Base jumpers killed in French Alps occurred separately on Sunday after the two men both parachuted off the mountains in their wingsuits. This recent news of the base jumpers killed in French Alps has just brought the death toll of the extreme sport to four this month.
According to rescue workers, an Australian man was believed to have died on impact after jumping from the 8,500 feet (2,600m) Brevent peak in the Haute-Savoie, near Chamonix.
Two hours later, a French base jumper was also killed after hitting a rock face while descending from Mont Granier, which is located in the neighbouring Isere region of southeastern France.
According to French news agency AFP, police said this story of the base jumpers killed in French Alps involved a 33-year-old man from Australia and a 52-year-old French base jumper.
The Australian man was reportedly wearing a wingsuit at the time he was found 'several hundred metres below [the peak] in a wooded area.' Authorities say he most likely died on impact.
The French base jumper on the other hand was described as 'extremely experienced. However, he still got involved in the story of the base jumpers killed in French Alps. He was found 200 metres below the ledge from which he had jumped, reports the AFP.
According to the BBC, the French man was believed to have died from hitting a rock face upon his descent from Mount Granier near the ski resort town of Val d'Isere.
One of the rescuers said he even 'managed to clear the first rock face, but not the second.'
Reports say that French authorities have launched an investigation into the recent reports of the base jumpers killed in French Alps.
Earlier in August, two base jumpers, one from Switzerland and the other from France, also died in similar accidents in the Alps and the French Pyrenees.
According to a Norwegian study, base jumping is an extreme sport and it is far riskier than skydiving.
According to the AFP, a base jump is a leap coming from a fixed high point. Its name is the acronym for Building, Antenna, Span (such as bridges) and Earth (natural settings).
Apart from recent reports of base jumpers killed in French Alps, what makes the extreme sport so much more dangerous is the fact that it involves leaping from an aircraft. Base jumpers also take off with a parachute from a fixed point, usually a cliff or a bridge.
According to the Norwegian study which was published in 2007, base jumping is five to eight times more likely to result in injury or death than skydiving.
Because of the number of reports of base jumpers killed in French Alps and in other areas, base jumping had previously been banned from the French mountain peak where the Australian man died, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
Meanwhile, while the ban aims to prevent further reports of base jumpers killed in French Alps, it reportedly triggered a debate on weighing the dangers of extreme sports against thrill-seekers' passions.
Base jumpers killed in French Alps is an unfortunate incident, more so to the family of the deceased than the base jumping community. According to a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the department offered consular assistance to the family of the 33-year-old Australian man.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
