Johnny Strange Dies in Wingsuit Accident in Switzerland

Californian Johnny Strange was only 17-years old in 2009 when he finalized climbing each of the tallest mountains on every continent:  the “Seven Summits.”  He was the youngest person to complete the “Seven Summits” at the time.

Johnny Strange was only 20-years old when he completed the “Explorer’s Grand Slam,” which means he’d summited each of the “Seven Summits” & trekked to both the North & South Poles.  He is still the youngest person to complete the “Explorer’s Grand Slam.”

Johnny Strange was only 23-years-old when he died while Wingsuit BASE jumping yesterday. 

Video of Johnny wingsuit flying only 4 days ago on September 28th, 2015.

Johnny jumped from an 8,245-foot peak near Lake Lucerne in Switzerland yesterday, and something went wrong.  Johnny died on that jump, and it’s still unclear what happened.  It is being reported that there were strong winds at the time of his jump, which adds a considerable amount of danger to a BASE jump or wingsuit fly.

“Strange called in to “Kevin & Bean” on KROQ on Monday [Sept. 28th, 2015] from Switzerland and said he was shooting a dangerous wingsuit proximity video where “we fly super close to stuff.” After the K&B interview, Strange shot a video doing some wingsuiting, which he posted to social media.” – Wikipedia

Johnny was a Malibu, CA native and USC graduate.  He’d appeared on CNN, Conan, and CBS News.

video of Johnny doing some intense proximity flying in his wingsuit

Johnny was serious about stopping genocide and Parkinson’s disease and brought two flags to every peak he summited. 

“I have been fortunate enough to travel the world and genocide is a terrible thing that still occurs.  I want to open people’s eyes to the issue and get them interested to help stop genocide.”

– Johnny Strange

Johnny is the most recent Californian to die Wingsuit Flying, BASE jumping, or Skydiving in California of late.

• Erik Roner died skydiving on Monday in Lake Tahoe, CA.
• Ian Flanders died BASE jumping in Turkey in July 2015.
• Dean Potter died Wingsuit flying in Yosemite, California, in May 2015.
• Timy Dutton died skydiving in Lodi, CA, in 2014.
• Shane McConkey died Ski BASE Wingsuit flying in Europe in 2009.

…and sadly, there are more.

RIP Johnny Strange.  Gone too soon.