Near miss ITW - Exit order, traffic and evening loads
This incident happened a while back but the video has just come to light: http://youtu.be/-RrjvV8lzJs
Subtitle "I didn't see it, f*ck!!"
Newbie wingsuiter exited whilst there was still a tracker under canopy, he flew 'blind' chin tucked and missed the canopy by a few metres.
There are ever more jumpers at ITW, a queue at the exit is normal. The possibility of a Kjerag style jump master is a way off so we need to organize ourselves:
Best exit order:
1st Wingsuits (good wind drift indicators)
2nd Track suits
3rd Slick
The flight trajectory of smaller wingsuits puts them close to trackers under canopy, so best wait for any canopies to land.
Also if you are low experience (less than 50 SU jumps) and/or jumping slick the 'local' recommendation is to avoid the evening load.
Why? The evening wind conditions are always more challenging than the morning, combined with the failing light (and subsequent challenges for night time rescue). Most incidents at ITW involve low experience jumpers.