Man Dies Parachuting Off Rock in Yosemite Park
A man parachuting illegally off a rock formation in Yosemite National Park fell to his death, apparently because his chute was loaded improperly, a park official said.
Jeff Christman, 42, of Arizona narrowly missed two rock climbers sleeping on a ledge of the 7,569-foot granite monolith called El Capitan, Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman said.
“We think that his parachute was loaded backward, and when he deployed his chute he was spun around and sent into the side of the wall,” Gediman said.
Other details of Monday’s accident were not immediately available.
Two of Christman’s friends successfully jumped off El Capitan just before to his death. Park rangers arrested the group’s members, four men and two women, and charged them with misdemeanors involving the jumps. Other charges were pending.
Yosemite officials allowed parachuting from the park’s rock formations on a trial basis in 1980 but discontinued the activity because of injuries and damage to the surroundings, Gediman said.
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