BASE jumper fatally plunges 700 feet after wingsuit failure in Utah

A 27-year-old BASE jumper died Sunday after his wingsuit failed when he launched from a 700-foot perch in Utah, authorities said.

The man, whose identity was withheld until his family could be notified, fatally plunged from a mountainous area of Hyrum, Utah, east of Millville Canyon and east of the small city of Millville, Cache County Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Doyle Peck said.

Search-and-rescue crews were called to Leetham’s Hollow, an area of canyon walls and cliffs not unlike the Grand Canyon’s, at 9:10 a.m. Sunday and declared the man dead at the scene, Peck said in a statement.

“On today’s jump, something went wrong and he did not have enough lift with his wingsuit,” Peck said. “He impacted the ground at a high rate of speed resulting in his death.”

The man was “experienced in this type of activity” and was part of a group of as many as 10 people who appeared to be engaged in wingsuit-aided BASE jumping, according to Peck.

The area, about 45 miles north of Ogden, is popular with BASE jumpers, he said.

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A medical transport helicopter sent to help with the initial search transported the man’s body, Peck said.

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Before Sunday, 541 deaths around the world since 1981 had been logged by the BASE Fatality List, maintained by an online community for the sport. This year, 15 such deaths have been reported globally, according to the list.

In June, two BASE jumpers died in a separate accident in Utah. One of them, Andy Lewis, performed onstage with Madonna at the 2012 Super Bowl.

Photographer Carl Boenish helped coin BASE as a description of the sport’s adrenaline-inspiring launch points (buildings, antennas, spans, earth) in 1978, when he videotaped early jumps from Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan rock formation.