Oct 27, 2016
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wingsuit B A S E | wingsuit flying
'Carnage' as wingsuit BASE jumping death spree reaches 20
Sport
'Carnage' as wingsuit BASE jumping death spree reaches 20
Wingsuit BASE jumping is in crisis after a deadly summer saw 15 jumpers die in the space of a single month. The latest death in Canada - a man wearing a Vampire-themed wingsuit - brings the total for the year to an unprecedented 20. At least one person died while posting footage of his flight live on Facebook. Police have confirmed that the body of a jumper who went missing on a mountain in Canmore, Canada, on Sunday, had now been recovered. All victims wore wingsuits; special jumpsuits fitted with fabric under the arms and between the legs which turn jumpers into 'human wings'. They effectively allow the wearer to 'fly'.
It's been a horrific last couple of months. This is easily the worst season I can remember … I'm tired of the carnage.
Richard Webb, a wingsuit BASE jumper from Utah, speaking to National Geographic magazine
But the dangers of wingsuit BASE jumping are some 50 times higher than conventional skydiving. Analysts suggest that jumpers face around a-one-in 2,000 chance of death each time they jump. It is understood the sport is attracting more people because devotees are attracting them with live posts on YouTube and Facebook. Last week, German jumper Alexander Polli, who was considered one of the sports most experienced jumpers, died. He hit a tree while attempting a complicated "corkscrew" manoeuvre after leaping from a mountain in Chamonix, France. Polli became a YouTube sensation after a video of him flying his suit through a hole in the side of a mountain racked up 14 million hits. A few days later 28-year-old Italian father Armin Schmieder broadcast his death live on Facebook. He leapt from a precipice near Kandersteg in Switzerland before crashing into a ridge. The latest case saw a Brazilian man killed jumping from Grotto mountain in Canada, a 3600ft peak.
The simple truth is that wingsuit BASE jumpers don't know what they are getting into, don't know how to practice the sport safely, and don't even know enough to know how little they know.
US jumper and wingsuit manufacturer Matt Gerdes has warned that jumpers' lack of knowledge needs to be addressed