He had more than eight jumps from this exit, practicing the line he wanted to fly. He hiked up by himself, sent video and messages from the top saying it’s cold and a bit windy. He spent a lot of time jumping solo, and there was no clear check in and out procedure. By the next morning we realised he was missing and raced out to find his car at the mountain, Mountain Rescue was notified, we had an idea of where he was going to be and they quickly retrieved him.
Twenty seconds from exit to impact, it’s a positive exit into a valley. He had a good start and reached reference points on level but with less speed. Ten seconds from exit is a left corner, only then can He see the ridge that He wanted to fly over. From the corner to the ridge is ten seconds, you can only bail out to the right for the first five seconds, otherwise you get cornered in.
From the corner, he doesn’t fly straight to the ridge, he goes slightly left and flies past a outcrop that’s about five seconds from the ridge, makes a slight right turn to line up to go over the ridge and at that point he realises he is low and cornered, flares to clear it, but by that time the suit is underpowered and doesn’t have enough energy and impacts the top of the ridge.
Waldo is an amazing person! He was a true aviator, he had a Commercial Pilot License, when he wasn’t flying his wingsuit off mountains, he was flying his aircraft, landing on every little runway, when it was too windy to fly, he was kitesurfing, getting some extra air off the waves. Waldo was always humble, never flashing his experience, always ready to be on every load, always super friendly and helpful. It was an honour to have him in our lives!