bfl-410

BFL#: 410 (13th of the year)
Name: Bryce Schunke
Date: 9th August, 2021
Nationality: American
Location: High La Mousse, Lauterbrunnen - Switzerland
Object Type: Earth
COD: Unknown - Possible low pull due to late disconnect from terrain.
Clothes / Suit: Squirrel Corvid wingsuit
Gear / Parachute: Stream2 container, Hayduke canopy
Age: 38
Skydive Experience: 2000 skydives with 1400 on wingsuit
BASE Jumps: 350
WS BASE Experience: 100 WS BASE jumps.
Years/Seasons in Base: Started 3rd, October 2014 - Perrine, First wingsuit base 15th, October 2019 - Brento
Time of day: Morning: 11:10am
Other factors: Altitude awareness and unfamiliar with terrain
Exit Altitude: Unknown
Conditions: 18 degrees celsius, 64 Fahrenheit - 4klm NW -68% Humidity
Wind on exit: 4 klm NW
Description:

We have been talking with those closest to him at this stage we do know he has jumped alone and video is with Police for investigation. We will have more information in coming days/weeks
https://www.20min.ch/.../un-base-jumper-se-tue-a...

https://www.20min.ch/.../basejumper-stuerzt-in-den-tod...

https://www.instagram.com/bryce.schunke/...

Updated 1st Nov 2021
On July 10, Bryce and his mate Gabe started a BASE trip through Italy and Switzerland. By the time he died, Bryce had done between 70 and 80 wingsuit BASE jumps in one month. He was very confident and feeling great in his suit. His start numbers were impressive. Bryce was an experienced and good wingsuit pilot in skydiving but he wasn’t very experienced in BASE. When Gabe and his friend started their BASE trip, Bryce mentioned that he wanted to do more technical jumps.


On August 9, Bryce told Gabe in the morning that he felt tired and that he would join him for a jump from High Nose. Bryce changed his plan spontaneously and went up to High La Mousse to do his sixth jump from there.


We have footage from Bryce’s GoPro (chest mount) and from his Insta360 (helmet).


00:00 Exit
00:03 Bryce turns right, flying the “right line”
00:33 Disconnecting from terrain, flying towards the Alpinebase Hostel
00:45 Flare
00:48 He goes back to pull and doesn’t get the pc out, immediately tries again (2nd mispull)
00:50 Bryce is sure that the pilot chute is out and brings his arms forward for riser control
00:52 He realizes that the canopy isn’t opening and reaches back for the third time
00:54 Pilot chute is finally out (weak pull) and inflates with no hesitation next to his body
00:55 Bryce impacts with canopy out but no line stretch, primary stow still in place


A few days before the accident, Bryce and Gabe talked about mis-pulls in Wingsuiting. Bryce said that he never had any issues pulling.


Bryce and Gabe came to Lauterbrunnen to practice their exits and starts. After jumping in the valley for a couple of days, they wanted to travel to Walenstadt to attend a course in terrain flying. Bryce got quickly bored in Lauterbrunnen and started to fly proximity.


The day before he died, two of his close friends had a chat with Bryce. They were worried about his new bad habit of pulling low. Bryce already landed in water after a low pull from Altissimo a few weeks earlier.


Bryce didn’t wear any gloves or extra layers of clothes on his last jump. He lost his life because he initiated his opening sequence too late. If he disconnected from the terrain three seconds earlier, if he started to flare and pull three seconds earlier, he would be still with us.




1. Don’t pull low. It’s just not worth it. We can all have mis-pulls or severe line-twists. There is always a first time.
2. Fight complacency. Don’t get too confident.
3. Listen to your close friends. If they’re worried for you, they might have a good reason.
4. Don’t jump when you’re physically or mentally tired. Long BASE trips can be very exhausting. Take a day off and relax.


Marcel Geser (SBA), James Boole

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