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The true inner calling of BASE is freedom of expression.

Regardless of other people’s judgments, restrictions, or boundaries, the true spirit of BASE still encompasses the desire to experience life in a way that expresses one’s freedom of choice and individual creativity. In the spirit of BASE, creativity is most beautifully expressed when it doesn’t follow someone else’s expectations. BASE didn’t originate nor survive because of an organized rule book. Everyone knows that.

Some people like telling other people what to do and how to do it. Some people actually love to be instructed. Some love to bitch about how other people instruct. Some people like doing it their own way. Everyone has their place in this world, and everyone has their choice to go their own way with this experience. New BASE jumpers will have to find their own path – either taking it mainstream at the legal sites and following the rule book that each one has concocted, or taking it underground and following the call of safe flights of freedom off high things everywhere, or both.

I think it sucks that our local BASE community has to go across the world to experience the wonderment of the big cliffs especially when Yosemite is in our backyard. Why do people care to put limits on something especially when the sport doesn’t cause any physical or emotional damage to those that do not participate and when observed and safely practiced it is quite amazing and beautiful. What really sucks is that people do die doing things that they love or were experiencing for inner fulfillment. My dad always said, “Life isn’t fair”. How true that is.

People are learning so much on their own by trying new things and expanding their own boundaries. Some come up with their own new vibrant expressions and others get pumped up with someone else organizing the jump’s intricate details. Either way there is some sick sh|t happening every day and I love being a part of it when given the opportunity.

The one’s who’s passion is BASE has no other choice but to continue to evolve with what is now being classified as a sport across the world – with exposure comes boundaries. It’s just the way the sport is going. Being adaptable in life is key. This evolution will evoke even more creativity in the BASE jumper’s endeavors.

When I’m rich, I’m going to build 3 towers to jump of various heights on my property – - swimming pools with high diving boards - bunk houses – a small pub – huge bon fires – tall, tall trees bordering the property – one day – or I’ll convince some rich guy to do it. I’ll be sure to post an invite to all interested parties.

I pray for all to be wise and safe, but to go hard and live boldly.

“As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Nelson Mandela, 1994

Well said.
cheers.

I too will build towers for all the jumpers in the world. the US doesnt allow over 2300' or so feet so we should go somewhere else. I say a 1500meter beauty somewhere desolate, where it wont annoy the locals.

Its a funny thing, getting good at jumping off of things. strange thing for a human to excel at.


be well....

Maybe we could buy a deserted town on ebay and sell the land to BASE jumpers and BASE-friendly people. We would have to come up with a good name for the town.

how about hucksville?

Humberg?

NickD
BASE 194

and the only police will be Troll police ???


whats the reasoning for 3 ?
why not 1 big 1 and ya just dont climb all the way to the top when ya want to jump low ?
or is there some disadvantage with that ?

cliffton?

already a place named that...............



no cliffs though............

The reason for three is I have to put the rest of my money into the pool, pub and living facilities - and a trilogy of towers sounds cool to me. "A tale of three towers" has a nice ring to it.

Besides, who wants to wait in line? You know there will always be friends jumping as long a weather permits, right?

Hucksville reminds me a little of...puke or even a town where people throw cow sh|t at each othere during their community gatherings. It also reminds me a little of spitting. My brothers were always hucking a loogie. I have some bad associations with that name.

Humberg reminds me a little of a hummer --- which does has good associations to it --- I was picturing a name that encompassed the spirit of the sport of BASE ---well perhaps for a lot of guys getting a hummer can be as good as a BASE jump.

the sign could read you are now entering the village of hucksville please dive carefully.

Oh - now that's good. Thanks for my first laugh of the morning. I'm still smiling.

this is pretty odd.
a friend of mine has been seriously questioning the idea of building a tower, specifically for base jumpers.

selling the house and living by a legal tower. sounds like a good deal to me...
i just wouldnt want to climb that ladder everyday.
-e

Great post, but I'm not sure how to interpret this:


Should that be read as: "as long as everything goes right"?

I'm pretty sure that most injuries and fatalities cause emotional damage to non participating family-members and friends.

 -when observed and safely practiced it is quite amazing and beautiful. (I edited this in this first time, although I still didn't convey what I was intenting)


I thought the same thing after reading the post for a second time. You know, sometimes you write something one day with a thought in mind and the next day you read it and think - that isn't exactly what I meant to say, but I didn't want to edit the post again. I was thinking just about the people that I know that have been torn up inside because of someone they have cared about is no longer with us or is currently struggling with an injury. There are so many people that have been gravely affected by the loss of a loved one. I ache for those who's hearts are heavy with sorrow, and I pray that peace will find them and rest in their hearts.

What I was trying to express was that it irks me that a lot of people who don't even know what BASE is about and have never been negatively affected by it make judgements and restrictions. That the sport is not dangerous if practiced safely and there's a lot less risk involved than the general public assumes. Beside the fact that it can evoke feelings inside of yourself that makes you realize that life is magical to a lot of people.


Thanks for spending the time to read the post and for giving your input. I'm always curious about what people think.

Well said! That is how I read your post at first glance. Only on a second reading did it occur to me we should not forget the impact an accident has.

In fact, I think that is my first and foremost responsibility in this sport; try not to get hurt, so that I will not hurt others.


That I'm not so sure of, but your mileage may vary.

>>this is pretty odd.
a friend of mine has been seriously questioning the idea of building a tower<<

Not odd, just new to you . . .

I, and many other BASE jumpers, have taken it for granted someone somewhere will sooner or later make a tower available for BASE jumping. This will either be through the purchase of an existing tower, or erecting one especially designed for BASE. I was doing design drawings of this back in the 80s. While the start up costs would be high this would be an investment that would pay off in the long run.

Picture this elevator equipped 2000-foot complex in your mind . . .

Operates twenty four/seven apart from weather holds.
High Steel Gear Store.
Monkey Bar's Café.
Observer rides to the top.
Full BASE training and coaching.
Regular Competitions.
Income from the BASE Ghetto sure to spring up.

Jumpers would come from all over the world and so would spectators.

An existing corporation could invest and reap major publicity. "Virgin Atlantic," or, "Trump Tower," could be plastered all over it. And since I think this would be less a conventional guyed antenna tower and more a skinny building you could add studio hotel cubicles and give "The Donald," or someone else, the dream of owning the world's tallest building with a minimum outlay.

Also, a scaled down operation could be accomplished right now for a lot less money then the above. Maybe along the lines of wind tunnel prices. Pick up a copy of the magazine "Broadcast Engineer" and you'll find adverts for many existing towers that are for sale. Back in the 80s the late Mike Allen wanted to do this very badly.

I believe that sometime in the future all broadcast signals will get to you via satellite making antenna towers obsolete. Try and build a new tall broadcast tower (or even a small cell tower) almost anywhere today and you'll have the townspeople rising up against you. Using satellites won’t remove the general problem of an atmosphere soaked with Electro Magnetic Radiation but it would remove the powerful source radiation, which no one wants to live around, into space. Once that happens existing towers will sell at scrape prices.

As for legal issues there's no way the government can issue a business license for one type of business (radio broadcasting) and not for another (BASE jumping).

No, this isn't a new idea, and it's going to happen . . .

NickD
BASE 194

Hopefully somebody will indeed start a commercially operated BASE antenna somewhere, otherwise we'll be awarding BSE numbers in the year 2300.

For those of us that dont like the whole Big group and spectator side of the sport, Perhaps offer nights where there are a few guards with paint ball guns with the aim to gain access and jump without being "splatted" with a shot - just to give the people that want the whole enter, escape and evade concept, something to flick their switches........... kinda like paint ball or lazer quest for BASE! hehehe

In fact this could be a good training aid to for the more "giggling like a child" side of BASE....... hehehehe

Stealth BASE training............

In Reply To
"That the sport is not dangerous if practiced safely."

In comparison with other legal nationally recognized and publicly accepted/"understood" sports. I had the opportunity to meet a world class rock climber at a BASE jump a couple years ago. He's legally climbed Half Dome several times and hundreds of other cliffs - some of which are owned by our Federal government. He was with a guy who is a world class skier. This guy is dropped off on mountains that no one has ever skied or climbed. He skies down and off gigantic cliffs, does a back flip (now probably a few back flips) and then pitches and lands softly on sparkling snow thousands of feet from where he first started the run. There are people who legally free dive far below the ocean's surface pushing the limits of life with their breath held and enormous pressure squeezing every inch of their body. It is their passion to do what they do. It is their vibrant expression of their individuality. The laws don't prohibit them from living their passion given what they do could fall within the description of being dangerous. In addition, I would guess that the athletes probably don't see what they do it as "dangerous" given their experience and their complete devotion of their thoughts, time, and energy to something that is their life's source because it is that which they love. It is not my place nor anyone else's to limit or judge others because they live a life of dedicated exploration and express their creativity in a way that appears to be "dangerous".

There are millions of people doing millions of different things all of which dangerous could apply to what they are legally doing. Dangerous is a relative term when calculating each person's involvement in anything - driving, flying a jet, riding a horse, swimming in the ocean, and even being a parent - all of which is legal of course.

There are countless posts about trying to make the general public or powers that be understand and accept BASE, but the problem is that making "normal" people understand our motivations may not be entirely achievable. I'm not trying to be pessimistic by saying this, but rather offering a possible explanation to the resistance to our never ending quest to be able to 'do our thing just like all the other extreme sports enthusiasts'. The problem is that as BASE jumpers we have accepted and embraced the 'fear' of falling. But this fear is a basic instinct in the human mind that is difficult for most people to even consider trying to overcome... much less embrace with the enthusiasm that we have.

Climbers, skiers, etc. risk faling, but we do it intentionally, which is fundamentally opposed to this deep rooted basic fear that most people have. By going so far against the grain of what everyone considers 'common sense' we set ourselves apart from the norm. One of the most common reactions from people when they see something different (especially something that conjurs up primal fear) is to oppose it at all costs.

I wish I could do a better job at explaining this, but I'm an engineer, not a psychologist. The best explanation I've seen for this though is in the book Falling: How Our Greatest Fear Became Our Greatest Thrill by Garrett Soden.

Manifest.
Jump tickets.
20+ people crammed in the elevator sitting on each other's balls.
Hop-n-pops.
Anonymous farts and screams "Door!!!"

Hmm.. isn't it just a regular DZ?

>>Hmm.. isn't it just a regular DZ?<<

Yes, you got me there, but it would be on "our" own terms . . . I mean if you didn’t agree with something at least you'd be arguing with a BASE jumper.

Every legal BASE site today has us following someone else's rules.

So, it's a step in the right direction.

NickD
BASE 194

"Yes, you got me there, but it would be on "our" own terms . . . I mean if you didn’t agree with something at least you'd be arguing with a BASE jumper."


good point.


for the price of a A wind tunnel?
isnt that quite a bit of cash?

from what research i hav put einto my own tower, a 700meter tower would cost around 2 million. plus the land its on.
and whatever else for permits for altitude restricstions.
i thought a wind tunnel was upwards of 15 million.

 

Here's a cool tool you can use to locate and find info on antenna towers . . . I love the name of the website "Find a Site" LOL . . .

http://www.americantower.com/...MapPoint/default.asp

Make sure and d/l the "National Site List" it’s the Mother of all tower lists.

NickD
BASE 194

If only Donald Trump had a soft spot for base jumpers. Last I heard Donald Trumps' soft spot was somwhere in the area of a $25K fine.