Basejumper.com - archive

What exactly does ground crewing entail?

It's a totally nebulous term--there is no "exactly".

90% of the time, it basically means going along on a low bust load, hanging out, and building up the jumpers egos by telling them how awesome BASE jumping is, and how cool they are.

Depending on the jumper, I've seen it include:

- hauling gear
- keeping watch down the road with a radio
- operating elevator controls from the bottom
- creating a distraction for security/police
- walking off with static line components
- bringing the beer
- stroking jumpers fragile egos
- having sex with the jumper after the jump (not kidding)

About 1 time in 20, ground crew will actually do something critical to the jump (I was once on a load that only went because ground crew faked a breakdown, blocked a lane of traffic, and chatted up the cops who responded for long enough for us to get up, off and out). But most of the time, "ground crew" just turns out to be the BASE term for spectators.

More importantly... ground crew is there in case something goes wrong... if you get hurt and you are soloing it... you may be screwed... at least with ground crew you have someone to get you to a hospital or call for help if it's bad enough.. In my opinion that is really the main purpose of ground crew.

Although more often than not it is everything Tom was talking about! :)

I was once on a load that had "ground crew" that was so excited about seeing a real live BASE jump that she started rounding up other spectators as they passed by, pointing up to us as we climbed, and explaining what we were doing.


Joe's point about calling for help in an emergency is a good one. You can also use "virtual" ground crew for that. Call a friend, tell them you're going to exit, and ask them to call 911 if they don't hear back in 10 minutes that everything went fine. The drawback is that if you are being chased by security, a 911 call probably isn't exactly what you want.

it can also entail shooting video/ photos and being the get away driver.

I contacted 725 with "i have x amount of skydives and want to ground crew" so i turned up and the bastard had a rig for me waiting, thats the kind of GC'ing i like!

Anyone in Los Angeles area looking for a ground crew member?

Driving you to the center of a bridge is another good one.

are you a woman?

And so, it begins...

I think the politically correct term now is meerkat lady.

 I think one of the major things that a person being GC should be aware of, is that when things go bad, Are they ready to see a friend be very seriously injured and possibly be killed.
To me, having someone GC for me, I am relying on them to be my lifeline if something happens. And it's a point that I try to make them aware of before we even get in the truck.

one BASE jumper's non-jumping sister has posted that she wants to ground crew for her brother. her intentions is to be there for her sibling if things go wrong.

hopefully, she will only have to cheer!