The lessons I learnt - the hard way.
I wrote this all down because someone on the forum had asked me what lessons I had learned from 'going-in'-full speed, with no parachute out, while trying to film Jokke Sommer at Brevent - Chamonix, on July 23rd 2012. http://www.google.fr/...vm=bv.42080656,d.ZG4
My first base injury occurred only six months after I started base-jumping on 19th June 2004. It was a hard landing on asphalt, which resulted in a broken ankle that required a few screws. Back then I was working for a builder in Empuriabrava, Spain, tiling rich peoples bathrooms, trying to earn money to skydive as much as possible. I had been trying to land a job on the DZ for more than a year, however, Empuriabrave aint so easy. Anyway, I met a few base-jumpers who seemed very level headed and started base-jumping - I was instantly 'hooked' and preferred the mentality of the base community than that of the skydiving scene. Over the next 6 months, I progressed the normal way - slider down from various bridges, until I was ready for my first slider-up, off the still unfinished Viaduct D' Millau. Up until then, I had been using a borrowed Raven3-245 canopy and velcro rig, which, on that day was not available. My buddy quickly arranged to borrow another set of gear for me to use, which, unfortunately for me, was a Dragon-218 that belonged to one of the members of Icarus's 'team-xtreme'. I had walked back from the jump on 3 previous occasions due to the wind and the fact that there was no slider on the Raven. (We were concerned that the wind was too strong for only a 3 second delay, at that hight of 240m). I remember it was a hard thing to do back then - to walk down, I didn't make a lot of money and I had to pay my share of the trip regardless of whether I jumped or not. So, I was very happy and revved up this time when everything was good to go and I exited - counting to 5 as I had been instructed. I was doing the 1-1 thousand, 2 -1 thousand thing, and although it wasn't a low pull AGL. - it was slightly too low to make it back to the landing area, that was higher than normal ground level. The combination of the faster canopy, my inexperience and poor technique - and also the fact that I was wearing only skate shoes, resulted in a hard landing that has slowed me down ever since. I learnt then, at the age of 25 that I wasn't indestructible.
The lessons I learnt back then helped me to change my life. It was my first injury full stop, and up until then, I lived my life at full speed. For the first time in my life I was forced to slow down and I knew then, that if I wanted to continue in this amazing sport, I would have to first get some money so that I could stop borrowing equipment and buy my own set of gear- and also so that I was in a position where I could walk down from an object without having pressure - or to feel as though I had to jump because of the cost of the base-trip. I also learnt not to put all my trust in other people. I knew that I had to learn as much as I could and find out the proper technique to jump every object safely and with the right equipment. That experience gave me the encouragement to go back and study, to get my qualifications, to go offshore and make some money, to be able to afford and dedicate proper resources for base-jumping. (Working offshore also helped me to develop good risk assessment skills, which I always use while base-jumping) During the following year I was mostly jumping alone in Ireland - phoning my mentor at times when I was unsure. I kept a base diary and thought long and hard about which techniques felt right for me. This period was good for me - It gave me the confidence to trust my own judgement.
..............When I first came to the valley to jump, I quickly identified the people who, back then, had been jumping the longest. People like Dave Barlia, Andy West, Atle Dahl, Ronald Overdijk, Jon Inge Hovda (R.I.P), I asked myself, What did they have in common?? What was it that has kept these people alive?? Well,.....they were the guys sitting quietly in the bar. They never seemed to be the loud ones, or the ones at the centre of attention. They didn't seem to have an ego - They were the lifers -the guys who seemed to be jumping for themselves and for the love of the sport. Well, that's great!, I thought. - I'm jumping for myself too! - I don't have an ego either!
Over the years, I paid close attention to these people and early on in my base career, I adopted the mentality that I didn't believe base-jumping was a numbers game - I believed it was a decision making game. And I believed that having an ego could be very detrimental to that decision making process. While this mentality was partly right and had kept me safe for the last 9 years since my hard landing - I was wrong about one thing!......I do have an ego!- All men have egos! I learnt that lesson on 23rd July 2012. Over the last 6 months, since I went in, I have had plenty of time to think about what happened on that day in Chamonix. It has been difficult at times, trying to work it out and resolve it in my head. I had to work it out!....How could a guy with that much experience fuck up that badly?? How could I trust myself to jump again?? Did I want to jump again?? - if so, how could I convince my girl (who has never asked me to stop - thanks baby! I love you for it.) that it wouldn't happen again?? How could it have all gone so wrong in the last 15 minutes of the day??
I have been flying wing-suits since 2008. I have over 650 wing-suit base-jumps and feel very comfortable and current on the exit. My progression has been thorough. I understand the principles of energy management and flight dynamics and have worked very hard to learn how to fly well. I have never had the desire to go beyond my limits - I have lost many friends in wing-suit accidents and know only too well the dangers. I have never pushed to fly camera - Although I always wanted to try it, I wanted it to come naturally and figured I would try to fly camera when the time felt right. One week before I went in at Brevent, while I was filming for a documentary, I felt the time was right and I began flying camera for the first time. I enjoyed it very much and loved the fact that when you are concentrating solely on your subject, your flying feels more natural.
......Over the years I have been on many base trips, however,that day at Brevent, something was different. It was a blue-sky day, the sun was shining - there was a dozen or so jumpers, with more arriving towards the end of the day. If you ask anyone who was there what the atmosphere was like they would tell you that it was festive, it was great! As the day went by, the atmosphere was continually rising. It was a new site and wing-suiting had never been seen there before. The locals loved it! - and they were bringing us lunch and drinks and letting us pack in their gardens. There would be 50 people standing behind us on exit and 50 more, crammed inside the gondola, looking for a view outside of the windows - waiting for us to jump. We felt like rock-stars! But secretly, we all new - This can't last! Just wait until someone goes in, then you won't like it- then you'll shut us down! We all felt like it couldn't last and we felt that we were the lucky ones who would be the only ones who get to jump it, before it gets shut down. No one thought or ever dreamed that by the end of the day, 2 people would go in. On our way back from each jump, we would stop for a beer at a small pub and compare videos and see each others cool lines. I guess this all may have influenced me a little - You see, I'm a pretty disciplined guy when it comes to jumping. I wanted only to do a maximum of three jumps that day, even though there was no hiking involved - I knew it was a mentally challenging jump. And normally I do at least 4 or 5 jumps on a new jump before going too close. But on this one jump - with the possibility of multiple lines, I was forgetting to treat it like 4 or 5 different jumps, instead I was doing a different line on every jump.
So.....How does an very experienced jumper who usually thinks about things quite carefully, end up on a two way, trying to film Jokke Sommer, on a jump with a 140m start, in bad winds??
Well,.... I didn't think I had an ego, remember - And when Jokke saw my first attempt at video and was impressed and then asked me to film him.....Basically, I became 'flattered' - Flattered that he thought my filming was any good. At that moment, my ego was awakened - and came to the surface - at that moment, I wanted to jump! - Even though my conscious brain was telling me I had already done my three jumps for the day. Suddenly, I was talking myself into jumping - finding reasons for jumping, not against. I knew it was gusting too much and still, I was telling myself, Yeah, Jokke is right - We are professionals -And we can handle that wind. He is right! - The light is perfect for filming ....and I have got a day pass....getting that extra jump in would make it make it more economical - especially when this jump definitely won't last forever!
In hind-sight, it is very easy to see how stupid my decision was. We all should have known! The mistakes I made after I jumped, (I was focussing too much on my subject while lifting my head, which resulted in me killing my forward speed) were always going to happen when learning to fly camera, However if I had started on a guy who I had more range over and also picked a safer jump with more vertical airspace - then perhaps the outcome of those mistakes may have been very different. I knew well, that when learning to film, you don't pick a guy who weighs nothing and flies super-good and then combine that with an exit point with a super short start and technical lines! That is just crazy!....And however crazy it sounds - I did do it! And the blame lies solely with me. Jokke may have asked me to jump, even when I didn't want to! - but he didn't push me off! I jumped myself.... And the rest... is a true miracle! (As I only broke my right arm and fractured my right femur)
It has been a tough 6 months trying to sort this out in my head. I have been hard on myself at times. There were a few things that I hadn't put enough thought into - and the reasons I discovered, are because of the pace of how quickly the sport is progressing these days. I always thought that I would jump as long as my body allowed it, but now I realize that when I get closer to 40, I will have to re-asses how well my eyes can focus in the shadows and the changing light. I also have to keep a check on my reaction time - as flying a wing-suit in close proximity to the ground will always be a fast sport that requires fast thinking and quick reaction time. But for now, I feel I am ready to jump again. I feel I have analyzed it piece by piece and now I embrace the experience and the lessons I have learnt - Hopefully they will allow me to have another 10 years of this wonderful life.
I can never guarantee that I won't go in again. However, I can pretty much guarantee, that if I do- it will be my own fault.
Reiner.
