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How many jumpers with a BASE number are still jumping?

This brings up another question, How many people jump enough to get a BASE number, then quit (for whatever reason, but mainly due to just wanting the number?

Any generalized S.W.A.G. (scientific wild ass guess)

Well, I know for a fact that it's at least one.

smiles

I have a number and I'm currently not jumping for reasons I'm pretty timid to share but here goes. My deepest secrets.

1) Because I'm typing this post.
2) the sun is out
3) It's way too windy
4) Matthew (my room mate) is doing us up with a killer barbeque
5) As soon as I post this, my new (to me) truck gets a coat of wax.

My rig is packed though, and given the next oppurtunity, it's being opened the fun way.

Raises hand...

mate get a out of there FAST!!!(couldnt figure how to make a line over the rest of the tekst sof the line so i just deletede it)

Do i need to jump to do somthing certain to keep my BASE "licens" Think i fail then i havnt jumped a B more than once(hopes some one in the states reads thishint hint)
But i jump off fixed objects on a basis that sometimes anoy my gf,if thats enough then yes i have a # and i jump
(i know fore sure 7 more that does the same)

Ok for you Faber, I will change that line.

My roommate is named Matthew. He's preparing a meal that is highly pleasing or agreeable to the senses for all of us to indulge upon.

Try and twist that one




PS. It's still windy.

aaarrggghhh and you made it even worse you DONT WANT TO EAT THAT!!!

its windy here aswell,oh well im goingafter all on a Tower the wind is your freind(aslong it dont brake the A or blow you off the thing)

PS im not gonna twist anything on you mate,im NOT that kind of GUY

It was barbeque chicken and potatoes jackass!!!

You win

Made a jump Friday night and one this morning.

BASE 772

oooh, oooh, oooh, me too, me too...!

yes....
FastPete 844
and
AE 964

Here's my Wild A$$ Guess . . .

Looking at an "un-official" BASE number list there are probably around a dozen of the first 200 BASE awardees still BASE jumping. And if they are anything like me they are holding on to the sport by their fingertips. The reasons are varied, but the idea, "that people are just going for a number" doesn't ring true to me.

A few may have done it, but in general a BASE number (especially in the old days) was too hard to achieve for it to be done on a lark. Really, how many BASE jumpers have you met, then or even now, with a BASE number and just four BASE jumps?

BASE numbers 1 thru 200 are issued between 1981 and 1988. People who began BASE jumping back then tended to already be fairly experienced jumpers with substantial time on the drop zone. The majority of those people are now in their fifties and sixties and hucking into old age isn't easy . . .

I didn't meet my first teenage BASE jumper until 1989 or 90.

In the 200 to 300 BASE numbers bracket the level of active BASE jumpers goes way up, and so do the rest of the numbers, and each by a greater magnitude.

In the 80s we used to talk about the coming explosion in BASE popularity and what it would look like. We all thought the explosion was always right around the corner and not, as it turned out, 10 to 15 years away. BASE numbers are a good indicator of general BASE activity and it's not until the year 2000, as the numbers passed 550, the real explosion came.

What made the explosion possible in the first place? Some say the gear got better, others that our knowledge and skill improved, but I think the most important difference in BASE then and now is the number of accessible sites. It's now possible to be current on a level impossible before the mid-nineties.

To a lesser extent it was the gear too. I remember my first 70 BASE jumps as experiments as on every jump I was trying something new to me. The line-mod, the tail-pocket, different types of toggles, canopies and rigs all came along faster than I could jump. Gear has somewhat stabilized since then and one can do hundreds of BASE jumps with the same configuration. That's a point of comfort I've never experienced. At least not yet . . .

NickD
BASE 194

just made 3 solos.


ncbase1

This raises another question.

What was is like back in the day, having free roam of most obejcts... must have been like the wild west....

 
are we going to live forever?

.... i will jump forever, that i know.

BASE # 987

Just a thought/question..

Are there any BASE jumpers out there, who have a lot of jumps, but just never bothered to get a BASE number (for whatever reason)?

I know 1 guy personally that won't get a BASE number. I am sure that there are MANY like that...

there are plenty of aussies who dont care about the base numbers...me being one. i couldnt be bothered sending off for a number on a bit of paper. i dont need it to remind me i've jumped the 4 objects and am the "n"th person to do so. to me it doesnt mean a thing really. all that matters are the jumps themselves.

At this point, I find the people I am jumping with at least as important as the jumps themselves. I believe the BASE numbers are a way to stay connected to the history and community of the sport. When I had a couple hundred jumps, I couldn't be bothered to care about that. Now? I think all those other folks out there doing this thing have turned out to be one of the things that gives it meaning.

I think one of the big issues about getting a BASE # is that its American,not that its wrong,but so far i didnt jump in the states i got the 4 objects but never went to the states yet..
I think more people would care more if it were World BASE,that way it dont only link to 1 nation.. i know serval people who dont suscribe for this reasson...

But its kind of too late to change that now right

funny thing is that i miss:
to get a DK BASE(if there were)
a cliff and a Building(will happen at some point)
to get UK BASE
Span(will happen at some point)
to get USA BASE
All 4 objects,but its the only place ive got a # so far(i hope this might happen this summer)

I don't believe that Carl meant for the numbers to be "USA only" when he started them. There were plenty of early BASE number holders outside the US, and they've always been a pretty international bunch.

in which i agree and which is why i got my # anyway but some people dont look at it like that...

Just a point i know is out there in which im not holy agree whith...

>>i couldnt be bothered sending off for a number on a bit of paper. <<

Sure, I know BASE history can sound grating on modern ears. But in a way you have a responsibility to listen to it. Your current ability to BASE jump certainly has something to do with the brothers that came before you.

BTW, out of the first 30 BASE numbers issued, ten went to Great Britain. Over the course of the next hundred numbers France and Canada are well represented . . .

NickD
BASE 194

I know of quite alot personally, so I am guessing that there are many many many many many more that have not bothered............

Thats pretty fucking cool..................

from what I hear from some of the old school jumpers, the UK were certainly up there in the progression of BASE in the early days, especially for the lower end stuff..............

perhaps a certain Mr N.S would like to pipe up and give some nice stories in NDG style??

That would be cool.............

>>I think more people would care more if it were World BASE,that way it dont only link to 1 nation<<

Hi Faber,

It is . . . World BASE!!!

When jumpers starting claiming Belgium BASE number one, and New Jersey BASE number one, I was the one screaming the loudest.

It's not possible for two people to be BASE number one.

Sub-BASE number one, from New Jersey, would have been alright.

Although, I must admit by my official count "Screw BASE" is up to nineteen . . .

NickD
BASE 194

Um, shouldn't Screw BASE numbers be issued in pairs? How'd you end up with an odd number?

sorry i explained wrong the Association(only spelled correct as i have the card in my hand) is "United states BASE Association" which in this part of the world means that its a BASE # for people in United states (i do guess you aint member of DFU= Danish Faldskærms/parachute union on your skydive licens)
Actualy my card dosnt say anything about WORLD BASE at all.
We all know that its meant that way but it dosnt say so..
If you wanted to call it somthing most would like i guess it should be somthing like World BASE org.(cant spell that long word)
and there would still be people who didnt wanted to sign up for it...
I hope i explained it better this time

What matter is that thouse who subscribe for their BASE # makes it a part of BASE history,which has to mean somthing for all of us(that has a #)

is there a sub 200ft or sub 200ft freefall BASE# by the way? somthing i and a few UKérs once talked about..(perhaps the aussies?).

Todd, and his brother Troy, and I are already BASE jumping for a couple of years before I first met G.B.s Simon P. Jakeman.

In America, at that time, all effort is in going lower and lower. I remember Todd saying one night about Brits, "They are light years ahead of us . . . "

NickD
BASE 194
.

I had dinner with 3 numbered, current, crew last night. (say that ten times really fast...)

Both people don't have to be jumpers
I'll get there eventually... only a few more to get!!

Jason
570

Five seventy has it right . . .

NickD
BASE 194

UK BAsers can be rightly proud of their heritage. We were all fired up by Carl's BASE Award and to get one we had to use the highest objects available. After the 1000' 'A' the other options were low. We ended up with 'S' 245 'B' 330 E '380'.

The secret of our pioneering success with these low objects was the UK's compact skydiving scene. At our dz we had access to the experience of top international CRW competitors. They knew how fast a square reinflated after being dropped (collapsed) from a stack. They also had an on-heading pack job - a refined ground packed 'trash pack'. This gave us the confidence to opt for the radical idea of using squares off low objects.

Our first s/l square bridge jumps in Nov '81 blew our minds into realising what was possible. Today it's hard to imagine the rapid mental adjustment of halving the skydiving opening height to a 1000' A. Then a few weeks later using only a quarter of that at 250'!

The on-heading openings and fast inflation made us realise that UK BASE was possible. Within days news had spread and other equally committed jumpers followed our example. This explains the sudden flood of UK numbers.

We also made mistakes and poor decisions along the way. Too much break tie (canopy damage) and then too little (premature breakages). The hard-core US guys who followed our example came up with safer ways to s/l.

Thread topic? I stopped a while ago and moved onto other things. But I'm still hooked on BASE and love seeing what you guys are up to.

Safe jumping guys,

I was 8 years old when you guys were doing this in 1981. I wonder if I would've had the balls to do it the way you guys did (probably not, especially since mine hadn't dropped yet). You were the trail-blazers, thank you.

Will

>>The secret of our pioneering success with these low objects<<

To use your own words, brother, that's poppycock . . .

The BASE jumping success of Brits became possible less from a lack of altitude and a more from a big dose of desire and courage. If you blokes were born in cliff country we'd be a hundred years ahead of ourselves . . .

Out of the five or so BASE magazines ever published, Nigel's was on one of the best. . .

http://magazine.jump.co.uk/

NickD
BASE 194

0 for 4 on that count.

just as an added data point

current age = 46
avg # jumps per year past 5 years = 27
first BASE jump 1982
BASE # 93 issued in ~1986??

I really can't say i've slowed down a lot, because i never made a bunch-o-jumps per year anyway.

when i do jump i feel much more comfortable now than in the 80's because;
1. all of my jumps are a legal / quasi-legal sites.
2. as nick says, gear has improved dramatically therefor confidence / comfort has a direct correlation.

why don't i jump more often?
mainly because it doesn't take many jumps to "fill me up" with satisfaction.
and
i'm busy with other stuff that has just as high as or higher priority than Fixed Object Jumping.

be safe

kleggo

Got video to prove it???

Hey guys, Nick is right. Carl meant for it to be world wide. By the way, if you read the back of the green plastic BASE card it says:

"The USBA was founded in 1981 and dedicated to the safety, advancement, and positive public image of BASE jumpers and BASE jumping throughout the world"

The reason Joy and I agreed to take over the BASE numbers is first, we knew and respected Carl. Second, it connects BASE jumpers worldwide with the very beginning of BASE as a sport, and third,
Joy and I really do enjoy issuing the numbers as it is fascinating to watch the evolution of this sport and we love the stories you guys write.

Whether a person chooses to get a number or not, is their personal decision. The card is cool though.

By the way, I started Jan. 1, 1982 and got BASE # 38 in June that year. I still make a few good ones once in awhile.

Blue Skies Soft Walls
Rick and Joy Harrison