Basejumper.com - archive

from this article:



I have heard this said a number of years ago and with the way the 'sport' has progressed, I wonder if it's still true today?

Please speak up if you are one of the 'very few' with more than 500 BASEjumps without serious hospital time due to BASE, so we can get a feeling for just how rare a breed you really are. Also say whether you agree that it is just a matter of time or not.

Please also throw in your post if you are one of the jumpers with more than 500 jumps who have spent that serious time in the hospital, so we can see what the relative numbers look like. Also say whether you think it is just a matter of time for those in the uninjured camp before they join the injured camp.


Of course everyone with any number of jumps will have an opinion on this and it might be interesting, so let it out if you feel the need, but what I am really curious about are numbers of those 500+ jump people with no serious hospital time.

thanks in advance

As long as you don't think that those "relative numbers" are indicative of anything. You can't get anything statistically meaningful like this, because (1) it is self selecting. (2) the numbers are too small.

I do.

I think they are indicative of the opinions of people who choose to post on this forum.

I can think of 5 UK jumpers (I'm sure there are a few more) with more than 500 jumps. I think 4 of them have avoided any serious time in hospital.

Having got lucky a few times myself I would agree that it's only a matter of time before you get bitten.

Gus

I'm currently busted up pretty good, but I've only spent 3-4 hours in the hospital. What exactly does that say??

Sure, the *responses* are indicative of things. But the *numbers* aren't.

I agree it is a matter of time, but not the 500 jump part. How and what you jump are major influences on what the risks are. There is no watershed number IMO..

Remember that they're quoting from an article I wrote in 2002. I _do_ think that it's just a matter of time. I think that things are getting better, and that more people are going longer without serious injury. Which means, basically, that I'll stand by the underlying idea, even if the number changes (and it does, and has) over time.

Don't get hung up on the number. That's not the point of the statement.

Ah, at last a worthwhile post that doesn't say 'look at me, look at me!!!'
Base jumping is dangerous- there's no getting away from that fact, fortunately things don't go 'pear shaped' that often, but when they do it's usually pretty fuckin' serious pretty fuckin' quick!
With every jump, even the easy ones (and some are easier than others,) you're rolling the dice. The trick is to play with loaded dice- loaded in your favour.
I don't care who you are, who you think you are, how many jumps you have, how many gainers you can do off the perrine, how many tards/ rollovers/ buildings/ how far you can track/ how many videos you've posted on youtube; sooner or later you're gonna throw 'snake eyes!'
It may happen on your first jump or you may go a thousand incident free- but you can be sure -it's coming...The clever ones get out early, i hope i'm one of them.
I've been in hospital twice because of basejumping, once to get a cut stitched up (was jumping again the next day,) and once when i climbed out of a window and jumped it- i much preferred the jumping occasion.
I like to think that i've always been realistic about 'when 'and not 'if,' and i'm glad to say i wasn't disappointed when on jump #593 i had my first object strike- a building, came away unscathed but could have been much worse.
If it can happen to a superstar like me, it can happen to anyone- you have been warned.
DTM.
btw.
look at me, look at me!!!

I appreciate why you ask the question... but you know that not all "500 jumps" are equal either.

If you have 500 say, but half are at the Perrine (for example), that's very different to 500 over 300 objects (if anyone has actually managed that!)

Risks are different:

Lots in 1 place - you may have currency, and familiarity on your side, but that might lead to overconfidence and errors

Many different objects - you may or may not be current, but you will certainly be jumping in less familiar surroundings.

Slider up versus slider down?

What's a serious accident? There's a particularly fine line between being totally busted up and serious bruises.

The list goes on...

I'm not at 500 jumps yet, about 450ish last count. A wide variety of objects over 11 years. No object strikes. A few scrapes and a badly bruised toe is all i've had.

Stay safe......

Max.

 
Over 500, bruises but no serious injuries. Base is as safe or as dangerious as you make it. I've done some things that are boarder line insane but I've always tried to do them in a safe and conservitive way. People are rolling on the floor right now laughing but it's true. I've also been rather lucky so make of that what you will.

Lee

>> but you know that not all "500 jumps" are equal either. If you have 500 say, but half are at the Perrine (for example), that's very different<<

That's a load of crap, 500 BASE jumps are 500 BASE jumps no matter where you made them . . .

NickD
BASE 194

If you'd actually read on, you may have got my line of thought.

I'm sorry, but not all BASE jumps are equal. It's quite hard to have a bridge strike!

Edit: I am not in any way implying that one shouldn't approach each and every BASE jump with the seriousness that it deserves, however. Quite the contary - I'm implying the risk of not doing that through overfamiliarity versus the dangers of a new object, which are different. The former is more easily controlled by the jumper though.

It ain't hard at all, if you do a TARD into a headwind.

If it's not hard, why only one person in the world accomplished it?

Aw geez, now you're going to get a bunch of people going out and trying to prove they can do it too...

Because in the world of BASE, that is often referred to as "Pushing It".

Actually, I know of a few others on different spans that have come close to having strikes with "Pillars". I assume had these incidents played through, the injuries would have been much worse. Think cliffstrike.

Hi everybody. Sorry I didn't see this earlier. I don't check these forums much anymore. I don't mind saying I was a little confused by the DZ.com to BASEzone change-over.

Anyway. I've got:

600+ BASE jumps (500 from Perrine - at least 2 of those I almost died on)
200 unpacked
250 aerials
50 wingsuit
3 years in the sport
1 cliff strike
1 foot x-ray (no brake)
4 trips to Doctor Cheri Aiello to ask "does this look bad?"
2 trips to hospitals with others
Countless road trips
1 suicide witnessed
10 friends dead (the worst is when you delete their # from your cell...)
No BASE Number
And I've been Clean and Sober the entire time!!!

Fear not the life you do not lead. It's the life you do lead that will kill you

"There's nothing like a trail of blood to find your way back home" -Nikki Sixx

CYA
-Bill

There are 2 numbers that I have continued to copy over to new phones even though I will never use them again. I figured having to copy them over was the perfect opportunity to let go, but haven't managed (over 3 years later). That's a tough one.

Sigh,,, I know that feeling.

I still have 9 numbers from friends who have died in plane crashes in my phone. I even send a text to one of them now and then. for unknown reasons. one day i got a text back. "stop texting me".

I guess they recycle numbers after a year.

Yeah, that's what I figured...I had thought of calling just to hear the recording "your friend is dead", to see if it would help, but figured I would just get a voice who would be very confused and offer no help.

after 7 years and almost 650 jumps,one arm and one leg on same jump,couple of casts and jumpin 4 weeks later.no SERIOUS hospital time though. yet.

None of the people I jump with has spent serious time in the hospital. I have experienced one dead friend, although he was a skydiver who wanted to try basejumping. It was absolutely horrible, and marked our jumping community for years.

The scenario described here is totally unfamiliar for me. Statistics is pointless. If you like living, keep on living and avoid uncontrolled situations.

"10 dead friends". My God. What do you say to your mother??

I agree with the statement that all jumps are not equal, Perrine is a good example, I have 8 jumps of the bridge and my opinion is that despite the fact they are actually basejumps per definition (my definition that is) they are technically very easy ... so easy that the biggest risk you face is complacency, at least for experianced basejumpers.

PerFlare

640 jumps
120 objects - including many very technical
1 object strike
No real injuries... scrapes and bruises
96% stand-up landings

I think you can have a long safe BASE career by being prepared. Too many people are in BASE or getting into it without being fully ready. I often see jumpers who cannot land a canopy standing up , cannot pack for themselves, cannot fall stable, and cannot fly in tight situations. Being prepared also means wearing protective gear.. it can save you from serious injury when you can't fix the problem. Also, jumpers need to be able to correctly assess each object and figure the best way to make the jump unscathed.
Today, I think it should be easy to make 500 jumps from the 'beginner' places but unprepared overzealous people are constantly getting injured on these 'routine' jumps.
I can't believe people are proud of injuries they have sustained while BASE jumping. I think we should be proud of NOT getting broken, stand-up landings, on heading openings or being able to pull off a hairy situation with some amount of skill and not luck.
Injuries can and will happen but they can be reduced by being ready and not getting in over your head.

Jason

I agree with you but you can still end up with someones pilot chute around your foot, and if you are lucky this can go well and if you are not so lucky it can go wrong...

Yes you can, I think Tom has pictures of it. Still a technically easy jump PC's or not. Doing waterfalls or other sequence critical jumps is another dimension of it ... still, object wise, pretty basic.

PerFlare

Hi,

I am late, but still in time....! ;-)

430 jumps since 2002, 50% slider off 50% slider up
55 objects
99% stand up landings
0 strikes, around 10 times a 180°
no injuries
went back from exitpoint more than 15 times, because of bad conditions, bad vibes, a "sign" or whatever.

fucked up my ancle realy bad 3 weeks ago in a swoopcompetition.
No Jumps before march.
SO, stop swooping, go for Base!

Take care out there...

G. Tobi

agreed, like they say, swooping is bringing darwin back into skydiving.

as for me,
~350 BASE jumps in 4 years,
75 objects.
40% slider up
never more than a scratch BASE jumping.


~70% of landings attempted to be stand up

100% of attempted stand up landings were stand up.

90% of attempted PLF'd landings PLF'd, a few i mis-calculated and stood them up.

haha... all of us that just said we have not gotten hurt in BASE yet better find some wood to beat. we all just jinxed ourselves.

3 years
153 BAS jumps (yes I have yet to get an E'
17 objects (5 Bs, 5As 6 Ss, 1O), 3 opened (2Bs, 1O)
bruised heel (jump 2 and jump 102 (wierd huh?), cuncusion and a bit and swolen tongue (jump 55), and scared as fuck(a few of em).
I wear different setups of body armor based on the sepc O. (from tennis shoes to hanwags, knee and shin hard armor, full upper armor, high impact hemlet)
hAve been really lucky, and very on point with skills. the combo of both has kept me out of plaster so far. hope it stays as such.

Yes. 500 jumps from the Perrine are FAR less likely to result in injury than 500 jumps from cliff the same height.

I'm no mathematician, but I'd say that it's somewhere around TWICE as likely to be injured jumping a cliff than on a bridge, all things being equal with the landing area...
pope

I agree for most spans/bridges... But for example, there are a couple train trestles that I love jumping that definitely match cliffs any day, in both exit and landing area considerations. So for me, it’s the sum of the challenges on an object that gauges the total risk involved, instead of its object classification (E or S).