimmy, Uelli, Gee, Frank. Need I go on? I am Ronald BTW.