Terrible news from Moab

[Jimmy P]

Yesterday at Echo canyon, Bill Frogge, a fairly new resident of Moab, went in. Hanna, Clint, Hank, Pick, Chris , Eddie and Phil had all jumped. Carrie and Nicole were enjoying the sunny afternoon in the campground with all of our dogs. Life was awesome and we were looking forward to a great weekend of jumping. We all looked up to watch Bill and Marta do a two way. They were leaving from separate launch points about 30 feet away from each other. Bill gave the count and they both exited. They both pitched out, Bill was going hand held. Marta's parachute was stopping her descent when Bill's pilot chute peeled his shrivel flap. Then the most horrifying thing that I will ever see and had always thought "what a nightmare that would be..." happened. The shrivel flap was not attached to the canopy top skin and Bill continued to fall in a stable body position. I can't tell you how it feels to see a perfectly healthy friend of yours about to die in 3 seconds. I wanted to stop time. Most turned their heads. I couldn't look away. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. He disappeared behind a low line of bushes and the thunderclap of noise that followed was like a bomb going off. There was no rush immediately to reach him. Everyone just stood there, dumb and confused. There was no doubt as to his fate. But then people want to wish and we began to run to him. His dog Norman accompanied the rush, thinking it was all a big game. We found him in a small ravine. He had hit above it and then bounced about 20 feet down. His helmet was shattered and laying away from the body. Legs and arms were where they weren't supposed to be. I felt for a pulse praying against all odds and as I turned his head, I felt the bones crack. It was instantaneous and I guess that's better than suffering. I let his dog Norman in close, not sure what he would do. Bill and Norman were the best friends in the whole world and I knew that he would want him there. Norman licked his face and then just sat down and watched him, almost waiting for him to stop playing dead. I'm not sure what Norman could figure out but he just kept circling Bill, but not touching him again. Those who could handle it and wanted to be close to Bill, not afraid of his death but knowing that he would want us �

[GaryP]

Thank you so much Jimmy for your post.

Peace be with you and all who are affected by this loss.

g.

[Skinflicka]

This is devastating news. I just pulled Bill's number out of my wallet the other day while looking for something else in there and almost called him. I wish I had.

I'm so sorry bro'. You were living the dream. Fly on.

You'll be sorely missed.

Skin.

;(

[d-dog]

We are all so sorry to hear this. Thanks, Jimmy, for sharing. I send my condolences to family and friends.

2003 isn't supposed to be like this, not at all.

Peace,

D-d0g
ddog@wrinko.com
http://www.wrinko.com

[devo]

Thanks Jimmy for posting this info.
We send our condolences to
family & friends. I had just met him
back in Nov. & jumped with him several
times. He was a super nice guy & will
be sadly missed.
Kevin & Roxy

[base587]

I'm so sorry Jimmy. Bill was a good guy :-(

Spence

[redeye]

Bill I will always remember our jumps.
~~~redeye

[PerFlare]

Dark times it is ... My condolences to family and friends!

PerFlare
Member Team Bautasten
Sweden

[base311]

This is terrible. Our condolances to Bill's friends and family.

Gardner and Leanne

[Tree]

My thoughts are with you all.

Every time I change anything on my gear I think about these things, the big what if....Check your 3 rings before every single jump, even if you looked at them when you were packing. If you change any part of a system, check every single point and verify.

BSBD

Tree :(

[BASE_689]

Thanks Jimmy for posting this info.
I send my condolences to family & friends. Never met Billy (I live in Europe), it simply is that one of us has just flown away, on an everlasting BASE tour. And I am very sad about this.
We will meet in that place where there are no more tears.
I wish Billy is flying free on golden wings in a forever clear blue sky.
I cannot even imagine the sorrow of people close to Billy.
I wish they can all withstand such a pain and remember the best of Billy.
Stay safe out there
Blue Skies and Soft Walls
BASE #689

[clint]

Clint here! I was with Jimmy on that sad day and I couldn't describe the feeling that came over all of us. It was paralizing, we couldn't believe we just saw that. It was a big day to me, I was really excited to see Jimmy's 2nd jump back and his first visit back to Echo. It was good to see him with a rig on.

I just moved to Moab 3 months ago and Bill and I became good friends. He was basically my jumping buddy besides my roommate Hanne. Bill had moved to Moab 2 weeks before I did. He was current, doing approx. 50 jumps since OCT. I personally have jumped with him on 30 of those jumps. I was there for his 100th jump and he was there for my 100th jump, which I had my first 180. I was at his house the night before talking about how good this weekend was going to be with all of these guys from CO coming in. We were supposed to meet at 8am at McDonalds to start jumping and well they decided to jump at 11am so he came to my house at 7:55 to let me know that there was a change of plans. That's how nice the guy was, it's cold at 8am and to get in his car to tell us this was very considerate of him. He could have called but he forgot my phone #, that was BILL. He didn't was us waiting at McDonalds forever. So we went to jump early and get one in before the crew came to Echo. Hanne and I jumped and we waited for a while for them to get there. It was a slow morning for them. So we all climbed up, 10 of us. Got to the top and Bill asked me to do a 2 way with him and I said no because I'm not comfortable doing 2 ways. I just did my first 2 way, 3 days ago with Hanne. He wanted to jump last, he usually liked to go last. He enjoyed being up there thinking about how great life was, how beautiful the view was, he did a little dance sometimes before he jumped. That was BILL.
We loved him for being him! Then the 2way with Marta. Jimmy's words about what we all saw, I couldn't have explained it better. Thanks Jimmy!!

I had to write something about what happened that day because Bill was my friend. I loved his dog, Norman. Tucker(my dog) and Norman were best friends. My wife and I send out our deepest regards to his family.

IF anyone out there(mostly CO crew) has any video of Bill, I would love to get it so we could put all of it on to a tape for us and his family.
He was happiest when he was jumping, he was loving the BASE life. He was on vacation for the past 3 months and he loved the fact that he didn't have to wake up and go to work. He was planning on going to work but kept putting it off because he simply just didn't have to go to work yet. He was planning on buying a house here and making Moab his home, permanetly.

I hope I didn't say anything to offend anyone, if I did I'm sorry!

We will miss you Bill Frogge, I hope you have found peace!!

Clint MacBeth

[Lloyd]

Thanks Jimmy,this is horrible.
It's hard to believe that what sounds like a moment of negligence,a silly mistake can result in such a terrible tragedy.
B.A.S.E jumping is dangerous.Being current is good,but perhaps jumping in Moab ,or Perrine ,or anywhere we can make many jumps in a casual environment it's possible for us to become careless about stuff that usually scares us silly.
As they say,complacency kills.... checking and double-checking our gear is very important.

I spent one day jumping with Bill (and Norman) and he seemed like a really great guy.
I'm so sorry,my deepest sympathy to all of his family and friends.

[ptwobBrown]

I jumped with Bill a few times in Moab and did some skydives with him in Colorado. I am sad to see him go. Here is a quick picture of him that I captured from video before one of our jumps at the G Spot.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Aaron
BASE723

http://www.blincmagazine.com/forum/user_files/92.jpg

[douggs]

my thoughts are with you bill and all the crew over there.
it is a sad loss, no words.
please be safe everyone, when i come back to the u.s. i want to have all my friends there to jump with.
take care please
douggs (:<