Basejumper.com - archive

Ok.. first a bit about me. I have nearly 500 skydives and made some good friends within the BASE scene in the UK. About a year ago I aproached a guy who I know very well with a view to "recruiting" him as a mentor.
I have been practicing my "to do list" of drills and working on skills that are relevant to BASE such as tracking, canopy control, accuracy etc even completed several balloon jumps to experience the zero airspeed exit. My last 100 of so jumps have been on a docile 7 cell. Many of these jumps have been one on ones with my mentor.
I am now at the stage where both me and my mentor are confident in my abilities and mindset and he has recomended 2 FJBC's.
either APEX (twin falls) or FFU's course in Spain.

I am seeking your personal experiences / recomendations on these courses. Have you attended either of these courses? if so what were your views, feedback. did you finish the course with confidence to use your newly learnt skils? value for money? that type of thing

Please only respond if you have personal experience of the course.

Thanks in advance :-)

PS apologies for not posting in the UK board but the UK site is down at the moment

I went through apex. Jimmy and Marta do a really good job. get there with a working knowledge of the pack job if you can, will make your life easier. with any of the more respectable courses, you'll get out of it what you're willing to put in.

http://splatula.com/?page_id=2

There is an english base jumper who really knows his stuff, i hope he has pm'd you, although hos course is not in your face and you will not for sure be accepted onto his course he is a great mentor, and knows his stuff, and is still alive after 20 odd years in the sport.

This is just my Opinion, but if you want to be a youtube slag then there are a lot of advertised courses out there who will teach you how to base jump, but really lets be honest, any smuck can teach anyone how to base jump, but not everyone one will tell you your not ready to go off an object.
learning how to be or do a tard is not as imorptant as learning how to make the right judgement calls, or maybe you would not even be here with said minimum requirements in the first place.??

pm me if you want his name, hopefully if you've worked at it he'll meet and take you on his most awsomernet extreme course he runs.... (i made the course extreme, hahahaha) and if your good to go you'll hve learnt some of what you need, and some of what you may need, but a lot of what'll make you not be a cock jockey...

I took the APEX course and was very impressed and happy with it. Jimmy and Marta have years of experience and they will teach you how to jump the bridge safely. I wouldn't consider jumping any other objects with out a mentor, or more Perrine Bridge jumps since i have made only 11 jumps so far. There is only so much you can learn in three days, and the APEX FBJC builds a very strong foundation to start your BASE career. I did leave the course feeling confident of jumping the bridge on my own, or with another jumper and how to pack. I also liked the fact that the Perrine is legal. The last thing I wanted to worry about was being busted by the cops, and Twin Falls LOVES BASE jumpers.

The cost of the course was reasonable, and seemed the same as other's were charging. You are at the Mercy of the Weather, so you can leave the course with a few jumps, or as we lucked out at 7 jumps. If I were to fly from the UK, I would bring my own gear and stay a week. Jimmy/Marta might be able to introduce you to some of the locals so that you're not jumping alone, but I would ask them first. They have also been extremely helpful after the course. They have answered my questions, let me tag along at another FBJC course, and that means a lot to me. As it said in the course outline, once your take the APEX FBJC you are like Family, and I have found that to be true. They DO NOT take your money and forget about you after the course. I would Highly Recommend the APEX First BASE Jump Course.

If you need any more help/info feel free to PM me. I DO NOT work for APEX, and I am not knocking anyone else's FBJC. Good Luck, it sounds like you're on the right track.

I did a morpheus course and can recommend it as far as FJC's go although looking back if i could do it again theres no way i would travel from the uk to twin falls for a 3day course and to jump a bridge( i did stay longer than the course and was a fun trip before anyone jumps down my neck not slagging the place ) . There are several EU courses with really good people but i would take up crashtesd recommendation -not so much FJC more BASE education

I have done the FFU course in Portuagl/Spain and if you want to just do a few jumps off a bridge then its great, it really is a FIRST jump course and nothing else. I didnt learn an awfull lot, but I got 11 Jumps in 3 days. My friend did the Tom Aiello course and came back with much more knowledge than me. If you want a 'gold' standard in my opinion then the 50 CAL BASE ACADEMY is for you.

The course is run by a guy in the uk who has been BASE jumping 20 years over 1000 jumps, he has started running courses. It is based in the UK but travels to mainland europe for the jumping. The course is not a 3 day wonder but an extensive course over several months. He also does not just except anyone with the cash, he will meet you first and have a chat and see if you are suitable. Anyway PM me for cantact details.

There are great bridges and forgiving objects in Europe, why travel all the way to the Perrine when its on our backdoor?

 
Thankyou for all for your replys.
Yes, Ive heard nothing but great things about the guy who has been mentioned in numerous PM's..infact it was he who introduced my mentor to the sport some 10 years ago.
Since i started in skydiving my now mentor has always been there. Infact he was my RAPS instructor and I have known him, and a group of regular BASE jumpers for about 6 years now. I feel comfortable with the guys I am mixing with here.. and they all know my abilities and trust in me to make the right decisions as much as I trust them enough to take advice from.
Personally, I think it will be hard for me now to aproach someone who, albeit highly recomended, i dont know and who I will have to prove myself all over again with.. if that makes sense :-/

I have decided for now to take the APEX course. Ive heard nothing but good recomendations about it. Altough it might not be so intense a course... a gentle introduction is probably more suited to me and at this stage I will be happy with a few exits off a bridge. Im in no rush and there is always the scope to attend the 50-CAL course which also came highly recommended, at a later date.

Thanks again for all your replys and PM's

BADSEEDBASE.COM

my standard advice is to talk to all the instructors you are considering.

I don't think the technical knowledge is worth worrying about (if a real course...). you should be more concerned with interpersonal compatibility. Americans, for example, might not understand all the slang concepts as spoken by a Brit, let alone a Spaniard fumbling his English. are you more a party dude or ex-military? I expect all the instructors that have been around can help everyone, but you might as well choose the best fit for you!

Make sure your mentor has enough time in the sport. I have seen guys with very little time in the sport (less than a couple years) but a lot of jumps poorly train new jumpers. I have also seen guys with a lot of time in the sport (5 years minimum), careful, thoughtful, with not nearly as many jumps, who have been the best teachers I have encountered.

Really? I had a guy come back from that course and he told me that he'd been told "it doesn't matter how you stow your lines in the tailpocket, just throw them in there and they'll come out okay - no-one ever died from badly stowed lines" along with some other dubious practices.

They do make nice gear though!

Edited to add - to the o/p:
I did Johnny Utah's course which I found to be excellent - but I don't think he's running any at the moment.

As you're in the UK, the 50 cal BASE academy is definitely worth a look! As previously mentioned, Andy's got 20 yrs of BASE, over 1000 jumps and is an excellent teacher.

[quote "pjc"
Really? I had a guy come back from that course and he told me that he'd been told "it doesn't matter how you stow your lines in the tailpocket, .
Whats the worst that could happen

I will never hear that phrase again without hearing Tom Aiello's voice in my head answering "Quadriplegia or Death."

There are many, many things you take away from a good FJC besides the mechanics of jumping. Things that you will remember as a little voice in your head when you start to do something questionable. They just become part of your judgment, which to me is a very important part of the FJC.

What about the second, third, fourth, etc jump course?
Pretty much anyone can teach you how to pack and PCA you off a bridge.
I guess it depends if you want to learn BASE or if you want to do A base jump.
Anyway, I don't know if they want the publicity but I saw the guys from Pressurized in action last year. They run what I think is a very professional course.
Have a good one,
P.

Miles Dascher. BASE Legend, Red Bull Airforce member, fun to hang with, and an excellent BASE Instructor.
He lives in Twin Fall, Idaho and teaches at the Perine Bridge. You can't gp wrong.