Wednesday 5 October 2016, Eric Fournier, the mayor of Chamonix has issued a municipal order stating that "The authorization to practice wingsuit flying in the territory of Chamonix valley is suspended until further notice."
*WiSBASE: Wingsuit Base Jumping is the sport of wingsuit flying. WiSBASE technique is proximity flying, which is flying close to the faces and ridges of mountains.
According to France 3, there are thousands of wingsuit jumps per year in Chamonix valley.
This decision is the result of the rapid development of the wingsuit flying in Chamonix valley and recent incidents that have endangered the community.
According to Radio Mont-Blanc, the WiSBASE is suspended in Chamonix valley as a result of the fatality that occurred on Wednesday 3 October 2016, where a Russian man, Ratmir Nagimyanov (32) suffered a fatal accident after a launch from the summit of Aiguille du Midi (3842 m). He crashed into the rear of a new apartment building, close to the main road entering Chamonix.
According to Le Figaro, in a interview on Wednesday by France Info, with the mayor of Chamonix, he stated that it was "unacceptable that a new flying site has been opened by the WiSBASE community without warning the community of Chamonix", also adding that the landing site was located near the town and there was no oversight of this landing area. He explained the need of good oversight of WiBase activity particularly concerning takeoff and landing areas. "Wingsuit practitioners appear not to be aware of all the rules that are necessary because of the close proximity with the urban area of Chamonix".
Jean-Louis Verdier wants to address three essential subjects: the departing areas, the flight lines and the landing sites, a permanent prohibition on flying over the city is being strongly considered.
"We want landing zones well defined, so this is not done in an anarchistic way". Once the suspension has ended, "we expect that accidents will continue to happen but without the endangerment of others", he added.
According to Le Dauphiné Libéré, this suspension order has no specific term and will be applied until agreement is reached between all the interested parties.
These proposals will be made by a working group composed of wingsuiters and paragliders, in connection with mountain rescue services and the Municipality services.
The WiSBASE community will be asked to take responsibility for their activity and to provide proposals which might include flight plans and specified landing zones with chute deployment and angle approach regulations, before reauthorization is approved by the Commune.
Blinc magazine website, which details all BASE fatalities, states that since the beginning of 2016, 35 people have died worldwide, five of these were WiBASE in Chamonix valley.
