By Adam Hollingworth
A second New Zealander in two months has died base jumping in the Alps in Europe.
Twenty-eight-year-old George Staite died jumping more than 1000m off a ledge called Eagle's Beak in the Italian region of Trentino, Alto Adige.
The Italian paper Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno reported a New Zealander died after jumping from the Eagle's Beak. The report said his parachute failed to open and he hit a rock face.
The victim hasn't been officially named, but 3 News has confirmed it is Mr Staite, from the Nelson region.
Lisa Chambers taught Mr Staite to skydive three years ago. She says he worked in the mines in Australia to fund his passion, and she last saw him after Christmas.
“George was incredibly passionate about base jumping,” she says. “More so than skydiving. He got into skydiving just to move on to base jumping. When we last saw him he was looking forward to this trip over in Europe he had been looking forward to it for quite some months, so he was super excited. Base jumping was everything to him.”
During that trip, Mr Staite was one of 16 people who base jumped in the US, Turkey and Italy for a video for an extreme sports internet channel.
His friend Marco Regina posted a tribute on Facebook, saying: “Today one of my best friends, George, left this world doing what he loved the most. Goodbye my Kiwi brother. I love you. Fly free.”
Mr Staite is the second New Zealand base jumper to die in two months. Thirty-one-year-old Alan McCandlish of Taupo was base jumping near Zurich when he hit a ledge.
Base jumpers leap from fixed objects, using a parachute to break their fall. The activity has the highest odds of death of any recreation – at least eight times more than skydiving, with one fatality per 60 participants.
3 News