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I know there's really no such thing as a totally safe BASE Jump, but I was curious what would be the safest jump to make.

It seems like jumping off of a bridge would be the safest, as you don't have to worry about striking anything other than the ground. But I may be wrong..

This is really just a post out of sheer curiousity for the sport. Looking to hear any and all opinions. Thanks!

Bridge Day. New River George Bridge in West Virginia. One of the safest jumps you could make. One because of the object itself. Very little chance for object strike as long as you pass the bridge supports before you deploy (1 second delay I think) and there are also boats to pull you out of the river if you do not feel comfortable landing in the very small landing area. Its a daylight jump (most jumps are made a night) and the pressure of being sneaky and having to run from police is eliminated which makes your stress level much lower than a regular jump.

My 2 cents

Coco

Plus you get to party at the holiday inn!

Looks like a blast, too. I've watched a ton of videos documenting Bridge Day. Good stuff right there.

Bridge day it also a great place to do your first aerial. I did my first gainer there last year on my 9th jump. I've been doing gymnastic for training for a while but didn't feel ready to try anything off of an A. After doing the gainer at Bridge Day, then acquiring a few more jumps for a better comfort level in the BASE environment, and doing more ground training, I started doing them of A's. Now I’m dialing in my double front and double back flips. Its great!

Bridge day is one of the best jumps there are! Would just be nice if it was more than one day. But it’s just a matter of time thanks to people like Jason Bell.

Coco

Yep, hats off to Jason and everyone else who helps to keep bridge day around. I highly recommend it, even if you dont plan on jumping.

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Wouldn't a static line from the S in Twin Falls be safer still?

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Yes TF is very safe also! And yes it does have a much safer landing area. But I think on a whole a larger percent of new BASE jumpers do their first jump at Bridge Day. In addition to what I already said you have mandatory gear checks and also free FJC's at the Holiday Inn for BD. (though not quite as extensive as an Apex course in TF)

You don't really need to static line it. Your not super low and you don't need to worry about the added consistency that a SL brings to heading performance. If you've got the balls to jump off a bridge, you should have the balls to be able to hold your PC and take a 1 second delay. But do what you gotta do. What ever makes you feel better about a jump is what counts.

Coco

you mention manditory gear checks. Now wouldnt the safest jumps be in TF with a FJC that gives you, and more importantly teaches you everything about that. plus your less rushed, less meyham, and minus gnarly white water below with a small crowd looking to watch some carnage.

go to TF
sign up for a FJC

A bridge where you cannot possibly land dry (i.e. the canopies glide couldn't possibly put you into an object or onto dry land) would probably be the safest, assuming a good pickup boat.

I know of several bridges that meet this criteria.

I did mention a FJC in with Apex at TF but that is also not always doable for everyone. I did bridge day and then jumped with experienced jumpers. I didn't have the means to get out to TF and take a FJC but yes that is the best route to get into BASE.

Coco

In addition to what I already said you have mandatory gear checks and also free FJC's at the Holiday Inn for BD. (though not quite as extensive as an Apex course in TF)

huh?
I never went there but knows that people get injuryed there each year due the LZ.
the main lz seems to might be abit busy for people jumping first time,the water has some power even as the orginicers are doing a great job about whith the boats..
If Jason get the LZ he wants im sure its getting safer.

I would say that New River George Bridge in West Virginia. is in the top 10 of safe jumps but were would you place Perrine? i think it would get a place in top 10 aswell might even higher than B day..

Simply i dont think theres "a safest BASEjump" its as safe as you make it but there will always be the chance of you having a bad day...

but you might be abel to find a few places were the risk of getting hurt or killed is some how smaller than other objects..

A sl jump of TF will give you alot of time to f#¤k up your flight just look at me this summer i had a treelanding there i cant figure how i did it besides beeing stupied..(well that wasnt a sl jump either but changing flightplan last sec too low wasnt wise..

Coco do you think its safe that a person starts doing arials on his/hers 9th jump? i dont.. hey i wanted to do arials for 2 years now and im nearly reaching 300jumps... and yes i also do higher jumps than 300ft..

Tom, could you please develop on this ? I feel more comfortable over ground than over water, cause I am not a good swimmer. I wouldn't want my first jumps to be pentathlons... Climb, Run, Jump, Fly, Swim.

My only landing area now is below the famous swiss span, and it's like landing in a huge garden.

Well as Tom said you want to be able to land in water. You can do that easy at Bridge Day and the boats can pick you up. Now if you can't fly your canopy into the area's of water that are good to land in than in my opinion you don't have enough canopy experience and shouldn't be BASE jumping.

Yes I did start doing aerials a lot earlier than most people but I have the ground training to back it up. If I could find some damn platform diving closer than 10+ hours away I'd be doing that too. Plus every aerial I've done so far has been 850-1100 feet. So if I fuck up I have plenty of time to recover. I think it’s all about your comfort zone and what you feel your abilities can handle. At the moment I don’t think I’m pushing to hard. Now I'd definitely not be doing what I do from 900 feet out in TF. At the moment I can do 2 solid back flips come out into my track and get a good 2-3 second track before I deploy. I have spent hours watching videos of other people’s aerials, (rewinding and each time looking at a different part of their body as their do the aerial, I’ve very meticulous) and I do gymnastics (but on a hold right now due to Fire Academy, will start back up after May 12). So far I have 1 single front, 2 single back, 1 double front and 5 double back. All have been very smooth. “shrug” To each his own!

Coco

Edit to add: And my single back flip at BD 05.

wasnt a blame on you personaly

but i see TF as a safer place to do a jump for a new person(aloso take the water/river to mind)..

The arial is personal but i think there are more important things to learn in BASE before learning to do arials.. but we all progress on outr own ways

I'm a sponge, I love to learn! What kinda things you got on your mind, what do you feel should be learned first?

Coco

P.S. I'm going to bed. Its 3am. I'll reply in 3 hours.

knowing the gear,how to use it on different variants of jumps(like fine tune-brakes sliders pc´s etc)

knowing how to open a object

knowing to to make small repairs and improvements/gadgets to your gear.

knowing how to read a object the first time you jump it even as it has been jumped before.

familiar whith different depolyment methodes(SL PCA Hand held stowed)

feel ok about the basic exit possisions(rail,platform,standing exit running exit etc)

just for startes.. i can tell that i havnt learnt all the above yet.. but its endless learning anyway.. but basic you should know most of it..

huh is it bad weather sleep well

the safest is the one you do not.

ok, serious.
what is the safest to be meant?
deployment method?
does personal skill count?
weather?
gear set-up or choice of canopy?

my thoughts:
independent from gear preparation/configuration, mental or physical circumstances of the jumper or weather...
let´s pretend, all of the above named things are perfect ... (ok, let´s forget about the "mental" thing...)
it would be:
> an official site at daytime and sealevel
> a bridge, high enough, suitable for the deployment method
> easy access to exitpoint (no freeclimbing or squeezing through structure,...)
> a huge landing area without obstacles
> direct bag, pc-assist or staticline
> beer only after the jump

this is what I would think about, how to make a base-jump the safest way I know.

A PCA from a 200-foot S with about 25 feet of thick memory foam beneath it extending in all directions beyond the glide ratio of the canopy. The jumper would be drunk, as this would help keep their body limp in case they had an impact with the foam. There would be a box of tampons awaiting the jumper at the bottom.

Yeah, I've heard that all (if not, than MOST) of the injuries are because of people trying to hit the LZ. I guess most of the injuries aren't all that serious, broken toes stuff like that. Still not pleasant, but nothing all that bad.

just wait untill the corn grows and they put cows in the other part of the garden

Broken ankles, legs, arms. Infact a few years ago a jumper had to have his leg amputated. Ask him if it was all that bad.

That wasn't actually during bridge day itself, but at an 'extra-curricular' activity around the same time.

edit: not to mention from a different object. From what I hear, it wasn't very fun for any of the parties involved.

Yea good points. I've learned a lot of the stuff you listed but definitally not all. But this stuff can also be learned at the same time!

Coco

There has been more than one incident with this type of outcome. I know of at least one on Bridge Day itself, and one during the extra-curriculars.

Unfortunately, I managed to be one of the folks helping pick up both of those accidents.

I was speaking of the jumper that hit the RR tracks after clearing line twists.

Its on Johnny Utah's BD carnage video. If you really want to jump, watch some of this tragic video. Gives a person a little perspective of what happens, not what CAN happen, what happens.

Nic

(tom, PMed)

any jump were i need a docs attention has not been sucssesful...

I can understand why people WANT to land at the LZ even as theres boats now then 1(if i rember correct) drowned in the river.Whith all respect for the guys in the boats(which were placed to prevent such) ill give it a shoot for dryland aswell im not taking a chance to drown on a jump if i can avoid it..

that said people(me inkluded) dont like wet gear,unless its meant to be so..

Coco,i also learned alot of that stuff but if you do even a bigger search you´ll find more q´s to pop upsoon as you solved one thing.. its called progression,that way all jumpers will keep learning if they has a usual jump life..

The day i think i cant learn more about this sport i hope i realice that im either too old to jump or let go of it and find somthing else.. thinking that you know evrything has killed people before and will keep doing so..

Yup. I was working the landing area for that accident, and got to help with some of the pick up.

Will Forshay shot very good footage of the accident, didn't he? You can find it on his excellent Lemmings Extreme, and also on the Lemmings video for that specific year (I believe it was 1999).

Sorry, I was thinking of a different incident as Tom pointed out. I saw the video of that and it did not look good