BASE Jumper Falls to Her Death in Utah
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AN EXPERIENCED BASE jumper has died two weeks after her wedding when her parachute failed to open as her husband looked on helpless.
Amber Marie Bellows, 28, leapt off Mount Kinesava is Utah’s Zion National Park on Saturday at around 4pm but fell more than 600 metres to her death when her chute didn’t open.
Her husband of two weeks, Clatyon Butler, 29, jumped after her but could not help her.
After he landed on the ground he had to walk past her body and for a further two-and-a-half hours to get help.
When Butler reached officials he informed them that his wife was dead.
Park authorities waited until Sunday morning before hoisting Bellows’s body from where she landed.
It is the park’s first BASE jumping death and has prompted warning about the dangers of the sport.
“It is just really sad and our condolences go out to her family and friends,’ said park superintendent Jim Milestone in a statement. “BASE jumping is so dangerous. Even for those that are experienced, like Amber Bellows. That is one of the reasons it is not allowed in the park.”
BASE jumping involves leaping from a fixed object and using a parachute.
Its name is an acronym for Building, Antenna, Span and Earth — the types of fixed objects from which a person can jump.
Bellows’s death has hit the skydiving community in Salt Lake City, where she and Mr Butler are from, extremely hard.
The death is under investigation.
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