We took the first bus up to Monte Brento. On the way, we were checking the wind, and soon we saw that there was no wind at the top. We made the final decision to go for the Spartacus exit next to Monte Brento. This was the last exit he was missing from the top ones. He told me he really wanted to complete all the top exits.

We took a really nice hike up and went straight to the exit. When we arrived, we saw that the conditions were good: a soft breeze to no wind, with a slight north/east breeze. He felt really good (too good) at the exit and liked the place and the rock he would push off from. There was nothing he didn’t like about that jump.

He had watched a video on YouTube the day before showing how others flew the line. I told him many times not to fly the same line he had seen for the first time and to keep it high and safe. Fly straight and so soon you see that you have big margin turn left. He jumped first. His exit was solid strong push and quick inflation. He had a really good start and had good altitude to the terrain.

As he started flying, I saw that he didn’t go straight for the steeper part, which we had talked about. Instead, he turned soft left toward the flatter area where there is also a small hill. About ten seconds after the exit, I saw him softly touching a tree. From my perspective, he had good speed and didn’t lose altitude from my point of view… he was not close to a stall or anything like that. Maybe and probably he didn’t saw this dry tree.. this happened to him already few weeks back but he got away without anything. They are hard to spot in winter. However, his position became unstable, and from there he lost control and hit several more trees before impacting to the rocks. I have the camera and try to analyse what happen. If I‘m wrong I‘ll give an update.

In my eyes, he was overconfident and willing to try this line immediately. Going aggressive since the first second. Many of us and me had talked with him thousand times over the years about his jumping in overall. He had almost no wingsuit skydiving experience, he came to Brento and essentially did his first wingsuit jumps there, on his own terms. He pushed hard on every jump, not willing to learn a proper glide position or really understand how to fly. From jump to jump, there was only one way down low and fast. He had many close calls in his base career, willing to take a lot of risk even when he was alone. Sad but true

If I wouldn’t be with him he would be by his own thats how he was and he went for that what he wanted.

It’s sad but true: we lost a really humble, good, and kind soul. We all told him this would not end well, but he didn’t care that’s what he told us. He wanted that way.

Fly free, we love you Phil, aka Bumpsy

Updated 8th Jan 2026 

Update:

I was able to recover the video.

It happened as I explained before. He had a good start, began flying, and turned slightly to the left. He was aiming for that hill on the left that has a kind of tree gate at the end. He aimed and passed through that tree gate but didn’t see the dry tree afterward. He went that way to aggressive. He hit that tree on the side, not in the center.

After the impact he slightly lost control and speed. He kept flying for 2 seconds further till the next hit. Despite the hit, he would still have been high enough after the first hit to fly out if he hadn’t lost that much control and height. I know it doesn’t change anything, but I just wanted to say it.

What we can learn from this aside from the mental aspects he had is something we already know, but must take extra seriously in winter, early spring, and autumn after the leaves have fallen.

When flying a wingsuit above trees without leaves, you can visually see all the way down to the ground. This creates a dangerous visual illusion: it makes you believe you are flying higher than you actually are and that you can safely fly lower. In reality, the treetops without leaves are almost invisible.

In late spring and summer, the situation is different. The green leaves are clearly visible, and your brain interprets them as the “bottom” or a solid barrier (DANGER). As a result, you naturally keep more distance, fly higher, and avoid getting as close.

Trees without leaves can fool your sense of distance. Always keep extra margin.