Basejumper.com - archive

“The BASE game… Playing it at your level without judging others…”

I’m motivated to make this post for many reasons, but I’ll only mention a few here. Before I get started, I just want to say that my intention is not to offend anyone… So please realize that I’m just expressing my feelings about a small portion of the BASE community…

Also, I’ll try not to write a book here so I’ll try and establish the foundation of my argument quickly… This means that I will not elaborate on all supporting points.

Here we go :)….

A few years ago when I first got into BASE I had this distorted view on BASE jumpers. I thought all BASE jumpers were enlightened people with open minds… Then I came across Blincmagazine.com and was quickly introduced to the true BASE community. I have to tell you that I was disgusted with what I had read on Blincmagazine.com and was almost embarrassed that I was now becoming a part of a community that I thought was closed minded and egotistical.

As time went on, I began to get to know other BASE jumpers and my opinion started to slowly change, in a positive way… I also decided to stay away from the flame-fest site, Blincmagazine.com.

That positive change was short lived and I began to truly nail what my conflict was with some of the BASE jumpers in our community… My conflict was “The BASE game… Playing it at your level without judging others…” What I mean by this is that I’m tired of people putting BASE jumpers in the “box” that they live in. The “box” that I’m referring to is the box that contains our comfort level in BASE, our own skills, and our own beliefs. Don’t get me wrong, I too choose who I BASE jump with because of the “box” that I have created in my own mind with what I expect out of people that I jump with. The difference is that if I have a problem with someone’s approach, I at least trying to see where they are coming from. If the conflict is too great and there is no solution to the conflict I keep our friendship separate from my BASE life and steer away from jumps that I think our indifferences will cause problems. What I just stated, I have only applied to a couple of BASE jumpers and I steer away from them in BASE because I truly believe they practice BASE unsafely. But again, like I stated, they are still my friends and I am more than happy to hang out with them outside of BASE…

So not to stray; back to my main problem… “The BASE game… Playing it at your level without judging others…” or expecting others to play the BASE game by the rules you have created in your own BASE “box”.

To put it simply, I truly believe that we should play the BASE game at our own level without expecting others to constrict their BASE game to our own BASE “box”/limitations/expectations…

I bring this topic up because ever since I got into BASE I have always had to struggle with BASE jumpers that I know that judge me against their BASE “box”/limitations/expectations… And simply, I’m damn tired of it… For example… They were mad that I was doing aerials off of certain objects… They said that I chose to BASE wing suit one of our objects for the wrong reasons… And once I decided to do it that I was too fixated on doing the wing suit jump… They say that I’m jumping objects that are too technical, that they have walked away from in the past, and that I’m bound to get hurt… An object that they approached when they had only a few BASE jumps under their belt…

And now over the past 6 months, after my best friend died on a BASE jump this last summer; they now say that I’m on a destructive path with my BASE jumping… They conclude this because they have always questioned my jumps and recently I have done some stupid things when drunk (e.g. gotten in brawls, wrecked my car, etc…). So yes, I’ll admit I have had some struggles over the past 6 months with my friend’s death and yes that’s probably why I have done some stupid things when drunk… So to top it off, I had a talk with one of my BASE acquaintances and I told him that my drinking and my BASE jumps have no correlation. His comment was that “it’s hard to draw a line between how your BASE jumping and what you have done drinking…”

So again back to the topic of this post… “The BASE game… Playing it at your level without judging others…” or expecting others to play the BASE game by the limitations/expectations/skills that are encapsulated in your BASE “box”. My message is simply this… To those of you that judges me or any other BASE jumper, PISS OFF and get a life… Secondly, those of you sitting on the sidelines judging other jumpers, why don’t you do less judging and more BASE jumping so that one day you too can jump more challenging objects because you have added to your BASE box, the box that contains your skills and abilities/comfort level…

And on a positive note… My up most respect goes out to you BASE jumpers out there that continue to broaden your BASE horizon/BASE box despite those that try to hold you down and control you…

And finally, as for me… This is now off my chest; I have said what I feel and now I’ll go back to BASE jumping and steer away from those that corrupt the pureness of our sport…

Michael

P.S. All… Thanks for letting me vent … And since this is a vent, I'm not going to edit it ...

Hi SBCmac

I absolutely agree with you. We should all discover where our limitations lie. Each one of us is different. Each one of us sits somewhere between pathetic - average - to genius BASE jumpers. No individual should be forced into a certain category / level based on the skill sets / psychology etc of others. We should all be allowed to broaden our horizons and achieve at our individual highest potential.

However, the reverse is also true too. You should not live in the genius range if you in fact are, average. By definition, around average is where most of us lie. The good news is, it is through the hard work, courage, and daring of the genius that the average is improving. So we all have the opportunity to be swept along with them.

You should listen to people who tell you not to do something. They may have a valid point that you may not have considered. They may also just be "ultra conservative stick in the muds". If you have listened, you have the opportunity to decide. If you have ignored, then there is no choice to make. Those that listen learn more than those that talk. See, I am not learning anything now!!!

You mentioned that you have lost a friend recently and that you are struggling with the loss. You also mention that you pick and choose who you jump with. One of the considerations or factors in determining whether to proceed with higher complexity jumps is just that. Is death possible? What affect will your death have on others? Others includes the BASE community in general, your BASE jumping buddies, your family, your wife and kids, etc. I personally beleive that it is extremely selfish to not factor this consideration in your risk management for BASE jumping.

Hard work is a VERY necessary component of high levels of success in any aspect of life. You know, "1% inspiration and 99% perspiration". A success is someone who can acheive a goal in a controlled manner. What does this mean in BASE? It means that by all means you should be allowed the opportunity to attempt complex jumps, but only after going through the process of learning, developing, and "perfecting (as much as we can), the fundamental skills in a logical / sequential manner. Many people do not do that nowadays. Mny people still do. It is their choice to short cut, but I do not believe it is their "BASE given" right.

p.s. when I say you or your - I mean any jumper not you in particular.

p.s.s. you are right, there are too many bitches and narrow minded people in a sport that prides itself in being open minded. Some people believe that if others don't agree with them, they are closed minded. Its kind of like skydiving is. But there are still heaps of awesome jumpers out there too.

Stay Safe
Have Fun
Good Luck

Tom

Maybe your mates can see something you can't. Maybe you think you can comfortably pull something off, but everyone else can't. Sometimes a bit of feedback is a good thing :-)

I had a friend who thought he could pull something off. He couldn't and died as a result. Loud and aggressive feedback might be a good thing....

peace

To paraphrase DW:

Ground whuffo: "Whuffo you want to jump out of them airplanes for?"

Skydiving whuffo: "Whuffo you want to jump off them cliffs for?"

BASE whuffo: "Whuffo you want to do them flippy do's, or pull low, or fly wingsuits for?"

Life whuffo: "Whuffo you bother getting off the couch?"

If you understand the risks (and I believe you do), the choices are your own to make.

You know what... I had this long ass explanation typed out before I read Tom's post. So after reading Tom's post, his last sentence said more, and with much better clarity, than if I were to have writen a book on an explanation on what I stated in my first post.

So thanks Tom; awesome post!!! I just wish I would have read your post before writing a lengthy explanation to only delete it after I saw your post ...

Just awesome stuff Tom ...

I have not had the oppotunity to base jump yet, But I wonder why, on a site the is supposed to be about information and learning, valid questions get 1 or 2 answers and flaming people, while for possible valid reasons, although in my opinion it doesn't belong here, gets 100's ?? We have seen the enemy..... it is ourselves.

Generally, airing your grievances on the internet is like going on the Jerry Springer show, mostly it just results in mud-slinging. Much better just to talk things over in person or at least on the phone. If you can't settle your differences, well it is not as if you are sharing the same dropzone. If I don't enjoy someone's company I don't spend time in their company, pretty soon I've forgotten them and hopefully vice versa. No drama required.

Will

Mike has talked in private with these people he speaks of. One good thing about posting this on a public forum, is that maybe others going through a similar situation will get to see what they are going through from an outside perspective by looking at Mike's situation. Thank you for posting honestly as well, with your drinking incidents and not trying to make yourself look like a hero.

Mike, you're one of my favorite people to jump with, and you know Dexter and I will be flickin with you no matter what people say. You are always methodical, think things through and analyze as many aspects of a jump that you can think of, and ask for everyone's imput incase anything was missed. You don't drink while you jump, that comes after at that awesome mexican restaurant!

The wingsuit jump you are talking about was one of the most thought through jumps I have heard of. You practiced with that wingsuit like nobody's business and you hired a guide to help you on the mountain, you even rented a plane and scoped everything out. You were working on that jump for what, a year? That is now, the wingsuit cliff in the PNW, and you opened it.

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to sum up, is that I like your style, Mike. We've talked about what's going on, you jump for you. Stick to your own box, it's a pretty cool one.

Katie.

And you know if you aren't thinking things through and are being reckless, Chad and I will fuck you up.

Exactly. Mike you know we're in your corner on this one.

I honestly think you have it in hand and as soon as I start to think differently, I'll tell you. Just as I'd expect you to tell me if I started doing something that was too much, I hope you will speak up and tell me what you think.

Either way, if I tell you I think you're making a bad decision and we talk about it, and you decide to jump anyway, I will be there to ground crew and help you in any way possible to make sure you have all the support you need for that jump.

Mike, you're one of the coolest and genuinely caring people I've ever met. I get a lot out of jumping with you and just hanging out together. I'm proud to call you my friend, but more importantly, I'm really proud that you consider me one of your friends.

I'm looking forward to all of our adventures in the future, and I know there will be many. To everyone who doesn't like the way we're jumping (I won't mention any names), that's just too bad. I never pledged allegiance to some BASE gods. I only made promises to myself and a few friends, and those I'll keep.

I follow commonly accepted BASE ethics and I think anyone who's jumped with me will agree. If we're doing something wrong though, tell us what you think and we'll consider it.

If there's something here that can be jumped, we're going to jump it. Simple as that. There's a ton of jumpable BASE objects here and I think we're pretty much the only ones opening new objects in the area. If it's in another town then I'll ask permission from the locals. If it's in my town, it's on.

Just because someone else looked at it and decided not to jump it because they felt it was too dangerous isn't a reason for me to walk away. Just like watching someone jump an object doesn't make it a good idea for me to try it. It's a personal game. We all make our own decisions and jump at the level we feel comfortable with.

The object we jumped together the day we met was technical. It was serious. It was one of those jumps where you're flying on the edge. I would say it's the most technical BASE jump in Washington. I chose to jump it then and I've jumped it again since. It is a beautiful jump and I plan to jump it lots more.

If a few jumpers don't think it's a good idea to be jumping there, then they don't have to jump.

What if I go back there and jump again and get hurt? Will the naysayers shake their heads and say, "See, we told you it was a bad idea to jump there...."

I could care less what they say. It's a very technical jump so getting hurt there wouldn't surprise me at all. I take the precautions I feel are necessary to stack the odds in my favor. If I don't think it's good, I won't jump. Mike, how many times have I elected not to jump there when the winds were a little bit funny?

I jump for me.




Edit: Oh yeah, and one more thing... if I walk away from an object and you come behind me and jump it, I won't be jealous of you. I won't be bitter that you jumped something I wouldn't.

I will be stoked for you. I'll want to talk to you about the jump and I'll congratulate you for jumping something I wouldn't. My hat will be off to you and I'll buy you a pint.

I'll certainly never tell you you're stupid for jumping it.

Its a personal game.
I found out that so far i feel better in the slider down envioment(only 1 slider up and 170+ jumps so far).
Ive got the discuss whith loads of people who see the slider down as the dangerus game were i see the slider up as dangerus.
Making dessisions if jumping from time to time tecnical or not is personally.
ive jumped jumps that i thourght would kill me,and backed down on a 0wind sun high on the sky(local dayobject).for what? its all about only jump what youy feel good about,how do you feel as you do the jump,do what you feel right,not waht other people think.

To all...

Thank you so much for hearing me out and posting your thoughts... And yes, my thanks is to everyone, whether you support my point of view or not… This post has really helped me personally; it has let me vent and clear my mind. But most importantly, it has allowed me to take a step back and do a reality check… Like I mentioned in my first post, I can now go back to what I love, BASE jumping . I also now have the benefit of moving forward with my BASE career with a clear mind and reassurance from my awesome BASE brothers and sisters, that even though we all tick differently, that for the most part I’m going in the right direction.

A very special thanks to Katie (KMonster) and Chad (DexterBASE)… With out a doubt, my BASE guardian angle (which to me is my life guardian angle…) has given me the greatest gift of all by blessing me with meeting you two. I wish I could bottle up the amazing energy that overflows from you two and give it to everyone on this earth to experience. Being around you two has been a life changing experience for me… You two are just amazing people…

And a special thanks to Tom and Faber as well… Your posts, along with Katie and Chad’s, are just awesome and very motivating…

…

Michael