Basejumper.com - archive

recently there has been many issues that I have been close to that has made me look more deeply (deeper than usual) into the price of BASE.

I have only been (active) in the sport for just under 3 years, In this time I have learnt more than I could ever imagine, I have had more fun then you could ever imagine, I have met some of the coolest people on earth. When I first looked into BASE 5 years ago I set out learning everything i could, I then after 2 years and what I deemed a full appreciation of the sport started jumping. I then carried on for almost 3 years jumping and having the most amazing time I could ever imagine, then I got injured - in the scope of things, not badly, but enough to receive 3 surgeries and at the moment 6 months on crutches. 5 weeks before I bust myself up, a good friend of mine (who I had helped getting into BASE and who I knew was right for BASE) bust his leg up on a jump we would all say was "standard", 5 weeks after I bust my leg up 2 other jumping friends also bust themselves up (1 with a femur and bad foot smash, 1 with 2x tib and fib), during this time a friend of mine in Denmark had a friend bust a leg and one guy who he knows dies, it was not long after this I lost the first person I knew well die in BASE, not long after that I find out someone who I spoke to almost everyday during my recovery dies whislt trying to make a jump. BASE had suddenly got very personal and close more so than it was or how I accepted or expect it.

Now we all seem to accept when we enter this sport that we can get injured / or die / or have friends injured or die.......... but no matter how switched on and accepting of this, when it starts happening around you nothing can prepare you to how you feel when you get that phone call.

I am writing this as a newbie jumper who was truely accepting of the risks and effects of our sport, but until it happens to you (as I reaslise this has happened to many of the more exeperienced jumpers) - you actually have no fu(king idea of how it will effect you.

After the bad run in the UK at the moment of some really close friends (injury and death) - maybe I am thinking about things too deeply (i do have way too much time on my hands!!!!!) , maybe I am blabbing too much.......... but the fact remains - although you may think you accept everything and the fall outs attached to this sport when bad things happen - you have no idea how or why you will react when it actually happens.

What am I trying to say? I dont know exactly what.......... but for new jumpers coming into the sport and doing stuff that experienced people may give you **** for - I have just learnt a lesson over the past 6 months, they give you **** for a reason, people you love and people who are safe can die or get badly injured............... it can happen to anyone of us at anytime............... I always was accepting of this and know it was a risk of the sport............ but until you loose friends and see people around you injured badly or dead............ it does not seem to hit home..........

please people be safe.............. I am sick of hearing about friends like this...

the person that died didnt die during BASE(just to add).

the other day i sat down and looked at the dark list... 22people has died BASEjumping since i started BASEjumping(aprox 3 years ago)thats a high % due the years there have been BASE...

Keep it safe,but dont forget to have fun...

sorry if i got it wrong mate.................


just trying to make a point, it seems that in the less in 3 years I have been active there has been some dark times............ i forgot to add that during the jumping times there was many friends before, including you........... I used my accident as "ground zero" but before that there were many with accidents or dead.............

please be careful............... all of you

It would be usefull to know the causes of the incidents. Prevetion is everything in this sport. The more we know the more we can prevent the less we die and get injured.

Hold on, hold on! Standard???? That was the most gnarly of jumps....! I coulda died, man!

The facts are (for the person asking for details): it was a dark and stormy night, and the captain.......... no, thats not it....... but it was a *very* dark night, and a little bit windy (but in the right direction mind - important, that), and when it came to landing I couldn't see the ground, so I was 1/2 brakes - and flaring - and PLF ready, but when I hit my left leg hit a tussock (check dictionary for tussock), and it was mostly snaporama from there. 25 mins of hopping ( I really REALLY don't recommend that), and 45 min car ride, I was in the care of the NHS. 20 mins and several Xrays later, I was being 'repositioned' (and I really really really (ad finitum) don't recommend THAT). Surgery followed, I am now mostly bionic .

Lessons learned? Lesson 1: Don't jump if you think its marginal - we all do/have done it, but it may really hurt one day, and I don't believe (unless you have already been there) that you understand the downside of breaking something.... Lesson 2: Jump with somebody who has has the aptitude to get you out of there (thanks mate, I'll always owe you ), cos the chances are you won't take my advice in lesson 1....

Play safe all

What does set me apart in BASE?

No co-incidence that I thought about it over the weekend, being in the UK, and arriving in CH when Dwain had the accident. I was and probably still am, very judgemental towards other jumpers. For one, trying to be more conservative, and preaching to leave some space for correction, I found myself hung up in the trees in CH, happy that my canopy opened in time after getting fixated. This is a time when I feel the Lord has confronted me about judging others, and then make the same mistakes. Saturday night we watched Extreme base, or something. Nick, Dwain W, and Slim, people I have never met, are all gone.

I keep on asking myself, what sets me apart in BASE. I can today say, with honesty, that it is not my abilities, nor my ability to make the right decision on every jump or accent. Thus is where I find myself faced with the reality of BASE. In my limited ability, I will not be able to make the right choice every time. When I go out to BASE, only do I know that by grace will I return. Grace has corrected a lot of mistakes I made in the past, BASE or no BASE, and only by this Grace, will I live past BASE, past falling asleep on the motor way, getting out of bed tomorrow morning, to greet the world. And I also know, that one day, I will go home.

"It's only string, rag, and savvy that keeps me from being a paragraph in the morning paper . . ."

That was something I wrote a long time ago.

Since that time I've heard many people trying to determine the "price of BASE" but first, I think, we might consider the "reward of BASE." And I don't mean all that "we can fly" and "it's our history and birthright" crap.

I mean that feeling you get pulling your canopy out of the air after a smooth flight and greaser touchdown on Main Street at 4:30 in the morning. I mean that feeling you get watching the next jumper freefalling the glass face and wondering, gasping really, how we do such a thing and then laugh about it . . .

The price of BASE is injury and death. You will be visited surely by one, maybe not both, but that's the way of it as of October, 2004.

I could go on, but I must start packing for Bridge Day . . .

NickD
BASE 194

Wow, that's a doozy.
Incalculable almost.
Are you talking money?
Are you talking time?
Are you talking life and limb?
Are you talking relationships?
Are you talking career?
Are you?
I'd have to go through more than ten years of receipts to figure out the $,
and I don't have time for that right now, I'm busy unpacking from the
Go Fast Games, and then I have to pack for Bridge Day.
It hardly seems the point.
I've spent as much as I could over the years to get gear and more gear,
and as much as I could to get from here to the edge of whatever.
It's cost me every waking moment since 7am on December 12, 1993.
It's cost me some sleep as well, but I can sleep all I want when I'm dead.
I dream BASE in color.
It's cost me many friends.
Friends who didn't get the BASE bug and couldn't hang with such a "nut".
Friends who did get the BASE bug, and it ended up being terminal,
(you know what I mean).
Stepping of the edge in San Antonio was perfectly free,
reattaching my foot to my leg so I could even walk again: $58K.
I had a girlfriend in the early nineties.
After 200 BASE jumps it was "her or the parachutes".
And she was a pretty decent girl.
Moving all my crap out of her house was expensive.
(My wife today is totally committed, thank God).
For a decade I've been all but unemployable.
I can't get through a five day work-week without some excuse
as to why I have to leave early, or why I have to come in late,
or why I can't be in on the third week of October, of any year.
But the jumps are free.
Free from stress.
Free from worry.
Free from debt.
Free from the broken water pump on the old lady's Ford.
I would not trade any of it for anything, including the time in a Texas ICU.
Now I'm free to stand down, walk away from any jump, any time,
no matter what the cost of getting there was in the first place.
I've already seen the inside of a hospital.
Bottom line: I can't afford NOT to BASE jump, I'm broke without it.

Nice one Avery!

Jason
570

Amen Avery.

Thanks BADENHOP for your post… It’s awesome!!!

I have been in the hospital twice (busted my back on a building strike and busted my leg on a landing) and I watched my best friend die on a cliff because of BASE jumping… I continue on because it’s not the BASE jump itself that is worth the price of injury or death but the entire journey around BASE jumping. The journeys that I share with my fellow BASE brothers and sisters are what make BASE jumping worth the price, for me at least… In fact, the journeys that I share with my BASE brothers and sisters are PRICLESS…

So to make a long story short… I’m tired of being told to be safe or careful… No shit, isn’t that obvious?!?!?! The nature of our sport is based around pushing the envelope, where it’s not safe (uncharted ground)… So if you want to be safe, don’t BASE jump. When we BASE jump, we do our best to stack the odds in our favor. But realize, even when we do everything perfect, it’s still a game of risk! If you can’t handle the game and you feel the need to tell others how to approach BASE, you should think about finding another sport where there is no risk…

I apologize if I offend anyone… That is not my intention… I just look at being told to be safe the same way I look at being told “Good Luck” by a wafo at Perrine… Both statements are just a waste of good air …

SBCmac (Michael)

I don't BASE and I don't even skydive anymore, but I have been lurking this forum almost daily since its inception and have been lurking the BASE board almost daily for about 4 years, and in all that lurking, that is one of the best posts I have ever seen! Awesome!

when i say "stay safe" i mean:

I mean it as have fun,but rember to get away alive uninjuryed,so that we can flik again another day
therefore i dont i dont totaly agree whith you that "stay safe" is a waste of air...

so people should just go figure them self? i dont agree and most(ALL?) manufactores does neither,as they tell you on the gear that you risk your life and sh#t...

stay safe mate,and dont burn your self on that hot coffe

Faber and Bennii,

I totally see your point of view and I know when most people say “be safe” they really mean have fun, with no injuries or death… But the last part of the have fun, that includes don’t get hurt and don’t die, bothers me. But mostly, it’s the “be safe our there… I’m tired of seeing injuries and deaths…” way of saying “be safe” that really bothers me… And Bennii, I’m mostly talking about when I read post on dropzone.com.

My whole point is this… Again we do our best to stack the odds in our favor. And even when we do everything right, we still are dealing with variables that we have no control over. Like NickDG said, "It's only string, rag, and savvy that keeps me from being a paragraph in the morning paper . . .”. Take a step back and really think about NickDG’s statement… We rely on string and rag to keep our butts alive. Do we really think we can 100% control what happens when you throw string and rag into the air??? Of course not and we know it. So what I’m saying is that when people get hurt or die in our sport, we tend to look at it as bad publicity for our sport or it bothers us so we feel the need to tell each other to be safe. Instead, because we know we don’t’ have 100% control over that string and rag we throw into the air, we should support our BASE brothers and sisters by helping them through the though times that they face within BASE when shit goes wrong. Granted, I’m not talking about the few in our sport that intentionally burn objects or who are intentionally unsafe with their decisions… I’m talking about the majority of BASE jumpers out there that are safe and do their best to stack the odds in their favor…

The reality is this… Even with gear advancements and advancements in knowledge, BASE jumpers will continue to get injured and die. We as BASE jumpers continue to expand what the word BASE encapsulates. We’ve seen it with introduction of aerials and wing suit flying into our sport. So as long as there are new frontiers to be explored within BASE, people will continue to get injured and die… That’s just the reality of participating in an extreme sport like BASE jumping. So back to my last post, that’s why I make the comment that if someone can’t handle the reality that death and injury is a part of our sport, they should find another sport that is risk free.

The funny thing is that a wafo’s statement, “good luck”, is actually more fitting than “be safe”. Again, because when you go back to NickDG’s statement about string, rags, and savy, it’s luck we need and not an obvious statement like “be safe”… None of us intentionally want to get hurt or want to die… For that matter, we don’t even have a say so in whether or not we get hurt or die… So why tell someone to do something that they have no control over???

So finally with all that said… To my BASE brothers and sisters… Have awesome BASE journeys and capture the moments you spend with your BASE brothers and sisters, because on every jump we rely on luck more than we know or want to admit…

…

SBCmac (Michael)

I often have people (non jumpers mostly) telling me not to push the limits. I can't help but tell them that I push the limits by stepping to exit, the whole point of the sport is to do just that. I think risk more often than not lies in the eye of the beholder. While something seems so unrealistic to one jumper, it may be just reasonable enough to another. There is only so much that can be controlled, after that all you have to deal with is fear.

Michael, you have issues.

["Be safe/careful" No shit!! Isn't that obvious!?!]

Do you feel the same when a buddy says
"have a good one" , "see you down there".

God forbid anyone tries to crack a joke like "don't forget to pull" or "hope you don't die"

Don't be so harsh. Yes a lot of factors in BASE are beyond our control, but not all are. Taking a fat delay, planning on trying to out track a ledge, going for that third back loop, landing amongst obstacles or traffic, these are all factors we CAN control and so when a mate says "be safe" maybe you could see that as sound advice and not the patronising platitude you currently view it as.

I do agree with you on one point though. Avery's post was intelligent and moving.

ian

If extreme sports were a drug, BASE would be crack.
Highly addictive, potentially expensive over time, makes the user/jumper do stupid things...

Sabre210,

Again, I was mostly talking about posts that are solely directed at telling everyone to be safe, usually posted after some incident… And yes, I would not jump with someone that says “hope you don’t die” at exit point… I take BASE jumping very seriously at exit point and there are some things that are just not funny at exit point. Just like when you go to a funeral of you bud that you watched die BASE jumping, would you go up to your bud’s parents and tell them that you would give your bud a 10 for how far he bounced when he hit the ground? Of course not, because it’s not the time nor the place for such a comment… Comments like “don’t die” at exit point tells me how much that person doesn’t understand the gravity of BASE jumping. It also tells me that they are not focused on what needs to happen, because their too busy being funny. Go ahead, tell you bud “don’t’ die” at exit point and see how you feel afterwards when he does die… When I BASE jump, the only people I want standing next to me at exit point are people that take BASE jumping seriously. This is not a yahoo sport for those that flick off and hope for the best, to show how cool they are. Even the most cautious and meticulous people die in this sport… So do you really think yahoo comments like “hope you don’t die” belong at Exit point?

SBCmac (Michael)

I take this a personal focus on me.


Yes I posted this with the post script of "be safe everyone" after I posted the fact that in the past year I have seen many friends injured and 2 friends die. So when I post "be safe" I have a point.

I know most people are safe and it goes without saying that everyone is safe without being told - but the fact is there are people getting injured and dying being safe - I say "be safe" as I am sick of my friends who are safe getting injured and dying when there are fuckers out there doing shit they should not - I mean the tossas who with 20 jumps from Prine are doing roll overs or gainers from a stealth 300ft A cause they have the mistaken confidence........... my "be safe" on the boards is a dig at those people........ people are doing some really stupid shit they should not, and all the new jumpers I have seen recently have no fucking idea that tomorrow they may be dead - so when my friends die or get badly injured dont tell me I am wrong in saying "be safe" to people - cause as I see it there are a lot of people that need to be told this...............

BASE is dangerous, and the new jumpers coming through I dont think appreciate just how much.............

Your post has made me slightly angry........

Michael

Would i use a flippant remark like 'don't die' or 'don't forget to pull' on the edge. No. My mouth's too dry ususally and I tend to go pretty quiet and get 'in the zone' on the edge. Would it bother me if someone i know said that to me as i climbed over. No, not at all, cos i know for a fact they don't mean me any ill will, and they would be saying it because actually 'they gave a shit'. You know, like when you tell friend to 'drop dead' or 'go to hell', you don't mean it literally.

I also recognise that different people cope with fear, nerves, stress in different ways. My way isn't right, it's just different from others. Some people become quiet (me) some become gob shites, some become the king of comedy. All know the ramifications of a jump going wrong, all care a lot about human life, all fully understand their personal and group responsibilities, they just deal with the situation differently.

Yeah BASE should be taken seriously but not to the point where you lose all of your sense of humour and fun and irony.

I am sorry you have a lost a friend jumping. It is no laughing matter for sure and i think that is what motivates people to post saying "please be safe out there". They simply care about their buddies and would hate to see another die or get hurt through complacency, stupity or bad judgement, when the sport is dangerous enough when approached cautiously.

In this game, i'll take all the well wishes i can get.

ian

As with all thins, it depends. It depends on the object, and it mostly depends on who the jumpers are.

I generally make the same "have a good one" type comments at exit. I usually don't say either the "be safe" or the "don't die" stuff. But I have, at various times said things along both of those lines. It just depends on the vibe of the particular load.

you dont like black humor?

one of my freinds got this one as he were about to leave(or just in dead air cant rember) "your sister has a hariy arse" now that would crack me up even if it were told to me,i probaly would jump just right away just to keep that sile on my face

sure yes along whith "what could posibly go wrong..."

Yes we sure make a extreme sport but i only does it aslong as i see it as FUN,fun means evrything to me,as i like to smile and laugh.

What if a mate dies after i says "dont die" or "stay safe",i can only belive that he would have died anyway,and wont blame myself for my comment.I could blame myself on other ways but telling my freinds that i care about them,will never be a issue that i will blame myself at afterwards.

If that makes me not seriously so be it,its me and thouse i jumped whith so far didnt complained(yet),if they do i probaly just wont say thouse things on exit again...

but then again were different,i do undertand(most) gravity but i also can have a good time at the same time...

Mac rember this one?
in the car on an object(S) people are talking about who should jump first.
I fart,and says" could you please deside,i just farted"..Evryone smiles as im told "ok Faber,you jump first..."

If i rember correct Mac got the pleassure of driving a smelly car back to the pick up area

Oh and my mate that got an 180,landed in some trees and got his 42´pc ruined didnt blamed my comment for that(621 if you does you can have this purple unvened free from me)

and after calling me over too when I thought he needed a pin check............ fucker.........

note to self: dont let your friends sleep with your sister..........


forgive you for that one after around 8 hours in a car............ but hell it was icy so yeah you go first........

just to note that i didnt do Mac´s sister and cant clarify if she has an hariy arse

To all…

I just want you all to know that I highly respect all your point of views and opinions… And I have to thank you for taking the time to enlighten me on why people say what they say, instead of just telling me off. And BASE813, by no means are my posts meant to be a personal attack on you. I’ve had these opinions build up from past posts, from other people, and yours just happened to be recent. Again, BASE813, I truly respect your motivations for creating your initial post. And I have to also say that I am truly sorry to hear about your friends. I’ve been there done that and it was the worst experience in my life. I truly hope that neither one of us have to watch another buddy die again.

I still believe what I believe on this topic but like I said above, I truly respect and appreciate all of your points that you have stated…

So hopefully one day we’ll all cross paths and share a moment in time… That would be awesome…

…

SBCmac (Michael)

I get your point, I hope you get mine, a few words between friends and jumps means nothing more - it means more and is questionable from people who say it to you that have no idea about it............

Who knows, perhaps one day we will be at an exit together - if this occurs I will be sure to say "be safe, be sure to pull, dont die, bounce if you want to go faster, fuck your bridle is in you leg strap, etc etc etc " - but I am sure you may appreicate the irony of it all!!

respect to all.............. lets not fight..........

Thanks for the thoughts...

I am in the inquiry stage of BASE jumping. I haven't made a jump and have only been around BASE jumping twice, but I knew the morning I drove some friends from the WFFC this year to an "A" that BASE was something I wanted to know more about.

When I decided to go to the MOAB Boogie I had pretty much made up my mind BASE was something I wanted to experience. Although I spoke with a few of the BASE jumpers there I had no idea what it was all about.

I've been studying it now for about two weeks and there's a lot involved in the decision to start jumping. The costs definately take some consideration. But just driving my friends out to that "A", with no thought of jumping myself, I was very excited and the adrenaline was flowing!!!

I've been getting excited chills several times a day thinking about jumping even though I probably won't do my first jump for several months. I'm looking at the whole picture right now trying to determine why I want to do it and assessing the inherent risks.

I roadraced motorcycles for 8 years all over the US and I've done quite a bit of cliff jumping into water, my highest was about 110' and I've done that one 8-10 times. I've fallen from 40 feet climbing a cliff to jump off and broke my wrist, 17 stitches in my forehead, and barely missed landing on my boat. So I'm OK with taking risks, but I'm learning BASE jumping is not something to be taken lightly or done on a whim.

I'm in the Perris/Elsinore area and would really like to spend some time talking with some of the BASE jumpers around here to learn more aspects of the sport that I'm sure I haven't considered.

Anyway, I'm rambling...Heal fast!!!

............ and now I have lost my job......



Going to interviews on crutches aint a good look.................



oh well, everything happens for a reason........

Keep your head up brother... I'm sending good vibes your way, hoping for a speedy recovery and a better job than your last ...

SBCmac