We arrived in Les Diablerets on the morning of the 5th and did one jump from the classic Scex Rouge exit at 14:45. This was Reed’s third time in the region, and 6th-8th jump from this exit. There was a 5-10 mph quartering-headwind (South/Southwest) on the exit with long lulls, and lots of lift coming up the face. We jumped, and Reed flew a high line over the prominent ridge to the right (notated in black). I hugged the ridge, stayed low, and flew the traditional terrain line (notated in red) after coming around the corner. We watched our videos that night, and he had approached his chosen line with plenty of altitude and was able to dive down onto the terrain with (what appeared to me as) ample margin and lots of speed. We planned on doing 3-4 jumps the next day and caught the second gondola to Glacier 3000 on the morning of the 6th.
Jump:
That morning, we arrived on the exit point around 10:50 and jumped by 11:15. It was 62 degrees (the prominent ridge/meadows above had been in direct sunlight for at least an hour and a half), and while a 1-5 mph crosswind (Southeast) was forecasted, there was no wind on the exit. I jumped first, had a mediocre exit and start, and was noticeably lower than the day before. After flying a variation of yesterday’s line, landing safely, and watching the second jumper land 3-5 minutes after me, I stowed my gear and waited for Reed. About 10 minutes after he failed to appear, I called him twice, and we used the iPhone’s “Find my Friend” feature to approximate his location. We immediately called Search and Rescue, gave them the coordinates, and his body was located on the upper ridge (near the beginning of the line he had previously flown the day prior).
A picture provided by Search and Rescue showed a balled-up canopy near Reed, and a bridle/PC fully stretched and tensioned in the direction of travel, suggesting a low, emergency deployment.
Cameras have not been recovered yet, and the Fly Site is currently in police custody.
Flying across that ridge is something I’ve been warned about before, and I know that Reed had received the same advice from more experienced jumpers. While his previous video of that line looked subjectively “safe”, the wind/thermic conditions appear to have been considerably better.