Basejumper.com - archive

At least to my part of the world . . .

So how low can YOU go?

NickD
BASE 194

I know I've jumped -20 C in Canada, but I can't remember if we've been in colder conditions.

Crwper or SabreDave???

(Hotel room balcony jumps don't count )

Well, spring is kind of teasing us here in Alberta. WE have had some shorts and sandals weather followed by some more snow storms and well blow zero temperatures.
The front range cliffs are now accessable but the big ones will need another 2 months at least.
So, about a month ago I did my lowest jump ever and my first static-line. Once I got onto the catwalk I was already tripping. I have seen many jumps done from this bridge in the past, before I started jumping. This one is only jumpable in the winter because of the tall gnarly trees lining the banks. Frozen rivers make great landing strips!
So I am out there with my buddy Jason who has jumped it at least 10 times before. As we are standing there discussing my fears of this jump I can't help but notice how close the ice is. It is 165 feet high but looks more like 100 especially because I only had 19 or 20 jumps when I did this one and the last 13-14 had been in the 8-19 second range so it seemed really, really scary low. Then Jason's wife and my girlfriend walk out on the ice after climbing down into the ravine. Jason's comment was, "Oh, great, just what we needed, two people for scale!" LOL I agreeed and decided maybe today wasn't the day for me. It was around -18C or -20C (-1F to -4F) and I had been on the catwalk for 20+minutes trying to decide what to do. Finally I pull the old "I'll hook up and get ready to exit and see how I feel" routine. Hooked up, now sitting on the catwalk with the intention of going from a sitting position. Another 10-15 minutes as my ass is freezing blue and my hands are not much better!
Finally it comes to me....CLICK! I call 10 seconds down to the Ground dwellers. 5...4...3...2..1....."Here I come" and away I go. I knew it would be fast, I rehearsed it being fast but holy crap Batman, it was FAST!! 4-5 second canopy ride and I'm down!! Fully jacked, totally amazed that I managed to pull it off against all that my mind was screaming at me. Now, I have no real desire to jump it again soon as it is spring as Nick said and better things are about.
So there it is -20C and 165 feet, that is as low as I can go altitude wise for now but I'm sure there will be colder!!

Bertrand Cloutier, BASE 318, Quebec . . .

NickD
BASE 194

Ha!! You have jumped -20C but we all know that living south of 49 has turned you soft!!
On the hotel balcony front........ sure it counts! In fact it is a great plan. Wait until it is -20 to -30C and snowing. WE get these conditions regularly and it sometimes comes with dead still air. If you don't want to be seen on urban jumps, just follow these parameters and no one will!

edited to add: YEs, Spence, I think it was colder than -20C the night of the full moon bridge boogie or at least it must have been for 1 or 2 of the 10 or so jumps that night?!?!

There's a "not really a" joke in US BASE circles:

"How do you tell a Canadian BASE jumper?"

"He's got a white stash bag, for camouflage."

was up over 1500ft and was cooold (0 to 10), and the wind was Bloooooooooowing. Of all the places to be cold, I was IN texas...

turned out to be an awesome jump though!