Base jumper dies after parachute plunge

A parachutist died today after leaping into a canyon south of Sydney, police said.

The death came a week after a well-known Australian base jumper died as a result of injuries sustained in a jump from China’s tallest skyscraper.

An anonymous caller alerted police to the accident at Slot Canyon, Bungonia Gorge, about 60 miles south of Sydney early this morning, said Senior Constable Peter Selmes of Goulburn Police. The man’s body was found about three hours later.

“A person had jumped and hit the bottom. Details are still sketchy,” Selmes said.

No further details were immediately released.

Slot Canyon has vertical walls 900 feet high, according to New South Wales state’s National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Base jumping – an acronym for building, antenna, span and earth – refers to jumping with a parachute from a permanent surface as opposed to skydiving from an aeroplane.

Roland Simpson, 34, known as Slim, suffered a serious head injury on October 5 in the jump from Jinmao Tower in Shanghai’s financial district. His parachute lines became twisted and he landed on a rooftop rather than the patch of lawn designated for the jump.

Simpson was flown back to Australia last week, but died in a Canberra hospital.