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How often have you been fully geared up and ready to jump, but decided otherwise and climbed down?

I don't care about the reasons. There are too many to list, and any reason is a good one.

I'm just curious about jump/walk ratios and if people log this information. Probably not a log for every incident, but do you keep track of a count; jump numbers vs climb numbers?

Thanks,

Jaap

I don't do it super often, because normally if I gear up it means I'm psychologically prepared to go. Still, I have climbed down when my head just totally wasn't there.

I'm pretty in tune to my psychological state, because I think that's one of the most, if not THE most, important factors in jumping. Occasionally something will really creep me out or just not feel right. I honestly believe we can subconsciously sense things, and those creeped-out feelings are your mind's way of telling you something isn't right.

Whenever I've ignored that little voice, I've regretted it.

And on peer pressure? Yes I have climbed down when others have decided to go. And no, they didn't not give me a hard time about it. I just said I didn't feel right and that was that.

ive walked away from more jumps than ive done....

Chicken BASE, anybody? Must have been geared up, at the exit point, in what appeared to be near-optimal conditions, then backed down anyway. In my short BASE career I've managed 'B', 'S', and 'A' I believe. Though that last might better have been called an 'O'.

Once so far (last night in fact); purely based on my assessment of the conditions, not a mental game. Load of five, four climbed down; the jumper was fine, although landed on a fence - although that was a result of the delay as opposed to the conditions.

I am qualified for Chicken BASE. Where do I get my number? I'll rock that number on a t-shirt.

Me too. So, you want to start awarding the numbers?

Sure, so how do you go about starting it?

Do we have to give a 30 day (or more) grace period for people to apply so we can figure out the order?

I already have an idea for a certificate. hehe....

That's one T-Shirt I'd definately wear.

Perhaps this indicates a difference in BASE jumping in the early days compared to now -- maybe Robin or Nick could comment on this. Most of my BASE jumps were a long time ago, and on a lot of them I was scared shitless, but back then i made a pact with myself, if I was geared and started a count-down I went, because alone, I figured if I could back down once, there's nothing stopping me from backing down again and again and again. So if I geared up and climbed it, I went. On my first building jump, in my feverish mind at the time, I was figuring I had between a 33-50% chance of dying (we all know that's a crazy stat, but that;'s what I was thinking), but I went anyway. Physics told me it should be possible, and I knew it had been done once, so I went for it. On that one, tho', I gave a buddy my girlfriend's phone number in case I wasn't able to get down to her house after the jump that night.

As for towers, this isn't to say I didn't drive out and sit in the car looking at the tower for half an hour before deciding to just go to the local adult nightclub instead, I did that a few times, too, but I tried to keep that to a minimum as well, simply because if I let myself get defeated mentally once, there was no saying I'd ever convince myself to do it again.

And I got to admit that probably a good part of what I was trying to avoid was not so much the jump, as the 750' climb. Even in my youth they were never easy. Hey, that could be a good signature line....

Skypuppy
BASE 92

It's been pointed out to me that I have, in fact, chickened out (in the above sense) on an 'E', and I've managed to recall what is indisputably a chicken 'A'. That's chicken BASE for me!

Once I start my count-down, that means I have already commited. I have never started a count-down then chickened out. I have, however, been fully geared up at the exit point and backed off of each object. I want a chicken BASE number, put me on that list Tom.

dont you guys STEAL MC Chiken jump away from me its mine... http://www.imagedump.com/...ck=get&tp=222746

Don't look to me on this one.

I'm done as soon as anyone even mentions, "It doesn't feel right."

I don’t decide to jump until I've actually run off or let go. One aspect of BASE I appreciate and take full advantage of is prior to launch BASE jumping is so totally controllable. You control the choice of site, the gear, the type of jump, the deployment method, the time of day, the WX conditions, and the spot.

To a thinking jumper I don’t believe any BASE jump ever feels entirely right. Sure, there are those jumps where you just push the fear and doubt away in exchange for having some fun, and that's okay sometimes, in fact it's a reward of being an experienced BASE jumper. But most times it's all about deciding how much of that doubt still leaves you in the go zone.

I don't think BASE jumping is any easier in that regard now than it was twenty years ago. So sometimes we depend on crew courage. But I always feel I make the best go, no-go decisions when I'm BASE jumping alone. And certainly any peer pressure at the launch point to jump means you are jumping with the wrong crew.

I've walked down off buildings for no appreciable reason. Even when everything, the traffic, the winds, my gear and pack job, all felt in my favor. And that's another cool thing about BASE jumping; nobody I respect would ever call me on it . . .

NickD
BASE 194