Basejumper.com - archive

Hi all,

was just re-reading an article
http://www.basejump.org/discus/articles/golong.html
the bottom part stating
----------------------------------------------
"If you really want to do aerial maneuvers from below 1500’ then an absolute minimum prerequisite would be 200 freefall B.A.S.E. jumps with at least six months of solid platform diving or gymnastics training (with an accredited coach). It’s no good pulling off 10 perfect gainers in a row if your failure rate is 1 in 20.
Dive training and gymnastics will help teach you the consistency needed to survive aerial maneuvers in B.A.S.E..
------------------------------------

what is actually the norm in base these days ?
I see some pretty dodgy flips (having never done a flip with a rig on my self), do most people actually do at least 200 BASE jumps first and do diving training with a coach ?
its kinda obvious some jumpers have been coached.

But I was wondering with more and more aerial base videos being made, are people starting to do say a simple front or back flip earlier then they should?
or is every1 playing it safe and doing similar to the above article ?

also another question.
when training in a pool, do jumpers ever wear a rig ? obviously it would want to be a old 1 and maybe just stuffed with pillows or something, or is there not much difference doing it with a rig as to without ?


thanx for helping my curiosity.

It is obvious that some jumpers do take training (people like Jeb, Dwain, Slim did learn most in diving and gymnastic classes) but I think that more and more people are starting to do aerial manouvers without proper training.

I'm not into Base yet, but I'm already training a bit. I do a lot of diving (without trainer) and I take also classes in trampoline. Even if you don't want to do aerials I think classes can help, since you learn to control your body in dead air. If you launch unintentionally unstable, you might have an advantage over people without training (you can more quick get back in a good position)

About the rig: I have thoughed about that to, since I think a rig on your back will limit your maneuvarability (can't tell, never had any type of rig on my back). I do think the people at the pool will kinda look wierd at you if you show up with a rig on your back

However I disagree with that 1500 ft limit. I think that if you want to do aerials in dead air you should take prior classes, from whatever altitude you jump. I thought that the last fatality was aerial related and happend at a terminal wall?

I'm not into jumping yet, so correct me if I'm telling something wrong

edit to add: you migth also want to read the article Aerials in base by Dwain http://www.blincmagazine.com/.../aerials_in_base.pdf
(sorry for typos, but I injured my fingers wednesday so typing is a bit difficult.)

Thijs

 

cool I see
so there is no kinda rule the more experienced try and tell the less experienced ?

also what does YMMV mean ?

I really think that training in a safe environment (pool, trampoline, etc) is the way to go. When it's possible to practice in relative safety, why try it for the first time in a high risk way?


Your Mileage May Vary.

do you do aerials tom ? (im guessing so)

I don't think I've seen you jump is there any footage of you on skydivingmovies or anywhere ?

 

the latest addition to nick's list was trying some flips, having about 20 jumps under his belt. he chose a relatively safe wall to try this....

one try do or die

Jump from a hot air balloon.

Tom Aiello's BASE vids:
http://www.skydivingmovies.com/...n=category&id=33

Simple flip on exit here followed by a lineover:
http://www.skydivingmovies.com/...ion=file&id=1154

Jase

I only watched the first 1 from above.
I find it hard to believe that thats really tom.

If you are talking about weird_jump.mov then that's not Tom. The person is anonther jumper who is also here on the forum.

Thijs

Which one? In the first one (weird jump) the jumpers are DexterBASE, KMonster, and myself.

My wife was an olympic caliber gymnast (alternate) and I show her plenty of aerial videos. She has stated time and time again that many people could learn much by getting trampoline or direct gymnast coaching... Just fyi.

I'll second that. I've taken tramp training at a local gymnasium and he learned a TON about how the body moves in the subterminal environment. It will also considerably heighten your awareness in pretty much every orientation.

Its one of the reasons I never got into base - I knew I'd be extremely drawn to aerials and man, I just flat out suck on the tramp.

the first video is some vid called "loser luke" and about some loser named luke, his the only d00d in it.

Just to clear it up, the link above is to Tom's videos (which happens to be category #33): http://www.skydivingmovies.com/...n=category&id=33.

The loser luke video is file #33: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/...ction=file&id=33.

Dave

Thought I was going crazy there for a sec

>>She has stated time and time again that many people could learn much by getting trampoline or direct gymnast coaching... Just fyi.<<

Most BASE jumpers learned the usefulness of trampolines from Dwayne Weston before he died, but it's worth knowing the first trampoline I ever saw at a BASE jumper's house was in Carl Boenish's backyard in the 1980s.

To be fair he wasn't using it to practice aerials, he used it to practice stable launches from the roof of his garage . . .

NickD
BASE 194

Hi Nick,

was re-reading through the forum history a few months back, is some really good reading there if anyone is ever bored, some great storys and stuff.
anyway I remember you saying just after dwaynes death, somthing along the lines of "I never knew what my trampoline was capable of till he jumped on it"
I think it was your tramp.
what kind of stuff was he doing on it ?
and what kind of stuff do you do on it ?

Spellcheck!

Dwain

Taking your rig into a gym/pool situation where they have one of those foam pools (pools filled with foam squares) would be pretty much invaluable - they'd take you pretty seriously when they saw how serously you're taking their discipline of choice. The foam pool allows you to take pretty much any exit whilst wearing your rig allowing true experience of the types of inertial loads experienced when doing aerials with your rig on.

Fast Al has allowed many new Aussie BASErs to do their first aerials from his tethered hot air balloon on a number of balloon meets he has held. It's getting a bit clapped out now but it has been an invaluable catalyst none-the-less.

g.

That is nice, although I never heard of anything called a foam pool. Do you have any pictures of that?
What altitude can you jump of, using a foam pool?
It sounds really nice, since falling on foam seems less painfull then falling on water.

Balloonjumps (and any jump where you start in dead air) are good for the last step to aerials in base I think.

Thijs

hahahaha, thats nicks fault, I was certain it was Dwain, I wrote my message then looked at nicks and thought "oh wait its dwayne, I've been spelling it wrong all along, Nick would know for sure how its spelt"
so edited my message before posting.

so lets just blame my spello on Nicks Braino

speaking of the hot air baloon, how high do they jump from off that usually ?
I've got the 2002ABA video where they jump from it and its tied to the ground and was curious as to how high it was.

as for a foam pool, its just big foam blocks, they would want to be pretty darn soft if your to land on your head, as to not break ya neck.
Super bubbly water would be best. or just wear a shitload of clothes off the high diver
I lived right near a pool with dive board when I was young, I seen some kids do some front flips, so I started doing them , was doing them all the time, then 1 day I stuffed up and landed on me back, was a big SLAP!!!, the whole place heard it, hurt a little.
then after that I could never do a flip lol.

I tried but I just couldn't, I'd jump and start to flip forward then at the last minute pull out of it

was 1 of those things where ya brain says "I dont think so , remember last time."

although now that im 22 I'd give it a crack, but problem is the pool is now a park

You could probably go head-first into one from about 10' max. Ring around any major aquatic centre where they do dive-training and ask. If you find somewhere with one of those "pendulator" thingies Tom talks about then no doubt they'd have a foam-pool as well. They are great for practicing running exits, or doing minor aerobatics off a small platform (like a gym horse) or trampoline. They are similar in concept to those rooms full of plastic balls that parents love to huck their little kids into and watchem dissapear. I don't have a pic on-hand but will see if I can get one. TVPB & Dwain can be seen training in one on the old BASE vid - Beyond Extreme.

As for the clapped out ABA balloon - exits were usually from 400' to 800'. One day I put a sling over the rope when it was at about a 70degree angle and attempted a rope-slide down it - but the sling broke from friction as soon as I got up some speed. Fun though - I was always thinking to myself "OK - mustn't get tempted to ride it all the way down..... gotta let go before 200'..."

g.

Awesome , first time I seen the rope attached to the baloon I thought of that, you could try whack a Ubolt over the rope and have a handle made out of rope or what ever attached, and slide down (providing the steel U bolt will slide along the rope)

that way the bolt wont break and it can easily be removed later on, and it wont have any sharp edges.
let me know if ya ever try it

or you could just as easy use a pulley

that would be to easy, do ya think using a pulley would look as cool as using ya belt

my bad... i forgot the "cool" aspect....

>>"I never knew what my trampoline was capable of till he jumped on it" I think it was your tramp.
what kind of stuff was he doing on it ?
and what kind of stuff do you do on it ?<<

>>>Spellcheck! Dwain<<

Sorry, I knew the correct spelling; it's the Vicodin pain pills messing with my head.

As for the trampoline in my own backyard, it belongs to Anne H. and we used it to play around on, but not really for BASE purposes. In those days "aerials" in BASE jumping were mostly unintentional screw ups.

The few really doing them, and this is years before Dwain appeared on the scene, are the Harrison twins, Mark H. and a few others. It's mostly front and back flips, but at the time it was impressive and they were light years ahead of the rest of us.

However, at the time no one had made the connection between BASE and real gymnastics. Of course we'd seen high divers and their routines, but it never occurred to any of us that with practice we could do the same. In fact, and I'm not trying to offend anyone, aerials to us were what style jumpers are doing on the drop zone, and it had a pixie-girlish quality to it that didn't sit well.

It took people like Dwain, along with a newer generation of BASE jumpers who got excited about it, to change that perception.

When he first came to visit us in Perris, California I'd already heard of him but it was like okay, another "bleeding Aussie" tramping the world. That idea changed after I met him. We talked, we laughed, we ate, we watched his vids and when I turned in for the night I said to Anne, "This guy represents a new wave in the sport of BASE jumping." And she answered, "Well, that's a good thing."

I went to sleep that night knowing my generation was now behind the curve.

The next morning Dwain showed us what a training aid trampolines could be. He dazzled us with his gymnastic ability and Anne became an eager pupil.

I liked Dwain on many levels, but I really got off on the fact he cared about the history of the sport, and we talked for hours about the Boenish's and the early days. It's easy to say this now, but I really felt at the time, this was a guy who would leave the sport better off than when he found it. Dwain, to a new generation of BASE jumpers, was what Carl Boenish was to us old-timers . . .

NickD
BASE 194

Jimmy and I train in platform and springboard diving at the Sydney Olympic Pools (at least) twice a week, year round.

The body awareness and confidence it gives you is priceless and the coaches now know what we want to train for/learn. They're really good about new BASE jumpers turning up and joining the class. On a quiet night, a quarter of the class might be jumpers.

If your looking for one of these in your area they seem to be common in gymnastics training centres. They're more correctly called "foam pits" and a google search should reveal one close to you. They range from 7' - 12' deep and usually have some kind of vaulting equipment or a trampoline next to them.

Pictures attached.

As for the rope slide - yeah a pulley or U-bolt would've been much better than the bunch of socks I had slung over the rope. It was a pretty spontaneous decision and being in the outback - I just grabbed whatever was at hand for the job. Will be better prepared for it next time.

g.

What's the story on Bob Neely (sp?)

Didn't he cross over his skills from high diving to BASE?

who is currently the best at ariels ?
I know "the best" is somthing usually not like to be used on here
but some1 has to be seen as the best of the best, so who currently is ?

 

haha
nah I just wanted a name so I know who's videos to look for.
or atleast if there isnt a universally recognised best, in whats peoples own oppinions on who is the best ?

>>nah I just wanted a name so I know who's videos to look for. <<

That's a fair enough question. But on the other hand when someone is the best, and they start feeling the pressure to remain the best, I'm not sure that's a healthy thing in BASE jumping.

To answer your question I don't know who it is right now. But I kinda hope it's someone we've never heard of and someone who dosen't even bother with video . . .

NickD
BASE 194

I don't think there is a recognized single "best" aerialist at the moment.

If you are looking for people to watch on video, dig up some Dwain video. Or find some footage of Slim.

If you want to see really good aerobatic maneuvers, you probably ought to just go watch a University diving competition. Those folks are waaaay better than any BASE jumper.

yeah but the arnt like a couple of thousend feet up, with a rock wall behind them and have to deploy there chute in time to live, its the xtreme factor more so then just a human body flipping around.



Speaking of dwain footage I love his double front flip with a twist followed by a back flip then 1 second canopy ride off the bridge on the 2002 ABA video, atleast I assume its dwain, there is no close up camera view, but as far as the hair and the skill goes Ill assume its him.

in that jump his chute sure did take quite a while to deploy, he was still flipping backwards as it was trying to inflate, I just love how it inflates then goes splash right at the edge of the river

thats stuff ya cant get at a Pool.

so there is no 1 person who contiually appears in the top 3 at competitions ?

Ah, yes, the "Xtreme Factor."

The divers actually have it harder, in a way, because they have to time the maneuver to end when they hit the water. A BASE jumper gets to pick where the "water" (i.e. deployment) occurs, so he can just pitch when he finishes the maneuver.

There haven't been enough competitions to say, and besides, it's not like everyone shows up at them.

It's been a while since I saw Dwain doing aerials. But watching, for example, Jeb's video, what I'm struck by is the athleticism of the sort of aerials you describe (e.g. front, front, back, back, front, pull, or whatever). I've never spent much time checking out diving competitions, but after watching a bunch of BASE aerials, I think I might have a new appreciation for them. Maybe BASE aerials are like a "gateway drug".

Michael

I have searched the internet round for free video's of Dwain doing aerials. Found nothing.
I wonder if there are video's (to buy is ok) where there is footage of Dwain Weston doing aerials? Maybe a video of the ABA? Anyone have more knowledge about this?

Thanks
Thijs

Beyond Extreme is available from Apex in Perris (click on the "accessories" section).

basejump.org
the 2001 video "fist full of f111"
and 2002 vid "a few jumps morE" have some cool footage of dwain, 2003 id assume would as it has some of his memorial, so would most likely contain his jumps.

Damn, I had the same thing last evening. Fell on my back doing a back sommersault. Hurted like hell, I could feel my skin burn and could barely move (I call it a wonder I got myself out of the water).
My back still hurts, X-rays of back and lungs look fine though. Hopefully it will just be the pain and no permenant damage

I learned my lesson. I'm going to take a trainer next time, whatever he (or she ) asks of money.

Hopefully I still have the courage to jump

I've got a wad of footage I filmed at the last meet in Malaysia. Some good stuff, some ordinary stuff and some downright scary stuff....

If you get a hold of Slim's tribute video, there's some aerials on it. To see someone 6ft+ do a perfect pike is really something!!!

There's hope for me yet!

6'3 dammit. Flexability something i gotta work on!

Have you considered coming to dive training at Homebush?

No time in my schedule for it at the moment, but definitely will when things ease up a bit. :)

hi jasmin
who is it in the stoopid base vid that jumps off the patronas (spelling) tower platform bit and does a
double front flip, twists into a back flip then twists into a front flip then deploys ?
who is that d00d
is wearing a red helmet , the pants are familiar

dam man how high was the platfor/board you jumped from ?
try and stick below 100 feet lol

Well, only 5m (15 feet)
Apperently high enough. I still feel it.
On the X-ray it also was visible that my back is not really well formed, there is a small S-bent in it (I'll try to get the X-rays somewhere online for you). it is a family thingie, my dad and sister have it to. I'll probably have to take medication to prevent future damage. It is something I'll have to drag along with me for the rest of my life. Well, there are worse things in life then having a painfull back

Jasmin or anyone else who trains with tramps or board diving.

I am way off doing aerial BASE, however for rehab for my leg and body awareness for normal skydiving I am looking at doing tramp or diving. Is there a reason you picked diving over tramp? Is there anything I should consider when starting diving? As I am more than a year off doing BASE and even more than that for aerials should I even bother mentioning the BASE aspect. I have said I skydive and that is one of the reasons. Do you see it would help skydiving at all. Sorry all the dumb and obvious questions, but I really do not know what to expect. And I guess it will take alot of visits to do even the simple stuff.

The progress in diving is much faster and the environment is more 'real' meaning that you jump from standing still position just as on a basejump, where in trampoline you jump on something that launches you up. They are both great, so I do them both (Tramp with trainer, diving without)

Btw: can anyone answer my question I posted here? Didn't get really an answer there: http://www.dropzone.com/...%20question;#1725998

Thijs