Re: [lifewithoutanet] Credibility
>>The contradiction that I'm asking you about is that you call it a "RedBull rathole" in one instance and follow it up with "the future of BASE is toward openness and light"<<
What I meant is since the community does little to discourage the Redbull type stuff it becomes inevitable. When Felix first hit the scene in the 90s there was a big uproar. He was seen for what he was. A glory hound using BASE to make himself famous. And while Felix was driven, capable, and talented it doesn't change the fact he made things more difficult for the average BASE jumper. So that right there is the key. What is the average BASE jumper?
Does being an average (American) BASE jumper mean you travel to Europe once or twice a year, hit every Bridge Day, and go to the Potato on long weekends, or does it mean you're slamming your neighborhood objects under the cover of darkness on a regular basis?
Regardless of that look at what sanctioned day blazing is doing for BASE. We've had sanctioned Bridge Day every since the 1970s. What has it got us? Did Yosemite suddenly open up? Do building owners call begging us to come help them celebrate the opening of their new high rise condo?
The big question you have to ask yourself is what's cooler? A few guys being allowed to ski off the top of a Nevada hotel in questionable conditions (the show must go on) or a few guys who penetrate a downtown building in the middle of the night and jump without anyone being the wiser? And they do it over and over. Not many can follow in RBs footsteps but hundreds can follow the boys in the dark. And what is RB promoting? They are promoting BASE as a spectacular stunt to sell junk food to teenagers. They have to as it’s the only way the parent corporation gets the bang on the buck.
At least Felix did most of his early stuff on his own with just Space helping him out. And after awhile he did start to interject what BASE really was in the interviews he gave. (And that was because it finally dawned on him that he didn’t really invent BASE jumping, which is the impression he was leaving, and that he owed a debt to what came before). The message all these sponsored BASE jumpers (the phrase itself is an oxy-moron) should be giving is lots of people do this and it should be allowed. But ask a Red Bull jumper about BASE after a jump and all you get is the company line that, "Redbull gives you wings."
That's trampling on the BASE legacy spanning Carl Boenish to DW, and all the jumpers who came in between. Now, I don’t want to hit that point to hard because I always get slammed for it. There's a whole generation that never knew those guys and to them it's ancient history. But you (not you in particular) are sort of doing the same thing. What Redbull does is all right with you because you know these guys, they are your contemporaries. And to that I say you need a longer view of things.
I can recall being downtown in the 1980s when the cop says, "What the hell are you guys doing?" And I can recall being downtown in the 1990s when the cops says, "Oh, BASE jumping, eh?" That change came about because of the up tick in glory hounds.
Look at skydiving. After a 60 year history here in America. Go and try to open a new DZ and you'll find that skydiving is barley tolerated. In BASE we are lucky. We don’t have to jump through so many hoops to BASE jump because no one can stop us. The more we move BASE into the light the more freedom we lose. Again, look at Bridge Day. Where we meant to stand in line to make a BASE jump? Or look at the Potato. How many have done the Lemming walk out to the launch point? That's not BASE jumping in the traditional sense of the word.
Yeah, okay I get it. I hear you say you don't care about a BASE number. Maybe it doesn't matter so much now when it comes back with a number in the thousands. Or, maybe it means more. The pioneer era in BASE is long gone. The thing is what are you going do with it now? I believe BASE is hundreds of years away from any kind of normal acceptance. It's going to take a way more enlightened world to accept BASE on our own terms. And that's an important part if it – On our own terms. Or we can sell it out, right now, for 15 minutes of fame, and a few bucks . . .
What I really don't understand is this. The attention the glory hounds crave is already available inside the BASE community. If you positively contribute to the tribe me, and guys like me will make sure you are remembered forever. If you want to be famous to people on the street go learn how to sing and dance and leave BASE jumping alone.
We just had Redbull come to San Diego and jump a hotel that me, and our crew, opened years ago. Since 1986 there have been thousands of BASE jumps made in this city. And there are going to be many more. Is Redbull blowing through here in wham bam thank you fashion going to do anything positive for the BASE jumpers now or behind us? No way, it's only going to increase the penalties for following in Redbull's footsteps. With the higher indignity of while sitting in your jail cell, you know in your heart, Redbull was just following you.
BASE jumping has a built in rebellion aspect that should be enough to satisfy the most non-conformist ideals in us. BASE jump for thirty years on your own terms with nobodies' help or support and you can die a happy anarchist. Once you take a paycheck it's not BASE anymore. You are selling something you basically stole.
As my generation dies, or moves on, every once in a while some knob here gets my goat and I give up. But I always come back because I believe the message is too important to lose. BASE belongs to the ages and not to anyone of us. So handle it with care. And as long as I'm alive you're going to hear it from me . . .
NickD
BASE 194
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If I had done that, the follow up post (from someone else) would be asking what he had done wrong, and complaining that they couldn't see where he'd broken the rules. 