Basejumper.com - archive

On August 8th, 1978 the first "modern" load launched from the top of Yosemite's El Capitan.

These weren't the first fixed object jumps by any means, but they were the closest to the ones we do today. And the ones that began the sport we now call BASE jumping.

We, all of us, are 32 years old today! So, by all means, consume copious amounts of consumables . . .

NickD
BASE 194

Today actually is my B-day..so cheers to that! Celebrated with a 410' antenna on Friday.

Hey Nick,

In 1956 I was born on August 8.

Who would have thunk what my future hobby would be?

Here's to Leo's!

Joy

I was born in 1957 and I don't feel a day over 75.

Now where's my zimmerframe...

i just saw a movie of jumps being made in the Dolomites before the El Cap jumps and they look pretty modern to me? So what's the deal with that? Why do you consider that as a birthday of the Sport? Is it because of the acronym BASE?

Oh, and happy birthday to all (i guess)

Because Carl Boenish's movie of the 1978 El Cap jumps sparked the creation of the sport.

The Dolomite jumps did not do that; neither did the 1966 El Cap jumps by Mike Pelkey and Brian Schubert, Don Boyle's 1970 Royal Gorge jump, Frederick Law's 1912 Statue of Liberty jump, Bill Eustace's 1975 CN Tower jump, or Owen Quinn's 1975 World Trade Center jump... or any of the other jumps that preceded the game-changing swoops documented in Carl's film.

 

I guess we celebrated with slider up downtown scenario.always fun with a 180 involved. Happy Bday to us!

The Dolomites jump was done with gut gear and and a round. So "modern" is debatable. As were Mike and Brian's '66 El Cap jumps. Those jumps, like the many fixed object jumps before them, can be classified more a one off stunts than anything else.

The 1978 jumps from El Cap made us all realize these jumps were more than something to be done, on a lark, or once in a lifetime. They were repeatable. But the major difference was Carl Boenish.

I was at Lake Elsinore the night Carl showed the El Cap footage for the first time in 1978. I'd guess you'd have to have been there to understand it was the night a sport was born. Taking nothing away from Mike and Brian, or Febelmeyer (spell?) who made the Dolomite jump, BASE jumping has had a lot of suitors but it only has one father . . .

NickD