Basejumper.com - archive

Lately, everytime I see a tall building or bridge, I think to myself... "I wonder what it would be like to jump that... and how/where would I land."

I'm still pretty new to skydiving with only 87 jumps... but am considering BASE jumping. How many jumps do you suggest one to have before they start BASE and is there anything I can be doing in skydiving now to prepare me for future BASE jumps?

Finally, is there a BASE class offered anywhere for your first BASE jump?

This might help you out

lol thanks!

My only advice is to stay in skydiving alot longer and enjoy it, within this time you will have some scares, see some scrapes and injuries and will loose some friends, once you get used to that environment in skydiving, then re-assess your want to get into BASE, as you will see it more, and then at least you will be partially prepared...

please dont rush into BASE, Its a horrible sport and not as nice as it looks on video and not as romantic as it seems in the passion of newly introduced to skydiving....

I started BASE with 500 skydives with over 150 focused on getting into BASE, and I still was not prepared for the mayhem I got into.... Please dont rush into it...

http://hometown.aol.com/...e/base_fatality_list

Several hundred more. Try to do as much CRW and Accuracy as you can. Sport accuracy is probably more applicable than classic accuracy--if you use a classic accuracy style canopy (which is quite similar to a BASE canopy). Consider switching to a large 7 cell canopy for your skydives (Ravens can be found fairly cheap for this sort of thing).




A complete list of FJC providers can be found at the end of the article here, which is an updated copy of the one linked at the top of this forum.

"Now that you have an idea of what a BASE jump ought to look like, get your hands on some BASE video. The best video for this is the "Lemmings Exits" series from Bridge Day (http://www.lemmingsvideo.com/). Try to get several years of "Lemmings Exits", and whatever other BASE video you can find. Watch the video, preferably with your BASE mentor. Evaluate each jump. The more errors you can see before jumping, the more likely you are to avoid them yourself."



The Lemmings video link in the intro to base is a bad link.

edit to add:

Also the baserig link is invalid and the vertigo link are invalid. All 3 links point to aggregated relational link farms.

Can someone maybe PM me a name of a person who is around deland/titusville/z-hills who does B.A.S.E. that could possibly be a mentor in future BASE jumps?

Yep. Thanks for pointing that out.

After the death of Will Forshay (the producer, videographer and owner of the Lemmings footage), the Lemmings website is gone.

Fortunately, Jason Bell has acquired the rights to distribute this footage, so it is now available from the Vertical Visions Web Store.

Start with your local BASE Gear manufacturer (in Z-Hills). Especially being female, you ought to be on the lookout for issues like those discussed in this old thread. I'd say you ought to talk to Kathy at Morpheus to get an experienced, and female, perspective.

Note that the links have been corrected in the updated copy of the article which I linked in my post.

In reply to:
"A complete list of FJC providers can be found at the end of the article here, which is an updated copy of the one linked at the top of this forum."


You have omitted Miles Daisher's course. Another option for learning to BASE in Twin Falls Idaho. milesdaisher.com

Fixed it for ya. And another...............www.johnnyutah.com

With every bit of positive input (which you have a lot of in this thread), you need the Dr Phil perspective. This is the Yang to the Ying that you have been getting.

That is where I come in.

Impress your future mentors and coaches by making some effort prior to asking some very basic questions.

e.g. The fact that you are asking how many jumps are required and that there are many published and easily found articles about this topic, will turn off half your possible mentors. If you were male, that would knock off the other half that is left (hence the advice from TA).

Why? Now this is my perspective, but if I had someone approach me for BASE training and they were absolute beginners and they showed no initiative to learn anything for themselves, I would be thinking, this is going to lots of hard work initially and I would have to be on my toes the whole time because I am not sure that person would ever make an effort and work hard. I would also be concerned that that person was in a hurry, wanted quick solutions, and was likely to get out of the sport just as fast as they got in. I may also think that that person would be more likely to advance too quickly. This all adds up to hard work and risk. So why should I bother.

Now if the potential student made an effort, were humble about their lack of experience, and they were showing very obvious signs of initiative, and willingness to learn and work hard, then I would be more likely to invest my time. This would lead to much better instruction AND learning and a heavily reduced risk factor.

Just something to consider.

Good Luck with it all.

p.s. there is nothing wrong with asking questions per se. You are doing the right thing there and people are willing to help. But just put in some hard yards prior and you may get much better results from the whole process. Better results in BASE jumping could mean things like . . . . staying alive.

TA is a great reference in terms of learning, listen to what he says.

Thanks everyone! I think I have a long way to go before I do my first BASE jump.... such as working on my exits, accuracy, and canopy control. I can't wait to start reading and learning about the sport. Even though I may not be ready now... my first BASE jump will come! Until then, I plan to soak up as much information as possible and practice!!

I think as a very bright woman you will not have a great problem finding a mentor or a person giving you advice for getting in to base.

Sometimes i wish, i would be a woman.

Good luck by your efforts!

Less time posting to dorkzone, more time skydiving.

Also, you can't practice BASE exits from a plane.

Could I practice BASE exits from hot air baloons?

Yes. But a better mechanism is to practice them into a swimming pool, or to construct a pendulator. Practicing them from balloons, or on BASE jumps, allows only a very small number of practice exits per hour, whereas a swimming pool, pendulator, or foam pit can allow you to practice literally hundreds of exits per hour.

Whow Tom! Either you got just carried away, or you have done some SERIOUS excercise since the last time we met....

Hundreds of jumps - means at least 200.
200 jumps in 60 mins (=3600 secs) makes an average of one jump every 18 seconds... and this a whole hour long ;-)

Sorry, could not pass on that one.

Well...one every 30 seconds is probably a better estimate. I've had a student stay on the pendulator for over an hour, doing exits at approximately that rate, though.

The pendulator in Norway was cool. Probably more scary than the jump itself. Best get a couple of beers in first!

Where can i see a picture from a pendulator?


Ok....have found this:

http://www.coachesinfo.com/category/gymnastics/71/

ok, but not out of a pool or into a foam pit!

Yeah, same concept but your one looks really fancy!

http://img147.imageshack.us/...opyofdscf0576fj3.jpg

http://img166.imageshack.us/...opyofdscf0577rj0.jpg

There's the Norway pendulator. The lines are not really visible in the first pic, but hey. You sure couldn't do one every 30 secs there. It takes at least that long to climb up! Haha, i did mine at midnight and jumped the next morning.

Loved the place, highly recommended.

I enjoy reading the, how do I get into BASE forums for the mocking that whoever asks that question gets. Yet when someone who from their profile seems to be a pretty girl.....

What's that suppose to mean! This forum was my starting point, and now I can't wait to venture out and learn more and hopefully network with other BASE jumpers in the area. I am going to wait until I have 200 jumpsl, but I now have new goals in mind to help prepare me.

As for the swimming pool idea from above, should I practice doing belly flops into the pool? And from what height?

Finally, today a friend told me that a high number of student, girl, BASE jumpers die.... why is the number higher in females rather than men? Is it because of strength, reflexes, or is it like the thread posted above about guys pressuring them into jumping (ex: boyfriends)??

As with many aspects of life, tits get their owner far.

edit: Met a guy in Norway with 20 skydives and ten times as many base jumps. Not the recommended path - no DZ would let him practice his wingsuiting due to lack of skydives...which makes it kinda hard to do wingsuit base!

edit edit: As for the higher proportion of female student base fatalities (if true) ...It's as likely as anything to be the fact most base jumpers are guys, and, guys being guys, will do almost anything to get girls...including being a mentor/teacher in base when a guy with similar skills might have got told to bugger off and come back with more skydives! I doubt reflexes or any physiological aspects have anythign to do with it.

Thanks.....

The first pic looks a little like a tree house.

Yep, and I had the bruises to show. Thanks again Tom for the numerous belays. It definitely helped.

Does anyone know where the nearest pendulator to Florida is?

Yes I'm thinking about BASE. I'm thinking about the 8-9 people who've died since the beginning of this year for a variety of reasons. BASE can be fun when everything goes right. But it sure isn't safe and it can be as dangerous as you want to make it. Do yourself a favor and build more time under a skydiving canopy before you try your first BASE jumps. To some this is a game. But it really shouldn't be.

 

In your back yard? They are very easy to construct.

I'm assuming here you have not done a lot of platform diving. If you have, well, you're one step ahead of me.

If you can find a pool with a 5-metre platform (not a diving board), then just practice jumping off it. You don't have to do a BASE exit.

(1) Try stepping off first, since that's easiest.

(2) Then try launching hard from the edge, and land in the water feet first. How hard can you launch?

(3) Try running off the end. Don't pace it out, just go to the back of the platform and run for it. Jump when you have no more steps left.

(4) Try sideways and rear-facing "exits".

(5) Try just hucking yourself off and sorting the rest out in the air. You have about a second.

The general idea of all this is that you have an innate monkey-sense which lets you leap off one thing and ensure you're in a particular position when you land. We don't use it often, but it's there. Jumping from the 5-metre platform will build your confidence in that sense, so that when you do your first BASE jump, you won't have to rely on "head up, chest forward".

You may also learn some other things along the way. I learned that if I do a positive launch, as opposed to stepping off, I am much more aware of my time in freefall. I also learned how to do a good running exit, without over-thinking it.

A lot of others have said this already, but take your time getting into BASE. When it goes well it's fabulous, and this is what you see most of the time. But it can also be incredibly brutal. When it goes badly, it can go very, very badly.

Michael

people have posted lots of good info already, but to build on what crwper wrote:

don't underestimate simple time in the sport of skydiving. popping off 300 jumps in one month is NOT the same as spending time in the sport. with enough time, you'll have seen some carnage. are you ready for the emotional impact of seeing a friend with a broken leg (or worse)?

how about yourself?

you will depend heavily on those you jump with, and they will depend on you...

It's pretty clear what he meant. I've lurked this forum for a long time and he is right, 99% of posts like yours get a LOT of negative responses very quickly. Taking offense to his comment is pointless, as it was not an observation about you (other than that he thinks you might be a pretty girl); it was an observation about the posters to this forum.


Nobody said anything about pressuring anybody. Permission can be more dangerous than pressure.

That's a nugget!

Exactly, and considering theres a few articles that state how to get into it and what to do, theres no reason to post this thread without hoping to find a mentor. I to had an offer to get in BASE way to early, however that offer came after I read Toms articles, after I read the fatality list, and informed my family of my intentions... and then I told my friend Shannon.

THANK GOD she told me flat out "your not fucking ready, you BASE now and you will be another statistic" I think she also called me a fucking idiot, dork, butthead, and other things while around the bonfire that night. I scared her because she knew BASE and I had 60 some odd skydives. She yelled at me out of love but also out of respect for the sport.

Ill never be able to thank her enough, because she went in on a BASE before I realized just what she did for me by NOT kissing my ass cause I have boobs.

Hopefully someone cares enough to tell Gail that as well. I doubt Ill ever BASE because I know Ill never be as in tune with nature or myself to be half as capable as my friend was in this sport. If I do and I hope Gail does the same, I will not cut corners because of my gender... and I will not accept a mentor who allowed me to skip the details that have been proven to give the BASE jumper a little edge over the chance of injury and death.

Tom's pendulator helped me quite a bit. Yeah definately helped me feel good about staying head high.

Scary? Not really. Rigging the damn thing in that tree was kinda a pain in the ass. And that climbing harness has alot potential for crushing a nut after the rope comes taught. Now that's true fear!

QUESTION adventurechick

ANSWERS getting into base article

mac

Tom Aiello

Tom Begic

adventurechick

So despite the advice, you've opted to wait until you have the absolute MINIMUM skydiving experience possible, which is currently only just over 100 skydives away, which could effectively be a mere few months before you start on your next big adventure.

Which is all well and cool and dandy, but why ask in the first place if you're not prepared to act on the advice?

Here's some further advice : start listening to what people are telling you and absorb it rather than just hear it.

ian

your kidding right? if a guy can pressure you into doing something you aren't committed to you have no business skydiving let alone BASE jumping.

Mac was kind enough to provide you with a link to the BASE fatality list. you seem to respond to everything yet i don't see in any of your posts that you've gone there. let me help you out a little:

#11 Marilyn Ettema
#26 Marieta Schneider
#39 Susan Oatly
#33 Theresa Tran
#38 Stina Ulla Ostberg
#45 Erin Aimee Engle
#54 Jan Davis
#64 Lori Barr
#77 Babi Dematte
#99 Shannon Dean

each one of these women made a conscience descision to BASE jump. they did so accepting the responsibility of their choices. don't disrespect them by implying that some man might have pressured them into it.

YOU choose to BASE, YOU choose the course of your training, YOU determine the level of risk you are willing to accept. YOU decide whether to jump or not.

not in texas you didn't.

I just moved to texas. PM sent since I am only supposed to lurk this forum

Ok, I worded that wrong. I was referring to this paragraph.
Some men try to use the mystique of BASE jumping to attract women. There are few seduction tactics as tried and true as “being the teacher” (just ask a Tandem Master). Many women are attracted to the knowledge, confidence, and (supposed) power of a guy who can “teach” them to BASE jump. This is not a secret to the boys. Worse, men are tempted to overstate their qualifications as a teacher when they are interested in a woman. What guy will admit to an attractive BASE-curious skydiver that he isn’t qualified to teach? He will try to impress her with his “expert” credentials, saying “of course I can take you BASE jumping—just stick with me and you’ll go a long way, baby.” If his goal is to get laid, he isn’t an appropriate teacher. Hang out with him, date him, have fun with him, skydive with him, sleep with him—but learn BASE from someone else.

I do not mean to discredit any of the other females. I do apologize.

I was trying to find on the internet, but I'm having some trouble with my search of places high enough, that you can use your real rig. Is there such a thing as a 2,000-3,000 ft. object one could jump off of? I am just trying to gather information.

Don't worry, I am not going to go out and buy a BASE rig and rush into it. I have gotten many PM's and more responses on here saying 200 jumps is not enough and to wait. That is what I am going to do.... I do like the idea about going with BASE jumpers to watch them jump and video them/drive them.

Thank you for all your input.

If you are wanting to use a skydiving rig off an object you are missing some very large pieces of information as to why BASE jumps are complely unlike any skydive you have ever been on.

2000+ foot cliffs are around, but a Cliff is not a good first object to jump for many reasons. First of is a 180 on opening has you flying into a solid wall at 20 mph, that has killed a lot of jumpers already. The Twin Fall's Bridge is ideal, Bridge Day is good too in terms of objects for a first jump.

If you want an example on your next skydive go land your canopy in the middle of a parking space in the parking lot. If you land out of the marked space assume that you just broke your legs and are facing hours with out medical attention now. BASE is a whole new ball game and there are only a small amount of people in the US that are lucky enough to have terminal objects near them. Everyone else gets their sub-1000 (most are sub 500 in the midwest) foot objects to play on. Even the NRGB is only 876 feet tall and its considered to be tall for a bridge.

I did Bridge Day last year and decided BASE was not for me, its an intense rush... but I forsaw death and injury in my near future if I continued at this stage of my life.

That's pretty offensive, honestly. Most of the folks on this forum are looking for an aircraft that will allow them to use their "real" rigs.

BASE rigs are just as "real" as skydiving rigs. Each is designed for a different purpose. Taking a skydiving rig off an object--any object--is pretty much just plain dumb.



Sure there are. With your current attitude, I'm personally not going to tell you where they are.

Here's the problem.

If you want to jump off a 3000 ft cliff with a skydiving rig, you'll only have a thousand feet or so to track away before you open your--less reliable, more malfunction prone, and more likely to be off-heading--skydiving canopy. If you take longer, you won't have time to use that precious reserve you've lugged up to the top of the cliff.

A much safer way to jump that cliff would be to use a "real" rig designed for it--in other words, a BASE rig. Then you could take the full available delay, opening well away from the wall with gear designed and manufactured to open on heading, with fewer problems, and with a more appropriate flight profile for the environment you are in.


Please read the guidelines linked at the top of the forum under the heading "Before You Post!" Right here, right now, you are the person who is the underlying reason for those guidelines.

I was just wondering who would take the bait this time...

This is even more boring than the average dz.com post.

The thing that is annoying about you, and "lurkers" that have 87 skydives, isn't the fact that you want to jump. Its the demonstration of laziness that even when you live on the internet, and spend all workday on dz.com, -the fact that you post "I want to BASE jump!", but haven't even done the little bit of looking to see that there is not only the World's Best Internet BASE jumper's article at the top, but many, many other "I want to jump, now what?" posts that would require a simple search.

And the total lack of respect for your own healthy body that you are willing to put it in harm's way, with minimal experience, when history and experienced jumpers tell you just the opposite, and you will get HURT OR KILLED. (And mess up someone's object too)

Ummm, 2000-3000' objects that you can use your "real rig"? Sure, come on over, but we'll have to take your slider off your "real rig" for that jump.

How lazy can you be? Or bored and lazy...

Gail is an actual jumper and not a troll, I know people that have jumped with her and knew her through her student progression.

ok ok
I just thought it was getting a bit too blatent but obviously not.
Sorry

Ok, I'm sorry, that came out wrong.... I was just wondering if high places existed that one could use a main and reserve. I do know that BASE rigs are real rigs, I'm truely sorry.

See, she's not a troll... she's just not very bright

No, I'm not a troll!!! I know, I sound ignorant and thank you for taking the time on answering some of my questions. I just want to know what's out there and what one can do with BASE. I have many newbie questions, and plan to talk with someone who could answer some of my questions. I am at the very beginning of my quest. I do apologize again if I said anything which offended anyone. I greatly look up to all of you, and please do not take any of my "newbie wording" to heart.

No one is asking you to look up to us (except maybe Abbie). I think people would just like you to do some research first. One person already pointed out the articles at the top. You could also give BASE WIKI a go.

Man, this thread one again demonstrates how awesome irony is.

OK Gail, so which part did you NOT understand, in all linked articles, answers etc, it is clearly written you need specific training and specific gear for this specific type of jumping.

I was very surprised of the very correct tone used, seems to me everyone here was very protective, in the sense that they are trying to "temporize" you.

Please do your reading homework again.

Stay safe. Have fun.

the begining is the BASE fatality list. read it, then decide if you wish to continue your 'quest'.

here's the link...again.

World BASE Fatality List

Thank you! Reading right now.......

You haven't even read the fatality list and are posting that you want to get into BASE? Hasn't the link already been posted above? Didn't a few posters say to read the fatality database? Was it too hard to open up Tom A's article at the TOP OF THE PAGE that says "getting into BASE"? I know the link is in the article from reading it myself.

You are not taking any of the advice being given to you seriously. If I was you, I'd stop posting in this forum, do some research, stop depending on everyone to give YOU answers and grow some balls...then maybe come back.

-sorry..been biting my tongue for too long





New sig line - Ignorance is bliss.

Awesome. The BASE newbie police just got a new recruit. And it's a woman!

I'm doing research as we speak... and will be doing research for awhile. I came here for some general answers. I wasn't sure what to expect, and I've never talked to others about BASE jumping at the DZ. Most of the people I know don't BASE jump.

I made a mistake, I made a post before reading the Getting into BASE. I am now reading through all the articles and fatality databases. I'm also searching for some BASE videos and I want to learn about the sport some more... at least have a better understanding of it even if I never do a BASE jump. I will do my own research, I apologize for even posting.

i sure hope that base chicks do not grow balls.
that would be really wierd lookin.
and lets hope these se winds die down so us southerners can go jump and get chicks with balls images out of our minds.

You guys stop hatin on adventurechick.

She is really cute [see avatar] and she will be doing double gainer McConkey's off the Half Dome in no time.

if you are going to put up newbie police i will put up idiots, fuckwats and total cunts police.

you liked irony didn´t you?

Benjamín

Maybe what Amanduh is trying to say is that we want people to BASE jump that can think on their own, you know, independently. We want smart intelligent people jumping, but I guess that is subjective?

I do think BMS has a point from other threads about being more "helpful" to new jumpers, AND other people have a point about "doing some [more] research," there has to be a happy medium. BUT then again, maybe there shouldn't be? On another note, maybe we need to continue to be hard or harder about letting people in the sport? I just looked over the fatality database again :-(

At any rate: I think it it pointless to "discuss" being more helpful," or telling others to do "some [more] research," because people who will respond, will respond in the manner that he or she want to. Hell this is a Forum Right? People come here to learn and discuss; there is a noval idea!

All "we" [read: you] can do is what "we" feel is the best way to respond.

If the jumper is a semi-intelligent or is teachable/guide-able, there will be hope that he or she will do the right things and make the right choices and possibly turn out to be a productive asset to the BASE community, and/or at the very least become proficient enough to not be a danger to themselves or others and not require babysitting.

, note that I wasn't the one to introduce the police word. Credit for that one goes to Leroy.

[Edited to correct quote]

Videos are fun, but I don't think they're a good way to learn about the sport. If you're even thinking about getting into it, you've probably already been exposed to more than enough of the "cool" side of things. What most people here are encouraging you to do is look more into the technical/reality side of things.

Forget about the videos for now.

Read the fatality list.

Read the archives in this forum.

Check out BaseWiki.

BASE jumping is not skydiving. You will not be able to use the same gear, and many of the techniques will be unfamiliar to you at first. Learn about them.

Michael

That will make it harder to get mentors!!

Sorry. Bad joke.

I'll leave now.

you how are always talking people down for misspelling text should know that misusing others people text like you did to mine when you deleted my in the end is much worse.

Leroydb used the police word but he was not recruiting.

Benjamín Árnason

Fixed. Apologies.

 no worries mate

Benni

ok everyone ... enough disagreeing.
lets agree to disagree
& go check out the cool bear pics.
i think we can all agree that we like base for alot of reasons.

Once again, you do have a valid point


Oh, and LeRoy...shut your piehole dude..I know what I meant...

Lets not forget to mention what you said about your "hole" hurting out there at TF.... MY P**** Hurts... DARE WE ask why?

its not my fault.... there is no video proof

wtf? you have issues dude.

 just a general question (note: not planning to get into BASE (yet) - i just find it all fascinating)

you all say minimum x number of jumps, but what about currency.

im thinking along the lines of when you go to a DZ and may have to do a refresher if you havent jumped in 3 months and have below x number of jumps.

for example, ive got 250 skydives and i wanna base jump! (but thats spread over 4 years and i havent jumped in 6 months)

probably a pointless post, gotta do something while at work.

Hey that sounds a bit like me; well the 250 skydives and havn't jumped in 6 months part...

If you have 250 skydives, you will be at least B or C license and should know what your currency requirements are.

Untill recently, due to demanding work obligations, I had gone pretty uncurrent with both BASE and skydiving. I hired a 170 as opposed to using my 120. Did a 20 sec stable delay with practice touches and opened high on the first jump. Then did a few solo track dives and hop n pops before going back to jumping with others and flying the 120.

As for 250 skydives over 4 years, it depends (IMHO).
If for instance you could only make the dz on week-ends, were packing to pay for the jumps and helping a rigger out some evenings during the week, you are likely to have picked up quite a bit of technical knowledge. If on top of that there is not one BASE related web site you havn't thoroughly scrutinized, and you have harrassed all the dz BASErs for any info, ground crewing/ camrea handling you could get, then all there is left to do is get current with a few skydives.
If on the other hand, you went to the dz on week ends only once in a while, got others to pack for you and havn't jumped in 6 months because you've been kind of losing interest...
It's what that other clever guy said: "it's all relative..."

adventurechick, check out this thread. interesting...

http://www.dropzone.com/...;;page=unread#unread

Rope hucks are way more fun than the pendultor, and there is a lot more time to figure out where the exit was screwed up, sometimes way more than a slider down BASE jump.
of course, Rope hucks are a bit more dangerouse than any base, and take a day or more to set up for even the really experienced. so nevermind.

Thanks! Someone else already sent me that thread a few days ago and I read through it, but thank you though! It's a well put thread!

You guys should hook up in Florida. Her profile mentions she enjoys swing dancing. You could show her your tatoo.

Just don't let ERIC rig the pendulator eh Tom ?????

Pay attention to detail...

post #4 on page 1 had this link and it took you to page 3 to bother looking........

A 3 page hesitation is better than a PC hesi or object strike in my world....