Kjerag Injury

[guest]

Female USA jumper injured at Kjerag on 30 Jul. Several fractures apparently.

[guest]

Just to follow up my subject on accidents by foreigners.
During the last week three foreigners have hit the cliff when jumping off Smellveggen in Kjerag. All three needed assistance from the rescue helicopter. Luckily, they all survived. The fact that foreign jumpers get killed or hurt when jumping in Norway is now a topic in the national television and various newspapers. Furthermore, the opinion of the people is now wondering about the use of the taxpayers money when the rescue helicopter is called. So all of you in order the stay alive and keep Kjerag legal in the future, jump safe and dont get killed or hurt and be aware of your limits before jumping.

[PerFlare]

Hi Håkon,

My name is Per Eriksson and I live in Sweden. You say three jumpers? Who is the third?


Thanks
PerFlare

[guest]

Hmmm. 3 strikes from a cliff that isn't really that much of a problem, certainly no worse than for instance Le Magland near Chamonix. I heard Shawn wasn't wearing a helmet either and suffered a major head injury, bummer because he was doing nice wingsuit jumps from #7.

These events are going to make me jump my Mojo 260 from an aeroplane and see if it really is in the deepest brake setting possible. I jump the deepest brake setting nearly all the time, except when I do mongo tracks from #7 or #6. All I can say is that I need gorilla arms to stall my Mojo without doing a wrap of steering line around my hand.

Think about it. Is your canopy really flying as slow as it could after opening ?

[guest]

As far as I know, there has only been two accidents in Smellveggen (not Kjerag, same fjord different cliff) last week,
one on Sunday 30.july and one the Sunday before. The accidents were very similare; pulled after after 4-5sec, offheading, hit the wall and then the canopy starts to spiral down and the person hits the wall 3-4 times before hitting the ground.
Smellveggen is located a lot nearer Lysebotn than Kjerag, so with the right wind direction and strenght you can land right next to Lysebotn camping and theres no need for a boat to pick you up.
I did a jump at Smellveggen a few hours after the girl had been rescued and was safe in hospital with a broken leg.
The wind was perfect for a long delay and still make it to Lysebotn. I did a 10sec delay, and had no problem at all reaching Lysebotn, I could have done 12sec and still made it. This gives you time to track and get some distance from the wall.

I think maby the fear of not reaching Lysebotn might be one of the (many)reasons why some people pull higher than they have to(I did 10 instead of 12sec, thats another 20-30 meters worth of tracking away from the wall) The alternative is water landing or a small patch of grass between lots of trees in a 45 degrees steep hill. Maby this has got something to do with it?
Well, it's better than a cliffstrike....

It's dangerous out there...
atle

[guest]

Hi Per,
The third cliffstrike happend yesterday, Monday 31st. I do not know the details, except that the jumper had to be rescued, but he is OK.

[guest]

Sorry...correction...
Just read the newspaper, and yes, there has been a third cliffstrike in Smellveggen.
A 40-year old british man had a cliffstrike yesterday, and broke a bone("bekkenbrudd", don't know that one in english) and dislocated his shoulder.
Smellveggen once again...
Don't know the details yet...

atle

[guest]

you wrote
"I think maby the fear of not reaching Lysebotn might be one of the (many)reasons why some people pull higher than they........"

i agree with you,
but
a major contributing factor of off-heading openings @ lysbotten
is / are packing methods I.M.O.

last year i was amazed at the cavalier 10 - 12 minute pack jobs i saw while visiting.
just because one is jumping from a tall cliff should not be reason enough pack like you are merely skydiving.

think about it.

i do and i return this week for further research............
BASEically.

stay safe
be smart

kleggo

[guest]

Neatness of pack jobs is quite over-rated when it comes to on heading openings. A much more important factor is body position. In this regard the nervousness of a jumper can have an important role in whether a canopy opens on heading.

But it shouldn't be a problem anyway. Canopies should have such low forward speed that almost anybody should be able to turn them in time. Deep brakes !!!!

[guest]

any update on the extent of steves injuries? just how 'bekken' is his 'brudd' anyway? if anyone is in contact with steve pass on wishes for a speedy recovery from airhugs. tell him i'll collect his gear from lol this weekend, no worries.

[imported_mknutson]

Atle, e-mail me and Michelle!!!!!

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Thanks

Mick Knutson
BLiNC Magazine

"Everything you ever wanted to know about BASE Jumping, but didn't know who to ask."
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