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first off sorry I’m not a english major and I barely graduated high school, so please pardon my grammer and sentence structure.

This report is quite embarrassing and really hard to write down. Many of you will probably notice all of the things I did wrong right off the bat but for the people that are honest with themselves maybe it will shed a little light on our sport, the dangers, and how to stay alive for a little longer.

I almost drowned in lake garda

the gear I used
a feather 240 with a profile no cutaway system
hook knife on front of container with easy access
42 in toxic pilot chute
sfly cruise plus
cotton pants, cotton hoody, apporach shoes
g3 helmet
no camera, i jump for myself and am terrified of my ego.

the events were as follows, jumping Campione with a oney and landing in the water

I jumped campione, tracked forward, turned to the right to get closer to land (I didn’t want to land in the water, but I didn’t know it was going to be as bad as it was.) when I pitched I pitched low in a right hand turn, this led to a off heading away from land and towards the water also with a line twist. I immediately climbed to the top of the twists and turned the canopy towards the land. I have practiced this many times. This is probably the only thing I did right on the whole jump. After roughly 5 seconds of my canopy opening I landed in the water on my back trying to get out of twists. As soon as I landed in the water another jumper asked if I was alright. I immediately said yes, that I was fine, put my right hand on my hook knife to start cutting my canopy away. In this instant my oney started to fill with water. I would say within a couple of seconds I realized that I couldn’t swim with the oneie on and I immediately forgot about cutting the canopy away I just wanted to keep my head above water and live. As soon as I was being pulled under I screamed for help. One jumper jumped into the water to come and save me. That jumper did his best to help me swim while one of the workers from campione hostel jumped in the water to also help along with another person. All of these people helped to keep me above water. Another jumper jumped in to assist. When she swam out to me she kept my head above water while the other people pulled the tail of the canopy and the top of the pc to get me swimming out of the water. I probably only had to swim maybe 20 feet to where I could stand, maybe less. If it wasn’t for 2 jumpers and two other humans I would have died. I will be forever grateful to these 4 amazing humans. There is no way I could have gotten out of my cruise!! I would have to cut away my leg straps, my booties, my chest strap, everything! and in the heat of the moment I learned thats not going to happen, or at least not by me. When we finally arrived to shore each of my legs weighed probably 100 pounds plus all the water weight in my upper body baffles I was exhausted and in 12 inches of water I was unable to take my suit off. Both the jumpers and the other people helped me with this task.

Things I did wrong

jumped over placid fresh water off a 950 foot cliff with a onesie track suit. Pulled low. Pulled in a right hand turn.

Things that happened because I made all of these bad choices. Had a 5 second canopy ride from pulling low, had a off heading from pulling in a right hand turn. Snivelled because of jumping a oneie, I was having some snivelling problems on this trip thats why I decided to jump a 42. I have a very aggressive pull and this also may have resulted in the off heading

factors for why I made all these poor decisions
1.) ego, I’ve been flying this suit amazingly well, so I decided that I could start and fly off a 950 ft cliff. Without the good starts I was getting on this trip I would have never jumped a onesie or a wingsuit off of something thats 950 to impact with no talus. My ego created a complacency in myself that was hard to get a rid of. I’ve always felt that if I’m not having fun with base then its time to not do it anymore and I”ve always worried about my ego and in turn the complacency that I get from my ego. I wasn’t able to catch my ego on this particular trip because of how well I was flying this suit and how much fun I was having. My poor decisions happened all on my own and this is what is so problematic and worries me the most about my judgement. Being dangerous because you want to be dangerous are the people I want to surround myself with. Being dangerous because your ego is so huge and you don’t understand the risks you are putting yourself in are the jumpers I don’t want to be around. I was definitely the later jumper and this is what pisses me off the most, I became everything I don't want to be because I couldn't control my ego. Its a beast. I won’t be able to continue this sport if I keep this attitude because I’ll be dead. Mitigating the risk that we put our selfs in and preparing for the accidents that will and do happen are the only ways we can stay alive.

lessons learned, complacency and poor attitude resulted in myself making lame choices and almost dieing. Swimming in a onsie is almost impossible, When shit hits the fan and the mind turns to fight or flight one forgets almost all of his or her traning when they haven’t pre meditated the results. Human compassion is very powerful the people that saved me I will be forever grateful too

What could I have done differently and what will I do differently.
1.) pitch higher, if I want to be dangerous and fly the oneie for longer I’ll wear a life jacket, a self inflating one. I have one for paragliding and I pretty much always wear it when performing acro over water (required by paragliders on the other side of the lake to fly with)

2.) not jump a onesie off campione. I have fun jumping these smaller objects with nothing other than my body. If I can’t swim with this on and I don’t have a lifejacket I’m not about to risk my life more than I already do by basejumping

theres a million different things I could have done to make this safer these are just the most obvious and what I’m taking as personal experience and what I know I’ll change for the next campione jump

if you would have done something different please feel free to comment on it and I can tell you from real world experience if I think it would be possible.

I wrote this so hopefully we can all learn from this, I am so psyched to have found base and I really enjoy doing this I don’t want to lose my life nor do I want to see anyone else dieing from our sport. I hope this helps someone from a poor decision or the next fatality. I realized on this particular jump that my decisions were directly affected by my ego and my ego is a incredibly dangerous thing that I would like to tame.

Your ego might be an underlying cause and in hindsight it's always easy to identify individual mistakes.
But what is the one thing that could have prevented this?
Having a plan, having a plan B and maybe going down the alphabet a few more letters.

Just my 2 cents.

The one thing that could have PREVENTED (im not yelling) this is to not make a base jump.

I do agree with having a plan, this is something I didn't have. Planning for being in the water and how to properly get out of that situation are what I would plan for on the next jump from Campione hence the life jacket idea. The only way to not guarantee you won't end up in the water of Campione is to not jump. You can make yourself less likely to land in the water by following some simple rules but you can't guarantee not landing in the water. Going down the alphabet, have proper ground crew, a boat. Planning for jumps as you become complacent becomes much more tedious as you spend more time in this sport. I'm not saying that its good its just the darkness that slowly creeps in as you spend more time doing these things. having a incident is rejuvenating because you wake up to the complacency that you were just having. thanks for the idea of a proper plan before you jump

your 2 cents taken

Thanks for the detailed write up!
Glad you are OK.

Maybe you could take your Onesie back to the lake or a pool with some friends and practise water landing procedures?
Been done with a wingsuit:

https://vimeo.com/11559773

(My emphasis)
I didn't say anything about guarantees ;)

My point was that worrying about ego and complacency can be too vague while focusing on individual things can be too specific.

I also didn't say that having a plan is the only thing. But to me it is an often overlooked factor even though it can make up for so many things. For example, I'd say lack of skill is rarely the real problem but rather failure to account for it. Ego becomes a problem if you misjudge your skills when making a plan etc.
But of course - and maybe that's what you meant - to think you don't need a plan can be a result of ego/complacency.

Water is a super dangerous element and shit can get so bad so fast. Jumping in Norway with a lot of rivers, streams and fjords, the risk water poses is something I account for in every jump.

1) I pull high to give myself margin for twists, offheadings etc.
2) I unzip every zipper on my wingsuit for, legs and arms, so that they are free in case of waterlanding. I do this one every jump, every time, regardless. This way it becomes routine.

Thanks for sharing your story! It might save someone elses life further down the road!

Anything on equipment which can fill itself with water will do so, sooner or later. This can be a pilot-chute, cells on a canopy, arm/legwings on a wingsuit and onepiece suits with inflatable parts. All these items will weigh considerably more then normal, and will be way way more difficult to handle, both in and out of the water. Open zippers will help movement, but will not decrease the weight. I can only assume we all know that. If you don’t want that, don’t use it with a change of a water landing, or - do we all do that once in a while? - accept the risk.

I still don’t see why people don’t jump with a release system. Forget being able to cut all lines / risers. Remember Lake Garda does not have any waves or current.

Appreciate your honest & detailed description. I believe the jumping angle is pretty straight-forward and has already been thoroughly discussed, so i will share my experience on a swimming side.

The quote above points to panic as the main & really the only problem - this could've been a quote from any water rescue course! Are you a good or at least ok swimmer? Have you ever landed in the water before?

Speaking from experiences of landing a wingsuit in deep still water on various occasions (salt, fresh, cold, warm) it has never been an issue to stay relaxed on the surface and swim to the shore or wait for a boat - so much so i have never bothered to cut away a canopy but towed it with me. The suit by itself does not affect your ability to float on water, it has neutral buoyancy and only restricts the movement somewhat. I have tried both to swim with the suit on and to take time to get out of it, depending on the circumstances. Either way it is no problem at all, in _still_ water, if you're an _ok_ swimmer and water is above 10C. I have seen quite a few friends land wingsuits in the water without any issues - except one wasn't allowed into an elevator at a certain Garda hotel after climbing out onto their pier and had to take fire stairs! ;-) The suit only becomes a nuisance when you finally try to lift your body out of the water (into a boat or onto a ladder) - then it suddenly does weigh an extra ton, so go slow.

However, i have also seen a friend nearly drown in Norway from cold exposure (he had no problem to stay afloat but too far from shore to make it before hypothermia hit hard). BFL #111 is a sad example of cold water exposure, no wingsuit involved. And if you ever land in _moving_ water in a wingsuit with no cutaway, you are fucked. This is to be avoided at all costs - luckily it's easier to avoid a fast river than a slow lake, take a tree or small rocks any day! Again, from experience of stumbling and falling into fast-moving Arkansas river after an uneventful landing on the edge of railroad tracks (without a suit), i have cut a canopy away within a couple of seconds and have never ever seen it again. It'd be a fatality without 3-rings.

For what it's worth...

bsbd!

Yuri.

I've had a water landing with a onesie this year, i managed to land very close to shore, swimming there wasnt easy but i did it. However, as soon as you try to lift yourself out of the water, things do get complicated. And very heavy. I've had to take off rig and suit while still in the water, i couldnt lift a foot.

Glad you are ok mate, i've heard about your story!

Happy you are alive. We are all a danger for ourself. BASE jumping is a little bit Ordalic behavior...

This post is very interesting not only about the incident but for all the sence inside. You got all the answers. In fact you are just saying that life gave you a lot of wonderfull signs and some big help to change. That is a chance.

And yes jumping over the water is very dangerous if we don't have a release system and I imagine how difficult it is to undress of a onepiece with the harness as a wingsuit... Thanks I think that it will help some oter jumpers on day.

Take care.

jerome

This is really the heart of the matter right here. Drowning because you are being weighed down by negatively buoyant material such as lead weight or some other metal objects, is one thing. Panicking because of the feeling of restriction within equipment which for all intents and purposes is neutrally buoyant, is a whole other matter. People who lack confidence in the water should seriously consider exits which could put them in it. Fast moving rivers are the exception here as people of all water comfort levels should exercise extreme caution. But in the case of a placid lake, 20 feet from shore, understanding that being in a suit is not going to physically sink you is extremely important. As a water polo player, diver, surfer, open water swimmer, there isn't much that bothers me with regards to the water. I understand that many or most people probably don't have the same comfort level that I do. That's not to say that developing some easy techniques for survival can't be done.
For one, don't try to tread water in a vertical orientation. Try laying on you belly and breast stroking. You can do this for hours if you go easy. If that's all you do, neither you suit nor your canopy will drag you down in placid water. You will still be keeping your head above water and the neutrally buoyant gear you are wearing with little affect on you arm and leg movements.
Stay safe out there people. Sometimes it's the thing you least expect.

next time you are out surfing, open up the back of your wetsuit, catch a wave, then dive off head first into the water. come back and let me know how neutrally boyant that water is.
i've grown up in florida, surfing my entire life and have almost drown because of this.
Your legs and arms hold the water and increase the size of the suit so much that the drag is almost impossible to overcome.
When i swim my arms tend to come out of the water, not going to happen with the arms filled up like balloons, similar situation to kicking. Legs fill up like balloons, drag causes legs to slow down and be less effective. try it out......

Been there, done that, got the T Shirt. Surfing in Santa Cruz, CA for almost 20 years I've had plenty of those experiences. But the situation you described is not placid water. Having all that happen and a leash break, I still had the ability to get back to shore on more than one occasion. Did you not read what I wrote? I wasn't suggesting you swim freestyle, which it sounds like you're suggesting. Not really sure why freestyle seems like the stroke of choice for saving one's life in this type of situation. The idea is to relax. By all means, find fault with what I said and proceed to panic. Anyone that drowns in placid water in similar conditions, drowns needlessly. For the record, water by itself is neutrally buoyant. Unless it's ice, in which case there's a strong case for positive buoyancy. You guys actually wear wetsuits in Florida when you surf???

We only wear suits in the winter. I'm a skinny guy, so I don't float. If I try and relax, I sink like a stone. I've broken a leash in 10' swells on the outside of monster hole and am still alive also. I think the idea behind this discussion should be to get out of your gear as fast as possible, and not try and swim through lines, canopy, and a onesie. When you are covered in excess fabric it is harder to keep your head above water. Period...... I've also had to commandeer someone's kayak to pick up wingsuiters in the water at sebastian. So I'm fully aware of water rescues. I think we should really consider a 3 ring on your harness if you are going to be jumping near water.

Ultimately this thread is about finding yourself in water over your head but 20 Feet from safety. But let's call it 50 Feet. At that distance being relaxed and comfortable knowing that, you may be stuck in your gear, but your gear wont sink you is key. Depending on the gear you are using, getting out of it may cause more panic. Swimming a slow breast stroke won't tire you out and will get you that 50 Feet in a short period of time. If you have the where with all to police up your pilot chute by it's crown and your canopy by its tail pocket, then neither your PC or your canopy will act as a sea anchor.
I've had to do Combat Swimming scenarios with full uniform, boots weapons, load bearing vest, helmet etc etc. That's real weigh you down shit right there, and we were still able to do all that and not die.
So if you can cutaway your canopy Brilliant. If that makes you feel better and safer, then do it. Just don't try and extricate yourself from a tracking suit or wingsuit only to panic and drown. 20 Feet from where you could comfortable stand. Again, this is placid water. All bets are off in a fast moving river, or 10 Foot surf. With that scenario. CUTAWAY IMMEDIATELY!!

"The quote above points to panic as the main & really the only problem - this could've been a quote from any water rescue course! Are you a good or at least ok swimmer? Have you ever landed in the water before?"

I would agree on the panic point. I'm a ok swimmer, and I've landed in the water before on purpose with both paraglider and base rig. When I landed before in the water it was on purpose and I think this is the reason why I didn't panic. On another note that I failed to mention on my original post was as soon as the people came to my rescue I immediately stopped panicking and I think this is why I was able to calm down and swim.

I watched a friend land in cold placid water this summer in Italy. He was in a large suit and over 100' from shore. He stayed calm, rolled onto his back, and started basically doing the breast stroke on his back (frog kick with his legs and paddling with his arms still zipped up). He left everything zipped and canopy connected. by the time he got to shore his suit was complete full of water, but it didn't affect his head from staying above the water. Obviously this wouldn't work in fast moving water. Because of the drag from the suit and canopy, it took a while to swim back so it would be good in too cold of temperatures where you would risk hypothermia. But staying calm is key. I'll send him a link to this article and see if he wants to elaborate.

outrager wrote:The suit by itself does not affect your ability to float on water, it has neutral buoyancy and only restricts the movement somewhat.

This is really the heart of the matter right here. Drowning because you are being weighed down by negatively buoyant material such as lead weight or some other metal objects, is one thing. Panicking because of the feeling of restriction within equipment which for all intents and purposes is neutrally buoyant, is a whole other matter. People who lack confidence in the water should seriously consider exits which could put them in it. Fast moving rivers are the exception here as people of all water comfort levels should exercise extreme caution. But in the case of a placid lake, 20 feet from shore, understanding that being in a suit is not going to physically sink you is extremely important. As a water polo player, diver, surfer, open water swimmer, there isn't much that bothers me with regards to the water. I understand that many or most people probably don't have the same comfort level that I do. That's not to say that developing some easy techniques for survival can't be done.
For one, don't try to tread water in a vertical orientation. Try laying on you belly and breast stroking. You can do this for hours if you go easy. If that's all you do, neither you suit nor your canopy will drag you down in placid water. You will still be keeping your head above water and the neutrally buoyant gear you are wearing with little affect on you arm and leg movements.
Stay safe out there people. Sometimes it's the thing you least expect.

Thanks psychokiwi_base next summer Ill be swimming around in a placid lake with my neutral buoyancy onie and canopy.

I'm also a skinny guy, I'm 5.11 and 130lbs I never thought of this having a effect on swimming but I guess you learn something new every day.

I fully agree with this above statement. I was planning on taking my suit off when I landed in the water and as soon as I started to panic because I wasn't away of neutral buoyancy I was incapable of doing anything except for thrashing around violently looking like a dumbass. As soon as I had people around me I immediately calmed down and was able to swim. I think panic is one of the reasons for me swimming so poorly. I will next summer try to swim with all my gear on and see how that goes.

The swimming in your gear thing ain't such a bad idea. In a controlled environment. As you yourself said, once people showed up, you were able to calm down and do what you had to do. What really got me about your story was the distance from safety. I've jumped that exit point. Albeit 16 years ago. Also went swimming there by the landing area. So I remember what the usual conditions are like. Just remember, if the thing isn't actively trying to drown you, relax. Hope you can gain a little perspective with this thread. If we're lucky, someone reading these replies might learn something that will in turn save their bacon one day.

I live out here in Hawaii, Big Island and I know plenty guys that are skinny and lean as who spearfish. Even those fellas need to wear lead weight to get past positive buoyancy. Especially when they have a lungful of air. Human body is mostly water. By that logic, if you're able to take a deep breath, you're floating. You're right though, 3 rings should be the obvious choice for any jumps done over or near water. But let's not forget, if you are trying to get out of your gear and are covered by a canopy, you better be able to take some deep breaths and hold it. At this point relaxing is going to save you and panic will kill you.

Alternately, chop high enough to not worry about getting wrapped in the canopy :)

The most common rule in the Army here about cutaway before water landing is to wait feet touch the water and do, because it s really hard to estimate high above calm water. Somle did too high in the past and had hard contact with water...

To understand it better. You stated you initiated a right hand turn during your track? That cliff is 950ish and had you just tracked straight and true forward it possibly would have mitigated the line twists.

Having jumped it myself I can say there isn’t much time to track right. Not much of a gain either. Tracking to the right set your body up for an asymmetrical loading during your pitch IMO

I once saw a guy cut away over water when he thought he was "almost down" and fell far enough to knock himself unconscious on impact.

You have to use something on the shore (trees, for example) as a reference, and you have to be _very_ careful about estimating your altitude.

Personally, I'll pull the handle once my feet are wet, and not before.

This exact scenario happened to a close friend of mine. Doing an intentional water landing in a Fijord. Because he was basically a non swimmer, he wanted to give himself the best chance of survival and quick rescue by not getting tangled in his lines. As a result, and due to alleged instructions from a non jumping boat driver, he cut away at what he thought was about 10'. Watching and analysing the video that was taken by another jumper on the boat, the actual height was closer to 100'. As the cutaway released him one shoulder first then the other, he fell in a slow roll onto his side. The resulting impact with the water knocked him out and stopped him breathing. He was basically dead in the water. He was pulled out and resuscitated pretty quickly but suffered a severe concussion that left him with double vision for several weeks. He was also hospitalized for over a week because the doctors deduced that he had actually taken sea water into his lungs. To add insult to injury he broke a bunch of teeth that head to be replaced well after the fact. I never really got what I considered an adequate explanation for the events leading up to this incident. I had taught this guy to BASE jump and this type of craziness was definitely not condoned. But at this stage in the game, complacency, familiarity and confidence played a significant factor in his decision making. However in the cold light of day afterwards, i'm pretty sure he was just plain embarrassed about how it all went down.

Re: cutaway above water. You would be surprised how hard water is hitting it at 40 km/hour. Which is a speed you reach really soon in freefall. Pretty basic (and already written above): cutaway when your feet are wet. And of course, we all know that estimating heights is much easier looking forward that straight down.

Re: turning to the right on this jump. There is an exit point above the land there as well. Otherwise, just jump towards the land, no turn needed. ;-)

If one often has a situation where a water landing is likely, perhaps one should consider investing in this gear item:
http://www.spareair.com/models/models-index.html#spareair170

Won't give you much, but if you find yourself below the waterline, it will give you about 15 good inhales(considering the panic), which is enough to cutaway and swim out from under the canopy.

It's pretty small, almost like a radio, so you can stash it or attach to your harness.

I'd also recommend filling it with 100% oxygen, but you do need to know what the hell you are doing for that to be safe.

It will do more good than a hook knife for sure.

Or a life jacket/floating device?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjjw4ta-jy8

Maybe a little something I can add in respect to 3 ring/cutaway maintenance. I had an intentional water landing once on a round, and started to get entangled in the lines. Tried to cut away, but to no avail. Had both hands reefing as hard as I could on the handle but couldn't budge it. Eventually a friend jumped in and helped me out, but until then I was doing what I could to stay calm. If I'd just inspected and cleaned the cables problem avoided. food for thought.

And maybe not even then. Most rigs have soft housings for their cut away cables which we know are notorious for hard cut aways, especially when wet.

The cutaway handle on one of my (older) rigs, I'm pretty sure is just there for looks.

snowboarders use airbag backpacks to not get buried by avalanches. would something like that work as emergency equipment for water landings? like an airbag around your neck to keep your head above water, even if it only gives you an extra minute or so to get shit sorted out? i'm no engineer, just wondering

No need to reinvent the wheel! There are plenty of options that would work just fine.

https://www.amazon.com/...ishing/dp/B074V9XLFM

http://www.cabelas.com/...BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds