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Increasing numbers of wingsuit jumpers are dying (2016)

nationalgeographic.com

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Re: Increasing numbers of wingsuit jumpers are dying (2016)

#11

Post by c0nducktr »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #8
crispytx wrote: post #2

Wingsuit pilot & programmer here. The reason Wingsuit BASE Jumpers keep dying is that you shouldn't jump your wingsuit off a @#$%ing mountain. Please stick to the planes and the helicopters that you're used to.

Its safer than regular base jumping provided you don't try to strafe tree and hilltops and cliffsides. These jumpers are trying to do ever riskier stunts all for the clicks.

I don't think it's all for the clicks, if it's like any other dangerous sport/hobby. It's for the rush you get doing it. The feel of being right on the edge.

It's an addictive feeling, and it can trick you, because you know it's dangerous but you're always come out of it fine, great even, until you don't.

Re: Increasing numbers of wingsuit jumpers are dying (2016)

#12

Post by avenoir »

crispytx wrote: post #2

Wingsuit pilot & programmer here. The reason Wingsuit BASE Jumpers keep dying is that you shouldn't jump your wingsuit off a @#$%ing mountain. Please stick to the planes and the helicopters that you're used to.

So I think the article is about Wingsuit Proximity Flying, and what you're describing is Wingsuit BASE Jumping. Are these two considered 2 separate, albeit similar, sports? Can any pilot practicing BASE Jumping leap off a cliff or do you somehow train for this?

Re: Increasing numbers of wingsuit jumpers are dying (2016)

#13

Post by [deleted] »

dghughes wrote: post #10

I've seen this mentioned before, it seems to be the main point. > Most beginners who die appear to be making variations of the exact same error, according to Webb. “They jump off a cliff, get flying, and for some reason there's just this human reaction to try to hug the air like a big, gigantic beach ball,” he explains. “By hugging air you feel as if you're creating or catching more lift than you actually are. What e…

[deleted]

Re: Increasing numbers of wingsuit jumpers are dying (2016)

#15

Post by benjaminRRR »

c0nducktr wrote: post #11
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its safer than regular base jumping provided you don't try to strafe tree and hilltops and cliffsides. These jumpers are trying to do ever riskier stunts all for the clicks.

I don't think it's all for the clicks, if it's like any other dangerous sport/hobby. It's for the rush you get doing it. The feel of being right on the edge. It's an addictive feeling, and it can trick you, because you know it's dangerous but you're always come out of it fine, great even, until you don't.

This is a very good point. Unlike other sports - when you push you can be hurt badly, but ultimately learn from your mistake, proximity wingsuit is one-mistake-one-kill.

Re: Increasing numbers of wingsuit jumpers are dying (2016)

#16

Post by chrissnell »

I had a close call this summer whitewater rafting on the Upper Animas River in Colorado and it has caused me to re-think every serious risk I take and has changed me in a big way. I was participating in a multi-day trip run by one of the local guiding outfits through the Upper section of the river, a much more difficult and serious undertaking than the Lower Animas, which is frequently run by average day-tripping tourists. We were on the No Name Rapid [1] and our boat capsized at the entrance to the rapid. I was stuck below the boat, my body somehow entangled in rigging, and was dragged underwater for some distance through a very fierce class V rapid. I was finally able to free myself enough to get my mouth above water and breathe, close to drowning. I managed to fully free myself and swam to shore at the first opportunity. When I made it, I kissed the ground and promised that I would never needlessly risk my life in the pursuit of adrenaline again. I cried like a baby when I returned home that evening and held my kids and wife again.

Prior to this trip, I had done many adventurous and dangerous activities: rock climbing, ice climbing, lots of mountaineering, off-road driving, backcountry skiing... it really brings it all into perspective when you have a close call. All of that adrenaline-chasing just seems completely ridiculous to me now.

[1] The No Name Rapid. We capsized at the spot pictured at around 0:04s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjO37ABQ6mI

Re: Increasing numbers of wingsuit jumpers are dying (2016)

#17

Post by amenghra »

SomeStupidPoint wrote: post #9
crispytx wrote: post #2

Wingsuit pilot & programmer here. The reason Wingsuit BASE Jumpers keep dying is that you shouldn't jump your wingsuit off a @#$%ing mountain. Please stick to the planes and the helicopters that you're used to.

I know nothing about wingsuits -- how are they used from planes and helicopters? Do you just jump and then use a parachute when you get low enough?

Correct.

A few people have landed with their wingsuits, but that's pretty rare. Look up Gary Connery or Jeb Corliss for example.

You are still going pretty fast, you need ideal terrain (angle, water or boxes), and a hundred things have to go perfectly fine. It's a pretty insane feast.

Re: Increasing numbers of wingsuit jumpers are dying (2016)

#18

Post by jdietrich »

dghughes wrote: post #10

I've seen this mentioned before, it seems to be the main point. > Most beginners who die appear to be making variations of the exact same error, according to Webb. “They jump off a cliff, get flying, and for some reason there's just this human reaction to try to hug the air like a big, gigantic beach ball,” he explains. “By hugging air you feel as if you're creating or catching more lift than you actually are. What e…

A lot of highly experienced jumpers are also dying, probably due to a mix of complacency, envelope-pushing and the inherent lack of margin for error in terrain flight. This point is made in the latter part of the article:

> Figuring out why the best are dying confounds, saddens, and even irritates just about everyone I’ve spoken to in the wingsuit BASE world. “It’s really puzzling to me,” says Rich Webb. “I wish I knew, but I think it has to do with complacency.”

> Webb points out that many of the best are dying on flight lines that might be considered either “easy” for them, or they’re lines that they’ve done before. “It comes down to the fact that they're so comfortable in a stupidly high-risk environment,” says Webb. “We just don't have the luxury of margins in our sport, so at some point it catches up to you if you're not on it all the time.”

> Andy Lewis speculates, “I would say so many experienced wingsuiters are dying because they are trying to execute jumps with very low margin for error. Eventually when you make a mistake you hope you have room. And now low margins are so standard in the sport. It just kills people.”

Re: Increasing numbers of wingsuit jumpers are dying (2016)

#20

Post by joelrunyon »

jdietrich wrote: post #18
dghughes wrote: post #10

I've seen this mentioned before, it seems to be the main point. > Most beginners who die appear to be making variations of the exact same error, according to Webb. “They jump off a cliff, get flying, and for some reason there's just this human reaction to try to hug the air like a big, gigantic beach ball,” he explains. “By hugging air you feel as if you're creating or catching more lift than you actually are. What e…

A lot of highly experienced jumpers are also dying, probably due to a mix of complacency, envelope-pushing and the inherent lack of margin for error in terrain flight. This point is made in the latter part of the article: > Figuring out why the best are dying confounds, saddens, and even irritates just about everyone I’ve spoken to in the wingsuit BASE world. “It’s really puzzling to me,” says Rich Webb. “I wish I kn…

It shouldn't be that confusing.

The mortality risk here is ridiculously high. No matter how good you are at something, you're not perfect. In any other sport, you can be a half-second late and have normal consequences, recover and be okay. In BASE, you're dead.

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