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For anyone interested in learning BASE skills or contributing to the BASE community the 50-CAL BASE course seems to offer something really quite unique. It is, as Andy puts it, ‘an Education in BASE Jumping’ rather than an FJC. So, as one of the lucky students, I thought I’d share my experience here.

I’ve been slowly preparing to step over the edge for a few years – all the usual stuff such as CReW, ground crewing, reading, researching etc. I met Andy early in this journey. We got along well and he was really helpful as I prepared to do a course in the USA, which I’d carefully chosen after considering the courses available at the time. While i was waiting for that course to come around Andy ran his 50-CAL course for the first time. The more I found out about the 50-CAL course the more I realised that it goes far beyond the FJCs I had come across in my research, especially for anyone aspiring to be an active part of the UK BASE community. Luckily, Andy let me have a place. That was back in July 2010. Waiting patiently for the course to start has been a little difficult but Andy has been happy to suggest useful tasks, and it’s definitely been worth waiting for!

The course started at 08:00 sharp last Monday with a week-long Ground School. The main focus of the week was a fully certified 50-hour course in 'Remote Environment Trauma Management and Life Support' taught by Mac of CRW Special Projects Ltd. This course was absolutely outstanding; it exceeded anything I’d anticipated. Mac shared a wealth of skills and experience, and deftly orientated the course to BASE so that we learnt how to deal with the types of situations we are likely to encounter. Through the week we worked on managing spinal trauma, CPR, splinting, shock control, remote field care, treatment protocol, dealing with emergency services and much, much more. By the end of the week we were all confidently sorting out everything from head injuries and broken legs at a cheesy UK site to traumatic amputations in a European valley. Mac and his fantastic team carefully simulated a range of situations for us so that we could experience dealing with these things ‘in the flesh,’ and in a rather cold muddy field. This included air and blood bubbling from open chest wounds, protruding bones, p’d off casualties vomiting on us, missing limbs and so much more! Importantly, we learnt to deal with such situations when carrying very little equipment, or none at all. We also got invaluable advice on the range of medical equipment and information that we can carry for different types of jumping and environments, and some legal and medical issues that we should consider.

The five students also spent many happy hours learning from Andy and another experienced jumper who attended the trauma course. This part of the Ground School also covered a wide range of relevant stuff, from practicing exit techniques to discussing BASE ethics in more depth than I’ve ever encountered in my reading and lurking around with BASE jumpers. Andy went through rigging and kit maintenance with us. He discussed kit options with us, helped one of the guys to order a shiny new set of kit and checked out some used kit with another. He had already spent time teaching a couple of the guys BASE packing, so during the Ground School week he helped them to refine their packing and patiently started from scratch with the rest of us. Mac added his expertise to our discussions around body armour and Andy found a wealth of thought–provoking video material to share with us. During this jam-packed week we even found time for trips to a local pub, and several of us eagerly took up an unexpected opportunity to jump/ground crew.

I could go on, but in short, this has been an intense and invaluable week. It was quite mind-blowing but I’ve now got three months to digest all this experience and information, and to hone my new packing skills, before we’re all off on the next part of the course, a 12-day BASE jumping trip around Europe, bring it on! ... ... ...

... ... ... well that three months has gone by quickly!!!!! It’s now a mere two weeks till we embark on the second part of the 50-CAL BASE course, our Euro-BASE-roadtrip.

Man I’m nervous, definitely more excited than nervous though.

The nerves have been diminished because the 50-CAL ground school stuff has continued over the last three months. Andy seems to have fitted this to the needs of each of us five students. For me it involved him patiently replying to all the random emails I sent him and a long weekend spent with him working on my packing – slider-up, slider-down, slider-down, slider-up etc etc etc etc for the entire weekend, carefully dissecting each pack job, and discussing packing/rigging options and issues along the way. Andy gave me an enormous amount of time that weekend. This wasn’t only on the packing front but also in terms of practicing exit and climb-out techniques for different scenarios, and discussions around things like body armour choices, helping family better understand the decision to BASE jump and the BFL. It was also a good opportunity to catch up with a couple of my fellow students and with one of the guys who did the course last year, and to just enjoy the company of some really great people.

Those months have also given me chance to get lots of other things sorted out. Such as developing my rather limited climbing skills, gathering equipment, learning to make tailgates, getting all my ICE stuff in place, more CreW, more tracking skydives, yet more practice packing and (thanks to one of the very sound and generous guys out there) even a couple more practice BASE jumps.

So, with all that in place I’m definitely more excited than nervous ... I’m good to go ... two weeks n counting ... ... ...

. . . our Euro-BASE-roadtrip began with a 24hr drive . . .

We met Andy at a campsite in the far reaches of Europe about 11 in the morning. We put up tents and then set off to check out the 370’ bridge and landing area. Man, it looked like an ideal place to learn, well worth the drive! We spent the rest of that day enjoying good food, exploring the beautiful local town and generally relaxing in preparation for jumping to begin the next day. After a few PCAs everyone moved on to 1 and 2 second delays. The 4th day of jumping began with a confident little bunch of students packing, climbing up to the bridge, kitting up, checking each other out and jumping, all unsupervised. After this exhilarating achievement we moved on to the part of the course I wasn’t 100% sure I could do; packing, climbing and jumping entirely alone. It turned out this was one my favourite parts of the course. Standing on that edge alone with the world was such a breath-takingly special experience I went back to do another solo that evening. I’m not sure how many jumps the others got from that bridge but I got nine. Andy and the experienced jumper helping him made sure that our learning went well beyond the exits and canopy handling: it included PCAing, jumping at twilight, practicing object avoidance manoeuvres, packing in the dark, assessing conditions and discussing rigging options. Unfortunately for one experienced jumper, it even included extracting an injured jumper and his canopy after a rather brutal tree landing. After four days of honing the basics in slider down/off jumping we packed up the camping gear and moved on.

We rendezvoused at the bar below Monte Brento and got on with reconfiguring our gear, checking out the various landing areas and discussing the demands of the site. Then it was off to a campsite before meeting up again for some fine pizza and videos of jumps from Brento. Unfortunately, when we met at 5 the following morning cloud was already moving in. We still made the climb, got kitted up and went out to the exit point to get a sense of the place, but as anticipated cloud now surrounded the exit point and extended down to the tree line. After a leisurely day soaking up the Arco sunshine and spirit we tried again in the evening but conditions were still not good for beginners; off for pizza instead. The next morning, defeated by weather again, we had a great time chatting with other jumpers over coffee and hot chocolate. With the 50-CAL BASE course coming to an end at this point and three of us students having a few extra days, we also used this time to come up with a plan for the rest of our roadtrip.

The mood was a little low as we drove away from Brento without jumping, but experiencing that kind of disappointment seems to be as much a part of BASE as the exhilaration we experienced at the bridge. Before long we were happily plotting a return to Brento and eyeing up every tall object we spotted on the drive to our next stop. After a night of guerrilla camping in Belgium we set off to assess our first object. Early the following morning we made what felt like our first ‘real’ BASE jumps from that 230’ bridge. We got things wrong and we got things right – we were definitely beginners! We learned a lot from that jump, and we went back for more. After two jumps each we were on the road again, looking for an antenna we had heard about. The weather was really good to us and after a slow 520’(ish) climb I was confidently standing at yet another exit point!

Man, what an intense two weeks! What a course!!!! What a great start to my BASE journey . . .

Congrats and nice job! Sounds like fun. Thanx for sharing.

Great to see such a course being run in the UK, and great to see new jumpers not affraid of putting in alot of effort and time for a solid and comprehensive introduction to BASE.

Just by doing this course, shows, IMHO, a good solid approach to the sport.

Enjoy!