Basejumper.com - archive

After watching Australian Story the other night, it struck me that the phrase, 'World record holding BASE jumper', was being bandied about with bewildering frequency.

When I contrasted this seemingly auspicious claim - to which I could attribute almost no significance in BASE terms whatsoever - against the quality of 'jumping' (and I do use that word liberally, considering that falling, tumbling arse over tit and practically going in would perhaps be more appropriate) being performed, I began to ponder just what this ostensible record truly meant.

The logical answer that I formulated was unsurprisingly, nothing at all. Although it did seem to do a good deal of justice to Glen's claim that anyone can BASE jump. For if you could chronicle the entirley abysmal standard of parachuting depicted as BASE jumping then I would have no problem saying that a debilitated, etiolated 106 year old Bubonic Plague-ridden cadaver could BASE jump with greater success.

That being said, the public being as ill-informed and ignorant towards BASE as they are, I would like to amputate any misconstruing that may ensue from this equivocal world record claim, and subsequent underestimation of; and embarresment from, the actual Australian BASE community.

In this vein I am looking for one helicopter pilot, well trained in high-altitude flight, and one person capable of holding a pilot chute. To this end I mean to find some rubbish 150' sheer section of mountain, anywhere, 1mm higher than whatever is jumped in Baseclimb 3 and take the 'record' - as spurious as it is - for myself, so that jumpers like me do not have to endure any more egocentric, self-inflated drivel of the nature screened on Australian Story ever again.

Hmmm I really didn't think it was all that bad as you perceive it.

Although hearing Glenn say he only does safe jumps, then seeing him tumbling down the face of Trango (don't think i've ever seen footage of anyone going as unstbale as that on a big wall, scary) seemed a little odd for me, I don't think that Glenn bandied around that term about himself too much at all. It would've been more the script writers than Glenn himself I'm guessing.

If you feel that strongly about it, go to Nepal and hire a chopper pilot and chopper off the army there (just came back from there, huge walls and mountains), though you are gonna have to ice climb and mountaineer your way up to the top and jump off like Glenn, because Great Trango is 6231m and you can't get a chopper up that high, unless you're looking to get alt. sickness and die rather quickly.

I spent 3 weeks above 5000m, and it hurts like hell. You don't get used to it. Glenn and Heather went higher.

I think he earned that title, it's not so easy to do what they did as you might like to think.

Where to start?

Perhaps with you obtaining a dictionary and perusing the definition adjoined to the word, 'satire'.

Hmm, where to from here...

Australian Story is an unscripted program. The point is more that Glen is really misrepresenting the Australian BASE community by potentially leading the public to believe that he is where the standard of BASE in this country is at. Altough to his defence he did state that he is not particularly extreme. However, once again you may wish to refer to your freshly acquainted understanding of the aforementioned noun.

I am aware that high-altitude mountain climbing - even if you are merely trudging up a well worn path, clearly assessed for safety and established by a host of professional climbers with a team of other experts holding your hand the entire way - is physically demanding. Such exertion is to be applauded, in the dominion where it is relevant, i.e: mountaineering. There is no legitimacy for plaudits attached to this activity in pure BASE terms, which may begin only when a parachute DESCENT is being undertaken.

Um, and finally... take this opportunity to once again confer with your new best friend Mr Oxford.

Big words and negativity, great combination. No need to talk down to tyrion that way. Even though I am sure you think you are "better" than us all.

i wonder if there is such thing as tag team troll?

Yeah, now that I look at the post numbers I am thinking that as well. Plus the Velo 79 at just over 100 jumps.

Don't be so sure. Pole cat is a legitimate Aussie jumper. He might fly off the deep end a bit but I tend to agree with him. The level of skill shown on the "Australian story" by self-proclaimed world champs was shocking to say the least.

Here here pole cat!

I stand corrected.

I do know what satire is, thanks for the run down though.

Perhaps your second post would have been better rather than the easy-to-misinterpret, satirical initial posting.

I didn't quite understand what you were frustrated at in the first post, I get the full deal now tho.

The BASE community seems better than most at having a go at its members. But as an outsider, one thing really strikes me- that everyone's willing to have a go, but very few people are prepared to put up or shutup.

I'm doing research into endorphins and altitude (ie acute hypoxia) with Sydney Uni and to put it bluntly, most people would statistically fair a lot worse at sustained high altitude than the singlemans. If you're into serious mountaineering/climbing or have done HALO/HAHO/altitude training, you'll know what I mean.

At the end of the day, they continue to get off their arses and give it a go and good on them, I couldn't/wouldn't do it.