Basejumper.com - archive

Hey all. Allow me to introduce myself; I'm James. I'm 19 and have never base jumped before, nor have I skydived. It is, however, an avid interest in mine in the sense I watch the videos, I admire the pictures, but I dont know a thing about it. I was one of the people who, at a younger age, thought "yea, I'll get a parachute and go jump" then, through experiances with friends, discovered that wasnt the case.

Why am I here? I'm here to learn and become a jumper. I'm willing to read, observe and talk as much as it takes. I'm a young guy, and I have all the time in the world. I'd like to get to know you all so I'll start off with a small about me.

I'm 19, 20 on the 26th of this month, soon to be engaged and training to become a firefighter. I'm from England, Newcastle in fact, and have what most non UK residents misake for an Austrailian accent haha. I play a few sports, namely rugby, football (american) and basketball and have been pretty successful at all 3.

Thats it, really, if you have any questions for me just ask.

Just a quick warning, expect smart arse comments saying read the articles, start skydiving and come back when you have 150-250 jumps, with some other shite thrown in on top.

What do you suggest Boris? I'd suggest finding a local parachute center and learn to skydive. Many early questions are answered just by doing that.

Have fun skydiving and flying parachutes. If base is still a desire, start inquiring about rigging skills. If the desire is there, meeting people who base jump will happen. Meet them hen learn base specific rigging skills.

Thats a good start.

I would suggest the guy reads your post and takes note.

Edit to add: Olle, your nearest drop zone will be peterlee, with cark, black knights and Bridlington as your surrounding DZ.

That's not 'smart arse' - that's the best advice there is.

Thanks for the bits of advice and stuff guys. Been reading articles most of tonight and researching differant DZ's and booked myself on the 8 level AFF course. Getting a start with skydiving and see if I can work my way into it.

Note: While looking in the article section I noticed the part on groundcrewing wasnt written. Anyone care to give me some further information?

both groundcrewing and mentoring seem more theory than practice. the newbie generally wants to participate ASAP. the experienced jumpers generally avoid the responsibility.

the two groups generally co-operate after developing bonds of friendship.

eager potential jumpers possibly should spend less time creating a checklist of jumps numbers, drills, etc., and spend more time actually making connections and friends.

having a burning desire to learn as much as possible about parachutes, asking the right questions, understanding the answers, developing personal skills, offering to help do virtually anything, etc. at a dropzone will get you noticed and open doors.

if you can't win over your locals, how can you expect to win over experienced jumpers across the internet?

Like I say I'm more than willing to do anything it takes to learn and make some new friends. Master the basics before anything else, right?

Im an attentive guy, I'm always striving to be better than I am and to learn more. This may be a very noob-esque question but what actually falls under the term of "groundcrew"?

groundcrew are folks who play a supportive role for the jump. they may distract security, drive a get away car, be a first responder for medical care, video the jump, report weather conditions in the landing area, etc.