This is what happens when a BASE parachute goes perfectly crazy (and how to get down safely anyway).

This was a two-way BASE jump with Brett Kistler, my partner at Running Exit Creative (runningex.it) from the Menara Kuala Lumpul (colloq: "KL Tower") for the 2014 KL Tower BASE Event. I had jumped this equipment about a hundred times before with no issues. This jump was an excellent example of the fact that, sometimes, one of the carefully balanced variables goes a little askew and the jumper is presented with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate that he/she was paying attention to the worst-case scenario procedures.

Because the malfunction twisted so severly as to make the normal steering method -- the brake toggles -- inaccessible, I had to reach above them and manupulate the risers directly in order to: avoid the tower twice, then avoid an ±80' tree, then navigate a very precise landing on a narrow, active access road between another building and the treeline.

I thank the designers at Apex BASE for designing a parachute -- the Lobo -- that was able to handle aggressive alternative steering and land softly enough that I didn't break my legs on the pavement.