Tragedy ·
The Fatal Jump at Sunrise Tower
Ueli Gegenschatz died two days after losing control during a Red Bull Mobile launch jump in Zurich. Police initially said it was not known why he had made contact with a lower building edge.
On 11 November 2009, Ueli Gegenschatz jumped with a parachute from the roof of Zurich’s Sunrise Tower during a nonpublic launch event for Red Bull Mobile. The 37-year-old BASE jumper came into contact with a lower building edge, lost control and struck the ground. Two days later, he died in hospital from his injuries.
The jump took place shortly after 12:30 p.m. in Zurich-Oerlikon, from a height of 88 metres. In their initial account, Zurich city police said the parachute had opened normally. Contact with the lower building edge followed, for reasons police said were not yet known. Gegenschatz then landed uncontrollably and was taken to hospital by Zurich’s emergency services. Police were investigating the circumstances.
The parachute continued to slow his descent. “The parachute still braked the fall, but the man hit the asphalt,” a police spokesman said, according to the contemporary report in Die Presse. On the evening of 13 November, city police announced Gegenschatz’s death, saying they were making the announcement in consultation with his relatives and the doctors responsible for his care.
The jump was part of a Red Bull Mobile launch event held by telecommunications provider Sunrise and Red Bull. More than 200 Sunrise employees witnessed the fall, according to Sunrise spokeswoman Sevgi Gezici. After his death, she said the company was considering bringing in a care team. “We are deeply shaken,” she told 20 Minuten. “This is an unimaginable tragedy. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”
Sunrise attributed responsibility for the promotional jump to Red Bull. The drinks company’s statement after Gegenschatz’s death expressed grief: “Ueli loved his sport, in which he was one of the world’s best. We mourn with his family and his friends and are thinking of them.” Shortly after the accident, Red Bull had told 20 Minuten that it would continue its involvement in sports and events, describing that work as helping people realise their dreams and ideas. After the death announcement, its spokesman declined to comment further.
At Mobiliar, the insurer where Gegenschatz worked, Peter Marthaler remembered a quality less visible than the spectacle of a jump. “Ueli was the embodiment of level-headedness,” he said. “We are immeasurably sad—a good friend has died.”