YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Three people have been convicted of illegal BASE jumping in Yosemite National Park in recent weeks, the park announced Friday.
“We do not tolerate illegal activity in Yosemite National Park,” said Yosemite Superintendent Ray McPadden. “Our law enforcement rangers remain efficient, effective, and vigilant 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”
According to the National Park Service, on July 15, 2024, park rangers received a report that two people had jumped from an area near North Dome. They located Christopher I. Durell at Mirror Lake, and he admitted to BASE jumping from the Porcelain Wall. BASE jumping is an extreme sport whose name comes from an acronym for the things jumpers leap from: buildings, antennas, spans (aka bridges) and earth (aka cliffs).
Durell pleaded guilty and was sentenced in September to probation, fines and community service with an organization supporting the National Park Service. His BASE canopy and wingsuit were forfeited.
Another BASE jumper reported in July fled on foot, rangers said, but was later identified as Joshua A. Iosue. He was cited on July 17, 2025, and eventually pleaded guilty.
He was sentenced in October to two days in jail, two years of unsupervised probation, and $2,510 in fines. He is banned from entering Yosemite National Park during his probation.
A third person, according to officials, David A. Nunn, jumped from El Capitan five years prior on July 21, 2020. He suffered a severe equipment malfunction, colliding with the wall of El Capitan before crash-landing at the base. He was rescued by NPS personnel.
According to the park service, Nunn, who had a previous conviction for the same offense in 1998, pleaded guilty.
On September 16, 2025, he was sentenced to two days in jail, one year of unsupervised probation, $760 in fines, and restitution of $458.77 to cover the cost of his rescue. He is banned from entering Yosemite during probation and was ordered to forfeit his parachute and harness.
BASE jumping in Yosemite has been illegal since the mid-1980s.
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