base jumping

12 Stories

Daredevil Who Did the Unthinkable at Everest Is Dead

Valery Rozov was 52

(Newser) - Leaping from a 22,349-foot-high mountain proved to be as dangerous as it sounds for Valery Rozov: The Russian base jumper died Saturday in an accident on Himalayan peak Ama Dablam. The AFP reports Rozov's death came while he was undertaking a "seven summits" quest that involved base...

Mountain Rescuer Dies in BASE Jump

Michael Leming's parachute didn't open

(Newser) - Michael Leming lived his life on the edge. A legend in Portland's mountain-climbing community, Leming was BASE jumping in Norway on Sunday when his parachute failed to open, reports KGW . The circumstances surrounding his death aren't clear, but a text posted to Facebook —apparently sent from a...

Guy in Wingsuit Hits Cliff Wall, Dies

BASE jumper died in Arizona

(Newser) - A BASE jumper was killed Tuesday while "flying" in a wingsuit near Page, Ariz., the Arizona Star reports. Matthew Kenney, a 29-year-old from Santa Cruz, Calif., was an experienced jumper and was with friends in the remote Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness area near the Utah border. Kenney hit a...

Yosemite Jumpers' Deaths Forever a Mystery

Investigation into deaths of Dean Potter, Graham Hunt comes to no firm conclusion

(Newser) - World-famous wingsuit flier Dean Potter had strapped his iPhone to the back of his head and hit record before he and partner Graham Hunt jumped from a cliff in Yosemite National Park in what was to be an exhilarating flight through a V-shaped rocky formation—a route that left little...

BASE Jumper's Fiery Stunt Ends Fatally

James Hickey set fire to parachute, engulfed in flames

(Newser) - It's not exactly an auspicious time to be a BASE jumper : A 73-year-old man plunged to his death earlier this month after jumping from Idaho's Perrine Bridge, and the Twin Falls Times-News now reports that James Hickey had set his own parachute on fire as part of a...

Daredevils Die in Yosemite Stunt

Dean Potter was among best-known extreme athletes

(Newser) - Extreme athlete Dean Potter, renowned for his daring and sometimes rogue climbs and BASE jumps, was one of two men killed while attempting a wingsuit flight in Yosemite National Park, a park spokesman says. Someone called for help late Saturday after losing contact with Potter, 43, and his climbing partner,...

BASE Jumper Killed When Chute Fails to Open

Michigan's Josh Sheppard jumped from TV tower

(Newser) - A 31-year-old Michigan man was killed this week when he jumped from a 1,000-foot TV tower and his parachute failed to open, reports USA Today . BASE jumper Josh Sheppard made the leap from the tower of WLAJ-TV in Rives Township Wednesday evening. He hadn't sought permission and had...

Base Jump Kills Extreme Sports Legend
Base Jump Kills
Extreme Sports Legend
OBITUARY

Base Jump Kills Extreme Sports Legend

Climbing world mourns Sean 'Stanley' Leary

(Newser) - One of the more celebrated careers in extreme sports has come to a tragic end in Utah's Zion National Park. Sean "Stanley" Leary of California, a base jumper, climber, and stuntman, has been confirmed as one of two jumpers who died in the park earlier this month , reports...

3 Base Jumpers Have Now Died in Utah

2 last weekend along

(Newser) - This weekend saw two separate base jumping deaths in Utah, one in the state's Mineral Canyon and the other in Zion National Park. The latter comes weeks after the park, where the practice is illegal, saw its first-ever base jumping death, the Deseret News reports. Yesterday, authorities announced they'...

Newlywed Base-Jumps to Her Death in Utah

As her husband of 2 weeks looked on

(Newser) - A Utah woman attempting a parachute jump near Zion National Park died when her parachute failed to open, say park officials. Amber Bellows fell about 2,000 feet to the ground Saturday afternoon. The 28-year-old had been attempting the jump from Mount Kinesava, in the southern part of the park...

Renowned Base Jumper Dies After Hitting Cliff

Mario Richard, 47, killed in Italy

(Newser) - A week after a famed stuntman died jumping from a helicopter in a wingsuit, another daredevil has been killed attempting a similar feat. Mario Richard, a leading American base jumper, died while wingsuit flying in the Dolomites in Italy on Monday. He was 47. The New York Times says that...

How a Mythic Base Jumper Met His Untimely End

Ed Caesar shares the story of Hervé le Gallou and his mysterious death

(Newser) - Thanks in part to the rise of wingsuits, base jumping has transformed into a popular and professionalized sport, and with that the hallmarks of veteran jumpers—"modesty, caution, patience"—are slowly being erased as a "generation of wingsuit pilots, stimulated by speed and YouTube hits," elbows...

12 Stories
Most Read on Newser