Basejumper.com - archive

 

FUCK!!!!

No way. Crap.

More details when available, please?

Please remove the name, this accident happened less than 10 hours ago.

Fly free

I've removed the name.

If you have more info, can you PM me please?

 

+1... very curious how the Sutton fatality went completely dark on this forum and the dropzone.com. Also curious how we are essentially returning to the wonderful old days of pre-ram-air wingsuits where 75 percent of those doing it DIED.

When one of the best goes in, it's always a reminder that the Reaper lurks for everyone.

When the best start going in routinely, it's a warning that our practices, procedures and -- most importantly of all -- our attitudes need adjustment.

Every year, more and more of our best terrain flyers are landing their wingsuits without first opening their parachutes.

What's the old saying? One is an anomaly. Two is a coincidence. Three is a trend.

To which I add: Four is a wakeup call. Five is a warning. Six is WTF are we all thinking?

There is also the "coincidence" that two of our finest went in while filming movies with a bunch of other guys. At what point does the boogie mentality eclipse common sense and caution?

At what point does the focus change from staying alive to getting a better shot?

During my many years in parachuting, I can count more than half a dozen fatalities that occurred during formal film shoots; the fatalities-per-jump comparison to "normal" jumping is exponentially higher.

When Jonathan Tagle went in on a canopy terrain flying jump, I wrote that we need to back off on intense jumps as the day goes on because everything we do slows down just a touch as we tire, and we don't notice the performance degradation because... we're tired. I wrote that we should therefore "fly on instruments" and back off a bit with each succeeding jump to cover the performance degradation that we cannot perceive.

IIRC Tagle was not on a photo shoot, but the same goes for photo shoots: Whether it's the first jump of the shoot or the last, back off a bit from what you think you know you can do because the photo shoot itself changes things the same way launching from an aircraft instead of a fixed point changes things.

And that also brings into play quantum theory and the observed system. It is a fact of quantum physics that the act of observing a system changes the observed system.

Given this, it is imperative for people participating in photo shoots (and yes, I include all the informal shoots that mark essentially every wingsuit jump made these days) to understand that the "observations" made by the cameras are altering the way the jumps occur -- and when you're dealing with the very tight margins of today's "best" terrain flyers, those alterations can mean the difference between life and death.

Seriously, how many wingsuit terrain flights are even made today without a camera? They are, in quantum terms, all "observed systems" and all of that is changing the way we think about, approach and execute terrain flights.

Obviously, this is a general look at the overall situation and not specific to XXX because we have no details yet, but the bottom line is:

We are doing something wrong to be routinely losing our best and we better stop, take a breath, and figure out what it is.


44

France / Chateau de Cartes - French - 13 august 2013. Wingsuit - impact during flight
Swiss / Heli Jump - English - 14 august 2013 wingsuit - impact during flight
France / Pointe de Sans Bet - Polish - 16 august 2013 Wingsuit - impact during flight
France / Dent de l'Arclusaz - French - 17 august 2013 Wingsuit - impact during flight
Italy / Sass Pordoï - Canadian - 19 august 2013 Wingsuit - impact during flight

5 in 7 days !! tell them they can think twice ! before their rad proxy line ...

This did not include on in Savoy that seems to also have occurred yesterday that was also impact during flight.

So that is 6 in 7 days.

France (Savoie) / Dent de l'Arclusaz - French - 17 august 2013 Wingsuit - impact during flight

It was not yesterday, it was Saturday ...

http://www.base-jump.com/....php/board,15.0.html

Sorry for the error, and thank you for the correction.

But, 5 in 7 days is still a fairly serious number.

Do you think active pilots are getting their information from the BFL? Do you not think that XXX knew about the recent fatalities or had missed some golden piece of time-sensitive information that was maliciously withheld from the community?

One thing that restricting access to information does help? Not having relatives find out about incidents on Facebook or an internet forum, which has happened in several recent cases.

Be patient. The details will come out, and as usual, we'll find that we haven't learned a fucking thing.

I removed the name because I'm not sure that family has all been notified.

I'll put the name back in once I know that's happened.

I'd prefer that jumpers' families not learn of their death from a news report.

id like to refer ghetto to unclecharlie's message .He is someone we respect enormously with a wealth of experience and id like to say i am within the current batch of terrain flyers that ghetto thinks we should ignore well tell ou what , we learn something new from every tragig fatalitly in our sport and if you dont your an idiot that shouldnt be jumping base , honestky withen the last 4 months ive had 2 close calls one of which unclecharlie was witness too , that made me sit up and think.... you are never too big / experienced / or skilled for this sport cause on a bad weather day when the wind is being a bit funky it can f' u up . :-)

Uhh, I think you fully misunderstood my post. Then again, I can't really understand yours so I'll just leave it at that.

Hate to hear it! BSBD

http://www.climbing.com/news/mario-richard-dies-in-base-jump-accident/

Oh man ... that hurts. BSBD.

This original post, posted with Mario's name before knowing whether or not immediate family members had been notified, was completely irresponsible and uncalled for. How about using some common sense instead of being so anxious to be the first one to post the horrible news? It's only a matter of time before a family member learns of their loved one's demise on the internet if we don't use common sense.

Jesus fucking christ thats terrible news. My heart hurts for his partner. why

Everybody who's been shouting on this thread needs to cool it. Mario was a much-loved and highly respected guy and the shock of his death has obviously jangled almost everybody, and some of the jangled have resorted to lashing out at others in their grief.

Everyone handles grief in their own way, but let's try to be polite on this thread, okay?

Yes, maybe Tree should have withheld the name, but it turned out to be a harmless error in terms of family notification because the family did in fact know about it before Tree did. Moreover, the name was redacted almost as soon as it was posted, then restored when the mod found out that the family had been notified.

There is also some question about whether Tree should have been the one to make the initial post whether he withheld the name or not, but that is a different subject area and should be handled somewhere other than in this thread, which should focus on the incident itself, not the who, what, when, where & why of its reporting.


44

What a wonderful person the world has lost.
Sympathies to Steph, and all who knew him.
I wish I could think of something better to say, but what a terrible loss.

Please quit the relentless bickering that goes on eternally on this web site and show some respect, honor, and love for one of the greatest Humans BASE jumping has ever been privileged to call one of their own. What an incredible man, he will always be my real life hero. And remember, there is nothing safe about jumping off a cliff with a fabric flying suit on, that's why it is so incredible, because it shouldn't be possible. With all the love and respect I have Mario, it was a true honor, Jamie

Fuckn' ay...

Mario was an awesome person, a visionary leader in our sport, and a dialed, methodical, and knarly jumper who blazed a trail for others to follow.

http://www.lavanguardia.com/...83/alvaro-bulto.html

My spanish is not good enough but there seems to be another casualty

in reply to "When one of the best goes in, it's always a reminder that the Reaper lurks for everyone.

When the best start going in routinely, it's a warning that our practices, procedures and -- most importantly of all -- our attitudes need adjustment.

Every year, more and more of our best terrain flyers are landing their wingsuits without first opening their parachutes.

What's the old saying? One is an anomaly. Two is a coincidence. Three is a trend.

To which I add: Four is a wakeup call. Five is a warning. Six is WTF are we all thinking?

There is also the "coincidence" that two of our finest went in while filming movies with a bunch of other guys. At what point does the boogie mentality eclipse common sense and caution?

At what point does the focus change from staying alive to getting a better shot? "
.............................................................................


Good questions robinheid,
Just some thoughts ..
When our leaders lead us unecessarily into dangers they themselves have not fully recognised or mastered they cease to be leaders and become misleaders.

Are these so called leaders just followers themselves ? following a long line of fliers misguided by over confidence and excessive belief in their own infallibilty and indestructability.
Is that where we go wrong? really BSing ourselves, however momentarily , that we CAN'T die.

most people i have known who have died in this sport ( and others) thought they were leading edge, but it was all obviously delusional once they were lying there dead and broken.

Sure they taught us something ...what NOT to do.

Still the best advice I've heard re wingsuit base...."get as far away from that phuckin' rock as you can."