Hello Sluggo:

I learned recently that Bert Brooks, the son of my cousin, Ozella (making him my second cousin, I suppose), died on 7 September in a BASE jumping accident at Lauterbrunnen, Bern, Switzerland. I can’t say I knew him—I only remember meeting him a few times when I was very young. As can be assumed about most of those involved in the BASE jumping scene, I guess he must have been an intense guy and presumably died doing what he loved. Any one of us can only hope to go out like that…

Condolences go out to his fiancee who was on the scene and had apparently made the jump just before him.

UPDATE: More information was posted recently to the BASE Fatality List:

“Bert was with his girlfriend Michelle on a BASE vacation in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. Conditions were good, and this particular jump occurred a bit after 2pm local time. Michelle jumped first, landed, and turned to watch Bert’s jump. He was using a 34″ pilot chute expecting to get full terminal airspeed but had to pitch between 5 and 7 seconds. It is unclear why, but he was too close to the wall to continue freefall. Bert pitched and opened with a 180 facing the wall. Bert struck the wall multiple times and was reported to be unresponsive after the first strike. Bert made it a point to never wear a helmet. Had he chose otherwise it could have given him a chance to fight and turn after that first strike. We will never know but hopefully will think twice ourselves about protective gear.”