Re: [kellyface272] Typical skydivers attitude
I may be getting the wrong message, but reading this thread has left me, somewhat, with an image of "getting into BASE" as being akin to infiltrating an elitist fraternity, in some instances anyway.
I never pictured it that way. I can see how this would be so, however. I grew up surfing, and if you don't surf you probably aren't aware (well being a basejumper I'm sure you have some inkling) that you can't just buy a surfboard and paddle out into the pack and expect to get waves. Besides the knowledge one must attain, the skills to ride the wave, and the skills needed to even get out there in the first place and stay alive etc. there is a pecking order. Experience and being 'on' a certain spot regularly trump any kind of eagerness. It is easy to gauge some one's experience level by the way the paddle, duck dive, or even sit on their board. People that look like kooks get shouldered and disrespected. When I grew up there was no structured mentoring, no lessons, no classes, no youtube, no internet even. Getting yourself into a dangerous situation was easy with no experience. I was lucky. I know two bodyboarders who were not. The mantra, "If in doubt, don't paddle out," was learnt 'on the job.'
I liked that about surfing. For me it never was a "sport." Structured competition always seemed wrong. To me a surfing competition judge always seemed like a "music" fan walking into a music store and choosing which album he liked best. Sure one surfer can do more "tricks" on a wave than another surfer can on a different wave, but, forgetting the fact that both waves were different, is the better surfer really the one who did more "tricks?" Which album is better?
So my feeling is that this commercialism of surfing has ruined it. It is not a sport. It's not something holiday makers should be taking lessons in so they can float about and get in the way, get themselves into trouble etc. Its something that someone with an adventurous spirit, someone who appreciates the awe and raw power of nature puts themselves at risk striving to achieve. Learning from watching, listening to, asking questions of, and getting snubbed in some cases by the more experienced and also from making your own mistakes and your own victories is what it should be about.
BASE jumping is nothing like surfing, of course. Teaching yourself to BASE jump and learning from your mistakes is probably a statement that would invoke laughter from BASE jumpers. I am not trying to parallel surfing and BASE jumping at all. The connection I am trying to make is in the nature of the two passions. The unregulated, un-regimented, somewhat "no rules" nature of both is what appeals to me.
Skydiving appears to be this way-regulated, regimented. It appears to be based on qualifications, instructors, and to me has a "yachtie" type persona attached to it. It seems like "the X-games," whereas BASE jumping seems like how skateboarding used to be back in the day when kids would just hang out and try crazy stuff, jump fences into schools etc. No cameras, no sponsors, no competition apart from that friendly rivalry that always exists among boys. Again another way off base analogy, but this is only through my eyes. I understand the commitment involved in a BASE jump. There is no coming back.
I have been fascinated with BASE jumping ever since seeing a skier fly off a cliff way back when, when "high five" used to come on TV. I see stories on TV every now and then and await, with shrugged shoulders, the day that that spot in Norway or Angel Falls becomes a commercial zoo like Pipeline or an X-games event. I already see wingsuit competitions. So I cringe to see the "first jump courses."
I understand this is all to save lives. I understand you don't want every Tom, Dick, and Harry showing up at your local spot and "burning" it by jumping to their death, but like I saw some German skydiver say in a documentary I watched the other night the fact that people die doing this is what makes it what it is...
But after rambling for so long, and good for you if you are still reading, the point I was trying to make was the fact that this is so dangerous, and at least for me anyway, the fact that it is not regimented and you don't have to be certified etc. is what makes BASE jumping so appealing. My fear is the elitist mentality mentioned and experienced by Rocha Rodrigez. I hate to think of a bunch of stuck up, holier than thou, elitist jumpers being people I may have to involve in decisions that effect whether I live or die. I understand not wanting to take an inexperienced skydiver under your wing. Like I said with surfing, IMO, they're on their own. Not everyone is like that I know, and no one should feel obliged. But just look at what Rocha Rodrigez achieved. IMO this guy has become a big influence on me.
There was no where else to put intro, so hi
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