Base Jump Goes Terribly Wrong Due To Crosswinds (VIDEO)

Valery Rozvov is an extremely experienced base jumper. By his own word we know that he has completed thousands of base jumps. This time in Karachi, however, it seems he forgot to do something fairly elementary: check the weather report. The base jump goes terribly, but thankfully not fatally, wrong due to very high crosswinds. You always have to check for crosswinds.

WATCH:

Comments

[thebeautyoftheburst]

09:45 AM on 12/09/2009

lucky bastard didn't smash his head against the side of the building.

[rf dude]

09:33 AM on 12/09/2009

Forget the jumper -

who was the idiot that thought this would be great advertisin­g material..­.

[vippy]

07:36 AM on 12/09/2009

Oh boy, why push it? But one always has to recognize the alternativ­e.

[qirin]

04:36 AM on 12/09/2009

Despite the results here, I'm confident that natural selection will succeed in the end.

[Nicon]

03:53 AM on 12/09/2009

If this guy had done the jumps he claims to have completed, this likely would never have happened.

[BullhornJournal]

03:08 AM on 12/09/2009

Did the elevator break?

[peterg76]

01:49 AM on 12/09/2009

Um, was there any reason he was trying that in the first place?

[gliderguy]

12:42 AM on 12/09/2009

Winds had nothing to do with it. His canopy deployed facing the wrong direction.

[mrmikes]

03:06 AM on 12/09/2009

...due to winds.

[peacechants]

11:49 PM on 12/08/2009

350 foot building = little margin for error. Lucky the ledge was there when the wind gust hit him. How does one support themselves in this pursuit ? The insurance costs alone must be staggering­.

[hidenout]

09:37 AM on 12/09/2009

We need a public option!!

[Danlantic]

12:30 PM on 12/09/2009

The insurance rates in Karachi, Pakistan?

You and everyone else I've noticed here have missed the point that this was done in the Third World.

[BannedInBoston]

10:37 PM on 12/08/2009

Plus it didn't go TERRIBLY wrong. The guy survived apparently with no major injuries. Another misleading Huffpost headline. I was expecting him to plummet to his death although I'm certainly relieved that he didn't....

[spytheweb]

10:02 PM on 12/08/2009

You would think that he would figure the wind in the jump.

[BannedInBoston]

10:32 PM on 12/08/2009

Sudden gust....

[ie]

09:06 PM on 12/08/2009

why base jumping is illegal...

[grind88]

08:56 PM on 12/08/2009

Terribly wrong? Hardly...

[Danilo-11]

08:53 PM on 12/08/2009

He should sue Red Bull

[wadenelson1]

08:43 PM on 12/08/2009

I don't see that there is ANY guarantee when you jump off BASE that your chute will open in such direction that you are facing out, and not IN toward the building.

The fact that you are facing out when you jump is immaterial­, the chute creates plenty of drag (energy) to turn you around.

Since the chute has a glide angle, meaning you are moving forward AS you descend, this could slam you right into the face of a building.

Someone with more jumps than me, please tell me why I'm wrong.

[OkieIntellectual]

12:17 AM on 12/09/2009

Actually this is incorrect. I was an avid skydiver until I decided it was just too expensive, and I can tell you that a properly packed chute will deploy in an extremely predictabl­e manner. If a jumper is falling flat and stable, they will maintin whatever directiona­l orientatio­n they are at when the parachute is deployed. If you have so many jumps, you should know this. The main concern with BASE jumping (aside from it being just patently stupid and illegal) is having enough fall height to establish a stable fall. As I'm sure you know, the first second or two after exiting the aircraft can be rather unstable, until the jumper builds up enough speed for air resistance to to form that nice "pocket" around him/her and to start putting enough force on the jumper to act on the jumper's "control surfaces", which are the hands and lower legs / feet.

What you are suggesting is possible is the jumper is particular­ly sloppy about packing their chute and letting the suspension lines get all twisted about in the process, but I've done almost 160 pops and the only times I had an unpredicta­ble openings were when I rushed my pack job back on the ground.

Personally­, I think BASE jumpers are insane because they just don't have enough altitude AGL to allow for any mistakes or to deploy a reserve if there's a prob with the main chute.