Deadly Drop Claims Three Lives

Police tape surrounding a tree and police car. — THREE LIVES END IN TRAGEDY

Utah has claimed three BASE jumpers in two separate incidents within weeks, including a man who once performed alongside Madonna — and the numbers behind this sport explain exactly why that should not surprise anyone.

Story Snapshot

Weston Huff, 33, died in Rock Canyon near Provo after a parachute malfunction. Police called him an experienced skydiver.
Andrew “Andy” Lewis, known as “Sketchy Andy,” died near Mineral Bottom outside Moab. A second unidentified man, about 50, also died at that scene.
Lewis was a well-known stunt performer, BASE jumping guide, and owner of BASE Jump Moab. He had performed with Madonna.
BASE jumping kills roughly one jumper for every 2,317 jumps — a fatality rate 43 times higher than jumping from a plane.

Two Deaths Near Moab, One at Rock Canyon

The Grand County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that two men died Sunday during a BASE jumping incident in the remote area of Mineral Bottom near Moab. One victim was Andrew “Andy” Lewis, owner and operator of BASE Jump Moab.

The other was an approximately 50-year-old man whose name was not released. Both died from their injuries at the scene. Search-and-rescue teams and two medical helicopters responded, but neither man survived.

Two people were killed in a BASE jumping incident in Utah, including an extreme athlete who performed with Madonna during the 2012 Super Bowl, authorities said.

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— ABC News (@ABC) June 16, 2026

Lewis was not just another thrill-seeker. He was a professional stunt performer who had shared a stage with Madonna and built a career guiding others through one of the most dangerous sports on earth.

His nickname, “Sketchy Andy,” was a nod to the sport’s edge — not a warning label anyone ignored. In the BASE jumping world, he was a known name, a trusted guide, and a fixture of the Moab outdoor community.

Weston Huff’s Parachute Did Not Open in Rock Canyon

In a separate incident at Rock Canyon near Provo, 33-year-old Weston Huff died after his parachute failed to fully deploy. Police identified him as an experienced skydiver who was jumping alone from an area known as “Bad Bananas.” His parachute malfunctioned, and he died on impact.

His sister confirmed he died instantly. Provo police noted that Rock Canyon has seen several fatalities in recent years and that the terrain makes the sport especially dangerous there.

Huff’s family described him as someone who loved the sport deeply. That detail matters because it removes the easy explanation that these deaths happen to reckless beginners. Huff was experienced. Lewis was a professional. Neither factor was enough.

That is not a criticism of the men — it is an honest look at what BASE jumping actually demands and what it takes even from those who know it best.

The Math Behind BASE Jumping’s Body Count

BASE jumping — which stands for Buildings, Antennas, Spans, and Earth — involves jumping from fixed objects with a parachute rather than from an aircraft. The numbers are stark. One study of over 20,000 jumps at a single site in Norway found one death for every 2,317 jumps.

The sport carries a fatality and injury rate 43 times higher than parachuting from a plane. Roughly 72 percent of BASE fatalities are linked to human error. Object strikes account for 38 percent of all recorded deaths.

The sport sees roughly 25 to 35 deaths per year worldwide. Annual fatalities stayed in the single digits from 1981 through 1999, then began climbing around 2000 as the sport grew in popularity.

Utah, and Moab in particular, consistently ranks among the highest-risk locations due to canyon terrain and a concentrated community of serious jumpers. That is not a coincidence — it is the predictable result of more people doing a dangerous thing in a demanding place.

One detail that often gets lost in coverage like this: even a low-altitude jump of under 300 feet carries a 15 percent higher per-attempt fatality rate because the jumper has only seconds to react to a problem. Weston Huff jumped from a canyon wall.

At that height, a malfunction is not a problem you solve in the air. It is a problem that ends on the ground. The sport does not offer many second chances at low altitude, and Utah’s canyon walls offer almost none.

What These Deaths Actually Tell Us

Three people died in Utah BASE jumping incidents within a short span. Two were experienced. One was a professional guide with a public reputation built on doing this safely. The investigations are ongoing, and no final forensic findings have been released for either incident.

What the record does show is that BASE jumping is genuinely, measurably lethal — not in a vague extreme-sports way, but in a documented, statistically consistent way that has claimed nearly 500 lives since 1981. These men knew the risk. That deserves respect, not revision.