Basejumper.com - archive

 

in a sense jumping has ruined my life. but in way its like another life i never knew existed until i jumped.

do people look at objects the same way i do? no. do most people notice antennas on the side of the freeway? no.

when out with my ex girlfriend we would drive around downtown and i would be pressed up against the window looking at the tops of buildings oohing and ahhing rambling about landing areas and such. more often than not, girls get fed up and never let me explain the full extent of why i jump. they dont get it. people dont get it. nobody gets it except for people who climb tall ladders for the sole purpose of jumping off.

BASE is like a drug to me. if i dont get a dose of BASE at least once a week, i get edgy. like a smoker that is on a 13 hour plane ride with no nicotine. SO. thats all i have for tonight.


anyone feel this way ?
grundles. over and out.

The driving along the freeway looking at objects has seriously been a huge detriment to my driving ability.

And my X couldnt understand why I would drive 3.5 hours, hike, jump for 3.5 with a 20 second canopy ride. But then again I dont understand why she would drive downtown and go shopping for 6 hours and spend 500 bucks on makeup and a couple of items. Its all personal choices.

I know exactly how you feel, but thats what makes BASE so personal. I know for me, if there were no cameras and I could never tell anyone what I was up to...I would still do it!

But the general public will never know why we have that look in out eye.

"... and once you have tasted flight, you will walk the Earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you long to return...." Author Unknown to me

After 10 years, I still look up at every plane I hear, even though I barely skydive anymore, and I MOST definitely look at every object with a gleam in my eye, because they know and crave that view the best!

i do believe that is Leonardo DaVinci's quote.

but it is very true.

i can totally relate to all that... and so can my girlfriend.

you are correct.

 

Hey Abbe I'm happy to hear that you're beginning to enjoy many different activities in life and I think your recent travels must have some influence. Skydiving is a lot of fun. It's not BASE and it doesn't have to be. I'm itching to do a BASE jump soon (I haven't done one in a few months), but I've been a little busy this summer refining my swooping skills and have recently been able to swoop a very big pond a lot. Of course these are two completely different activities, but the rush of swooping a pond and the rush of BASE jumping cause similar life time pleasures to myself. I'm slowly learning that one needs to find a balance in life after my own personal jumping obsession is coming into better perspective. Jumping rocks (being it BASE or skydiving) and I hope to be doing it many years from now (being current all along the way) but there are many many many other cool things to do in life and I've seen the negative aspects of jumping obsession both in myself as well as in others when we let jumping consume us too much.

I hope to share an exit point with you soon bro ... oh and nice job to you and the other 20 people up in Twin Falls last weekend. I love the pics that were posted. Have you seen our swooping pics in the swooping forum?

could this sum it up:

"When once you have tasted BASE you will always walk the earth drooling on anything higher than 30 meters; for there you may, or may not, have been and from there you will long to jump."
- Bernardo da Norvegia

(http://www.basejump.fi/forum/thread.php?id=272)

I'm with you on this one.

Actually both skydiving and BASE were never a "fix" to me. I don't do it for the rush. BASE is not a drug. I could live just fine without the use of drugs but I have doubts I could live just fine without BASE and skydiving.

It is my observation that people who just do it for the rush will burn out fast. I enjoy both a lot. They are different for sure. It's funny Abbie, I loved my fist skydive after my first BASE, I truly felt different. But BASE is just much more intense...

To me is the shit I do to be in the moment. "Carpe diem quam minum cedula postero" my Romans ancestors used to say.

well i do and i hope i dont get the feelings you have...

I get itchy if i dont get a jump whith in 1 week..

I dont skydive alot anymore not as it aint fun,becourse i think its great fun,but i dont borther to be pointed at each time as im at the dz... either from instructors or people just started skydiving who wanths to huck off a parafoil in a vector harness off somthing low as 900ft.. But jumping it self is still great fun.. atleast from what i rember..
But hey my wife might want to start skydiving again.. perhabs that will drag my ass out there...

i tryed climbing but i cant find ANY fun in that

Actualy i think BASEjumpers mix well whith the public.. we usaly just only talk about gravity sports which is borring to people who dont understands it...

Couple of months back, four people in the Car and I was the only one who noticed a 500 or so feet 'A' and smiled.

thats the truth right there.

you actually sound like a newbie skydiver saying stuff like that..........

what an arrogant thread title...

Wow........

What an insightful...............

response...........

Sure hope................

this one can.........................

match......

that.................

I don't see what's either newbie-ish or arrogant about it. Seem's pretty damn true in my experience as well.

Most "normal" people don't understand. Hell, most skydivers don't understand. In my experience most are curious and see it as sort of neat... while simultaneously muttering how crazy you are.

And more specifically to grundleson's point... I've seen many a whuffo relationship transform from "You BASE jump? Oooo that's so dangerous..." to "You gotta quite BASE jumping... it's so DANGEROUS."

On a side note, I've reached the same point in my jumping career as Abbie and Nic. It's become a part of my life, a very important one, mind you, but it doesn't define it.

the arrogant bit for me is describing non-jumpers as "normal." just like in excess of 70% of people say they are above average drivers, I doubt many will raise their hands saying, "ooh, ooh, I'M normal!"

many, if not most, people keep various activities and thoughts hidden...

I guess it goes back to actually defining "normal."

I have friends that are jealous/can't understand/want to know more/don't want to hear anything...... about any gravity related sport. Its all in who you talk to.

They all think they are normal. I think they all think I'm a little weird.

in saying "normal" just to clear the air a little bit, i was referring to all non jumpers as they look at "us" jumpers in their eyes. not saying that anyone who jumps is a freak of nature or something totally out of the ordinary.

not many people that i know think i'm normal, but in retrospect, i dont understand why people thing that base jumpers are so un-normal. for me, its something that i do that makes me feel good, something that excites me. whats so abnormal about that?

gravity sports are all fun and games, and i didnt mean to raise a huge discussion about jumpers being freaks, i was more or less seeing if anyone got that same crazy look from people when they ask me what i do for fun.

on the other hand, i never thought those guys who played dungeons and dragons were exactly "normal" myself...but thats just me.

I guess people are afraid of what they don't fully understand. Afraid might not be the right word.

eg.
The world is flat, you'll sail that boat off the edge...
Cars will never go faster than 60 miles an hour because people will pass out at that speed...
Rock and roll is the devils music...

Silly points I know, but some people hate leaving that comfort zone, and other can't stand being in it. And some people just can't do things for the sake of fun alone

 

I didn't say I or anyone else was better because they base jump or skydive or hangglide or play dungeons and dragons. All I said was that different people have different reasonings for what they do and don't do.

You are correct, some people do what they do because it is fun. But other the other side, there are people that don't do things simply because they don't fully understand all the concepts that are involved.

My mom thought I was crazy and almost broke into tears at the mention that I was going to do my first skydive. Since that time she has done one tandem, and has become my biggest supporter in that sport. I feel its because of the knowledge of what is at hand.

J

 

Should we call 911???
Or may be we shouldn't.. he might be held as an hostage..



Jul.

personally i hate fun. it's too ben and jerry's for me.

i'm only happy when i'm miserable.

on that note, if you're reading this... chances are you helped pay for it. thanks for the paycheck!