Re: [pringles] Base 1000
Hey, I'm sitting up . . . let's see if I can type.
In 1981 Carl Boenish said this:
"Some are calling it fixed object jumping. Probably fifty or more bridge jumps have been made, over four hundred cliff jumps, and maybe another fifty tower jumps, and now, six building jumps. There have also been a couple of building jumps in the prior five years.
We have established an award for the fixed object jumper. It is called the BASE award. The term BASE is an acronym derived from "Building," "Antenna tower, " "Span," and "Earth" (any natural formation). Any fixed object jump should fit into one of those categories.
Any person who makes at least one jump from each of the four categories receives a BASE number. To date, there have been four numbers issued. BASE 1 – Phil Smith, BASE 2 – Phil Mayfield, BASE 3 – Jean Boenish, BASE 4 – Carl Boenish. I think we will issue 100 to 200 numbers in the first three years."
Carl is a bit optimistic as by 1984 the BASE numbers hadn't yet broken one hundred. BASE number two hundred isn't issued until 1988. He can be forgiven as up to that point BASE jumping had been going pretty good. Carl at the time knew it was dangerous, of course, but it was the generation after Carl passed away that found out how dangerous.
Congratulations Matt, I can't tell you how stoked I am we reached that number, and of course, for you earning it.
All our experiences are slightly different, but we all share that first building, that first tower, that first cliff, and that first bridge. We've all felt the same doubts and fears, the same exhalations and happiness. We are still what Carl wanted us to be, a small band of Brothers . . .
NickD
BASE 194
