Basejumper.com - archive

Incidents

dride
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Whoops in PHX
Surprised this one has not been posted yet.

http://www.azfamily.com/news/Base-jumper-smashes-into-side-of-Bobbys-Rock-on-Camelback-Mountain-186694391.html?fb_action_ids=10152444537820221&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210152444537820221%22%3A142061965951847%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210152444537820221%22%3A%22og.recommends%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D
freeflyJoe
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Re: [dride] Whoops in PHX
http://www.azfamily.com/...ction_ref_map=%5B%5D
554
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Re: [dride] Whoops in PHX
He had a 180 with a 1/2 line twist. As the line twist came out, he hit the wall. While on rear risers trying to turn out, he sunk into the talus. Broke his nose and pelvis and got a little blood on his canopy.
eUrNiCc
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Re: [554] Whoops in PHX
Does anybody know if the jumper had properly set custom deep brake settings? If not, it sounds like this is the kind of incident where custom DBS would've given him enough extra time and improved rear riser turn characteristics to get it turned away from the wall before striking it.
I'm glad things weren't worse and wish the jumper a speedy recovery!
Pendragon
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Re: [eUrNiCc] Whoops in PHX
This site is really low, consequently there is always little seperation - I doubt if the jumper had time for any form of avoidance manoeuvre. As for custom DBS, this probably depends on canopy; for example, I've always found rear riser response (confirmed by others) on my Troll to be low, but on a Blackjack to be much better. That said, there are other advantages / disadvantages to each to be weighed up.
stinkydragon
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Re: [554] Whoops in PHX
I did pretty much the exact same thing on Saturday. 180 with a half twist, jumper facing out. Everything felt right: normal pack job, square in the harness (I thought about it, like every jump), clean exit and deployment. Opened, reached for toggles, felt the risers crossed and immediately spun around. Input rears with a slight preference to the left to turn away. Lifted my legs and pogoed/PLFed on the wall as the canopy stopped, stalled and slid to the left. I now found myself -- completely uninjured and with a flyable canopy -- falling backwards toward a large ledge near the ground. Having fallen a lot in many of the activities I somewhat ineptly participate in, my muscle memory took over as I bounced off the ledge and into the bushes, shielding my head, staying somewhat round, and not extending my arms. It hurt a lot. A lot. I really thought parts of my skeleton were crushed. As I lay on the ground groaning I began doing a self assessment and realized that I was actually OK. My friend reached me in seconds. He is a professional first responder and combat veteran. He checked me out and got me on my feet. Phoenix FD was on site in less than three minutes. We talked, they took vitals, I signed a release, and that was that. My rump is in a good deal of pain and my whole body is sore, but I walked away. Besides a decent dose of luck, I attribute this to:

1) I was wearing all leather, high top boots with EVA midsole. I think this helped me avoid injury on the first bounce.

2) I was wearing a helmet. A helmet that covers most of my head and jaw.

3) I was wearing glasses. I have a large cut directly above my left eye. I fell in a big, sharp bush.



Lessons learned:

1) In the future, for these types of jumps, I will wear a back protector and possibly hip protector, both using shock absorbing foam.

2) I will limit severely the number of 240 cliffs I freefall.

3) I will wear eye pro for all of my high-speed sports that could potentially put me into a tree or bush.


I would like to thank Phoenix Fire Dept for an ueber fast and professional response. Those guys were on it. I would also like to thank the witness who made the 911 call. I didn't need it, but better to have and not need and all that.
kege
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Re: [stinkydragon] Whoops in PHX
Sounds like a rough fall, glad to hear you are relatively ok. In hindsight, I'd like to know if you think there was anything in the whole "jump process" that you could have done differently that would have possibly made you not hit the cliff? Things like:
- Was there any wind when you jumped?
- Are you a "always risers" guy, would going to toggles first have helped?
- Is turning in time even possible there (considering altitude and object profile)?
- Are you deep brakes tuned (for minimal fwd speed)
- Poised or running exit? If poised, is a running exit possible and would that have given you enough separation?
- Or do you think that on that particular jump, you did everything you could before and during the jump, still hit the cliff, but luck was on your side?

If possible, post a photo or sketch of the cliff? All this is just curiosity from my side. Personally, my lowest free falls so far are around 260ft and what happened to you is of course one of the scariest scenarios, because there is so little time and altitude.

Btw, what did your buddy have to say about your cliff strike? Other than dude why did you hit that cliff?! hahaa

Kerkko
BASE1184
dantheman
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Re: [kege] Whoops in PHX
If possible, post a photo of you wearing all leather.
Do you think this may have had an influence on the afore mentioned incident? Maybe pvc or rubber would have been a better choice...?
What did the emergency services say when they found a shaven headed man dressed all in leather hiding in a bush?
Was your jump buddy also wearing all leather?
Last question; how do you become a member of this 'all leather wearing/bush exploring/basejumping club?' I'm in for sure!!!Wink
Dano302
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Re: [dantheman] Whoops in PHX
the way I read it, "all leather" was describing his boots.
stinkydragon
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Re: [kege] Whoops in PHX
- Was there any wind when you jumped? 0

- Are you a "always risers" guy, would going to toggles first have helped? I'm not an "always risers" guy. By the time I got myself facing the right direction, impact was imminent. I was trying to lower impact velocity. Perhaps this could have been done with toggles, but I don't know.

- Is turning in time even possible there (considering altitude and object profile)? I think if I had been facing the same direction as the canopy on opening (at the wall) I would have been able to toggle turn away if I kept the brakes on, didn't surge, and kept the turn flat. Landing at the base of the wall still would have been a sad prospect, but better than bouncing off it.

- Are you deep brakes tuned (for minimal fwd speed) Yes. I think this was another contributing factor to injury reduction. My BJ more or less stops as it pressurizes before starting forward.

- Poised or running exit? If poised, is a running exit possible and would that have given you enough separation? Running. Modesty aside, I have a killer running exit. I always push off hard and square the harness immediately.

- Or do you think that on that particular jump, you did everything you could before and during the jump, still hit the cliff, but luck was on your side? I'm sure that there were other courses of action that could have prevented my hitting the wall, but identifying them would be pure conjecture. I am also sure that there were many more worse courses of action.

I don't think a picture would add much. Imagine a 240 foot chossy cliff.


In response to DTM:

If possible, post a photo of you wearing all leather? You are already a member of my pay only site. There are plenty on there.

Do you think this may have had an influence on the afore mentioned incident? Maybe pvc or rubber would have been a better choice...? My normal choice is PVC with a full front to back crotch zip, hood, and ball gag mounts. A small German we both know stole this suit, however, so I was forced to jump in all leather.

What did the emergency services say when they found a shaven headed man dressed all in leather hiding in a bush? Quote: "You guys must be with the Phoenix BASE crew."

Was your jump buddy also wearing all leather? No, he was dressed as Sailor Moon without panties.

Last question; how do you become a member of this 'all leather wearing/bush exploring/basejumping club?' I'm in for sure! Aren't you a founding member? You should also apply for golden status. It's an elite level.
gauleyguide
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Re: [Dano302] Whoops in PHX
The way I read it he was wearing all leather. His use of a comma between all leather and high top boots tells me he was wearing all leather and high top boots with a EVA mid sole, what ever that is? Any way....
hookitt
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Re: [stinkydragon] Whoops in PHX
The audible laughter that occurred after reading that reply lasted a significant amount of time in laugh out loud time.
BASEMenace2
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Re: [dride] Whoops in PHX
the object is question is a fairly overhung 250ish cliff with arelatively tame talus underneath it.

the repeated question and issue that has been thrown around these forum is "toggles or risers". Obviously, no one solution works in all enviroments...but, on this object I am a 100% toggle guy (actually I'm a 100% toggle guy on all objects, but thats just me) The trade off for risers in this instance (RAPID loss of altitude) when you have no altitude to sacrifice make them not a viable option. Low cliffs in general should be handled with kid gloves on the risers. Another jumper this same week on the same object, having the exact same off heading tried correcting with risers...quickly realizing that the altitude he was losing was not worth the desired result. Went to toggles, got the canopy flying in a good direction, and crisis was averted.

All in all...two things I have learned from this object after numerous safe jumps from it:

1. RUN....Never go poised from an exit you can run from...object separation is goal number 1 in this environment. You can take a massive run on this thing, at it should be used every chance possible.

2. Toggles will correct an off heading faster, better, and with less altitude lost...if brakes are tuned correctly. Learn to grab em, and how to use em, and they will save you.

This object is one, if not the safest cliffs in AZ...and by far the most often jumped. Number alone will tell you that shit will happen on it. Treating it objectively will help avoid these things in the future.

Best wishes to my boy Aaron in healing up, dude was a trooper. He'll be throwing it down again soon.
Jake44
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Re: [stinkydragon] Whoops in PHX
stinkydragon wrote:
I did pretty much the exact same thing on Saturday. 180 with a half twist, jumper facing out. Everything felt right: normal pack job, square in the harness (I thought about it, like every jump), clean exit and deployment. Opened, reached for toggles, felt the risers crossed and immediately spun around. Input rears with a slight preference to the left to turn away. Lifted my legs and pogoed/PLFed on the wall as the canopy stopped, stalled and slid to the left. I now found myself -- completely uninjured and with a flyable canopy -- falling backwards toward a large ledge near the ground. Having fallen a lot in many of the activities I somewhat ineptly participate in, my muscle memory took over as I bounced off the ledge and into the bushes, shielding my head, staying somewhat round, and not extending my arms. It hurt a lot. A lot. I really thought parts of my skeleton were crushed. As I lay on the ground groaning I began doing a self assessment and realized that I was actually OK. My friend reached me in seconds. He is a professional first responder and combat veteran. He checked me out and got me on my feet. Phoenix FD was on site in less than three minutes. We talked, they took vitals, I signed a release, and that was that. My rump is in a good deal of pain and my whole body is sore, but I walked away. Besides a decent dose of luck, I attribute this to:

1) I was wearing all leather, high top boots with EVA midsole. I think this helped me avoid injury on the first bounce.

2) I was wearing a helmet. A helmet that covers most of my head and jaw.

3) I was wearing glasses. I have a large cut directly above my left eye. I fell in a big, sharp bush.



Lessons learned:

1) In the future, for these types of jumps, I will wear a back protector and possibly hip protector, both using shock absorbing foam.

2) I will limit severely the number of 240 cliffs I freefall.

3) I will wear eye pro for all of my high-speed sports that could potentially put me into a tree or bush.


I would like to thank Phoenix Fire Dept for an ueber fast and professional response. Those guys were on it. I would also like to thank the witness who made the 911 call. I didn't need it, but better to have and not need and all that.

Glad they came out quick. Took them an hour to get to me when I got hurt there a few years back.