65-year-old British base jumper dies after jumping off Italian mountain

Mark Andrews, 65, dies after jumping off a mountain in Italy

65-year-old British BASE jumper dies after falling off a mountainside in Italy .

Mark Andrews fell over 400 meters (437 yards) and died instantly on Saturday. A year ago, another British BASE jumper died in the same place.

Mr Andrews, originally from Redruth in Cornwall, was wearing a wingsuit and a parachute. It is not clear why his parachute did not open.

He reportedly traveled on his own to the popular jumping spot at Paganella in the Italian Dolomites. A retired engineer, Mr. Andrews lived with his wife in Bucharest, Romania. Previously, he lived in Russia.

Although relatively new to the sport, Mr. Andrews was experienced with nearly 600 jumps. According to his Facebook page, he jumped from mountains all over Europe.

“He came to base jumping quite late,” one of the jumpers told Mail Online. «He's only been doing it since 2014, but he's accomplished a lot in those nine years.

«He was fearless and will be missed. He has competed regularly in various BASE jumping competitions in Italy, but has also jumped from bridges and skyscrapers all over the world.”

Tough location

According to another BASE jumper, this place was known to be difficult.

“This is not a straight drop, the first 400 meters will be rocks and ledges of trees, and then 1500 meters in a straight line.

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«You also have to be careful with the wind, so only experienced professionals jump from this point, and the rest head to another place about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from Mount Brent.»

< p>Base jumping is different from skydiving jump in that it involves jumping from a fixed point, and not from an airplane.

It is considered one of the most dangerous extreme sports. An estimated 311 BASE jumpers died.

The first known fixed-point jump occurred in 1617, when Fausto Veranzio jumped from St. Mark's Campanile in Venice.

Other notable jumps include Frederick Low's parachute drop from the Statue of Liberty in 1912. Franz Reichelt died two days later when his «parachute in his coat» failed to open after he jumped from the first deck of the Eiffel Tower.