A 27-year-old BASE jumper died Sunday after his wing suit ruptured while jumping from a 700-foot perch in Utah, authorities said.
The man, whose identity was being withheld until his family could be notified, plunged to his death from a mountainous area in Hyrum, Utah, east of Millville Canyon and east of the small town of Millville, said Doyle Peck, Cache County chief sheriff’s deputy.
Search and rescue teams were called to Leetham’s Hollow, an area of canyon walls and cliffs similar to those of the Grand Canyon, at 9:10 a.m. Sunday and pronounced the man dead at the scene, Peck said in a statement.
“On today’s jump, something went wrong and he didn’t have enough lift with his Wingsuit,” Peck said. “He hit the ground at a high speed, resulting in his death.”
The man was “experienced in this type of activity” and was part of a group of up to 10 people who appeared to be practicing wingsuit-assisted BASE jumping, according to Peck.
The area, located about 45 miles north of Ogden, is popular with BASE jumpers, he said.
A medical transport helicopter sent to help with the initial search transported the man’s body, Peck said.
Before Sunday, 541 deaths worldwide since 1981 had been recorded by the BASE Fatality List, maintained by an online community for the sport. This year, 15 such deaths have been reported worldwide, according to the list.
In June, two BASE jumpers died in another accident in Utah. One of them, Andy Lewis, performed on stage with Madonna during the 2012 Super Bowl.
Photographer Carl Boenish helped create BASE as a depiction of the sport’s adrenaline-inspiring launch points (buildings, antennas, spans, dirt) in 1978, when he filmed the first jumps from Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan rock formation.
Gn usa
