An American base jumper, Brendan Weinstein, died on Monday while attempting a jump near Table Mountain, crashing onto the busy Platteklip Gorge hiking trail.<\/p>\n
Base jumping is prohibited in the Table Mountain National Park, and authorities have warned that such stunts put both jumpers and tourists at risk.<\/p>\n
Former skydiver Jeff Ayliffe says the jump was highly technical and that Weinstein had reportedly flown directly from the US to the site without consulting local base jumpers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“He hadn\u2019t contacted any of the local base jumping fraternity to speak to them about this exit point, and this exit point has been jumped many times successfully. It is a very technical jump, however, and it had very sad consequences.<\/p>\n
Ayliffe adds, “Brendan Weinstein is considered one of the most experienced base jumpers; he has a huge following in America. His technical ability is incredible; he’s done many, many jumps. A jump like Platteklip, for example, the guy will never just go and do it; they will do lots of jumps first.”<\/p>\n
He notes that this is only the third base jumping death in South Africa, and that careful preparation is critical.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“These guys are very cognisant of the risk they are taking.”<\/p>\n
Base jumping, a sport in which participants leap from cliffs, bridges, or buildings before deploying a parachute, remains extremely dangerous despite advances in equipment.<\/p>\n