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Hello,

I have been interested in BASE for a while now and have officially decided that I want to get more involved in the sport. So, a little about me:

I'm twenty years old and have been involved in competitive snowboarding for quite a few years now; I decided to branch out into snowkiting and back-country boarding, because I wanted to explore more of what winter has to offer. In search of a bigger adrenalin rush, I tried out bungee jumping and skydiving, and I fell in love with skydiving. I wanted to find a way to combine skydiving with snowboarding and was led to the world of BASE.

I've done some research on the topic and now have a few questions for those with experience on this topic:
1. If I eventually want to get to a place where I could snowboard off a cliff into an effective BASE jump, what's going to be some of the steps? Canopy control is a given, but is this a situation where a wing suit would be required? Would skills in skydiving freestyle be an important asset to have?
2. Do I want to start off on cliff edges and build up to an accelerated entrance?
3. Is this approach to BASE popular enough that I could find a mentor, or will I have to teach myself the skills?
3. Say I'm carving back-country before I find my cliff, do I have to kick-off my snowboard or is it possible to land with it and finish boarding down the mountain?

Any insight would be appreciated, a direct answer to any of my questions isn't entirely necessary. A discussion would be great! Thank you.

wingsuit with a snowboard ?? not likely

skydiving freestyle skills- not helpful really

there are some ski base guys- whether they will mentor you or not is another question

the base harness is going to force your hips and body facing forward, gonna be hard to land like that with a board on your feet.

get video if you try it, should be entertaining.

I have seen a lot of snowbaord base jumps go down. Well, a lot is not really a lot, but i have seen about 15 snowboard base jumps in person. 1 of them went well. so it can be done. try searching around for APOOPAA videos. Americans Parachuting Off Of Objects Parachutable Association of America.

The one that went well was a nice straight air. another one went pretty well although it showed every sign of imminent disaster and that was a corked 720.

There were some other impressive successful ones in Norway some years back too. If you really think it through, and dissect the stunt objectively, you will be able to determine for yourself what skills you need to master before giving it a go. Personally, I am surprised that snowboard base has not been figured out more thoroughly by more people. Or maybe it has and I am just out of the loop...

This thread gives me chills.

I think to answer your question, you need to put your snowboard in the closet and first learn how to BASE jump. Then get really good at it. Then try to figure out these questions, the answers may come a bit easier for you then.

Gotta agree with gaulyguide here. Become experienced at BASE jumping first. Then combining them will fall into place easier for ya. Pretty sure there is some cool snowboard base jumps by Dave Barlia in the Joe Jennings dvd "Good Stuff".

DaveBarlia.com - been done... and with style...... shit 15 year ago.... I can't believe you don't own the whole TB trilogy. Or haven't seen it in an old Warren Miller flik.

It's been done in Russian mountains coupla years ago... both straight line exits and 360 -- went well and on video :) done by Miha Kalmar -- the pics of of him in cool flo-green onepiece doing barrel rolls appear on the start page here sometimes.

Cool f#* kin website!
http://www.davebarlia.com/...a_TB7_Snowboard-Base

 
pfff, snowboarding and basejumping... get outta here...

the new hot shit is ropejumping and using a tent for a wingsuit: http://www.youtube.com/...amp;feature=youtu.be

to the original poster: check out skysurfing, thats what you really want.

Kerkko
BASE1184

Thank you for your post :)

Skysurfing is something that I am very interested in trying as well. However, my goal behind snowboard/BASE is to be able to heliboard on more difficult mountain terrain. Often, there is deep powder and amazing drops, but eventually leading into a cliff. This is where BASE would come in. It'd be an unbelievable rush to carve powder at 80 mph and then fall off the edge! Accepting that I would probably have to kick-off my snowboard to use my wingsuit, monuvering through the mountain range after a jump like that would be a mind blowing experience. Knowing this can be done snowboarding, it'd be interesting to try with a mountain board as well.

I love skydiving and the idea of sky surfing, but BASE is way more of an adrenalin rush. My first E jump was sick, it was more intense than bungee but as fun as skydiving. I didn't even know that was possible until I tried it. :)

Why do you think you need a wingsuit to do snowboard-base?? Especially if you launch at 80 mph like you said. And yes do get video...

You compare Base with bungee??? Hahaha, I'm sure you had no problems to shlare your tarp by pulling down the yonkels after your first E... Go and watch some more Jeb Corliss YouTube vids and educate yourself...

have you ever seen a wingsuit? what about a snowboard? seems like it would be pretty hard to get in the bindings with a wingsuit, or vise versa how are you going to get in a wingsuit with those boots on? not to mention cutting the board away while in freefall? in a wingsuit? yea right "back to the drawing board"

Thank you everyone for the video links and comments, I appreciate it. :)

I hope I can answer some of your questions. Firstly, I didn't mean to imply that you 'needed' a wing-suit to do the jump, rather that it would be something worth trying.
I apologize if it came across like bungee and BASE are similar. I was referring to the jump itself, along with the build up and intimidation of seeing the ground below. In that sense, I think they share a similarity. My last bungee was also the same height as my E, at just over 200m, so the perception of the ground remained constant. BASE was ultimately more intimidating (for me), because of close proximity to the cliff wall.
I used a static-line for my E, since it was my first jump and I didn't want to risk deploying too late. I simply deployed my parachute early and floated safely towards the ground. I will definitely get more educated about BASE before my next jump, however my first-jump was a good experience.

This thread was to learn about snowboard/BASE so I don't know all the technicalities. I just tried today and my wingsuit does fit over my snowboard boots, so that wouldn't be a concern. My bindings use one clip to secure the top, so it's easy for quick-release. Some practice would make that an accessible option, I would think.
I don't think it's anywhere near impossible to do, but the details are definitely something that needs to be explored.

Thank you again!

How about spring-loaded bindings that, by pulling a cable, will rotate the board 90 degrees around long axis so that you can fly your wingsuit and the board will be like an elevator in airplane! Dude, you can do heliboard, carve powder at 80mph and then fly like a bird covering great distance, all the way down to the lodge!

Just brainstorming here.

 

How about spring-loaded bindings that, by pulling a cable, will rotate the board 90 degrees around long axis so that you can fly your wingsuit and the board will be like an elevator in airplane! Dude, you can do heliboard, carve powder at 80mph and then fly like a bird covering great distance, all the way down to the lodge!

Just brainstorming here.
check out twisted bindings, they will be perfect for that elevator effect!

...or electro magnets! You just have a button on your gloves. seems simple enough

http://www.basejumper.com/...liff_Strike_766.html

This is a story written by a friend of mine who doesn't jump anymore, but was quite current and active when he did. He's also quite a smart guy, and I know it's a long read but totally worth it.

**EDIT: This actually isn't the story I'm thinking of, but it does reference the incident in question. If anyone knows where the full article he wrote about the incident is, please link it.

Found it...

http://www.basejumper.com/...liff_Strike_784.html

This is totally rad, can you tell us more in detail?

Ok me has an idea. Since you have one SL cliff jump, and can fit your WS over your snowboard boots, then strap into your bindings........try this:

get suited up with WS/rig, strap into your board, then set up your SL. You can practice your dream of snowboarding meeting BASE by just doing these short, low jumps. Work you way up to larger cliffs with more snow.

There are some hardcore dudes from Findland that have SL a cliff in a wingsuit somewhere way up North where Santa Clause lives. See if you can get in touch with them for some advise (note: they did not have a snowboard on for said jump....PusYIEsS bIg)

Yes indeed! If you ever feel like venturing into low WS cliff base, Northern Finland is the Mecca of it. Just bring a lot of warm clothes and vodka, it can be down to -40 C celsius. As D mentioned above, we never had the balls to do it with a snowboard but dude, you can be the first and collect the fame. :)

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/...1466348_467366_n.jpg

That was a shit storm of a day!! My friend Jen with with us that day and got a few interesting pics. First is said snowboarder about to eat shit and then next 2 are the late night rescue.

edited to ad link- http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/...ndex-eng.asp?id=1041


Photos: Jennifer Lobchuk

Thats crazy!

BTW, OP, I call BS on your SL.

What if someone made a wingsuit that flared out at the bottom of the leg wing in order to divert the airflow around the snowboard. Think wingsuit meets bellbottoms. It's retro, it's modern, it's period, it's old school. Send it!

Might be on to something.

I bet he only has ~50 skydives too
http://www.basejumper.com/...post=2951507#2951507

Who else would suggest a whopping 50 jumps prior to BASE?
10 min of Youtube should be enough?

I'm with OuttaBounZ, I call bullshit on your E. "I floated safely to the ground." Ha!

you said "shlare" ... and, and , and "yonkels"!!! I almost radix my a$$ off!

dude just do the helicopter with your snowboard, u don't need a wingsuit! Just make sure to wind up your packjob the right way.