{"id":77769,"date":"2016-06-26T21:40:12","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T01:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=77769"},"modified":"2016-06-26T21:40:12","modified_gmt":"2016-06-27T01:40:12","slug":"base-jumper-dies-b-c-parachute-apparently-fails-deploy-rcmp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2016\/06\/26\/base-jumper-dies-b-c-parachute-apparently-fails-deploy-rcmp\/","title":{"rendered":"BASE jumper dies in B.C. after parachute apparently fails to deploy: RCMP"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Stawamus<\/a>
Stawamus Chief Mountain (Photo: Public Domain<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SQUAMISH, B.C.\u2014A BASE jumper has died in a plunge from a popular British Columbia mountain, after the parachute apparently failed to open until it was too late, Mounties say.<\/p>\n

The person jumped from the first peak of the Stawamus Chief Mountain, a busy spot for outdoors enthusiasts near Squamish, north of Vancouver, just before 10 a.m. on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Witnesses told police the person’s parachute did not open until significantly after the jump, and the person fell near the Sea-to-Sky Highway below, said Squamish RCMP.<\/p>\n

Sgt. Jolaine Percival said no further information about the person will be released while family members are being notified.<\/p>\n

She said she believes the BASE jumper was with a group, and the community of people who enjoy the activity is a tight-knit one.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s an adventurous kind of district that we live in, and people from all around the world flock to partake in activities like this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, it’s just ensuring that we deal with the family and get all the BASE jumper’s belongings back to the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The B.C. Coroner’s Service has been called to the scene.<\/p>\n

Squamish Mayor Patricia Heintzman said she was shocked and saddened by the death.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour thoughts immediately go to, ‘Was it a person in the community? Did you know them?’ We’re a pretty small, tight-knit community here,\u201d she said. \u201cYou think about this person and their family, and it’s very sad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heintzman said she believes BASE jumping is legal in the provincial park that includes the Stawamus Chief, and it would be difficult for her district to regulate the activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who do these extreme sports know the risks they’re taking, have prepared tremendously to do them, and you just have to hope they’re doing things within their skill set.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think you can prevent people from trying to push the limits.\u201d<\/p>\n

BASE jumping is when people jump from a fixed structure or cliff using a parachute or wingsuit. It’s considered more dangerous than skydiving due to the relatively low altitude of the jumps.<\/p>\n

The first peak of the Stawamus Chief towers about 540 metres above the highway. The granite cliff draws scores of hikers and climbers daily, and has become a draw for extreme sports fans as well.<\/p>\n

A 40-year-old Squamish man died after plunging from the mountain last July while speed flying, a sport similar to paragliding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SQUAMISH, B.C.\u2014A BASE jumper has died in a plunge from a popular British Columbia mountain, after the parachute apparently failed …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":77770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,1145,16],"tags":[9860,11375,11378,11376,11377],"class_list":["post-77769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-headline","category-news","tag-b-c","tag-base","tag-casualty","tag-jumper","tag-stawamus-chief-mountain","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}