Belluno, 7 September 2023 – A 200-metre flight and then the fatal crash on the Tofane. The ‘base jumper’ crashed into the Canalino del Prete Francis Jay Driscoll, a 38-year-old Australian extreme sports enthusiast. A tragedy that recalls the accident of Diego Zanescothe VIP mountain guide who fell from the Tofana di Rozes in ‘free solo’.
Driscoll had arrived in the Dolomites with friends to embark on a series of adrenaline-pumping jumps, gods jump into the void from the mountain trying to land with sort of’parachute cloak‘. They had chosen the Tofanethe mountain range west of Cortina d’Ampezzo.
But yesterday morning something went wrong and Driscoll is fell 200 meters after the jump. The alarm went off around 10 am, the friends who were with him and who should have followed him in the acrobatic flight asked for help.
38-year-old Australian Francis Jay Driscoll and one of his ‘base jumping’ flights
The Australian ‘base jumper’ launched just before 10 yesterday morning, Wednesday 6 September. Dressed ad hoc with the equipment used for this type of sport, which consists of jumping into the void from various surfaces – natural reliefs, bridges or buildings – and then landing using a parachute. He wasn’t alone. The launch had been prepared together with two Australian friends with whom he shared the passion for this sport and with whom he had planned yesterday morning’s launch.
They had climbed together from Cortina to the second station, the point chosen for the launch. The The 38-year-old was the first to jump, the others should have followed suit. And instead, tragedy struck. Moments after throwing himself into the void, Francis Jay Driscoll plummeted into the Canalino del Prete, just 200 meters from the launch pad. When help arrived, the man was already dead.
Read more:
Cortina, Diego Zanesco crashes from the Tofana di Rozes in ‘free solo’. He was Oliver Stone’s mountain guide
It was one of the Australian friends who asked the 118 station for help. Driscoll fell a altitude 2,470 metersat the arrival point of the second section of the Freccia del Cielo, the cable car that takes you from Cortina to the Tofana.
Jay’s body fell to the left of the Zesta Tower. A difficult point to reach by helicopter because it was flown over by electricity cables. After an initial reconnaissance of the area, the aircraft identified the body of the jumper and then left to take on two rescuers from the finance police, who it then left as close as possible to where the victim was.
Meanwhile, two other technicians from the Cortina Alpine Rescue were taken to the top by the helicopter of the Air Service Center, which has an agreement with the Dolomiti Bellunesi Alpine Rescue. The body was harnessed and moved to a safer spot for the recovery operation by the helicopter which, picked it up with the winch, then took it to the Cortina morgue.
Extreme Passion: Who Was Francis Jay Driscoll
Francis Jay Driscoll’s social profiles are full of ‘impossible missions’: photos and videos that immortalize launches into the void from mountains and palaces in every corner of the world. He wanted to defy gravity and experience the thrill of soaring. A few hours after his death, an Australian friend wrote on Facebook: “Rest in peace, brother. You stupid fool”.
