General information

The Spots in the Lauterbrunnen valley are unsuitable for beginners! Most jumps are in the lower range strongly positive which demands exzellent Tracking abilities. The height of the Spots is in a range that it makes technically difficult. Since the Track only pulls correctly after some seconds of freefall it is usually saver to deploy somewhat lower, the last seconds of the track are very important for the separation of the wall. But of course not to low. Deploying half way down the wall means the jumper is very close at the wall. An offheading opening in addition means one is in serious problems. The ideal opening height causes a well adjusted eye, what can only be trained starting from Yellow Ocean.

In the winter extreme caution is required on the hike and on the exits. Falling danger! The area is steep and slippery, frozen-over brooks and avalanche courses have to be crossed. Bring along some ropes and other safety equipment may help.

Before each jump air Glaciers must be called. The Spot and the number of jumpers must be communicated. Telephone +4133 856 05 60

Check the landing area before the jump. Landing only on cut meadows! Landing areas are private property, leave them as fast as possible.

Leave no waste, neither on the exits nor in the landing areas. Also not on the parking lot of the Hornerpub!

There in Lauterbrunnen no control instance locally is present, Jumpers are demanded mutually to be controlled. Show nobody an exit if you are not informed about its experience. Ask questions, tell jumpers who act dangerously to change their behavior.

We are guests in the valley, tolerated ,without any rights to jump. act responsible.

The Lauterbrunnen valley already claimed 10 jumpers lives. 10 too much!

Exzerpt of the BASE Fatality List

 #31 Xaver Bongard, April 15, 1994,
Cliff Jump
Staubbach, Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
Impact
Xaver cutaway a spinning malfunction using a two canopy BASE container. The reserve opened with line twists that did not clear prior to impact. Xaver is well known, even legendary, in the climbing community for his big wall solo accents.

#58 Thierry Van Roy, April 2, 2001
Age: 39
Cliff Jump
Impact
Lauterbrunnen, "La Mousse" (Mossy).
Thierry had 100 plus skydives and about 240 BASE jumps (fifty jumps are from cliffs.) He is doing a 3 way, launching first, on his back (video person above him filmed the whole jump). Thierry took too much time to come back to a good position facing away from the wall. He attempted to make a quick quarter turn and deploy, but impacted before complete deployment of his canopy. Two days prior to his death, he did ten jumps in the valley, and witnesses attested to the fact that he is really very tired. He is passionate for the sport and loved the people who -like him- jumped for their own, and not for the show. His many friends miss him deeply. The report also included the following: "Just a few words about this site La Mousse. It is high and you can fly 9 to 10 seconds if you track like hell. But the pure vertical is not more than 6 seconds."

#65 Dr. Nikolas (Nik) Hartshorne, August 6, 2002 
Cliff Jump
Wall Strike
Lauterbrunnen, (Murren) Switzerland
Nik had 501 BASE jumps when he launched for this planned 9-10 second delay. Most of Nik's previous BASE jumps had been low ones and he's actively working on his tracking skills. According to the one witness who saw the entire jump Nik launched head down, but looked as if he would recover. However, he deployed before complete stability is achieved. The canopy opened facing the cliff and Nik is turning it away (using rear risers as the brakes are still set when the canopy is inspected) when he landed on a ledge. At that point he had already turned the canopy 90 degrees away from the wall. The canopy collapsed and Nik fell backwards from the ledge. He impacted a second ledge with his head (this is the fatal injury) and the canopy then re-inflated and flew into the wall a third time and hung there a moment. The canopy then dropped beneath him and he fell into it. He fell down the remaining part of the wall (several hundred feet) wrapped in the canopy and hitting the wall 6-8 more times. CPR is performed to no avail. Nik is a very popular BASE jumper and will be missed. He is also a Medical Examiner who, not only lent his expertise to previous BASE fatality investigations, he also performed the autopsy on singer Curt Cobain. Nik's death has caused his name to be included into the conspiracy, fans say, surrounds Cobain's suicide.

#66 Wolfgang "Wolle" Bäumer, August 13, 2002
Cliff Jump
Lauterbrunnen (Staubbach) Switzerland
Local rescue workers say the jump is a two-way and Wolfgang is doing camera. They didn't say specifically what is the cause of the accident. As this is the second BASE fatality here in two weeks the Swiss BASE Association is asking all BASE jumpers to refrain from visiting the area as they iron out problems with authorities and the media.

#76 Fabrice Parent, August 10, 2003
Lauterbrunnen (Mürren) Switzerland
Cliff Jump
Fabrice had 500 skydives and 53 BASE jumps when he launched for this planned 9-second delay. On deployment he experienced a 180 with a full line twist and impacted the wall.

#81 Andi K, June 18, 2004
Age: 26
Cliff Jump
Switzerland
Impact
This is a from a report. Andi had 300 plane and 30 BASE jumps. It was his 2nd jump that day and his 2nd jump from the Nose. He jumped straight, tracked, opened at around 200 meters off the ground (half-way down the face), had a 180 and hit the cliff  3-seconds later. There was zero wind. From what I've been told it was his first off-heading opening. He died immediately on impact.

#83 Duane Thomas,August 21, 2004 
Age: 35
Cliff Jump
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
Duane, a Kiwi with a quick smile, is a well known and experienced BASE jumper. The following is from an eye witness. "The jump is witnessed by two British jumpers and two Swiss jumpers. One Brit watching, and videoing, from the exit point, the other three watching from the LZ. This is Duane's  first wingsuit BASE jump, and his first jump ever with a leg mounted pilot chute pouch. Prior to this jump Duane prepared by making 50 aircraft and 2 hot air balloon wingsuit skydives. Duane had a good exit and a good flight.  Everybody saw him reach for and locate the pilot chute at what the witnesses said is a reasonable altitude. He then kept his hand there and continued in freefall. The speculation is the lack of normal groundrush (like the type he is used to when not wearing a wingsuit) might have fooled him. The Swiss are yelling at him to pull and he finally did so, at what they said is about 30-feet above the ground. The canopy lifted out of the pack tray but is no where near line stretch when he impacted in a full flight position. According to the Swiss there is no fumbling around, or looking for the pilot chute handle - all the witnesses agree on this. He reached and located the pilot chute, but just took to long to deploy it. A hard pull cannot be fully discounted at this time, but all the witnesses believe he just waited too long." This is the sixth BASE wingsuit fatality since the first one occurred in September of 2002.

Jurgen Ornburger, February, 2002 
Impact (Hiking)
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
Jurgen is a German BASE jumper who slipped on the ice while approaching the launch point on Moussy. He fell over the edge with a packed BASE rig in a stash bag on his back.