Basejumper.com - archive

Talus landing during easter weekend, slick tracker opened with line twists / off heading and landed high on the talus. The jumper was lucky to come to a stop on a small ledge, with only minor injuries.

The rescue was straight forward and fast, the helicopter team know the scenario well and were able to perform a winch pick up.

The jumper had his cell phone so we could check his condition and also instruct him to stash his canopy (making the rescue much faster and simpler)


It is worth while mentioning:

- deal with heading before line twists, climb up your lines to steer canopy (hard but doable)

- track pants / wing suits = more object separation**

- always carry a radio or cell phone, emergency number in Italy is 118

- Stashing the jumpers canopy, when possible, can make rescue much faster & easier (otherwise the rescuer must be dropped a safe distance away and traverse)

Record numbers this Easter, over 45 jumpers on the mountain at one point.


** If you fly towards the big empty bit

Harder than people think; been there, tried that.

However, if line twists high, worth pushing the risers together and twisting the lines such that the line twists come down (canopy wants to expand and so helps this process) allowing the jumper to reach above the twists. Would have tried it if I'd thought of it back then.

Oh, and if collision becomes inevitable - ball up and let your elbow/knee pads take the initial impact, followed by the side of your leg. Given I didn't break anything, maybe there is something in that. (I was wearing elbow/knee pads and a full-face helmet - which helped enormously - but wished I'd been wearing snowboard protection shorts as well)

Dont forget: It was an afternoon jump and wind conditions were far from perfect (especially slick)

slick sux, but also tracking abilty. track well. otherthings dont matter.
take care,
space

......speaking of tracking well....here's an idea!....

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Raven/552532891508247