Basejumper.com - archive

Hi, my name is Hizam. I am from Sunnyvale, CA. I freshly got out of FJC from Twin Falls and would like to meet and get to know local BASE jumpers in the bay area. Thanks.

Since when has it become normal to do this AFTER a FJC?

Don't sweat it carp. He's covered.

Now, to be fair, if someone just asks for information from the locals before they have done a FJC, aren't they told, "Do your research, get your skydives, take a FJC, etc"?

Once they have done all of that, isn't a post here saying, "Hey, I've got 30 jumps and I'm living in your backyard and I know I'm still a novice and want to approach the locals respectfully " a good way to go about letting other jumpers in their area know they are around?

Seems like a polite introduction to me.

Then they would have already met the locals (or a few of them). I know of some that don't even make that effort, and that's how I read the original post.

Maybe he hasn't met anyone yet?

Yeah, I can see your point...BUT taking an
FJC and then politely introducing himself is
a whole lot better than some approaches,
which usually fit into categories A or B.

A:

"I'm a rad mountain biker so how can I
start BASE jumping tomorrow!?!"

B:

Kid with zero training or supervision climbs
an object, does something real dumb, and
burns it down (or worse gets seriously hurt).

can`t see anything wrong with this introduction..but i might fit better in the "General BASE" forum...

After reading the 1 post, is there some hindsight you may provide as how this should have been handled?

Do you have any background on this jumper? Based on that first post alone, if he was in the same general area, what would you do if you read that?

Some questions that would probably be answered with a simple hello might be:

-Where did he skydive?
-Does that DZ have any base jumpers (or skydivers anymore for that matter)
-Where does he skydive now?
-How many skydivers does he have?
-How many base jumps does he have?
-How well is he prepared to go out and jump some of the "usual" objects in the area?
-What is the opinion of the jumper according to the person who put on the jump course? (not that this matters but why not ask)
-Did the jump course instructor suggest contacting certain people in is general area?
-When he began jumping at a busier skydiving drop zone, did he meet a well known to the locals rigger/base jumper there prior to making this first post?
-How close is the dropzone to his own neighborhood?
-Are there actually jumpers in his own neighborhood?

People who ask about base jumping are often blown off anyway so, seriously, what does a person do after they took the initiative to attend a hands on class with a structured progression?

Heck I don't know, one post seems to have raised a concern with only a few. It's entirely possible that he has been in touch with locals privately, but who knows.

So anyway, what should he have done?

He'd definitely met several local jumpers before he took his FJC. I know that because I talked with more than one of them before I took him as a student.

I think he's just looking for more contacts, and this seems like a pretty good way to do it, to me.

I think that you're probably just mis-understanding his post a little, which is understandable.

There will be jumping in YOUR area tonight!! check pm's.

Agreed.



It's been my experience that if you are actively pursuing entering BASE, skydiving a F111 canopy, and working on the relevant skills that you're far less likely to be blown off.



I've just been noticing a large increase in the number of people in my area that want to BASE but they don't make any real attempt to contact locals, work on canopy skills, put in some time groundcrewing, etc. Everyone just signs straight in to a FJC and they're "good to go". Now I don't know anything about the original poster, but I read it as he was just another lad who went straight to a FJC without doing some of these other things 1st.

There's a lot of this fast track mentality happening around here lately and it's been starting to bother me. I guess it's just finally made its way up north...

Nah, it's been here for a long time too. I quit paying attention to most of it. Lots of people ask, and some just never do anything about it. No worries, I know what you were getting at.

By the way, he's actually in contact with quite a few of us.

Thanks for everyones response. It has been a good learning experience and already in contact with a few jumpers.

Thanks again.

What did you learn about your posting experience?

I hope you understand that posting can be dangerous so you must take it seriously. <=== now there are 2. (3 including the one below)

Edit: This was intended as humor so I'll add a to the post in hopes it is no longer appears serious.

Yes, I guess posting in the forum can be indeed very dangerous. On top of that, my english is not the best and can definitely put it out of context and be interpreted wrongly.

I will be honest, I thought communicating through the forum would directly reach out to jumpers. Let me know if I am wrong but isn't this the goal of the forum. Help others to reach other jumpers to help each other be safe. As a beginner I have read and been told always contact the locals and find out how to do a jump safely. This was my goal and what other way could I have done it if not through this forum.

Thanks.

Greetings, I was just joking about that hizam. I know english is not your first language but I assure you I was not serious about danger and posting.

Hopefully I'll make it out there tonight. If not, have a good jump. You'll like the place.

Is this the 1st question you ask of all "Bay Area" jumpes??

It's always worth asking. Ya just never know. He may have several harems of skydivers.

Ditto that.

I realize that you're now talking in generalities, but for what it's worth, Hizam had his canopy months before his course, and made practice skydives on it. He was in contact with both his FJC instructor (myself) and the gear manufacturer (Asylum) during the entire process.

In general, I share your concern about the average route into BASE today. In this case, that's not how it went down.

My apologies for not clarifying, the OP seems to have done his homework, and has reached out to the local community.

One post and now he's famous! Awesome! He and another jumper kicked ass tonight. I never post about jumps but for this thread, why not!

Thanks Tim, Brian, Nic and the rest of the guys for the great night. Greatly appreciate it.

Congrats man!

A little different than the Perrine?

the what?

Cute

Da Potato

Yeah, one of these days you should enjoy it.
Maybe we can plan a trip out there next year.

Yes, but was there bacon?

is bacon part of your lesson on BASE etiquette?

Congrats Hizam

Take it easy,
Jake

Tom, you get an A for effort but for timing... I'm sorry bud, all that can be dished out today is a D.

There is no need for bacon yet however if the correct person chimes in, it's definitely a go.

Thanks.