Basejumper.com - archive

After regularly seeing posts from randoms who want to start base coz it looks sick-to-the-power-of-rad, people getting into the shit because of piss poor planning and people getting away with some of that rubbish shown on the KL carnage video, I’m really starting to wonder why the hell we keep insisting on shooting ourselves in the foot???

Seriously. How about thinking a little before we start doing dumb shit and putting stuff up all over the internet making ourselves look like a bunch of fuckwits or encouraging people with less experience / brains / self control / whatever to try and do the same.

I think it’s great that information is so easily shared between jumpers these days so people don’t have to re-learn the hard lessons (if they’re willing to put in some time and effort to research) and that BASE has evolved in so many ways for the better as a result. But as sport we really need to stop and think whether we should be drawing this much attention to ourselves and maybe we should go back underground a bit if it’s not too late.

It’s all good to have an adrenaline induced laugh with your mates when you narrowly escape some serious carnage or get away with a sketchy bandit jump. Fair enough, it’s easy to be inspired and want to do something artistic to capture why you love to jump. True, people are doing some amazing stuff that is really expanding the limits of how humans can actually fly their bodies. But does all of this really have to go out for the whole bloody world to see, to misinterpret, to judge or to try and emulate when they have no business even considering it?

I’ll put my hand up and say I’m guilty of having done this myself once and I was appropriately tarred and feathered at the time. Lesson learnt. Really it was re-learnt when I had some of the older guys telling me how other young, excited jumpers had fallen into similar traps. Made me feel pretty stupid and wish I’d asked around a bit 1st.

I’ve been trying to pin it down for a little while then elma made a great point about respect in response to the KL video. People get hung up on “this is base, fuck the rules!” but every jumper owes the sport respect.

Respect to the people who learned the hard lessons and maybe more importantly, who worked out the solutions so we don’t have to repeat them.

Respect for the people who put in the effort and accept the risk to maintain legal sites or events (how many of these people don’t even jump?)

Respect for the amount of time and work that’s been put in OFF CAMERA for the guys who are SUCCESSFULLY and CONSISTENTLY pushing the boundaries.

Respect for the people who made the effort to open sites that might not be so legal or easily accessible that can now be jumped with a clearly beaten down track, fixed ropes and someone to hold your hand the 1st time you go there.

Respect for how this is lost when people do something that was obviously dumb at the time, not just in hindsight.

Respect for how this sport will probably fuck up your life in some long term way and the life of your family and friends when you smear in.

I guess all I’m getting at is before people stick their latest footage on youtube just coz you can or want to try out some half-arsed idea - stop - breathe - have a think about whether we really need the entire world to find out. 99% of us aren’t beautiful unique snowflakes and everyone with an internet connection doesn’t need to see our last jump.

Take only photos, leave only foot prints... and keep the photos on your hard drive or in your living room?

Then again, our survival instincts probably aren’t the best if we feel the need to fall off fixed objects and maybe that just carries over into how we treat the sport.

Anyway, that’s my rant for the night.

Have fun, be safe, be smart.

BJ

Where is the LIKE button?

+1 nice post bj...

sorry we never got to talk more the other day mate...

Smart people go into investment banking. BASE is for society's gutter trash.

"Only fools and birdshit fall from the sky!"

agreed

Well said. If everybody posted footage every time they saw a mate do something dumb...
And some of us have done some seriously dumb shit.

Quit your bitchin, everyone knows goin in won't happen to them as long as you pull! Put on some cool clothes get a HD GoPro, the latest gear and go have some dir-tay low fun. Those of us that live another day will look smarter, better, and more rad than the ones going to hell early.

If we all make a stand and say BASE is safe and anyone can do it, then the thrill seekers will move on. They will get their rocks off doing something else that is easy to get into. They will get tired of doing BASE tandems and move on.

I read on here once that if bowling balls randomly blew up, a new breed of people would start bowling.

Honestly, I think YouTube could work for us just as well as it works against us. Think, the BFL, anyone can read it and say "well that sucks." But what if they saw ALL the fuck ups, close calls, lucky and not so lucky, even the fatalities, how cool would BASE be then. Showing all this on YouTube isn't going to change the general publics opinion of BASE jumping, however, instead of a young cat on his way to the Spud Span with illusions and grandeur, he might think twice because he can't get that mental image out of his brain of that guy wrapped up in his canopy bouncing off guy wires to his death.

I say put 'em online, the world is watching, let them see it all. Its just like war on the news. How cool is it to have digital camo, oakleys, and a M4? They dont show the hellish part. But then again, its cool.....

I am also thinking of the French who have so far been the most protective to preserve their own sites. France also have National parks where there is illegal to jump.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBLU9bzGbb4o

http://www.facebook.com/...58.41443.20094229958

I feel these two post is kind of linked together http://www.basejumper.com/...9;page=unread#unread

I'm frequently embarrassed to admit I'm a part of this activity. "Generation me" is not helping our situation. I think BASE should go back underground where it belongs. Unfortunately this forum, facebook, and youtube are here to stay. What a shame...

-------------------------------------------------------
oh my! I can't wait to hear the replies. He has a point and a point up his young ass, as well. My limited BASE was always about stealth and low profile......

And we as a nation of REAL BASE jumpers should impose on others our limits! Muhahahaha!
Take care and be aware of the sarcasm.
space

I do have a point, I say put it ALL on line for the whole world to see. ALL they see is the 'cool' guys doing the way cool stuff and it looks so fun and easy. Then, they come here wanting to know how they can do what they just saw on YouTube. Then everyone here gets pissy and gripes and complains about the YouTube generation not understanding that what they are watching is the result of a lot of good people dieing, years of trial and error, blood sweat and tears, unemployment, divorce, jail, and wheelchairs.

The only way to deal with our own worst enemy is either, stop putting videos online, or, put it ALL on line. The reality of this set in on me during my first BASE jump, I saw a BASE jumper go in on my first jump. I saw a skydiver get his legs chopped off by the plane while I was waiting on my first skydive. I didnt see any of that on YouTube. All I saw was the fun cool stuff. Its the same reason they dont put school shootings on the news, what does it do? It encourages it. Its the same reason Fayetteville doesnt 'advertise' everytime someone commits suicide off the NRG Bridge, why, you ask? Because it encourages others who want to kill themself to go jump the Bridge as well. So many people at my DZ want to go to Bridge Day because they see all of these cool videos of fucking clowns and cows jumping off the bridge. Easy enough right? I say lets show'em the videos of people getting their guts blown all over the river. I say lets show them the videos of legs exploding on impact as they hit the tracks. I say lets show them home movies of families grieving at funerals. I like Tom A's letter writing thing he does. I'll bet my virgin ass if we put it ALL on line, BASE would be pushed off to the side, snarled at, it would see less overly excited wanna be's. The ones that still wanna come in are more than likely to be doing it because thats who they are, NOT who they wanna be.


Oh, thanks, Im 40 BTW, but I feel young

Here is my point...

Read some of the comments on these videos...

Here and Here

Now read some of the comments on these videos-

Here and Here

Here is a comment from a WS video-

"ZINOMAC40
1 week ago @cazomanone damn i would like need to win the lotto to pay for all that shit ... fuck the rules ... it can't be that hard

do you know if you can buy one without a license ??"

Here is a comment from a Spud Span video-

"caddy272
1 month ago I stopped to watch base jumpers here in 2004. Ill never forget it, One of the jumpers schutes failed and didnt open soon enough to slow him. hit the water and didnt make it. There was a chilling silence after that and time stood still. And ill never be able to look at base jumping the same or be able to do it myself "

Show it ALL and peoples minds will change.

I have been present for 3 fatalities, a few life-flights,
and numerous serious injuries between SKY and BASE.
Those sad/horrible experiences leave a deep impression.

I get where you’re coming from, but this only addresses one of the problems I was talking about – the ignorant newbie - and arguably, they’re a smaller worry because they still have to overcome a heap of other hurdles and filters before they even step up to an exit, throw some crazy aerial or zip on a WS. Unless they happen to have an even dumber mate who’ll help them - what can you do then?

I’m hoping to god that the guys you took off the rodeo have at least been in the sport long enough to know a few people who’ve been broken or killed (otherwise why were they even in a WS in the 1st place?) in which case, how much affect would some gory footage have. Who’s to say they’d even watch it if it was there?

I think there is some benefit to be gained from showing newbies how serious this is and that shit can just happen in a big way, but it doesn’t need to be all over the internet where everyone can see it.

The problem with freely available carnage footage is that is gives the legal system, managers of the sites that get jumped and mainstream media more ammunition to justify why we need to be protected from ourselves with harsher penalties, deeper security and more active policing.


What has been done is done, but these things can have their uses if we’re smart about it too. There’s some great nuggets in the articles, tech and incidents sections, up til the inevitable hijacking at least.

If things are put up to pass on a lesson or something USEFUL, then awesome. Internet videos rarely serve any purpose other than giving the subject a warm fuzzy. Information helps evolution and maybe it’ll also highlight to new comers that this sport involves some intricate knowledge about the widgetry and gizmos that save our lives (or help mess us up in a more spectacular than usual way if it goes wrong) so if you don’t understand it, go away until you do. Words aren’t as sexy as videos either.

Even videos that look professionally done *may* have some benefits if they portray the sport as a legitimate, technical and high skilled pursuit. Not something for every muppet to try. Are there many climbing videos out there with people going, “fuck yeah, I almost died! Hahaha extreeeeme”? This isn't a rhetorical question btw, I’ve just never looked it up.

This professional finish seems to be confined more to the DVD world which has the added bonus that you can’t just download it, you have to know it exists and go to the effort of buying it or at least wait for the copy to burn A lot of these have the “so you want to be a base jumper?” carnage part too and the evening news can't use it without going through copyrights.

As for facebook, at least you have some control over who can see what you’ve put up if you pay attention to the privacy settings. Privacy conspiracy theorists, feel free to chime in here.


Maybe we do need to start doing this…? How’s that for a bit of base heresy ? It happens to people who dayblaze and burn sites to varying degrees so why not extend it to digital media as well?

As for encouraging people not to push things too far, of course there’s no black and white answer on what's "too far" and the world will never be idiot proof, but after a few quick questions stupid, half-arsed ideas should usually stand out from thought through ones with a tight margin for error, so at least we can try to do something.

I Agree..Underground is the way to go....Lots of people entering BASE that just dont get "risking it all for nothing"

Good Post. Lot of truth here. BASE is sort of an ironic sport. We really should keep it secret, but we just can't wait to tell someone about it. Believe me, I've been there like all of us. Anyway, I like your message.
Rick

I respectfully disagree.

This is the EXACT mantra recited ad nauseam by sport parachutists when a few among us decided to follow Carl Boenish off the cliff instead of using only aircraft to get to a jumpable altitude.

Had we heeded that mantra, where would we not be today?

Freedom is messy and chaotic and, by definition, often disrespectful of convention and the status quo.

I heard this same mantra in 1974 when I started doing RW instead of style and accuracy.

I heard this same mantra in 1978 when I started doing CReW instead of RW.

I heard this same mantra the next year after I jumped off the Royal Gorge Bridge with Carl.

And now I hear it from a kid who's been jumping for two years. How quickly we turn into cranky old fuddy-duddies who forget or never learned that the only thing we owe to our sport, ourselves and life itself is not to deify the past but to jump into the future and see what happens.

Dam Robin, whe have gotten old ;-)

Good post!