Basejumper.com - archive

My other post about the "Benne boogie roll call" only got two replies from other jumpers that post on this website...when I know for a fact that about 100 jumpers are registered and confirm.

This leads me to believe that this site is surely a bit biased towards the american/english speaking community which is normal... DUH not everybody has the internet, care to post and speak english fluently enough to post.

But this in my mind raises an interesting question.

Are the BASE numbers issued after completion of all four types of jumps really representative of the number of base jumpers in the world or are they just a mere "honor thing" given to the mostly american/english speaking community who is maybe more aware that these number even exist.

Personally, I usually jump with two other guys who merely speak no english and have absolutely no clue that those number even exist.

So in your opinion...How big is the base jumping community truely?

to me BASE# is linking me to the history of BASE the Carl B. way.

for other than that you can only use the # in case you want to show off in front of some skydivers who dont know this..

Why?
becourse having a BASE# only tells 1 thing.. that you completede the word at that part of the time line.. it dosnt tell about how current you are,how many jumps and off how many objects you have dont it.
If you control both the slider up n down envoiment etc etc...

Many people out there dont care about the # atall and many has jumped all 4 /5 kind of objects,but dont really need to be linked

That said im proud of my # and i dont care that people dont step up to get a # no matter the reasson.. BASE850 is me,and i have been linked in the line of BASE history

Its just like the sport.. all personal...

I qualified for BASE sometime in 2000. I don't have a BASE #.

first off you dont clarify for a BASE # just jumping off TF only dude
second,ofcourse you dont get a BASE# in the future as your cool gf then will have a lower # than you

I have NO BASE number, but first completed BASE around 10 years ago.

I have total respect for the early pioneers such as Carl Boenish, et al.

I think getting a number is a personal choice. It is neither right, nor wrong. Even more so, no one has the right to tell another it is right/wrong. But I also think it is a wonderful thing to record history and the level of participation in the wonderful sport/activity.

As long as Nick D DOES NOT give me a number, I will be a very happy man.

I feel privileged to be a part of this sport, and I also believe that the sport is privileged to have welcomed so many beautiful people into its fold.

There are MANY people without numbers who have qualified. Shamefully, there are a few people that have got a number that shouldn't have one.

It is what it is.

Enjoy.

Respect.

Carl Boenish named it the "World BASE Award" and a casual glance at the first few hundred BASE numbers issued shows a good representation from Great Britain, Canada, France, Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden. Numbers 150 to 167 is a run belonging almost exclusively to Australia. I don’t know the nationality breakdown of the entire list, and maybe Joy Harrison can provide us with that information.

It's a bit natural that as we get further away from the beginning overall interest in the award would begin to wane. On the other hand I see the excitement of someone who just recently earned their number as the same as for anyone back in the day.

I'm a bit dismayed when you say you know BASE jumpers who don’t know about the BASE award. There are many BASE jumping websites in other than the English language these days so it would worry me what else they don’t know about . . .

And nobody is saying you aren't a BASE jumper without a number.

People are people everywhere and some jumpers go all their lives without anything but a license and membership in their home country's parachuting organization. Other's put in for every honor, award, and badge that's available.

There is one thing that hasn't changed. In terms of difficulty, danger, and the effort it takes to earn the BASE award, it has remained a great personal achievement and nothing to belittle. Keep in mind few people earned the award in just four jumps. In fact, most have many more than that before bagging all four objects. A few people earned BASE in 24 hours, some take 24 years.

We've become a bit more diverse in how we practice the sport over the years. Some people can happily jump cliffs all their lives, and nothing else, and those people are still BASE jumpers. I've more building jumps in my logbook than anything else and it's no matter. It's where in the world you live and what's readily available to you.

To me the coolest thing about the BASE award is the brother and sisterhood it creates and, as said many times, the link it provides in the BASE timeline.

I'll go a step further and say those who disparage the BASE award, and you know who you are, are eating at the buffet without paying the check. I find when explaining the virtues of BASE I have a problem when telling people we've been at it for 27 years and the BASE numbers now stand at around one thousand. That really isn’t representative of the scope of this thing we do. In a sport that celebrates the individuality of its participants the BASE award is the one single thing that binds us together. So no, the BASE award isn't about anybody in particular, it's about all of us . . .

NickD
BASE 194

>>As long as Nick D DOES NOT give me a number, I will be a very happy man. <<

That's a Nugget . . .

NickD
BASE 194

When I was on the road, I periodically ran into people who didnt have a base number, and people who were not remotely online. Strangely enough, I learned more from these offline base communities than anywhere else, because they had re-invented the wheel in their own image. So I, a suburban soft internet pathetic, am like, you guys are doing WHAT tonight??????? Off a WHAT???? You mean...NOW???



I think the number of BASE jumpers and Fatalities is much higher than thought...


Base 758

**********************************



xSig x

 >>Fatalities is much higher than thought... <<

I keep a pretty good eye out for these, can you cite anyone I missed?

NickD
BASE 194

Thanks Nick, Faber and others for your support of the BASE numbers, Joy and I appreciate it.
Jean asked us to take over the numbers in 1998. Since that time we have had applications from all over the non English world. Former Russian States, Asia, much of Europe both east and west and some from Africa and the Mid East as well as plenty of others. Folks that read what Carl wrote on the back of the green BASE card know it was intended for the world.
Joy and I feel that a BASE number does link you to the very beginning of BASE as a sport. It also places you in the timeline. It does not make you a better jumper than a person without a number. Whether a person wants a number is their choice. I just hope they are not making the decision out of a misunderstanding of what the BASE numbers are all about.

Rick Harrison, BASE # 38 and proud of it.
and Joy!

Im really proud of that note you wrote to me as you guys issued my # to me.. that note is always framed and on the wall...
Thanks alot(again)

Thanks for your reply rick. I hope my initial did not come across as direspectful to the "BASE awards" as I have the utmost respect for them.
I, personally will be darn proud to apply for one when I qualify. My post was to maybe get an idea of how many jumpers are anonymous jumpers and how many people actually jump (wether they have completed the acronym or not). To my knowledge the "base award numbers" are now around 1050 give or take a few. Which means just that, 1050 or so people have completed the acronym. But how many in the world are we to partake in the activity? I know there is asolutely no way anyone can answer that... so the question is certainly vain. But this question came to my mind sitting at the pub in the swiss valley for the last three weekend and seeing so many different people come through there. I know it's screwed up but it almost started to make me think this has become a "common" actvity...

Where's the Boom, False Boom, and the "Real" Boom . . . ?

We wondered where everyone else was in the 1980s. BASE jumping was already such a cool thing, a next step for skydivers, a place to use their skills other than the DZ, and a way to be real individuals in a sport full of individuals forced into a box of skydiving conformity. The truth is during the 1980s there are between 100 and 150 "hardcore" BASE jumpers in the entire world. I remember asking Todd as he started T&T Rigging, "What are you going to do when everyone has a BASE rig, go out of business?"

Through much of the 1990s I worked at Basic Research and the phone rang off the hook. This was it I thought, surf's up, baby, all the folks who rolled the dice in the 80s and started BASE equipment companies are going to get stinking rich and start throwing up BASE dedicated towers all over the place. My magazine, The Fixed Object Journal would make a grand comeback, this time all glossy and in color, and with thousands of subscribers, instead of hundreds, I'd finally get me a new trailer in the Perris Ghetto that didn't leak like a sieve in the rain.

Guess what? No boom! Gear sales, and my overall perception of the sport, showed instead only "steady" growth, enough growth that we started screening customers to weed out the walking dead, and began training people who couldn’t be counted on to go about learning the right way, what ever that was. All we knew about that in the very beginning was you just got off your ass, went downtown in the middle of the night, and jumped. If the current 90 jumpers residing on the BASE Fatality List right now had gone in during these formative years the sport would have withered and died from attrition.

The year 2000 looked again, like the beginnings of a boom, and indeed the largest spike in BASE numbers issued, the amount of new BASE gear dealers, and the number of dedicated BASE events, are more so than ever before. At Bridge Day 2004 I noticed I've gone from knowing pretty much everybody who BASE jumps to knowing that will never be possible ever again.

In the early days the USA certainly lead the world in all phases of BASE, but the dynamic, I thought was changing as, while a bit late to the party, our Euro Brothers had everything they needed. They had the sites, the openness to risk vs. reward, and societies that didn't automatically label them as loonies. Alright! Now this was really going to be it! I shopped my BASE history book around to several mainstream publishers and the answer was always the same. As they held the door open just a crack a voice would ask, "This is great stuff, how many do you think you'd sell right off the bat?" "Oh, a thousand copies easy." I'd say and what I thought was the boom turned quickly into the sound of slamming doors . . . I never got to add, "But, it would sell steady and maybe forev . . . SLAM, CLICK, LOCK . . .

No, there is no boom in BASE jumping and probably never will be. We have grown certainly and percentage wise probably more than skydiving, but BASE jumping is always going to be what it is. Sometimes I think we confuse exposure, and the fact every kid in the world now knows what BASE jumping is, with actual growth, but Todd still isn't rich and where I live still leaks like a sieve . . .

NickD
BASE 194

reading the UK and Nowregian BASEhistory leads it back to the same time as Carl B. some of thouse just didnt do it the same way... the Carl B. way thecome "the worldway".

Nothing bad about it... I think It were cool that they found the name BASE were it before that were skydiving or jumping off objects.. so it probaly were in the above places aswell

BASE jumping in Europe up until Carl died in 1984, and indeed for a while after that, wasn't very active at all. I met many of the European pioneers as early as Bridge Day '85 and the amount of BASE activity there is a fraction of what it was here in the states, and nothing like it is now.

I later met Stein and many others probably in '87, and as an aside we all thought he was saying "Space Jumping" and that's what we all called it for awhile, but nobody is knocking you guys. It's not about that. BASE history is all our history, and when I say this happened here and that happened there, you guys get all jingoistic.

Who was cliff jumping in Europe in 1978? Sure, you had your share of "stunt" jumps prior to that just like we did, but the "sport" of BASE jumping did indeed begin here in the states before spreading elsewhere. And Faber, you've been reading my stuff long enough to know I'm not an American, right or wrong, flag waver. I only bring it up when I see people trying to re-write the history that belongs to everyone who’s ever strapped on a BASE rig . . .

NickD
BASE 194

he he so what to belive?(just teasing)

I do belive that the english guys claimed the same,and as i were 2 years old in 78 i have no clue what so ever,what really matters to me is that to day its called BASEjumping,which drives me today...

What ever the first jumpers were americans,itallian english or japanees i dont really care,the reasson ive got my BASE# is that i that way is linked the the word BASE...

I do respect you dude,as you has to respect me.. What i do is that i hear the storryes from 2 sides and says it from that,if that is re-writing storry offending old BASE sorry to that,you´ll have to live whith it.. As you know not all people agree in the same history as you all i do is taking them into my world aswell.

sure did as what Carl B. and the others sat down and found the word,and desided what a BASE jump is,it only could start from there,but i see jumps before that as BASE jumps aswell,aswell as i see unpacked jumps as BASE.. im probaly not right but i have the right to be wrong..

>>im probaly not right but i have the right to be wrong.. <<

Me too, Brother, me too . . .

NickD
BASE 194

he he by the end of the day its all about jumping off fixed objects and having a good time im sure that must be one of the goals guys like Carl B. you and other OLDTIMERS ( ) had/has about the sport.. which is why im here today..

i chuckle to myself as a relative newcomer to this...i was at the elsinore DZ with my dad in 1977 as a 9 year old kid watching everyone jumping the DC3s and the Howards...even stayed at the other end of the lake at one of the campsites there....Got a ride to altitude in the DC3 strapped into the 2nd seat with some static line and thought that was as good as it got...wish i had known who was there and what they would mean in the future...wouldnt have been so keen to go to Disneyland or swim in the lake....talk about suliminal messeging..i think theres recognition needed for both sides of the pond in all this....The US for the gear,the big walls,the technique and sheer number of buildings you all jumped and the UK and europe for the low altitude angle,good beer and and the extension of what our US bros had started...(oh and maybe the fit women...have you been on the piss in stavanger?)

heres to the next 27 years..

I agree. And anyway, we've bigger problems than all that. President Bush, in a speech just now, just called the "Gulf Coast," the, "Gulf Gulch."

Yikes . . .

NickD
BASE 194

I made the decision to not get a BASE number out of misunderstanding of what the numbers really meant. At the time, I felt they were a way to prove yourself to other jumpers. I felt that I was jumping for myself and had no need to have a number to prove what I'd done. Much for the same reasons, I didn't log individual BASE jumps, just kept a running tally of the jumps I'd done.

I've grown up alittle bit since then and I now see the valus in getting a number and logging my jumps. Unfortunately, the number I'd get now doesn't reflect when I qualified for BASE, so I won't be getting a number. I think it would upset the chronology of the numbers and now I think that chronology is important.

I'm all for getting numbers, and I actually regret not getting a number back then. Of course, I didn't imagine the numbers would be over 1000 by now. I don't think any of us did.

Joy, if I give you a date of when I qualified for BASE would you be able to tell me what my number would have been? Or a rough estimate of that? That would be pretty cool to know.

Anyhow, thanks for keeping that torch burning.

I'm sad that you never got a number - while it is a personal choice for you, you are actually a piece of BASE history yourself, and the only way for that history to be recorded other than peoples' memories, is through getting the number.

That is one reason too, that I would prefer to see BASE numbers published, at least one's from say, up to ten years ago. Everyone on that list also contributed to the history of BASE.

Skypuppy
BASE 92

Even if you never get a number, if I ever get to meet you at, say, a CRW world championship or something, I will bring a case of beers. I think I owe it to you for what your posts have showed me in both BASE and CRW.... Great website, by the way.

<<<<<<<but Todd still isn't rich and where I live still leaks like a sieve . . .

NickD
BASE 194 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Its an interesting point Nick. Here are some of my thoughts on your closing comment and the way I fit in:

I have done and am doing reasonably well financially. I credit some of that success to. . . . drum roll. . . . . guess what . . . . . BASE jumping. And before all you kids with dreams of making it rich from BASE jumping get excited, its not directly from BASE jumping.

But what are some of the things that the sport has given me??

- are much more open minded outlook on every aspect of life.
- a higher level appreciation for recognition of risks and ways of managing those risks.
- a greater appreciation that cross skilling IS, AND I REPEAT, IS, VERY BENEFICIAL to most aspects of life (refer to the is skydiving beneficial for BASE argument, etc). That is if you are open minded enough to recognise and accept this paradigm shift in thinking, you can actually use some "soft skills" developed in BASE for other avenues in life. Transferable skills ARE BENEFICIAL.
- a deeper understanding and acceptance that I, I repeat, I, am responsible for the outcomes in my life. Yes, unexpected events can affect my life and change its course, but in the end, I still have to make the decision and live with the consequences (both good and bad).
- organisational skills.
- communication skills (verbal, written, etc).
- increased confidence.
- the knowledge and experience that I don't necessarily have to blindly accept what society tells me is appropriate or possible. Many BASE jumpers are constantly thinking outside the proverbial square.
- also the knowledge and experience that I also have to have some defined systems/rules/procedures for most things that I do in order to reduce the likelihood or prevent unwanted outcomes. Think, Plan, Act, Audit .. ..

The list goes on.

Now, think about the above characteristics in terms of running a business, investing, or other aspects in life!!!!!!!!

On top of that there is personal satisfaction:

- being witness to and a part of passion, shear exhuberence, the unbridled excitement of virgin jumpers, the amazement of friends/society, the controlled progression and skill development of new jumpers and being a part of introducing new people into the sport, preventing others from entering the sport, etc.
- amazing people.
- spectacular scenery, visuals, memories, etc.
- being able to take and have overall control of risks that others perceive as . . . . . Impossible.

Again, this list is endless.

Then there are the tangibles. The things you can actually see, smell, touch, feel, etc.

- the business I work for & others occasionally fly me around the planet for safety, motivational, and risk management presentations.
- filming what was probably the first double gainer from below 170ft.
- being one of the early wingsuiters.
- training or being involved with students who have become world class jumpers (way better than I am).
- big way jumps before they became as common as they are today.
- being self reliant enough as a group to rescue our brothers and sister jumper when in need.
- CRAZY multi way jumps before they became as common as they are today.
- and more importantly than all of the above, seeing that the above has become more common / less risky due to the rapid development of the sport in general and the individuals within the sport. I am proud as punch that as I have reduced my activity levels, the sport has continued to grow and develope (even though it scares me sometimes).

So you see Nick, I think I have achieved untold wealth from BASE jumping. And those are experiences that NO amount of financials in the world can buy. It is also indirectly benefitted me in other ways - and I have NOT intentionally pursued these options. They have just happened.

Concluding, you may have a leaky van Nick, but from what I can see, you have the respect of many people within the sport for all your writings, etc. As does Todd. And I also beleive you have the following from many jumpers around the world . . . . an open door - you are welcome to crash at my place and I am sure that many others around the planet would offer the same gesture.

Thanks mate.

I am but an oily drop in the big BASE ocean. There are many greater than me. And I am sure I would learn more from you than you would from me.

r.e. the BASE numbers. There is no real reason why not. I think that I was just subconsciously exercising my right to laziness. I guess another obscure reason is that I value the self reliance, independence, and personal responsibility thing. I like to have some aspect of my life where its just me - no other organisations/registrations/etc. Its kind of ironic that I have been to a number of organised BASE events.

Overall, I think its all good.

I would and actually do encourage people I know to get their BASE number.

BTW - I have a secret burning desire to be BASE number 100000 (no typo - one hundred thousand ). That tells me I am going to be around for a long time and that there will have been many people introduced to the sport in the meantime. Just don't tell anyone in case they get the same idea. There was

I am also secretly awaiting for Croatian BASE number 1. Robert???????? Do I have to send lots of Kuna over for this???? If you want to give it to someone else, that is fine by me too.

p.s. Unfortunately, I will not be at the Russian CRW World Meet in 2006. But I fully intend to compete at the 2008 and 2010 world CRW meets. You bring the beer, I'll bring the top shelf stuff. It should be a blast.

I get the impression that the French were doing a lot of jumps a while ago and keeping a low international profile at the same time. Also, the first 1000 jump jumpers I met were French. Then came the Aussie/Yankie contingent.

I have to add the proviso that I was snotty nosed teenager in the eighties.

I've been actively researching fixed object jumping since 1978 and I'd love to find evidence of prior "modern" BASE jumping occurring somewhere in the world. When I do hear from someone about earlier jumps, especially from Europe, it's always, I believe, I think, or I heard, with no evidence. This is further compounded when these people, like my good brother Faber, admit to being two years old at the time in question . . .

The first word that reached us in the USA from Norway is in the summer of 1979. I don’t have the names in hand right now, but I believe it was Jorma Oster and some others. After that an expedition of 13, including Carl and Jean Boenish, went to the Troll Wall.

Jumping in Norway took off after that. However, it took until 1992 before it caught fire and sites 1-7 are opened up. The closest thing to modern BASE that occurred anywhere on the continent prior to that is the 1950's jump done by the Dentist Felbmayr when he jumped a cliff in the German Dolomites.

As for the French, the first French BASE jumper I met is in the early 1980s. He came to the USA to jump El Cap during the short lived legal period but he broke the rules by jumping at night and without a permit. When I saw him at Perris after his jump, and right before he was run off the DZ by angry jumpers who held permits they'd never get to use, I asked him if anyone is jumping in France and he told me no. I believed him for two reasons. First, he was an intolerable braggart evidenced (okay, we all were in those days) by the tee shirt he was wearing that proudly proclaimed himself, " El Cap Nite Frog #1." The second reason I believed him is in 1981 the very concept of keeping BASE jumping a secret is still a few years away. Anything that happened before the 1978 El Cap jumps would have never been kept a secret. They would have made worldwide headlines just as both the El Cap jumps in 1966 and 1978 did.

Before, and like always, someone will now cite a one off stunt parachute jump made from an object somewhere in Europe and claim it as the first BASE jump. Sure, these types of jumps occurred all of the world. What I'm talking about here is the birth of the "sport" of BASE jumping. These earlier jumps, and they go back to ancient times, are like what the abacus is to the computer of today.

As I said earlier this isn't about American BASE jumping, it's about BASE history, the history of all of us. If there is someone jumping in modern terms prior to 1978 I want to know, and I will certainly give them the credit.

To just say >> I get the impression that the French were doing a lot of jumps a while ago and keeping a low international profile at the same time. Also, the first 1000 jump jumpers I met were French. Then came the Aussie/Yankie contingent.<< means what? Who are they, where are they, where's the photos, are we even talking about the same timeline?

NickD
BASE 194

Woooaaahhhhh? Hhhhheeeeyyyyy? Nick. Settle.

I wasn't questioning history, I was just mentioning what I had heard. and I certainly wasn't taking a patriotic / pro European / Anti American stance. (BTW - the first BASE jumper was Faust Verancic - A CROATIAN).

People like Eric Beau and Jaque Malnuit would certainly know more than I r.e. Euro history.

And, I did put the disclaimer in that I was a snotty nosed teenager at the time which implies that I admit that I don't know for sure. I just mentioned what I had heard. That's all.

To rule something out because it came from a "young punk" may or may not be detrimental to collecting facts and data.

p.s. One of my Holy Grail jumps was the TW - and the legend of Carl was one of the main factors that drove me there.

p.s. Luv your work. AND - I am looking forward to the book!!

Hi,
Just wondering if the BASE # List is Confidential ?
After Jean Boenish handed down the BASE # List to Rick Harrison, if i'm Correct, Rick let another BASE Jumper named "Yuri" and other's, View the BASE #'s List.
This may be a reason Some BASE Jumper's Don't apply for BASE #"s.
Thank You,
Gerald Harendza
BASE # 75

Do you know any personally who have not applied for this reason, Gerry? You can't be worried about someone seeing your name on the list.

I don't get it, you know. This is a hoorah that flared up quite some time ago on the BASE Board. Based on this post and on your last post, it seems that you have recently learned how to use the "search" feature for the sole purpose of bringing up old pissing contests.

What I wonder is, why would you want to do this?

I think the better way to get your question answered is to email Rick and Joy and ask them. I'm sure they'll be forthright about exactly what they do and do not disclose.

rl

The BASE number list is "confidential" as Carl Boenish promised it would be, and in that respect a glance at the list shows an asterisk (meaning confidential) after quite a few names. I don’t think any of us have the right to renege on that, at least not for another fifty years or so . . . and yes while a lot of us have seen it, no one has published it . . .

What is it that you "don't get " about that?

NickD
BASE 194