A 33-year-old man died skydiving in Shelton on Saturday afternoon after his parachute clipped a tree, according to the Mason County Sheriff's Office.
The man was diving with other people through Skydive Kapowsin, a Shelton-based air sports business. Shortly after 3 p.m., he clipped a tree, collapsing his parachute, and fell around 100 feet in the 11000 block of Highway 101, according to Mason County Deputy Matt Colbenson. Crews responded within a minute and began CPR, but the man died at the scene.
It was his first solo dive. The Sheriff's Office is still investigating what happened, Colbenson said.
A man died in 2014 while skydiving with Skydive Kapowsin after an "extremely hard landing" despite having a fully functional parachute. Two people died and two others were injured while diving at Skydive Kapowsin in separate incidents during one weekend in 1998.
A news release from Skydive Kapowsin said the parachute was "functioning normally" and the diver collided with the tree during landing. The company is coordinating with law enforcement, the release said.
"The skydiving community is a close-knit group and any loss of its members is felt by all," the release said. "Skydive Kapowsin management and community extends its condolences to the family and friends of the young man who lost his life."
Across the nation, twenty people died while skydiving last year, according to the United States Parachute Association.
