Dwaine Weston.

[QuickDraw 0]

This is cross-posted in the incidents forum too, so i suppose this will be where the condolences will be given.


http://www.krdotv.com/DisplayStory.asp?id=6446


If your having trouble with the link not working, this is what it says.

Quote

Australian Sky Diver Killed During Exhibiton Jump During "Go Fast" Jumping Competition At Royal Gorge.
by News 13 team

10/5/2003


AN AUSTRALIAN SKY DIVER IS DEAD TONIGHT AFTER A TRAGIC ACCIDENT DURING A COMPETITION AT THE ROYAL GORGE.

CANON CITY POLICE SAY THIRTY YEAR OLD DWAINE WESTON WAS KILLED SUNDAY WHEN HE AND ANOTHER SKYDIVER JUMPED FROM A PLANE DURING AN EXHIBITION JUMP.

WESTON WAS PLANNING ON FREE FALLING OVER THE ROYAL GORGE BRIDGE BUT INSTEAD HIT THE STRUCTURE AND FELL INTO THE GORGE ONE THOUSAND FEET BELOW.

HE WAS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE BEST SKYDIVERS IN THE WORLD.

FREEMONT COUNTY SEARCH AND RESCUE UNITS ARE STILL SEARCHING FOR WESTONS BODY.

~ BSBD ~

[narcimund 0]

Absolutely unbelievable. Over 1200 base jumps with never a broken bone or other injury. And a skydive is his last jump. What astounding challenge did he set himself that finally caught up with him? After watching him thumb his nose at the laws of physics for years, which one was too much in the end?

The world was a more interesting place because of Dwain. My life certainly was and everyone else's who jumped was as well.

Tonight's the night to watch some videos...

RIP

First Class Citizen Twice Over

[andy2 0]

what a loss, what a loss.. I never even met him but it's obvious from just his postings on here and blinc how much he cared about helping other people BASE jump safely.

I send condolences to his family.

---------------------------------------------
let my inspiration flow,
in token rhyme suggesting rhythm...

[Zennie 0]

OMG. I'm speechless....

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[mickknutson 0]

http://www.blincmagazine.com/cms/article_398.shtml

Mick Knutson
* BLiNC Magazine "Everything you ever wanted to know about Parachuting, but didn't know whom to ask."

[Jib 0]

Clicky:
http://www.blincmagazine.com/cms/article_398.shtml

--------------------------------------------------
the depth of his depravity sickens me.
-- Jerry Falwell, People v. Larry Flynt

[czechbase 0]

Wow. I've read so much about this guy although I've never seen any of his videos.

Only 30, so young...

www.motavi.com

[andrewstewart 0]

Taken from Dwain's post on BLiNC after his 1000'th BASE jump:

------------------------------------

I've known jumpers that did everything right and still got hurt again and again. I've known jumpers that repeatedly do everything wrong and still walk away smiling. I've seen hellish situations crack strong people and amazing strength emerge from others.

I've seen people die who should have survived. I've seen people survive who (according to the laws of physics) should have died.

My objective in BASE from the very beginning has been the pursuit of the envelopes. While longevity in this pursuit is questionable, and time and time again I've tried to back off or slow down in my jumping style, I've always been drawn back. Considering the laws of statistics I guess my future is somewhat written in this respect.

The thing that still scares me the most about BASE jumping is the possibility of object strike. Bad offheadings on vertical walls slider down happen to everyone eventually and no one is good enough to successfully deal with it everytime (given the current technology).

So anyway enough of this introspective babble. Here's looking forward to the next 1000 jumps - to more experiences with the friends I've made, and to jumping with the people I've yet to meet and to those pure solo moments.

------------------------------------

Link: (someone else can make clickly...)

http://www.baselogic.com/forum/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=7&topic_id=7877&mesg_id=7877&listing_type=search

[base570 1]

Damn, it really sucks to come back from a great weekend to hear about this. Dwain was a true pioneer in our small sport, always pushing the limits.
I only got to spend one day with him in the summer of '99, but I will never forget it. I was just starting out in my BASE career (50 jumps) when base 515 and I decided to take the Europe trip for 5 weeks. We were at a really nice Swiss dam when Dwain and a few friends came blazing through. Now I thought I was doing pretty good by even getting off this thing but Dwain totally blew my mind away when I see him on the edge with his skyboard strapped to his feet!! I thought he was crazy but he was very meticulous about every aspect of his jump, constantly rehearsing it in his head over and over. As I watched his concentration I thought 'he's not crazy, he actually seems quite sane'. After all the preparations were made he exited into a really nice front flip. He deployed and had a 120 off heading, Yikes! This, of course, was a minor problem for him. He turns the canopy away from impending doom and lands safely at the bottom.
This meeting with Dwain left me with a few things...
1. Anything is possible in BASE (dream it and you can do it)
2. Attention to detail will help you to become an "old" BASE jumper
3.Mental and physical preparation are paramount.

I have become a better, safer, more aware BASE jumper thanks to this one meeting with Dwain.
Thanks Dwain for everything from your well written and researched articles to showing us what can be achieved.......
You will be missed

570

[basehoundsam 0]

A most terrible thing to happen. Dwain was pushing the envelope and came up snake eyes. This was a "STUNT" gone wrong. I am saddened by the outcome of 12 to 16 inches of misjujment. I swear he almost made it.

Dwain will be forever missed as the most experienced jumper in the world. AND MORE.



MY condolences....

Jay Epstein Ramirez
www.adrenalineexploits.com

[leggit 0]

The king is gone.

[BASE813 0]

Gutting.............

Peace...........

[Gargoyle 0]

We are absolutely devastated. Such a tremendous loss to our community. Such a tremendous loss of a friend.

Our hearts are with the family.

Karin, our thoughts and prayers are with you and if you need anything, please don't hesitate calling.

Slim, we are here for you.

Good-bye Twinkle Toes. You are "One of a Kind"!

Love,
Kathy and Robert

[skymick 0]

Damn...RIP Dwain...

[skreamer 1]

Never met the guy but like a lot of other newbies I held him in a certain awe. I do know some of his personal friends, and feel for them along with all his other friends and family.

Such a loss.

Will

PS news article quoting people from this thread.

[evilivan 0]

Damn.
Damn.
Damn.

If there is any way he was going to go, I suppose this would be it - pushing the limits to the absolute.

[pattersd 0]

I want to extend my sincere condolences.

Rip

[outrager 6]

...watched his plane taking off on my way to Denver. Still in shock and crying.

bsbd!

Yuri.

[cesslon 0]

http://www.news.com.au/
has him on the front page and 3 articles in total this is the latest

=================================
Wayward stunt kills thrill seeker
October 6, 2003

AFTER filming his friend's accidental death a year ago, skydiver Dwain Weston knew how he wanted to die.

Weston / AP
Dwain Weston preparing to do a jump just days ago at the Royal Gorge Go Fast games / AP Photo.
The Australian had told friends he didn't want to wither away from old age or illness but wanted to lose his life doing the extreme sport he loved so much.

Tragically, that was the way it happened.

The 30-year-old Boeing computer systems consultant died yesterday in a skydiving mishap in the US.

The former Sydney man and another parachutist had jumped from an aircraft over Colorado's 316m-high Royal Gorge Bridge and were to free fall either side of the bridge before pulling their chutes.

But the extreme sports star and world BASE jumping record holder accidentally miscalculated the distance from the bridge and hit a railing at 160km/h.

He fell on to a rock surface 90m above the bottom of the gorge.

Weston was wearing a "wing suit" with fabric extending below the arms to the body and also between the legs to allow a skydiver to catch the air and travel more horizontally.

But the Royal Gorge is narrow and winds are tricky, an event organiser said.

Within hours, the internet was flooded with sympathy messages from shocked BASE jumpers around the world.

"I really couldn't believe it," jump sponsor Go Fast Sports & Beverage Company vice president Heather Hill said.

"All I ever heard was he was the best in the world and he had skill to do it.

"Of course he always understood the risk and consequences of what he did. He was somewhat of a showman in his sport."

Weston had been living in Portland, Oregon, for a few years before moving to a beach near Los Angeles to be with his skydiving girlfriend and take up a lucrative IT job with Boeing Corporation.

He grew up in Sydney and was an avid surfer before getting into BASE jumping - in which participants jump off buildings, antennas (such as cranes), spans (bridges) and earth (cliffs) - and skydiving.

Weston set many records and won a recent contest for parachuting off the world's tallest office building - the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur.

Friends yesterday paid tribute to a man they described as a daredevil.

"Last year he was in Switzerland with his good friend and roommate and was filming him when he hit a cliff and died," one friend who asked not to be named said.

"Earlier he tried to revive someone who was injured in a jump and who later died. So he well knew the dangers.

"He said for him he felt they had died

the way he would prefer and, instead of getting old and dying of illness, Dwain's approach was that would be the way to go if it was to happen.

"That's how he rationalised the dangers."

Weston, who had skydived 700 times and BASE-jumped 1100 times in 10 countries, said in a recent interview he needed to stay scared to stay alert.

"If you become a little too relaxed, something could go wrong. You need to stay scared, you need to stay respectful of the sport," he said.

There were about 200 people on the bridge at the time of the accident yesterday.

Weston's family in Sydney were too distraught to comment yesterday.

The Daily Telegraph
==================================

[Faber 0]

We has lost a worldclass jumper.

Fly free brother

Stay safe
Stefan Faber

[robibird 2]

...I was privileged to know you , to jump and fly with you .
I'll miss you forever.
My condolences to his family.

Robibird

Robert Pecnik
[email protected]
www.phoenix-fly.com

[ManBird 0]

You are missed will be forever celebrated.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[Shotgun 1]

My thoughts are with all of Dwain's friends and family, and especially Karin... I just don't know what to say... What a terrible loss.

Blue Skies, Dwain, Blue Skies...

Keely

[narcimund 0]

At the end of Beyond Extreme, Dwain says, "The next thing I want to accomplish in acrobatic base is a double-somersault from below 200 feet."

Does anyone know if he managed it? I hope he did.

First Class Citizen Twice Over

[Dd0g 0]

Quote

At the end of Beyond Extreme, Dwain says, "The next thing I want to accomplish in acrobatic base is a double-somersault from below 200 feet."

Does anyone know if he managed it? I hope he did.

He successfully did a double from a 210 foot bridge with altitude to spare, but basically lost interest in the sub-200 goal as he felt it was unnecessarily risky and sort of boring at a certain level.

I repeated that double from 210 but ended up with a broken ankle; I'll leave the sub-200 double to somebody else.

Peace,

D-d0g

+~+~+~+~
But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.