Basejumper.com - archive

  I started BASE jumping to distance myself from the politics and rules that skydiving seems to have. Sure, there is comraderie, but only if you follow the rules and are liked. This is true in both sports.
BASE--Being A Silly Earthling.
BASE jumping has rules also. Many are unwritten. Things like not publicly naming sites, calling the local, and respecting the sites. And gravity, which is the rule that is strictly enforced throughout the world.
I don't mind following rules when they make sense, and I can see they are for my protection. Believe it or not, I try to be as safe as possible.
But, I also try to be an individual. That seems to be the only freedom I have left in this knee-jerk american society which I live in. Everything is either illegal, or possible to get sued over. WHY?
Even me dancing on the streets with my shirt off in 20 degree temps gets me a free visit with the police, posing to be concerned for my health and safety. So, I wonder what freedoms are actually still left in this country that is supposedly free from oppression. Seriously, not much is tolerated in America anymore. Tolerance is preached, and strictly enforced. A double standard in my mind. If I say I hate gays, that could be hate speech. And the same people who are putting me in jail for speaking freely, are telling ME that I need to be more tolerant. That speech comes after this one:
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
Wait, I don't hate gays though. I don't hate anyone, unless they hate me. Even then I try to accept them and their difference of opinion.
More BASE related stuff. Ok, so, the worst thing I see is first jump courses being offered. Because, it has cheapened the sport in my mind.
All you need is money, and the right skydive experience?
WRONG! I remember when you had to go find an experienced BASE jumper, and prove yourself a worthy student before the lessons were taught.
Sure, a FJC teaches respect, but is there any test for this lesson? Maybe we should tighten entrance requirements for a FJC course? Anyone care to offer thoughts? Agree/Disagree?
Peace,
Thomas

A FJC course is not an easy way to enter the sport - it is an easy way to complete your first jump.

Just because you come back from a FJC does not automatically mean people will be happy to contact you or jump with you - you still have to meet and prove yourself as a competant jumper. A FJC just means you were willing to put "some" effort into gaining access to this sport - unlike the majority of "I wanna do that" skydivers - who never make any effort.

Another shock and tester (I found) is the reaction to this from Family, friends, girlfriend - I very nearly stopped jumping because of the grief i was getting from these people - cause I thought it best to tell them. I then decided NO - I will jump. They are now mostly accepting (my mother still wont talk about it to me really and i dont have a girlfriend anymore) - but these are also things along the way you must contend with.

So when you say to become a BASE jumper you just need money and go off and do a FJC - No way dude - that is only the start........... its the way I did it - but it certainly was not an easy ride!!

Be Safe......Be Low...........


M

Yes, fjc's have made BASE more accessible but I don't agree that the natural consequence is that people with the wrong attitude or the 'unworthy' will start to BASE jump.
I haven't been on a fjc, not have I BASE jumped, but I can only assume that if you turned up for a fjc and you were obviously not suited to BASE then you'd get told so pretty quickly. The BASE community doesn't strike me as the type of people to value earning a few dollars by teaching a fjc over someone's life.

I do see where you're coming from: the 'old school' BASE jumpers really had to work to get into the sport - to prove themselves and earn the trust/respect of their peers, where as the 'new breed' can stroll along to a fjc and have it handed to them on a plate. But I don't think it's that simple: there's a trade-off between the exclusivity of the BASE club and the availability of professional training. I for one would rather be taught by someone who really knows what they're talking about.

After all, a fjc does not make you an expert BASE jumper, nor does it exempt you from having to 'earn' your place in the BASE community.

Gus

Exactly!!!

Be Safe......Be Low

Very nice response. You brought up a lot of interesting points. Especially the point about telling friends, family, and girlfriend.
That may or may not be covered in a typical FJC. I don't know. My instructor went over these things with me, and I still ended up deciding on my own it was best to tell the truth about my new found love. My girlfriend loved me enough to tolerate me BASE jumping. When I decided I wanted more than tolerance from her, I broke up with her. And then cried for almost 2 years over that decision. (done crying now) Thinking....what if that was the best thing?
Also, the family thing. You are not alone. I have massive problems with my parents over the "To BASE or not" issue. I decided giving up college was worth BASE jumping. I may finish it when I can, in my own way. For now, jumping is #1. My dad has finally, after 3 years, said that he realizes how much it means to me, and if he has to accept or tolerate it to be a part of my life, then he will. My mother.....not quite there yet. She will talk to me about it, just to talk to me about something. But I know she hates me BASE jumping.
BASE jumping is more of an attitude than a sport. Really, number of jumps does not make one jumper better than the others. Take XXXX, with over 1000 BASE jumps, for example. He is good, and I am not implying that he isn't. He is an example that accidents can and will happen even to the best. From what I heard, he was doing everything he could, and it was simply just his time for a strike.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pund of cure.---heard that somewhere. I guess if you never want to be hurt BASE jumping, the best prevention is abstinence. Never BASE jump, Never get hurt BASE jumping. Is that worth it though?
When I was really depressed last summer, I thought of things this way:
"If I never try, I'll never fail." Which worked, I never failed. I also never tried anything, and never accomplished anything.
All a person can really do is hope for the best, and plan for the worst.
Peace,
Thomas

funny thing, last time I checked money can be earned. and if I still live and work in the same place service rendered = sale. nothing wrong with capitalizing on that. the skydive experience looks like it makes sense, somthing about being stable, able to track, shit like that. as for seeking a guru, . perhaps there is a shared spark that made you feel really special, but we are not cave men and you do not hold the proverbial flame. your conversation has been had, is base jumping really so commercial that it's borderline uncool for you or spirital or whatever? I personnally feel that it is important to communicate experience, adds to the collective memory as it were, and with all the mindless drivel out there it's nice to come across somthing that is as breathtaking as BASE or climbing or really fast street bikes, or wind surfing or hang gliding, or scuba or anything else that stirs the soul. i think there are laws at work here to such as "once in motion stays in motion" or energy can be created but not destroyed..so why try to contain somthing in a neat little package, let it go freely, perhaps with time and tact people may not look at BASE as crime, maybee those guys making the HOPE system will be able to sell a couple thousand rigs for high rises... I don't want to argue about it, I see things differently. thats all.

"f@#k you up like pop rocks and coca cola"

 

this grasshopper has just finished his coffee, and hadn't been under the influence of caffene when i wrote my last, hence the muddy logic. thinking much better now thank you.