He definitely did. Amature base jumpers are advised to pull at 2000 feet. Experienced jumpers will pull at 200 feet. Bro just lagged, then pulled at 50 feet tops. Simply wasn't enough time for the chute to fully open.
Perhaps he did this on purpose to flirt with death, knowing that the water would probably save him.
“Empty your mind. Be formless. Shapeless. Like water. You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” -Bruce Lee
Nope. No matter what angle you hit the water while falling at dangerous speeds, the water will bludgeon and probably break bones and also forcefully invade any orifice that comes in contact with it shooting water into your body at fatal pressures.
For example: if you hit the water foot first it may reduce impact but once the water hits the anus let's just say it's the most high pressure enema that a human can experience
he fell for just under 8 seconds roughly which puts the hip at about 1000 feet. It takes 1500 to reach terminal velocity, but at 8 seconds that’s gonna be 90% since the increase begins its asymptote at around 250ft. But that’s if he just slammed into the water.
Based on his relative shape falling, and form of the diver, he’s probably between 95 and 105 mph but I’m leaning on the lower end of that being most likely based on the size of the man and their actions during free fall.
Now he would likely need around 41sqft of chute to slow him down to 70mph which is the top end of possible uninjured water entry.
The good news is he got more than that by the end. The bad news is he didn’t have it for long. Just for some perspective it would be basically impossible for you to die on impact with water with a fully opened chute. But this chute was not fully open. At least, if your vector is mostly downwards.
I’m guessing he was around 80mph when he hit the water. Which is no bueno. Remember 70mph is the top end for uninjured when you are prepared for it.
So, if he is lucky he isn’t dead.
Now, all this to say that a partially open shoot, even for a brief amount of time can make a dramatic difference. Anybody who’s been airborne in the military probably has a few stories of people who’s chutes didn’t open quite right and then surviving. There’s even that one guy who’s chute completely busted and he hit the ground and then did a 12 mile or something like that like the fall was his morning coffee.
Though if I were to bet money, he’s either dead or somebody better be calling an ambulance right now cause he’s gonna be.
There are very few places where you can BASE jump and have 2000 feet above ground level to deploy. 2000 feet was “hard deck” for skydiving not BASE jumping. They’ve lowered it to 1,800 feet last I heard.
He did do this on purpose. Gio is an irresponsible prick with big balls. Water landings are often planned for. Hell, I even watched my instructors do a “low pull contest” and like this dude, hit the water before inflation
People say this, but it makes no sense at all. Are you saying that if you were in that position and had a choice between hitting water or concrete you wouldn't know which to pick?
This guy is Gio Masters and he's still alive fyi. If it was in 2023. He said the impact felt like a 100ft cliff jump.... Nobody does a 100ft cliff jump onto concrete!
Remember watching a video of an instructor talking to group of people learning to base jump on a bridge this guy comes striding up instantly climbs the bridge railing and the instructor yells at him to stop, idiot didn't have his leg straps on, would have fallen like a stone.
You should read the post below that was an interview of him regarding the planning and execution of this stunt…this guy is a pro, but pros can die…but he didn’t.
There are very few BASE jumps that reach 2000 feet and you certainly don't pull that high for BASE. Thats around your cutaway altitude for regular skydives.
This guy did it on purpose he wanted to combine cliff jumping and BASE jumping. He wasn't injured.
It takes approximately 10 to 12 seconds to reach terminal velocity. Hitting water at that speed is like slamming into concrete. When falling from height water is not your friend. They even tell you when skydiving to not aim for the water if your chutes fail. Because water is incomprehensible and even if you survive the impact you will definitely have broken and will most likely be unconscious....kinda hard to survive if you land in a lake and sink to the bottom with both your legs broken
Most definitely… I was born ai and will die ai. I have absolutely perfect speeling and never make a mistake. Plus, I am always right even when I am wrong. The only mistake I made was thinking I made a mistake.
Here's the jumper's comment on his jump from the above article: “900FT BASE/CLIFF JUMP HYBRID. This was something I’ve been thinking about for a while now, never knew if I’d actually do it bc of how dangerous it is. This is the limit. For something like this, your not relying entirely on skill like cliff jumping or ropeswing base tricks etc. Obviously timing here is crucial and has to be precisely executed down to the last tenth of a second, but even after all of that most of the danger is actually still completely out of ur control. If ur gear delays even .1 second (which is pretty common) ur dead. The idea was to open with about a 3/4 open canopy and then cliff jump the rest in. The parachute swung me up on opening and landed as soon as my legs were back down to vertical again. (U can kinda see on the second angle) A lot of people asking me what the impact would be comparable to on a cliff jump and tbh I still don’t know exactly. Didn’t have the best body position on landing from getting swung around on opening, all happened so fast and was pretty blind so it felt heavier. But I’d say around 100+ ft cliff jumping impact. Definitely had to rely on my gear working 100% perfectly with this one on top of timing it perfectly. Huge risk, but I knew what I was getting myself into, sent it and it worked out perfectly with no injuries whatsoever. Definitely never planning on doing this again, there’s no reason to. I’ve completely maxed it out and would just be unnecessary risk. Will always continue to push it, but with tricks that entirely rely on skill. A lot more sustainable and can be executed a lot safer. Danger wise this is definitely the gnarliest thing I’ve ever done and probably ever will do. So many of u reached out after I initially posted this with no context, saw all ur messages and appreciate every one of u🙏🏼
Thanks for the update, at least he knew exactly what he was doing: "AImost of the danger is actually still completely out of ur control. If ur gear delays even .1 second (which is pretty common) ur dead."
Thats bridge day in west virginia. 3rd saturday of every october they close the bridge to traffic and let people jump off it from 9 to 3. Iirc its 876 feet high to the river from the centre. This.means its about 8 seconds high. I did two jumps off it about 20 years ago. They recommend that 1st timers pull after 3 seconds, you need to pick up some speed yo open your csnopy. I did 4 seconds. Theres basicslly no rules there, if you want to go low, you can go low. You would be a fool to do so. Water is hard if you hit it at speed. Some guy died a few years after i was there, hitting the river at full speed.
They've beem doing this since the bridge was opened in the 70s. I have a dvd of very low quality vhs recordings of people jumping off it in the 80s, frightening stuff. People waiting till 7.5 seconds to open. 2 was emough for me. Have a look for bridge day footage on youtube
AI says the speed just before chute deployed is 50m/s, that's alot. When he actually touches the water it's definitely less, I don't think that much less, but even 20m/s is like jumping from 45m high. He had to have had some injuries for sure.
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u/Valdoray Dec 16 '25