2 BASE jumpers presumed dead after leaping off iconic Big Sur bridge

[Zorro]

Source: LA Times

Two BASE jumpers are presumed to have drowned after leaping off the iconic Bixby Bridge in Big Sur last week, sheriff’s officials said Tuesday.

Mary Katherine Connell of Ventura and an unidentified man from Finland remain missing, according to Cmdr. John Thornburg, spokesman for the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.

The pair are believed to have been overpowered by tumultuous surf shortly after landing on a small beach below Pacific Coast Highway on Wednesday.

Authorities only learned of the jumpers' fate on Sunday, when they recovered a parachute and helmet camera on the beach, and then watched the recording.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-base-jumpers-dead-big-sur-bridge-20160126-story.html

[Duckhunter935]

1. stupid people

now risk others, they just think of themselves. Sad for the families, but they knew the risks and paid the price.

[TipTok]

2. Play stupid games... win stupid prizes...

[valerief]

3. Two fewer Darwin Award winners. Or two more? Do they only count

when they're dead?

[Hekate]

4. Condolences to their families. What a stupid way to die.

[uppityperson]

5. Condolences to their families and friends.

[vkkv]

6. Is life too precious to take risks or too short to not take risks?

I'm aware that the drowning accident has little to do with actual falling danger of their jumps, but....

I'm really GLAD that I've lived through all of the stupid things I did as a youngster.

I don't take a lot of chances these days. I enjoy a peaceful, low-stress life.

Very sad for friends and family. Not worth the risk.

[Herman4747]

22. I don't know. Ask this guy:

[Person 2713]

7. ‘It’s More Like a Suicide Than a Sport’

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/magazine/its-more-like-a-suicide-than-a-sport.html?pagewanted=all

[JimDandy]

8. How did a helmet camera show up but no bodies? n/t

[Codeine]

9. Presumably they removed parachutes and helmets

after landing and then got caught up in the surf. The GoPro would be helmet-mounted, and I can see a situation where the parachute and helmet got tangled together and snagged on rocks while everything else was dragged into the ocean.

[petronius]

11. The article describes the content of the helmet cam video:

...
The recording shows Connell leaping off the bridge first and cheering with excitement. She then lands safely 300 feet below, but is knocked over by a wave. As she struggles with her parachute in the surf, she is hit by two more sets of waves and pulled out to sea, according to authorities.
...
In the next sequence, the camera captures the man's view as he jumps off the bridge and barrels toward the beach below. After a five- to six-second flight, the jumper lands safely and quickly removes his helmet and parachute, Thornburg said.

The camera stops recording as the discarded helmet falls to the ground, according to Thornburg. Sheriff’s deputies believe the man ran into the ocean to help Connell.
...

The report of the abandoned parachute wasn't made until 4 days later, so unless this is an elaborately-stage disappearance (highly improbable, I'm betting) it's seems that survivors are unlikely...

[JimDandy]

12. Thanks for that. Did some

skip tracing years ago, so my mind went straight to thinking this sounds like a staged disappearance.

[anigbrowl]

14. You don't stage your disappearance in the Pacific ocean

I've nearly drowned in it but would prefer not to discuss the details. You can't appreciate how dangerous that undertow is until you've felt it. I was lucky, it was June. This time of year we get what are called King tides that are bigger than normal, perhaps exacerbated by the strong El Nino. there are people dying every couple of days up and down the coast and there's a whole housing subdivision in danger of falling into the seanear the Bay area because the cliff underneath has lost its structural integrity.

They're dead, I'm sorry to say.

[RexDart]

15. One of the 2 UCSC students has been recovered

Swept off a rock two days before the BASE jumpers. Santa Cruz was under High Surf and Coastal Flooding warnings off and on over two weeks. I'm pretty sure that both jumpers went in and have not come out yet.

[JimDandy]

16. Sorry about your harrowing experience in the Pacific.

Used to live in Monterrey in the 90's, and further up in the 80's, so am pretty familiar with the currents. Been hearing about those apartments' precarious situation for years--they undoubtedly are going to take a dive in the next few years.

From the news description you pasted, it doesn't sound staged. Hope for their families' sakes that their bodies are found soon.

[tabasco]

21. Note to self:

When base jumping, factor in the raging ocean surf next to my landing zone.

[Botany]

10. Note to self .... don't jump off this bridge

BTW under the bridge is a fast flowing stream and the tide from the Pacific Ocean. What could
go wrong?

[longship]

13. Hold my beer. Watch this! nt

[closeupready]

17. It's one thing as a 16 year old to die from methyl alcohol poisoning, as

another thread here reported. To me, that's a stupid mistake many people could have made as youngsters, and I feel nothing but sadness about it.

This story, on the other hand, and others like it irritate me. It's not just the risk that your web-suit will not deploy properly; it's the risk that other things can go wrong, and if they do, you can be injured and die, and rangers and other rescue personnel are put at risk in attempting to locate and retrieve your remains.

[packman]

18. We all have done stupid things in our lives

And lived to call others who didn't survive their stupid things stupid.

[Politicub]

19. Very sad n/t

[polly7]

20. Yes, very sad. :( nt