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Wingsuit Base

This page is a chapter in 'BASE Wiki Jumping Techniques'

Advice for Starting Wingsuit BASE-Jumping

Introduction:

We have all seen the amazing videos of people like Robert, Yuri and Loic flying their wingsuits. It is natural to want to follow in their slipstreams but let us make sure we do so safely and with adequate preparation.

This document is intended as an initial information source for BASE jumpers interested in starting wingsuit BASE.

This document is not an instruction manual. It does not contain rules, only advice.

Wingsuit BASE is more dangerous than normal BASE jumping if the jumper does not conduct adequate preparation.

If you choose to pursue wingsuit BASE you are strongly recommended to seek instruction from an experienced wingsuit BASE jumper. There is no substitute for one to one coaching.

A wingsuit allows for incredible freefall delays and horizontal distances to be achieved, almost eliminating the chance of striking the object you jumped off, the number one cause of BASE jumping fatalities.

But jumping a wingsuit also has some serious drawbacks:

- The wingsuit restricts your physical movement making exits harder to perform i.e. difficult to climb down to the exit point, easier to go unstable and then harder to recover.

- The wingsuit complicates deployment and prevents you from controlling your canopy immediately after opening.

- The wingsuit jumper must carefully assess the terrain he intends to fly over as the eventual opening point and landing area will be different than for a normal BASE jump and will also depend on flight performance.

-Experienced BASE jumpers who use ground rush as an altitude indicator must exercise caution during their initial jumps. The low fall rate and high horizontal speeds can fool the jumper that they are higher than they actually are. The wingsuit ground rush for a minimal canopy ride is a lot less intense than for normal freefall.

- The wingsuit jumper must also pay attention to his altitude when flying down a talus or over sloping terrain. The jumper often focuses on the airspace they are flying towards, giving the illusion they have lots of altitude available (e.g. looking at the valley floor in front of them).

In this situation the jumper must remember that the critical altitude is the immediate vertical elevation they have over the talus or slope. The wingsuit jumper must always ensure sufficient altitude for a safe deployment - bear in mind that as soon as the PC is released the wingsuit jumper will stop flying and drop vertically approx. 200’+ as the canopy deploys.

- Experienced wingsuit BASE jumpers may attempt to make jumps that would be otherwise impossible without a wingsuit. The jumper must be absolutely sure of his own capabilities and those of his equipment when undertaking jumps that allow little margin for error.

Before even considering doing a wingsuit BASE jump you should be:

An intermediate BASE jumper:

- With minimum 50 BASE jumps (but more jumps are strongly recommended!)
- Cool under pressure, very comfortable in the BASE environment
- Always performing solid exits, also when exiting with arms by your side
- Have good sub & terminal tracking skills
- Have excellent canopy flying skills and landing accuracy
- Have consistent record of stable deployments and on-heading openings

An intermediate wingsuit skydiver:

- With minimum 50 wingsuit skydives (but more jumps are strongly recommended!)
- Who wears a wingsuit as if it were pyjamas, not feeling physically restricted by the fabric
- Always able to find the PC quickly and cleanly, with good on heading openings
- Well practiced at recovering from instability
- Able to unzip arm wings instantly after deployment - like 2nd nature
- Familiar using arm and leg cutaways in freefall and under canopy immediately after opening
- Able to fly the suit comfortably without “potato chipping” achieving reasonable fall rate and forward speed
- Ideally have performed some wingsuit balloon jumps to simulate the exit & sub terminal flight

- See Appendix B for specific flight drills to practice whilst jumping the wingsuit from the plane.


A person who has read all the incident reports, analysed the contributing factors and accepted that wingsuit / BASE jumping is worth the risk of serious injury & death.


So you still want to wingsuit BASE?



Let's talk about specific preparation:

Equipment:

First thing, it is strongly recommended to start wingsuit BASE using a low performance wingsuit i.e. Birdman Classic, GTi or similar. Once you have 10+ good wingsuit BASE jumps you could consider jumping with a higher performance suit.

The following items are strongly recommended:

- A 1 or 2 pin BASE container for wingsuit BASE. The high speed airflow over the container and high deployment angle excludes the use of a Velcro rig.

- A normal terminal pack job i.e. symmetrical, mesh slider packed “up” (large or fine mesh depending on personal preference).

- ZP pilot chutes, the size depends on your canopy, between 34” – 38”. The PC should NOT have a hackey handle (or heavy handle). With a hackey PC handle there is the possibility of the bridle wrapping around the base of the handle. A heavy PC handle could contribute to PC hesitation.

The following items are recommended:

- A container withaerodynamic corners' or open corners.

- A suitable helmet, goggles and low profile protective pads.

Back to the dropzone:

- Perform 20 hop-n-pops using your low performance wingsuit and a sensibly sized 7 cell main, or even better your BASE canopy in a skydiving rig. (The 20 jumps can count towards the 50)

- Work your deployment altitude gradually down to USPA minimum of 2200', open by 2000'
(Discuss this with your CCI / DZO first, some dropzones may enforce a higher pull altitude)

- If you have any instability, deployment or opening problems go back to full altitude jumps until they are rectified, use a BMI if necessary.

During these 20 hop-n-pops think about your emergency drills for the following situations, bearing in mind the reduced altitude and time under canopy:

  • Unstable exit
  • Handle inside of pouch /BOC
  • Hard pull
  • Floating handle
  • PC in tow
  • Premature deployment
  • Horseshoe malfunction
  • Line twists
  • Line over
  • Water landing
  • Jammed zip

Now to a far away land:

It is strongly recommended to go to one of the following well known "high" locations for your first wingsuit BASE jumps. Become familiar with the object performing normal BASE jumps, getting to know landing areas and outs, obstacles, rock drop, winds, talus / ledges etc.
SITE:
PRO:
CON:
Carl's Huge wall in Northern Norway

Good vertical rock drop
Huge LZ
Good access
Not many sheep and it rains a lot
Norwegian Fjord in Southern Norway:

Good vertical rock drop
Medium sized LZ
Good access
Very expensive beer

Italian Terminal wall:

OK vertical rock drop
Small LZ (assume Heli LZ)
Good access
Wind / turbulence can be a problem
Swiss Fungus:
Good vertical rock drop
Large landing area
Access is difficult, requiring high fitness level and basic climbing skills

Once you are comfortable with the site, pick a day when you are feeling 100% and the weather conditions are perfect to make your first wingsuit BASE jump.

Advice for your first wingsuit BASE jump. What to focus on?

- Being current! Make sure you get current at wingsuit skydiving and BASE jumping in the weeks running up to your first jump.

- Pack yourself a nice terminal opening, attach the wingsuit correctly with the PC packed in the BOC with the correct tension (not too loose or too tight). Perform a full gear check before the hike, avoid “exit gear fear” syndrome, as you will already be under pressure.

- Exit in a nice head high position, student style, with you arm wings open and your leg wing closed, your arm wings will help you balance and remain head high. 1-2 sec after exit slowly extend your leg wing and start to trim the suit as you feel the air speed picking up. Premature exposure of the leg wing can cause you to go head low – be warned! Better to be head high.

- If you should go head low, stay calm! Bring your head up and if the object allows it, try to stay parallel with the surface and build up some speed to allow you to pull up out of the dive more easily. You may wish to consider this possibility when selecting the site of your first few wingsuit jumps.

- After you have extended the leg wing focus on flying the suit efficiently away from the object pulling nice and high – don’t rush, take time to reach, grip and throw the PC. The PC throw should be vigorous to clear the burble the suit makes behind you. Remember to keep your body symmetrical at all times during deployment to help maintain on heading performance.

- It is recommended to learn to deploy from full flight as the BASE environment rarely allows enough altitude to collapse your wings and fall vertically prior to deploying. This also has the advantage of keeping the airflow over your body fast & clean reducing the chance of pilot chute hesitation. Deploying from full flight implies keeping your leg wing inflated and only collapsing your arm wings for the moment required to locate the PC. As your canopy reaches line stretch it is better to close your leg wing as it can catch air causing your body to twist.

Your first 5 - 10 jumps should focus on a stable exit, flight and deployment, once you have these survival skills you can start to think about flight time and distance.

You now have some wingsuit BASE experience, what's next?

Once you have become a competent wingsuit BASE jumper you could consider:

  • Jumping a higher performance suit
  • Jumping from lower objects, for example the higher exit points in the legal Swiss valley.
  • Jumping camera
  • Performing 2 ways +
  • Opening up new objects
  • Aerials
  • Your imagination is the limit! Make sure there is video!

Note: Trying to land any of the current wingsuit designs is only recommended for the terminally ill.

You want to jump a higher performance wingsuit:

So you have done approx. 10+ good wingsuit BASE jumps with a low performance suit and you now intend to jump a higher performance suit.

Assuming you have trouble free experience flying the higher performance suit from the plane you can go ahead and use it for BASE.

Treat your first wingsuit BASE jump using the higher performance wingsuit the same as your first wingsuit BASE jump.

You want to jump a wingsuit that has a leg pouch PC:

If you intend to use the leg pouch PC (e.g. S3 or Phoenix Fly wingsuit) - it is strongly recommended to perform the following ground and skydiving preparation.

Prior to jumping the leg pouch PC perform a couple of thousand practice pulls on the ground. Be able to find the handle, regardless of body position with your eyes closed. Do 300 practice pulls a night for a week or so, simulating full flight then deployment.

When packing the PC into the leg pouch assure that the Birdman or Phoenix Fly guide lines are followed. The PC should not be too loose or too tight. It is strongly recommended to bar tack the Velcro sleeve to the bridle - check that you leave enough free bridle between the bar tack and pin to ensure the Velcro is completely peeled before any tension is applied to the pin. Failure to do so can cause PC hesitation.

Don’t mate the male-female Velcro over each other 100% when the suit is brand new, let the them overlap 50% to the side for the first few dozen jumps until the Velcro is slightly worn.

For more details on assembling and packing the leg pouch PC system please refer to http://www.interone.net/learn/basepc.html

Perform at least 10 skydives with the system, using a wingsuit or BASE bridle, start with normal altitude jumps, performing dummy pulls in flight and then pulling high to give yourself extra time. Assuming you have no opening problems or issues finding the PC handle quickly & easily you can work down to lower altitude deployments.

Treat your first wingsuit BASE jump using the leg pouch the same as your first wingsuit BASE jump.

Conclusion

Following these guidelines does not make wingsuit BASE jumping a safe activity.

Wingsuit BASE is still a relatively new discipline. It requires jumpers to develop new skills, new muscle memory, new judgement and new understanding. Respect it.

This document is by no means the final word on wingsuit BASE jumping, always seek advice and guidance from other experienced wingsuit jumpers and share what you discover.

By taking part in this activity you are in effect a "test jumper", we all still have a lot to learn!.

Let's be careful out there

Long Flights

Visit the Video BASE section for wingsuit videos.

[youtube]mCM0SuAsK-o[/youtube]


Contributors:

James Boole
Craig Poxon
Robert Pecnik
Simon Brentford
Gray Fowler
Yuri Kuznetsov
Steve Schieberl
Per Eriksson

Appendix A: Specific wingsuit drills to practice from the plane


Specific wingsuit drills to perform whilst jumping from the plane:Barrel rolls
  • Front flips
  • Back flying
  • Flying and pulling with left arm wing closed (i.e. to simulate blown wing)
  • Pulling out of steep dives quickly (i.e. bad exit)
  • Dropping knees
  • Turning with minimal altitude loss
  • Carving turns
  • Arching, de-arching
  • Deploying from full flight
  • Flying with one bootie off
  • Turning only with legs
  • Turning only with arms

Appendix B: Relevant fatality entries from "the list"


#67 Kirill Kiselev, September, 2002
Age: 27, from Ekaterininburg, Russia.
Cliff Jump (Wing Suit)
Vikesaxa (Eiksdalen Valley) Norway
Impact

I received this report from a close friend of Kirill who witnessed or heard most of the jump. Kirill has 500 skydives with 20 being with a wing suit, and 30 BASE jumps, with 2 being with a wing suit. This fatality began with an inadvertent low pull from a man who didn't do low pulls. His friend believes Kirill encountered a stability problem late in the flight. The friend, along with authorities, inspected Kirill's body and gear at the hospital. Kirill had opened his canopy, the slider is at the links. Both toggles are still stowed. The wing zippers are closed and the swoop cords are still over his fingers. The wing fabric between his legs is torn. His broken neck and one broken leg suggest opening and impact occurred at about the same time. The report intimates failure of the wingsuit material between Kirill's legs caused a stability problem at pull time. By the time Kirill stopped trying to overcome the situation and deploy, it is too late. Kirill is the first BASE jumper to die flying a wingsuit on a BASE jump.


#68 Rob Tompkins, September 12, 2002
Lysbotn, Norway
Cliff Jump (Wing Suit)
Kjerag
Impact

This is the second wing suit BASE fatality. Rob has 247 BASE jumps with 92 being with a wing suit on the day he died. A report states: "For the last month, Rob had his eye on a particular jump between launch points 4 and 5. We looked at it, doing rock jumps and basically studying the jump. There are two launch points next to this particular jump, one with a 7-second drop and the other with an 8-second drop. Rob jumped the 7-second launch point 10 times always doing a reverse gainer. The place he's looking at now, he dubbed the, "RT Hjørner," and has a rock drop time of 5-seconds. We analyzed this site on video and with other wing suit pilots. In my opinion, the jump is not achievable - and I repeated this to Rob. Other wing suit pilots said the same thing. Rob is convinced he can do it including a reverse gainer. After 7 seconds of freefall Rob impacted the talus ledge. He never tried to deploy his pilot chute, knowing that this would not save him. Rob believed he could out fly the ledge right up until he died. Rob is remembered as a good man, full of respect, and kind to everyone."


#69 Lukas Knutsson, October 11, 2002
Cliff Jump (Wing Suit)
Engelberg, Switzerland (Cold Steel)
Impact

Lukas has a good launch and good flight with his wingsuit and pulled high over the landing area. This is the third BASE wing suit fatality. Despite a powerful pull the pilot chute ended up in the turbulence behind him. In the burble the pilot chute spun around very fast. Lukas notices the deployment is hesitating and collapsed his wings and rolled to one side to clear the pilot chute. At this point the pilot chute achieved bridle stretch but the bridle had entangled with the pilot chute so badly the pilot chute is almost totally collapsed. Lukas did rollover to the other side and struggled hard to get the canopy out of the container. However, the container remained closed to impact. Lukas is a very experienced long time BASE jumper (this site is now called "Cold Steel" in his honour) and he will be missed by the entire BASE community.


#75 Gabi Dematte, August 13, 2003
Cliff Jump (Wing Suit)
Gasterntal, Switzerland
Cliff Strike & Impact

The following report is from one of Gabi's many friends. "Gabi went to jump alone, like she did very often. Getting away from the crowds in Lauterbrunnen she went to another valley known by only a very few jumpers. She couldn't out fly a ledge with her wings. Which is awkward, because she kicked ass with those wings. She did not attempt to pull. Gabi was a very good jumper, and a super nice person. I was lucky to get to know her and I will treasure her contribution to my existence. For me, it was nice to jump with another woman. It was special and it did not last long enough. Lauterbrunnen valley is empty and quiet now." Gabi is the fourth BASE wing suit fatality."


#82 Jeff Barker, July 5, 2004
Age: 32
Cliff Jump
Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
Impact

Jeff is jumping with a wingsuit and he failed to clear a outcropping in freefall.


#83 Duane Thomas, August 21, 2004
Age: 35
Cliff Jump
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Duane, a Kiwi with a quick smile, is a well known and experienced BASE jumper. The following is from an eye witness. "The jump is witnessed by two British jumpers and two Swiss jumpers. One Brit watching, and videoing, from the exit point, the other three watching from the LZ. This is Duane's first wingsuit BASE jump, and his first jump ever with a leg mounted pilot chute pouch. Prior to this jump Duane prepared by making 50 aircraft and 2 hot air balloon wingsuit skydives. Duane had a good exit and a good flight. Everybody saw him reach for and locate the pilot chute at what the witnesses said is a reasonable altitude. He then kept his hand there and continued in freefall. The speculation is the lack of normal ground rush (like the type he is used to when not wearing a wingsuit) might have fooled him. The Swiss are yelling at him to pull and he finally did so, at what they said is about 30-feet above the ground. The canopy lifted out of the pack tray but is no where near line stretch when he impacted in a full flight position. According to the Swiss there is no fumbling around, or looking for the pilot chute handle - all the witnesses agree on this. He reached and located the pilot chute, but just took to long to deploy it. A hard pull cannot be fully discounted at this time, but all the witnesses believe he just waited too long." This is the sixth BASE wingsuit fatality since the first one occurred in September of 2002.


#84 Roland Simpson - Oct 22, 2004
Object: Building
Location: CHINA, , Shanghai

COD: Strike
Description:
Slim is an experienced and well known BASE jumper with over 1200 jumps when he launched for this wingsuit flight at a major BASE event in China. After a good flight he deployed into line twists and is unable to avoid a hard rooftop strike on an adjacent structure. Slim is a major influence on an entire generation of BASE jumpers and this is a major blow, not only in his home country of Australia, but to the entire BASE world. There is much to be said of this man including this sentiment from one of his good friends. "I am awed by his courage, determination, and perseverance in coming back to a sport that had battered and broke him once before. He faced down the demon of fear after his recovery and re-entered the sport with humor and panache. And cripples can fly he said of his first jump back. What an inspiration he was."

#89 Siller Wolfgang - May 21, 2005
Object: Earth
Location: AUSTRIA, , Drachenwand

COD: Impact
Description:
This jumper had about 100 BASE jumps and is flying a BM S3 wingsuit for the first time. It's reported he had 10 previous wingsuit BASE jumps all with a BM GTI. It is being said that winds may have been a factor in his having stability problems. A rescue team found him with his pilot chute still stowed in his leg strap pouch. Locals are asking BASE jumpers to refrain from jumping this site for at least a month

#112 Jimmy Hall - May 09, 2007
Object: Earth
Location: CANADA, Nunavut, Baffin Islands, Sam Ford Fjord

COD: impact
Description:
Adventurer Jimmy Hall was killed in a tragic accident north of the Arctic Circle. Jimmy was in a very remote area near Sam Fjord on Baffin Island in Canada filming a documentary on the region that included base jumping from the incredibly harsh mountains. Jimmy died during one of those base jumps while performing a wingsuit jump. Details are yet to be released. A tribute to Jimmy can be found here http://www.mediastars.tv/jimmyhall/.

#115 "Stevo" Stephen Richard Anderton - Aug 14, 2007
Object: Earth
Location: NORWAY, , Langrappiken

COD:
Description:
This report came from Simon Plume, a friend of Stevo's who was also on the load:

It was our 2nd jump for the day in the Litldahlen area. The first was from the 3rd valley, this jump was from the 2nd valley. The visibility was excellent, there was a small breeze at the exit point but nil wind down below. The jump is about 4550 feet from exit to landing. It was a 5 way, wingsuit jump. But due to the nature of the exit point, only about 2 jumpers can exit simultaneously.

Stevo exited first, followed by another jumper and then myself with 2 others following. He was in a V1. We flew the left wall out into the valley and then turned a sharp left to follow the wall along to where the 3rd valley comes out (We have flown out of this 3rd valley on 2 other occasions - one being earlier that day). At this point, I was about 80m behind and slightly above. Stevo had planned to fly up into the 3rd valley briefly before coming back out. We were flying close to 90% max flight.

Stevo turned left into the 3rd valley briefly, before straightening again and then he started to turn right back out of the 3rd valley. I did not go into the 3rd valley but continued to fly straight. Due to his turn I was now only 40-50m behind and still above. As he continued his right turn it became a hard bank (most likely because he realized he was too far in) to the point that his right arm wing folded under, similar to when you initiate a barrel roll. With the speed he carried into the turn he most likely would have been getting a lot of side-slip as well. Stevo corrected but lost stability whilst trying to maintain his sharp turn. He remained unstable and impacted the far side of the gorge after another 2 sec. At this point I was about 30-40m above and 10m behind.

I flew away from the valley, opened, landed and we called a helicopter. Stevo's body was retrieved within 2.5hrs.

Stevo was a great friend to those around him and will be sorely missed by the Oz BASE crew and those around the world that met him. He was inspirational, a joker and a great mate.

#122 Angus "Gus" Hutchison-Brown - May 25, 2008
Object: Earth
Location: SWITZERLAND, ,

COD:
Description:

This report came from the a witness and fellow jumper:

I was the only jumper who witnessed Gus' last jump from exit to impact so i thought I'd tell all to clear up and questions you have about the incident,

We all met in the morning at 6am like we all had been that week, Gus had only arrived a couple of days earlier, we were all off to an exit point approx an hour out of the Valley that most of us hadn't jumped before, during the drive Gus revealed to me that this would be his third attempt at the this jump, winds thwarting his previous attempts.

At the exit point we all looked over, deciding on our landing areas etc, winds were gonna be no problem thankfully this morning so we all went ahead and kitted up. I do recall thinking at the time that the powerlines were at a slightly awkward distance for a wingsuit, but had no desire to point out this fact as Gus being an experienced wingsuit pilot and what with me having none and i just had confidence that Gus would make it over them no problem as this was his plan, so who was it for me to offer advice or even make my opinion heard.

We decided on an exit plan, all solos and i went last as i wanted to film everyone's exit, the first 4 jumps went fine, all 4-5 secs delays and made it back to the planned landing areas, then Gus launched himself off, from my perspective it looked like a great flight, although i was watching it on my LCD screen, not with my eye, i can't say how long he was in flight for, but as he starting getting nearer to the powerlines i did think to myself damn he's low, then i saw him deploy just he had made it over the lines, from my viewpoint his canopy came out behind the powerlines, but no sooner had his canopy deployed it collapsed on the ground, my cam was fully zoomed in at this point as it was hard to tell if there was movement from his white wingsuit, i turned the cam off and was squinting to see if there was any movement, there wasn't, and i knew he was at least hurt bad.

As you can imagine, i didn't wanna jump, but not having the car keys i was stuck at the top, the others all landed far away from Gus, and i decided that i could be first on scene if i just jumped now, i don't even remember the jump, it was just a means to get down quick, i landed next to Gus, but Rich had made it before me as its a long canopy flight.

Looking back on the jump, it would seem to me that Gus obviously realised in the last few seconds of his flight that he wasn't gonna make it over the powerlines, but rather than pulling and deploying into the lines, he tried to make it over them eye witness on the ground said his flight was very "flat" compared to usual body position, which sez to me he was trying his best to clear the lines, PC was thrown out the same height as the lines, approx 120-150ft, but as we all know, that simply isn't enough...

The paramedics were on scene within 15 mins, but there was nothing they could do.

I hope you all take comfort in the fact that it was instant, Gus did not suffer and he did die doing something he loved, in a place he loved.


#124 Ben Cannon - Aug 22, 2008
Object: Earth
Location: SWITZERLAND, , Lauterbrunnen

COD: Impact
Description:
No one saw the final seconds of the jump, but judging from Ben's video he went in the trees at linestretch, no real inflation occurs. A jumper from the last load (3-way, all wingsuit, Ben shot video) speculates that 3 things contributed to the tragedy:

1. Loss of attention to altitude because he was watching the others.
2. Possible missed pull
3. Low pull

Ben was conscious when the others reached him. They thought it was bad but really thought he would pull through. He was airlifted to Interlaken after he was stabilised, and then airlifted to Bern because of the severity of his injuries. He did not make it to Bern.

#125 Tommy "Tiger'n" Hjertø - Sep 09, 2008
Object: Earth
Location: NORWAY, , Romsdalen
COD:
Description:
Wingsuit proximity flight from Stabben


#126 Simon Skovgaard Jensen - Sep 11, 2008
Object: Earth
Location: SWITZERLAND, , Ultimate, Lauterbrunnen
COD: Impact
Description:
This report comes from a well respected jumper at the site:

The jump site where he went in on is called the ultimate.

It is a great jump and not actually very dangerous itself, but getting to the exit point and the exit itself is a big mind fuck. Even after my first jump there I landed and I was shaking and I have 1700+ jumps. From what I was told afterwards it was Simon's first repel which would've added to the nerves. The exit is also technical as you can't see over the edge past a few meters and it is quite underhung for the first 50 feet. Nothing too dangerous but again, a big mind fuck as you need to push off quite hard to get clear. For me personally it is a tracking jump and not a wingsuit jump but it is not for me to tell others they can or can't jump. Again simon seemed like a safe and sensible jumper so I did not worry about him at all.

We were not looking up when Simon jumped but immediately after impact his friend came running over explaining what he had just seen
He said he saw someone tumbling and then a partial parachute coming out and more tumbling down the wall until the talus. He also said there was no way that who ever it was could have survived, so it must have been fast.

From the exit point my friend told me that when Simon was about to exit he was very nervous and couldn’t get his footing in the right position to exit. (its a bit of a shitty exit point for your feet and there is some grass on a slope). When he exited he went off in a head down position with, I think, his right shoulder down,with his opposite leg kicking to get stable, before he disappeared out of view.

When I got to him on the talus he was wrapped in his tangled canopy and dead, with massive multiple injures.

In my view I feel that he exited a little unstable and possibly panicked because of the mind fuck related to the jump. Because of the wingsuit trapping his arms in and also his experience level, I feel he tried to fight the tumbling all the way down either

1) until impact where the parachute bounced out and he continued to tumble and get wrapped in his canopy until he stopped.
or
2) he tumbled from exit and opened his parachute to late and tumbled down to where he came to rest.

I have a feeling from memory that his pilot chute was still in its pouch which would mean it was scenario number 1.

There is not much to do to prevent this type of death except for each and every person to know their own experience levels and not push forward to soon. This is an age old problem that will never go away. Either you make it through that stage of jumping, either uninjured, injured like a lot of people do, or dead which is still pretty rare over all with all the jumps that get made.

I do think that his death has made people realize that this jump is an experienced peoples jump only and hopefully that will keep people away. A similar lesson is learned from every fatality.

#127 Igor "Anis" Anisenko - Oct 16, 2008
Object: Earth
Location: UKRAINE, , Crimea

COD: Impact
Description:
Anis was jumping Forostky Kant, wingsuit exit point 'W1'. This is an 18m (60 foot) extended deck off the cliff edge. Rock drop impact is 100m (330ft) below the exit point. Strong wind was reported. Anis left unstable and ended up impacting the cliff.


#130 Roar Røsten - Feb 28, 2009
Object: Earth
Location: SWITZERLAND, , Lauterbrunnen

COD:
Description:
Yellow Ocean, Phoenix Fly Phantom



#132 Shane McConkey - Mar 26, 2009
Object: Earth
Location: ITALY, ,
COD: Impact
Description:
The full report will be posted after investigation is done on the system being used.

At the funeral, "the kids all had a look on their face like Superman had just died."




Reproduced with the kind permission of Nick Di Giovanni #194. The complete list can be viewed at:

http://splatula.com/bfl/

Other wingsuit incidents:

Patrick de Gayardon
Geoff Peggs or
Dwain Weston

Appendix C: Some considerations for wingsuit site selection


You want to open up a new object jumping a wingsuit:

So you have become a very competent wingsuit BASE jumper and you intend to open up an object that has never been jumped with wingsuit. Here are some factors to bear in mind.

  • Make sure the vertical rock drop gives you enough altitude to launch the suit and get flying with a little extra in case you have a poor exit.

  • The altitude profile of the object will also affect your decision. Use tools like rock drop, laser range finder and GPS to accurately measure the object.

  • When estimating the horizontal distance that can be achieved from an object remember to factor in the altitude loss from exit and deployment.

  • You may also wish to consider the conditions at the exit point and whether it is practical to put on the wingsuit there.

  • Booties offer little traction when wet or muddy, be careful that you have good ground to stand on for your exit

  • A wingsuit takes several seconds to start generating significant lift and forward speed. Therefore jumping a wingsuit from below 1500’ offers very little benefit in terms of freefall time and object separation (but it adds some colour to the jump).


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