Basejumper.com - archive

Where did you fly into, where did you stay. Best tips you can share. Going to be there roughly May 16-30th. Feel free to PM or reply to this post with any info you can share.

Fly into Geneva or Zurich. From either of those airports it takes about three hours to get to the Swiss Valley by train. You can drive if you want, but a car is totally unnecessary if your only destination is the Valley. I highly recommend the train.

Stay at the Horner Pub. If the Horner is full, there's a campground (I don't remember the name) that has cabins for rent really cheap. Lots of jumpers stay there.

Tips: Ideally, don't go to the Swiss Valley for your first E. The cliffs there look deceptively easy, but are actually more technical than they appear. If you don't have slider-up E experience ahead of time, you may have trouble finding people to take you to the exits.

Take tracking pants and jump them out of a plane beforehand. Doing otherwise is just dumb (something I learned the hard way).

Start out at the Yellow Ocean exit...it's the safest. Once you're tracking well at Yellow Ocean, you can work your way over to La Mousse and the High Nose.

The weather in mid-May is ideal. It sounds like you'll be in the valley for quite a while. If you get tired of jumping, take the cable-car up to Gimmelwald or Murren - both of which are very cool and quaint mountain villages. You could also check out the underground waterfall located in the Valley (I forget the name). There's lots of hiking in the area. Just remember that some hiking trails run through private land where cows graze. You can legally walk through the private land, but make sure to close the gate behind you so the cows don't escape.

Winds tend to pick up in the Valley for about 3 hours starting at 1pm, so most jumpers take a long lunch until 3pm or 4pm. You can easily knock out 2-3 jumps in the morning, along with another 1-2 after lunch this way.

Have fun. The Swiss Valley is a blast, in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

For flying over, Zurich is probably the most convenient. It may be much cheaper for you to fly via London however. There are many cheap flights (if you book early enough) with either BA or CityJet (part of Air France/KLM) between London City Airport and Zurich. Bit of a pain changing airports though; it'd be a bit like going into La Guardia and out of JFK. Other option is to fly Heathrow -> Zurich or Geneva, although it may be more expensive.

Do watch yourself in the Valley though; the cliffs are easily underestimated in difficulty. Landings are all easy, but the delay range and proximity of the cliff face to you on opening are the main hazards. As the previous poster said, go to Yellow Ocean first, then stick to that side of the valley (La Mousse / Yellow) for a while, before going to the Nose. The High Nose is a more serious jump than the Nose.

Most people I see when I'm jumping there use tracking suits, which are definitely a good idea.

I personally use a 38" vented PC on Yellow Ocean and the Nose; 36" vented on La Mousse / High Nose. Others may have different ideas. I tend never to roll the nose and use a coarse mesh slider, rammed up against the stabilisers.

Try not to land in the trees! They are tall...

Do register with the Swiss Base Association at the Horner and pay the fee. Helps to keep the farmers sweet. Most of the jumpers hang out there at some point during the day / evening too.

If the weather is good, expect to make 4-5 jumps a day without trouble.

Sorry if a bit rambling; hopefully you'll find something useful in the above!

Have a good trip!