Paul Thompson

This is an experienced skydiver who went along on a week long BASE trip as ground crew. Later in the week he expressed an interest in making a BASE jump himself. His jump resulted in a wall strike. He is pulled from the water and later he died. This jump resulted in manslaughter charges and law suits between jumpers and Park Service officials. The jumper's contention is Lake Powell is legal for sea-plane landings so should be legal for parachute landings as well.

Update: On the afternoon of September 15th, rangers received a cellular phone request for medical assistance for a person with life-threatening injuries who'd fallen from a cliff near the mouth of the Escalante arm of Lake Powell. Upon arrival, they found that Paul Thompson, 51, of Dixon, California, had already expired. Thompson was part of a group of seven BASE jumpers who'd made several parachute jumps from the cliff face just south of the Escalante confluence. Witnesses said that his chute deployed upon jumping, but that Thompson got twisted around and struck the cliff face several times because of the parachute's pendulum effect.

Update 9th Feb 2023
Paul was jumping an unmodified square, no deep brake settings or other mods. The wall is basically sheer, and is best done with a freefall, and a round canopy.

If you have a picture of this jumper please contact us.