{"id":17484,"date":"2016-10-27T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-27T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skydivemag.com\/new\/?p=17484"},"modified":"2023-07-05T09:31:34","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T09:31:34","slug":"2016-10-28-i-flew-my-wingsuit-into-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/2016-10-28-i-flew-my-wingsuit-into-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"I Flew my Wingsuit into Trees&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Interview by Richard Webb, Top Gun BASE<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<p><!-- Squirrel Leaderboard WS  [async] --><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">if (!window.AdButler){(function(){var s = document.createElement(\"script\"); s.async = true; s.type = \"text\/javascript\";s.src = 'https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/app.js';var n = document.getElementsByTagName(\"script\")[0]; n.parentNode.insertBefore(s, n);}());}<\/script><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\nvar AdButler = AdButler || {}; AdButler.ads = AdButler.ads || [];\nvar abkw = window.abkw || '';\nvar plc356732 = window.plc356732 || 0;\ndocument.write('<'+'div id=\"placement_356732_'+plc356732+'\"><\/'+'div>');\nAdButler.ads.push({handler: function(opt){ AdButler.register(175942, 356732, [860,106], 'placement_356732_'+opt.place, opt); }, opt: { place: plc356732++, keywords: abkw, domain: 'servedbyadbutler.com', click:'CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER' }});\n<\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Eric Dossantos Chamonix Wingsuit Tree Line (crash)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kp3YLdhraPw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Eric, 30, of San Diego, CA, woke up in a French hospital with no memory of how he got there. He tells his full, unflinching story to Topgunbase.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">TGB: Eric, congratulations on surviving. Dude, you\u2019re one lucky f***er.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eric: Thank you, and yes, I\u2019m incredibly lucky. Thanks for helping me share my story. If I can help even one person stay alive by not repeating my mistakes, it\u2019s worth the public confession of my less-than-stellar progression. I owe it to everybody who\u2019s following in a path similar to mine. They deserve my honest attempt at deconstructing how I ended up flying into trees with nothing out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Can you give us an overview of your skydiving and BASE progression?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m shaking my head right now admitting this. Honestly, my first exposure to the sport was literally watching Jokke Sommer on YouTube. I\u2019m not joking. Followed immediately by \u201cI want to do that someday!\u201d At the time, I was 26 years old. I slammed through AFF, sprinted to 200 skydives, and started flying an Acro wingsuit. I had 300 skydives my first year in the sport. I quickly transitioned to a Phantom 3, put about 200-300 jumps on it and switched to a used Vampire 4. I took a BASE FJC almost exactly 2 years after my first skydive. Shortly after that, I ordered a new Vampire Race. Currently, I\u2019ve been skydiving for 4 years (900 total \/ 550 wingsuit), and basejumping for 2 years. I only have about 80 slider-off jumps, about 40 tracking jumps, and 105 WS base jumps. My WS BASE progression was: 1 balloon wingsuit jump, 2 basejumps on a Havok, then all WS BASE on my new V-Race since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Your jump numbers seem a little even and round. Are you estimating or do you log your jumps?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Umm, I don\u2019t really log\u2026 no. Well, I log my basejumps. I stopped logging my skydives around 100 jumps. I logged my base jumps for around the first 80, then started just adding to the total after a group of several jumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">So, with 105 wingsuit basejumps to date, tell me a little about your WS BASE progression?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Well, right from the very beginning, from watching those YouTube videos, I was intent on flying proximity lines. I wanted to fly them \u2018well\u2019 and \u2018deep\u2019, that was important to me, gunning for the sizzle-video flights I\u2019d seen from the start. I honestly tried really hard to prepare, in what I felt was honest training. But I feel like I kinda lied to myself about my skillset and preparation. I got complacent and, well, look what happened. I knew I was shortcutting some things. Personally, I believed I could grasp ideas and skillsets a bit quicker than most people. But I now admit I wrongfully based that idea on completely unrelated experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How many WS basejumps did you have prior to your first flight in Chamonix?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About 70 WS base jumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/\/c5b273bd-552f-4afe-9774-c93e93858b59.jpg\" alt=\"Someone is missing a fin\u2026 and a tree is missing about 20\u2032 off the top\" width=\"1076\" height=\"705\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Someone is missing a fin\u2026 and a tree is missing about 20\u2032 off the top&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;by Brandon Russell<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Did anybody assess your wingsuit BASE skills elsewhere, prior to you showing up to Chamonix?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I actually did have a friend tell me after jumping with him at Panorama that I was \u2018good to exit Brevent\u2019. He also made an offhand comment about me flying a little slow. In hindsight, I feel like he was telling me my <em>exit and start<\/em> was good for Brevent, but I figured the speed comment was something I\u2019d focus on more when I actually was jumping Brevent. Obviously, I needed much more work on <em>flying<\/em> my V-Race well in full flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">This was your second trip to Chamonix this year, jumping both Brevent and Midi. What was your gameplan on this particular jump?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was my second jump of the day off Aiguille du Midi. My idea was to fly a right line towards the refuge to test how different inputs would improve my approach for a fly by. I\u2019d aim toward the mid-station, and see how high I was flying. If I didn\u2019t like how high I was, I would just turn left to fly Cheese Grater line instead. As it turned out, I noticed early that I\u2019d be too low to fly over the refuge, so I flew Cheese Grater<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How many times have you flown the Cheese Grater line?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maybe about ten times, but usually I disconnect half-way down the line, so I can make my normal LZ by the lumber yard area. On one previous occasion, I stayed on the line longer, and still made the same LZ. This was my second time staying on the line longer than normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What was going through your head as you turned left to commit to the Cheese Grater line? Did you feel comfortable with your entry and speed? Was anything different from previous entries?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At that moment, I actually felt fine to turn onto the Cheese Grater line. Based on my previous jumps on that line, I honestly thought I would have no problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/\/623fe798-2667-48ff-b098-c64811efcbfd.jpg\" alt=\"A human body took out this tree\u2026 and lived\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>A human body took out this tree\u2026 and lived&nbsp;\u2014&nbsp;by Brandon Russell<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">As you\u2019re watching your POV video of this flight [5 sec prior to impact], do you feel you have the speed to aggressively flare and get out of this line?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No, not at all. I was actually expecting to continue flying straight and have the trees drop out from underneath me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Was this a normal flight condition for you on this line?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Honestly, yeah\u2026 Cheese Grater is sort of a flat-ish line. But I had always disconnected at a certain point about halfway down, and I always made my normal LZ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Looks like you had an \u2018out\u2019 to the left about 10 seconds prior to impact, and you didn\u2019t take it. Why?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I hadn\u2019t planned for an \u2018out\u2019. I honestly didn\u2019t expect to need one. I was just thinking about flying straight to my normal LZ. In hindsight, I think I was stuck on my \u2018gameplan\u2019 and obviously didn\u2019t have the awareness to adjust inflight, especially when staying in the line longer than normal. Combining an already exceptionally slow airspeed with my \u2018end of line \/ maneuver to deploy\u2019 mental state, my wingsuit couldn\u2019t hack it and I stalled my suit into the trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When watching your video, I start flinching about 20 seconds prior to your impact. More experienced proximity flyers are likely&nbsp;flinching much earlier. I\u2019m being brutally honest here, but I get the sense that for the 10-15 seconds leading up to impact, you aren\u2019t&nbsp;aware of what is&nbsp;happening until maybe the last half-second. By then, it\u2019s too late and you\u2019re literally blindsided head on. Is that a true statement?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It wasn\u2019t until about the last 5 seconds that I felt the trees below me getting closer than I expected or wanted. Everything before that felt flyable to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone is-resized wp-image-18594\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/tree-landing-wingsuit-Eric-FI-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"wingsuiter lands in tree\" class=\"wp-image-18594\" width=\"960\" height=\"544\"\/><figcaption>Screengrab from Eric&#8217;s Go Pro just before impact<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I\u2019ve seen other impact POV footage where the guys haven\u2019t made it, and you can get a sense in the end game, in the last 2 sec, by their body posturing, where they are looking, whether they\u2019re flinching or bracing, you can definitely get a sense of their awareness level. In your video, honestly, I see nice smooth footage all the way to impact. It\u2019s almost like you take a face shot. \u2019Dude, he just flew into trees at full flight without flinching!\u2019 Is that assessment correct?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There were things I was not aware of in my last few seconds of flight, and some things I was aware of. But in this crash situation, I did not flinch, brace for impact, or change to a body position that might worsen my situation. My skill level and knowledge pool was not high enough to keep me from stalling into the trees, but I knew the best chance of surviving my impact into the trees was to keep a flying position at all costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Have you ever heard of the saying \u201cNever run out of Airspeed, Altitude or Ideas\u201d?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Actually no, but it\u2019s pretty obvious I ran out of all three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">There\u2019s a difference between 1) Awareness of something wrong and not doing anything about it, and 2) NOT being aware of something wrong at all\u2026 and I guess that\u2019s where I\u2019m digging in the weeds and trying to figure out which is at play here.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I think it\u2019s a little bit of both. Towards the end of my flight, I started feeling I was a bit low, but not so low that I couldn\u2019t make it to my usual LZ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You didn\u2019t pitch. The primary stow band was still engaged on your lines when PGHM got to you. Knowing that you didn\u2019t pitch, what\u2019s your reaction?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I still thought I was going to make it to my LZ. By the time the \u2018Oh shit!\u2019 window arrived, it was too late. I felt my chances of flying this out were better than pitching early in a shitty spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What\u2019s your honest assessment of your qualifications, having now been in skydiving for 4 years, BASE for 2 years, 80 slider-off jumps, 40 tracking jumps, and only 70 WB jumps prior to Chamonix? Do you think your experience qualifies you for flying technical proximity lines at Brevent and Aiguille du Midi?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Absolutely not. But here\u2019s what I was thinking. I figured I could fly the lines best by first flying them \u2018not so deep.\u2019 Then I\u2019d work my way up [down?] by flying them a little more aggressively as I got more and more comfortable with each one. With this method, I thought I could <em>learn<\/em> how I needed to fly them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">At the time though, you did feel qualified and prepared to show up to Chamonix by yourself. So many other jumpers are in the exact situation as you. Can you expand on how you convinced yourself you were \u2018good to go\u2019 on your first Chamonix trip?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My friends had introduced me to the exit and start logistics of both Brevent and Midi. I had already flown similar exit profiles and my exit and start performance history was solid. As long as my starts continued to be good, I wasn\u2019t worried. But, I also continued to fly lines more and more aggressively as I got comfortable with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">My personal recommendation is to hold EXPERT status in 1) Skydiving, 2) Basejumping, and 3) Wingsuit Skydiving, prior to your first WS basejump. How would you rate yourself in these 3 categories when you started WS BASE?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Skydiving:<\/em> I wouldn\u2019t have considered myself an expert skydiver when I started WS BASE. I was lacking in certain all-around skills, such as free flying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Basejumping:<\/em> I wouldn\u2019t have considered myself an expert here, either. I lacked certain disciplines, such as aerials. However, I did feel I knew enough about exit safety, equipment, and obstacle avoidance to WS BASE jump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Wingsuit Skydiving:<\/em> This area is actually the <em>closest<\/em> I felt to an expert category prior to starting WS BASE, even though I\u2019m still not there yet. At the time, while I did feel experienced, I didn\u2019t feel like an expert because of 1) poor performance in my \u2018big suits\u2019 and 2) the lack of comparison to people who flew similar suits to me in my area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wingsuit BASE was your goal before your very first skydive. You currently have around 550 wingsuit skydives, which is a decent amount of practice time. Yet, you ultimately stalled into the trees by not flying your suit fast enough. Do you think this stemmed from a lack of WS BASE academic training, or rather a lack of appropriate skills training?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both, actually\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/\/bcc5de26-fde0-4bc7-a59f-09dfa865c934.jpg\" alt=\"Red flight line inferred from debris trail\" width=\"1103\" height=\"805\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Good friends of yours were concerned about a slow flight you had only a week prior in Walenstadt\u2026 slow, at least when compared to them. With your exit weight of about 220lbs, you\u2019re also considerably heavier. By definition, you should be flying faster than them just to maintain the same relative stall margin. Taking this all into account, what was your honest assessment of your speed capabilities when they talked to you about flying too slow?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I just brushed off their small comment about speed because they didn\u2019t address it like it was a big issue. That flight itself didn\u2019t feel different from my previous flights elsewhere. I wouldn\u2019t say I was lying to myself, but I honestly thought my WS BASE performance was good enough. I knew I was slower than some people, and honestly tried to keep that in mind when considering new jumps or lines. I might not have been the best, or better than anyone, but I definitely felt good enough to fly most lines. I now realize I was getting complacent really fast. Although I had been keeping a margin for error, once I got to an advanced place like Chamonix, the margin for error dropped considerably without me fully realizing it. I thought I was good enough, fast enough, and knew what I was doing\u2026 I let myself get complacent and too comfortable flying slow. It turned out to kill me, except that I lived.<\/p>\n\n\n<p><!-- Squirrel Large Leader Early Wingsuit [async] --><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">if (!window.AdButler){(function(){var s = document.createElement(\"script\"); s.async = true; s.type = \"text\/javascript\";s.src = 'https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/app.js';var n = document.getElementsByTagName(\"script\")[0]; n.parentNode.insertBefore(s, n);}());}<\/script><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\nvar AdButler = AdButler || {}; AdButler.ads = AdButler.ads || [];\nvar abkw = window.abkw || '';\nvar plc357350 = window.plc357350 || 0;\ndocument.write('<'+'div id=\"placement_357350_'+plc357350+'\"><\/'+'div>');\nAdButler.ads.push({handler: function(opt){ AdButler.register(175942, 357350, [860,248], 'placement_357350_'+opt.place, opt); }, opt: { place: plc357350++, keywords: abkw, domain: 'servedbyadbutler.com', click:'CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER' }});\n<\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Throughout your jumping career, has anyone ever pulled you aside and cautioned you to slow down and pace yourself?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah, actually there was one friend who did exactly that. He didn\u2019t basejump though, so I didn\u2019t really give his advice much consideration. I thought I knew what I needed to train to, and I thought I was progressing well within my means.<\/p>\n\n\n<p><!-- Cookie Medium Banner adjusted Leaderboard 860 x110 [async] --><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">if (!window.AdButler){(function(){var s = document.createElement(\"script\"); s.async = true; s.type = \"text\/javascript\";s.src = 'https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/app.js';var n = document.getElementsByTagName(\"script\")[0]; n.parentNode.insertBefore(s, n);}());}<\/script><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\nvar AdButler = AdButler || {}; AdButler.ads = AdButler.ads || [];\nvar abkw = window.abkw || '';\nvar plc356454 = window.plc356454 || 0;\ndocument.write('<'+'div id=\"placement_356454_'+plc356454+'\"><\/'+'div>');\nAdButler.ads.push({handler: function(opt){ AdButler.register(175942, 356454, [860,110], 'placement_356454_'+opt.place, opt); }, opt: { place: plc356454++, keywords: abkw, domain: 'servedbyadbutler.com', click:'CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER' }});\n<\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I couldn\u2019t help notice that you were rolling solo in Chamonix. Is that normal on BASE trips for you?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah, it actually seems to be a theme for me. My first WS BASE jump was with another guy doing his first WS BASE jump, too. So, not exactly the best way to start. Since then, my few trips have sort of been on my own despite my efforts to get friends to join. Schedules, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">So, no mentor to keep an eye on you and show you the ropes, or critique your progress?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not really\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You woke up the night of your rescue in Annecy Hospital? What do you remember after waking up?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I thought I had died. I had no idea what I was doing there or where I was. I couldn\u2019t remember anything after the first jump of the day, except for a faint memory that I had been jumping. Utter confusion. Turns out I had been laying in the forest for over 3 hours until some trail workers heard me calling for help. I had moderate brain trauma. I couldn\u2019t think or talk straight. I hurt everywhere. I couldn\u2019t speak French. I didn\u2019t have my phone. I was alone and in a state of utter confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fran\u00e7ois Gouy of PGHM was the guy who pulled you out of the forest. He\u2019s a former wingsuit basejumper, and a few of us actually had dinner with him a few days before your crash. He gave us your crash coordinates, so Brandon Russell and I went to the scene looking for your GoPro. Dude, there was blood, tree carnage and debris everywhere. You flew through an 8\u201d diameter tree trunk and snapped the top 20\u2019 completely off. Your debris trail was almost 300\u2019 long. How on earth do you explain being alive, let alone essentially unscathed?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I absolutely shouldn\u2019t be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/\/e3370516-2185-4224-86a0-84d152019709.jpg\" alt=\"The debris trail was almost 300 feet long\" width=\"1040\" height=\"881\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Looks like you\u2019re well on your way to a full recovery. Any intentions of getting back in the air? If so, what are you going to change moving forward?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes, I can\u2019t wait to get back into wingsuiting. Maybe not WS Base, but definitely skydiving. And here\u2019s what I\u2019m going to work on when I get back:&nbsp;SPEED! I need to COMPLETELY understand how speed works, what actions lose it, what actions gain it. Everything about speed. On top of that, I\u2019m going to change my mindset to foster&nbsp;a 120% understanding of every single aspect of flying a wingsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Last question. Based on everything we\u2019ve discussed, what are 2 or 3 things that, to those who are following in your footsteps, fast tracking into wingsuit BASE and cutting corners, watching all the sizzle clips from Jokke Sommer, Graham Dickinson, Alex Polli\u2026 what are your recommendations to those individuals, now that you\u2019ve lived after going in!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I blatantly, honestly screwed up flying a suit way outside my current skill level, on a line way outside my current experience level. I honestly thought I had put in the hard work in wingsuit skydiving. I mean, I\u2019ve got 550 wingsuit skydives. Those are decent numbers for starting wingsuit base. But when I look back on it, especially when I was flying that used V4, I always felt like the underdog. Guys in newer suits were flying higher and faster than me. Everybody told me that the new suits flying higher and faster were made to do that, especially compared to my V4. I didn\u2019t even really understand that with my weight [220lb out the door], I should be a missile compared to the lighter guys, and yet they were beating me consistently. So, the red flags were there from the beginning, and I didn\u2019t know enough to recognize them. I wasn\u2019t learning to fly my suit well, I was just accumulating jump numbers and thinking the skills would come with jump numbers. I now realize it doesn\u2019t work that way. My progression, especially once I took my BASE FJC, was way too fast. I tried but couldn\u2019t find a mentor willing to show me the ropes. That bothered me very much at the time, but I figured people just didn\u2019t want to deal with the responsibility. I thought I knew what I was doing, so I just continued on the path by myself, doing what I thought was correct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of my friends was pretty shaken up. I\u2019d flown with him in Walenstadt just a few days prior. As it turns out, he had really wanted to tell me how concerned he was about my slow flying. He didn\u2019t, he kept quiet. After my crash, he felt so bad, because if I actually had died, dude, he would have carried that guilt of staying quiet for the rest of his life. There are so many things to take away from this. If you see something dangerous, man up, grow a thick skin, and say what\u2019s on your mind, right then and there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To those starting from square one, who are looking to be the next Graham Dickinson, I would say this: Cut No Corners. At the end of the day, how well you fly your wingsuit is what keeps you alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/\/4f0b70af-a844-4dd8-95f3-f4c3c6bdc4c0.jpg\" alt=\"The bottom of the tree that had 20 feet snapped off it when Eric flew into it\" width=\"1020\" height=\"675\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">From Top Gun Base:<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>I met Eric for the first time about 1 week prior to his accident. Turns out, we both have the US Navy in common. We talked about military jobs, deployments, nothing deep. That\u2019s all changed. Eric and I talked for almost 3 hours straight for this article. We got deep. Whatever Eric lacked in wingsuit preparation prior to his accident, he redeemed himself with candor, humility and genuine intent on getting his story out to unprepared wingsuiters&nbsp;like himself. His honest, unflattering answers to tough questions are a true testament of his character, and I truly can\u2019t wait to see him get back in the air.<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>So many things to take away from this\u2014 I\u2019ll try to summarize the high&nbsp;points:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em><strong>This fatality (let\u2019s face it, Eric &#8216;died&#8217;) started with huge social media influence.&nbsp;<\/strong>Most newbie viewers never realize that: A) It took over 20 takes on the same line to get the one perfect video clip that goes viral, and B) The video that hooked you was flown by world-level pilots at the top of their&nbsp;game with&nbsp;years of WS BASE experience and many hundreds of wingsuit basejumps.<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em><strong>A wolfpack of one doesn\u2019t do well in BASE.<\/strong> \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Over-Edge-Death-Grand-Canyon\/dp\/097009731X\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Research<\/a> shows that the number one demographic for deaths in the Grand Canyon is an 18-30 year-old male, ALONE! They get dumb ideas, do dumb shit, and there\u2019s nobody around to throttle them back. The same is true for Wingsuit BASE. Running solo also makes it hard for rescuers, medical personnel and local jumpers to help\u00a0with all those fun post-impact\u00a0logistics\u2026 especially if you haven\u2019t woken up yet (or don\u2019t wake up) from your impact. In this accident, we were firing texts out to everybody\u2026 \u201cDoes anybody know Eric\u2019s\u00a0last name?\u201d<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em><strong>I\u2019m not in BASE to make friends<\/strong>.&nbsp;But I&nbsp;prefer&nbsp;to keep the friends&nbsp;I do make. I\u2019m guessing you do too. If you see something\/someone\/anyone\/anything unsafe\u2026 man up and speak your mind&nbsp;right away. Don\u2019t worry if you piss that person off. You\u2019ll gain the respect of your peers by demonstrating the responsibility of calling out&nbsp;shit that needs to be squared away. Especially if that dumbshit is me. I\u2019ll be pissed if I hear&nbsp;you kept your mouth shut on something unsafe&nbsp;I was doing, but didn\u2019t have the stones to tell me to my face. Make sure your concern is heard and understood.<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Don\u2019t trust jump numbers to tell you if you\u2019re experienced or prepared.<\/strong> My current working definition of experience is this:&nbsp;<em><strong>Experience = Jump Numbers&nbsp;+ Demonstrated Proficiency + Time in Sub-Discipline.<\/strong> Shortcut any one category, and you\u2019re an accident waiting to happen.<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Interview by Richard Webb, Top Gun BASE<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Original Article <a href=\"http:\/\/topgunbase.ws\/i-flew-my-wingsuit-into-trees-and-woke-up-in-a-hospital\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>\u00a0on the <a href=\"http:\/\/topgunbase.ws\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Top Gun Base website<\/a>, which is packed full of information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/\/ab094bb2-4c66-4321-b95f-48a6f9211df6.jpeg\" alt=\"Scotty-Bob\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><!-- Squirrel Supersize Wingsuit [async] --><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">if (!window.AdButler){(function(){var s = document.createElement(\"script\"); s.async = true; s.type = \"text\/javascript\";s.src = 'https:\/\/servedbyadbutler.com\/app.js';var n = document.getElementsByTagName(\"script\")[0]; n.parentNode.insertBefore(s, n);}());}<\/script><br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\nvar AdButler = AdButler || {}; AdButler.ads = AdButler.ads || [];\nvar abkw = window.abkw || '';\nvar plc356859 = window.plc356859 || 0;\ndocument.write('<'+'div id=\"placement_356859_'+plc356859+'\"><\/'+'div>');\nAdButler.ads.push({handler: function(opt){ AdButler.register(175942, 356859, [860,484], 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