Benidorm base jumper crashes into building
Austrian base jumper Maria Steinmayr was lucky to escape alive after her leap from a 52-storey hotel in the holiday city of Benidorm on Friday saw her crash into the building on her way down.
Twenty-two-year-old Steinmayr was one of 17 competitors taking part in the Valencian city’s annual World Championship Extreme Base Jumping Competition.
The experienced base jumper, who had already completed a successful leap from Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Tower at 320 metres, started losing control soon after jumping off Benidorm's Hotel Bali, Europe's tallest hotel standing at 210 metres.
As soon as Steinmayr opened her parachute, she was propelled back towards the skyscraper.
The Austrian managed to land on her feet on one of the building's upper floors and quickly attempted to complete her jump by pushing herself off the ledge towards the void.
But the move worked against her, and within seconds Steinmayr was again heading towards the building with no control over her landing.
By a twist of luck, she went legs first through the glass window of a balcony on the tenth floor, narrowly escaping the concrete beams on either side.
Miraculously, the 22-year-old base jumper only suffered bruises to her elbows, knees and the nose.
Base jumping is an activity where participants jump from fixed objects and use a parachute to break their fall.
The acronym BASE stands for four categories of fixed objects from which a competitor can jump:buildings, antennas, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs).
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Twenty-two-year-old Steinmayr was one of 17 competitors taking part in the Valencian city’s annual World Championship Extreme Base Jumping Competition.
The experienced base jumper, who had already completed a successful leap from Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Tower at 320 metres, started losing control soon after jumping off Benidorm's Hotel Bali, Europe's tallest hotel standing at 210 metres.
As soon as Steinmayr opened her parachute, she was propelled back towards the skyscraper.
The Austrian managed to land on her feet on one of the building's upper floors and quickly attempted to complete her jump by pushing herself off the ledge towards the void.
But the move worked against her, and within seconds Steinmayr was again heading towards the building with no control over her landing.
By a twist of luck, she went legs first through the glass window of a balcony on the tenth floor, narrowly escaping the concrete beams on either side.
Miraculously, the 22-year-old base jumper only suffered bruises to her elbows, knees and the nose.
Base jumping is an activity where participants jump from fixed objects and use a parachute to break their fall.
The acronym BASE stands for four categories of fixed objects from which a competitor can jump:buildings, antennas, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs).
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