Basejumper.com - archive

I posted a response to someone about finding a mentor about a month ago. I should have started my own thread instead of using his so here it goes.

I DO NOT WANT A PM NOW. I simply want to help myself fulfil something I cannot explain. Wing suit flying and proximity flying are what I am most interested in. I read some posts by gauleyguide (not to pick on you) and realized I have a big commitment before I can look for a Mentor. I am only posting this today to prove to someone in a year or two from now that I was and am serious about this. My wife and I decided not to have kids, now I know I can start this and never have to choose...... I can't miss what I don't know, and once I start I'm sure I'll never stop.

I currently have 2 Tandem jumps scheduled for Thursday May 23. This will complete the 3 tandems I need before the AFF course. With any luck Pacha Mama will be on my side and I can complete my A license training within 2 weeks. (Im self employed so the time off shouldn't be a problem).

I think from what I have read that landing accuracy and tracking will be two of the most important things I can work on to start, so thats what I will try first. I'll respond to my own thread to let anyone who cares know how the training is going.

_____________________________________________
"The best time to leave is when everything is perfect".

The best response you need coming from everyone on here would be this response..

http://www.dropzone.com/...bin/forum/gforum.cgi

You need a couple hundred skydives first

Good luck..

There is a new book just released about someone who accomplished the same goals.
"Learning to Fly" by Steph Davis available through Amazon.
In it she documents her direct and rapid path from whuffo to skilled BASE wingsuiter,
An entertaining and insightful read, and full of invaluable information for someone starting out on a similar path.
Regards, B.

Good luck man, enjoy the skydives, they are pretty damn fun in themselves!

Just in case anyone cares or is interested.

Finally started my first set of PFF/AFF jumps on June 20. Third exit was unstable and overall a shitty jump. Had a brutal opening and got whiplash which put the jumping on hold for almost a month. Also I failed the jump.

Went to a wind tunnel for 16 minutes which made a HUGE difference.

Started jumping again mid-July did 3 jumps in one day completed levels 3-5.

July 22 did jumps 7-10 and got my solo certificate on jump 10.

July 25 did 3 additional jumps 2 coach and 1 practice/fun.

Cant wait to keep going, too bad i have to work to pay for this sport.

I'll be honest, at first glance I wanted to reply with "who cares..."

However, I told myself not to be a dick and during this process of self discovery, just before I realized that I am a worthless asshole, (everybody else already knew it) I thought of something:

Rarely does someone record in great detail, their journey to becoming a BASE jumper, or at least not in real time. A good friend of mine, now retired from BASE at the old age of 23, began skydiving at age 14, only to get into BASE. He started jumping as a student at 14 (Germany), then got his license at 16, then all of his jumps until shortly after his 18th birthday, were all geared towards BASE. After that, he just BASE jumped like hell for 4 years, then retired. He began joining some of the most experienced trackers in the world on extremely technical exits after only a handful of BASE jumps. This year he decided (without an ounce of regret) to leave the sport, and got out totally unscathed.

Anyhow, this turned into a short story of E. the dark knight low puller, but my point is that it would be interesting (assuming you don't turn out to be a total ass which is completely likely and could also be interesting) to see everything documented in great detail (without site naming or bringing harm to the community of course) as you advance (or not) on the journey to becoming a BASE jumper.

When I read through your diary-like entries about your AFF jumps, which 99 percent of the "parachutists" in the world could give a crap about, my first thought was just that. Then I saw it in a different light and thought: "hey that might be cool to see your entire BASE quest spelled out like some kind of BASE Truman Show or something. Just don't make that your focus. and "don't be a pussy either".

Anyhow, I know there is no "response required", but here are my thoughts as I sit here and drink NyQuil and hope the pain goes away.

-cheers

that was truly a magical, quaint, uplifting story.........
hope your well dude =)

A "quaint" is a slightly less musty quief. "I quainted"... Haha ;-)

Update

I've been having to travel around in order to find a Coach 2 in order to continue my progression. My "Home" DZ lost its caravan this year and there have been a tremendous number of tandems coming through the door. Sadly (and Im sure its the same in most DZ's) they make the most from tandems so we as students and or fun jumpers take a picnic table to the big spenders. Often my quest only allows me 1 or 2 jumps in a day that can be coached.

I finally however in the last two weeks took a packing course, did BOC transition, all of my RW coach jumps and had 1 fun jump that I actually had fun on. I have focused all of my jumps towards learning skills instead of having fun. I am having a little trouble relaxing and enjoying myself knowing that there is some skill I should learn to help me deal with a situation I didn't plan in freefall.

I jumped my first self pack on Thursday which added a little element of hmmm to the jump. On top of having to try a new technique of side slides I had a little bug in my ear saying "did I miss a step?" or "the coach didnt look all that hard". When I pitched I had some pretty good line twist, about 4 or 5 full twists. I managed to kick out after stopping the twisting from continuing and messing with the risers for a bit. I remained altitude aware and landed safely.

My next pack which was my last for the endorsement went well until the close. A friend noticed that I packed the d bag into the container with the stows placed so they would be against my back instead of the bottom of the container. This was probably the cause of my line twists lol but the next two jumps were packed properly and amazingly no line twists.

I am saving my 25th jump for next week after I write the A test. A little celebration for completing the A. Thankfully the majority of the tough jumps (chasing down a coach) are done and a few of us are planning a trip to a nearby DZ to get a bunch of 2 way and fun jumps in.

Starting to enjoy the journey :) Thanks Adrian

It gets a lot more fun as you become more aware and independent as a skydiver and can jump with your friends (instead of having to pay a coach to check things off a list).

You may want to check out dropzone.com to keep a journal/blog about your skydiving fun. A lot of people are really into that on that site!

Have fun - stay safe!

Negative. I pack like that all the time if it's a weird fitting Dbag. Line twists are almost always body position during deployment.

Unless yo PC is connected asymmetrically.
Take care,
space

Or the PC has any number of manufacturing defects which cause asymmetry.


Also a cause for line twists with skydiving students is a combination of skydiving PC pack job leading to slow inflation and snatch force with the dbag stowed up to the bag. I used to watch it on AFFs I was doing and yell at the rigger about it. Any time he was the packer the students complained of line twists which I got to see happen in real time.

Quick update
Received some help from a few people to get my coaching jumps in. As well as some very kind people who went way above and beyond to help me write my test late on a Friday night and do some E.P. reviews and Sport canopy briefings one evening last week.

Got my "A" on Friday night! looking forward to learning how to safely fly with others.

Another update.

I received my B CoP on Friday. In some ways I am behind on what my plans were. (my ambitious side thought I would be planning my FJC by now). I have however learned how much I didn't know when I started this journey. Despite the fact that I "only" have 53 jumps, I would like to think that they are worth more than it appears. I made a point of all but 4 or 5 were working jumps. Every new piece of information I have received that can make me a better jumper, safer canopy pilot, or a little more prepared to deal with something I have incorporated into my training.

After getting my A I immediately found a coach to help me start the RW work that I needed to complete for my B. After having a little difficulty trying to find people to do 2 way jumps with I decided to hire a coach 2 to help me get the rest of my 2 way jumps done. I specifically focused on correcting "minor" issues with technique and accuracy landings. I figured that the more I focused on proper technique now the better off my long term skydiving career would be.

I also signed up for the PD flight 101 course and took that in early October. I had many situations where I asked coaches, instructors, etc advice on canopy control only to receive opposite answers to each other. I had another situation where I stalled my canopy on rears about 300-400' above ground which freaked me out. The canopy course was very informative and boosted my confidence in my abilities under canopy. I have since increased my accuracy 200%.

Sadly our season is coming to a close quickly both because the local DZ's are closing and the weather is taking a turn for the worse. With any luck Ill get a chance to take a trip south to jump for a week or 2. The good news is I have my B and can jump with friends wand really practice my FF skills and keep working on my canopy skills too. Cant wait for the 102 course, and the next season.


Edit: I forgot to include that I purchased my own gear. I picked up a Wings container that is good for a 170/150 Main, a PD optimum 160 Reserve, Vigil 2 and a Storm 170. I am loading it about 1.2 right now and have been losing a bit of weight. I chose the main on the advice of one of my PFF instructors and coach. He suggested this as a great WS canopy and it is also 7 cell. I took the canopy coarse with this canopy and hope to fly this for quite a while, and probably keep it for WS if I choose to go that route.

What in God's name were you doing so deep in rears at such a low altitude?

The exact opposite of what I thought I was doing. I cant remember if I was trying to fly farther to get to the target, or if I was trying to lose altitude to get to the target.

Our DZO is a huge accuracy guy. He will often work the radio for students. He tries to get all the students into acccuracy and teaches you accuracy approaches while on the student gear. The instructors are generally pretty good about letting people know not to listen to him because one day he will hurt someone.

I'd say sink it with toggles if you are going to sink it. Most skydiving canopies don't sink quite as friendly as BASE canopies though (learned this the hard/scary way much like it sounds you did haha). If you are constantly finding yourself needing to sink it in on final then your base and approach legs weren't right and you need to fix it before final. Final should be reserved for making small corrections on a skydiving canopy...if you are sinking it in always on a skydive canopy what happens one day when somebody cuts you off at 100 feet? You won't have the energy to do a flat turn to avoid them and you might collide/die.

Just my thoughts...sounds like you are thinking a lot about canopy control. Thats what I always do when skydiving too. Try some canopy relative work someday (it is much more fun with 9 cell ellipticals than with traditional CRW canopies).

Thanks Samadhi

The canopy control course helped a lot. It was REALLY basic but the instructor gave me about 10 minutes after class to draw some sketches on the board and ask questions. I had an idea of how to make a lot of corrections etc under canopy but needed some reinforcement from someone who know to feel more comfortable. Ive done a lot better with landings, accuracy and overall comfort around other canopies since.

Since I started the actual number of skydives wasnt too important to me. The skills that I will need was far more important. I figure if I cant land a canopy in a 5M square box consistently than I surely have no place in BASE. I can only imagine there are very few objects that will give me a 2 acre flat grassy landing area :p

Just saw my last post on this thread was over 2 years ago.

I stayed away from here for a little while in part because I wasn't happy with myself for fucking up as badly as I did, and in part because I wasn't sure if my journey would or should continue. So here it goes for the latest albeit delayed update.

Spring 2014 I got back in the air with a few jumps and took a skydiving course. The weekend after the course I traveled to do some fun jumping and stop worry so much about an end goal and more to just have some fun. New DZ, new people, 20 jumps on the season and I found myself in a very shitty situation. Close to another canopy in the air, winds I probably shouldn't have jumped in and low turned to avoid some obstacles and crashed into a parking lot. End result: broken femur with some crazy new titanium, many pins inside and outside of foot and a LONG recovery ahead. Walking again was questionable let alone jumping. So needless to say the 2014 season was gone.

After about 5 months I was permitted to weight bare again on my femur and my foot, and so I went to the tunnel to at least see if the itch could be scratched. I spent a considerable amount of time tunnel flying and trying to convince myself that I could actually get to the open door of a plane again.

May 2015, 53 weeks to the day I pounded, i re-did an FJC at my local DZ with a coach I respect temendously. He insisted that I go to the radio box with him and watch some students land, and we talked quite a bit about do the survival skills jump I was going to do. He made me wait almost 6 hours after arriving to the DZ before we went for the jump. It really had me edgy waiting around, but I realized afterwards that he did it intentionally until the nerves settled enough that I could actually listen and focus with him. Jump time: Jump out, look at alti, practice handle touches, repeat.... problem was on the second set I lazily pulled the main PC by mistake in bad body position and wound up under about 7 or 8 line twists at 10,000 feet. All I could think at first was "Fuck a chop on my first jump back" I figured I had enough time and no spinning was happening so I kicked out of the line twists and practiced quite a few canopy drills. When I came down to pattern altitude I found myself in a very familiar and scary position, I was in winds I wasn't comfortable with (looking back the winds were fine I was just shitting my pants) and headed for the far side of the landing area by the taxi way. All in all the jump was fine, and I dealt with almost everything I was worried about in the first jump back.

The whole 2015 season was spent getting current and back on my gear, and just going out and enjoying the sport. I didn't worry too much about what any long term goals would, should or could be. I reached my 200th in October 2015, did some more jumps and jumped in the winter. Ill keep jumping and hope that this year along with what I've learned will keep me safe on the journey.

For anyone who is reading this that started skydiving for similar reasons, I know its hard to always hear people say enjoy the journey, its not just the 200 that matters etc. BUT not being able to bring a coffee from the kitchen to the living room for months sucks. Those months could have been fun skydiving, drinking, having sex (yeah when you bust a femur no sex boys, doctors orders), or straight up walking. Rushing usually sets you back in most things we do, an unforgiving sport like this it can be much worse.

Edited to include. I foolishly turned off my Gopro on the jump I hurt myself on so no shirt (not that it would have counted on a 170 Storm). And someone had recommended doing some CRW, Im trying to get a group together for an intro weekend and work on CRW this season (thanks for the tip).

After a few years in the sport and a couple hundred jumps, how does it feel looking back on your first posts? At 200 skydives I realized what a dumbass I was when I started. the same happens in base, the farther you get from the start, the more you realize how little you knew when you were sure you knew everything.

Way to start doing things the right way, and good luck as you continue!

oh man where to start.....

I look back at the days when I first had my drivers license and think "how the hell did I survive that time I.... , or when I almost....."

I honestly believe if I started jumping at 18 (thank God I got rained out that day) I would be dead. I thought when I started in 2013 I was older, was a pilot, a bit more mature, would take my time...... I still don't know how I managed to hurt myself the way I did. All I know is that its what will hopefully keep me alive as I continue. The worst part is and maybe its the most scary part. I really didn't think I was getting ahead of myself, but my attitude now is quite different than it was.

This is why time in sport is so important and can't be overlooked.

A good friend recently shared a comparison he'd made about the value of time and evolution in canopy sports and how they apply to BASE.

Why don't we let 10 year olds vote and drive? Because they lack the life experience that leads them to make informed decisions. Sure, they think they have all the answers and there may be a few who are wise beyond their years, but on the whole...when considering youngsters in volume, it's pretty much going to turn out badly for the vast majority of them.

Good parallel, if you get it.

This is why time in sport is so important and can't be overlooked.

A good friend recently shared a comparison he'd made about the value of time and evolution in canopy sports and how they apply to BASE.

Why don't we let 10 year olds vote and drive? Because they lack the life experience that leads them to make informed decisions. Sure, they think they have all the answers and there may be a few who are wise beyond their years, but on the whole...when considering youngsters in volume, it's pretty much going to turn out badly for the vast majority of them.

Good parallel, if you get it.
I'm primarily a weekday jumper and don't stay at a dz overnight nor do I bother showing up on shitty weather days. I absolutely understand the time in sport phrase. Jumps don't matter when you miss out on bonfire talks, and story time. Very difficult to quantify time, wisdom and jump #'s though.

one analogy I liked a lot I'm pretty sure I heard from James boulle. Something about it you walk down a path through the woods or run down it, you may get to the same place, but you miss a lot along the way.

I take no responsibility for anything I post on here. BASE jumping is stupid and dangerous.

Not picking on you for something that happened last year, just a general point - the idea of practicing anything is practicing how to do it right, not how to do it wrong.

During a practice touch you should be in a good body position for deployment, therefore if you acidentally pull the PC during a practice touch you should be giving yourself the best chance of a good deployment - otherwise what was the point of doing the practice touches anyway? This is a principle that appies to everything else going forward. Practice is only worthwhile if you practice doing things properly.

Primacy in Learning.
- Primacy, the state of being first, often creates a strong, almost unshakable, impression
- Things learned first create a strong impression in the mind that is difficult to erase.
- “Unteaching” wrong first impressions is harder than teaching them right the first time.

Thought I'd finally post another update.

In November last year I purchased a Zak2 with a vented Troll 245, which I didn't even open to check the canopy colours or attempt to learn how to pack. The I got a fair deal from someone I knew and decided if I was going to continue on the path of BASE having my own gear was a good move.

In April of this year I signed up for a FJC which had me going to Idaho (where else of course). I got a couple of packing lessons close to home and in June took the canopy for a Skydive so I had more than 20 seconds to figure the canopy out.

June 10th I got on a plane and headed to Twin Falls and took my FJC. I took the course with someone I had been in contact with before I started skydiving and has in a strange way been on this journey with me from the beginning. He was never discouraging and at least to my face never made fun of me for the dream. It was a great feeling to have him PCA me for my first BASE jump.

Over the week I was there I did 13 jumps from the bridge. 1 unpacked rollover which I would say was probably my favourite and most fun jump. 1 water landing by choice after a 2ish second delay and a bit of shitting my pants on how low I was. The entire time I decided not to go stowed as I felt it was important to practice jumping the way I'll be jumping at home which will mostly be static line, PCA or handheld.

It's been almost 2 months since I finished the course and haven't done any local jumps yet mostly because of work schedule but they will come when I can make it out with some other locals. I certainly don't feel that going alone is in my best interest.

It's been fun reading this thread over the last few years along with other notes, emails etc that's kept a log od my journey here. Hopefully I'll be able to keep posting periodically over the decades to come.

Edited to inculde:

I also want to thank those of you who have answered my dumbshit questions over the last couple years and offered some help.

3 tandems before you can do AFF?

What kind of a scam is that?

It's the way a couple places put their AFF program together here. It was to avoid doing any 2:1 jumps. actually went somewhere else

Edited tto say 2:1 not 1:1

This an absolutely master work of personal biography. Stephanie also comes from it from the unique perspective of a rock climber and one of the things she talks about early on is the paradox that she now has to "accept" falling as part of base and not avoid it at all costs as a climber. Her reflections and mindsets as she evolves is fascinating read. She also shows and reflects so much over all details early on. It is inspiring to read how clear and calmly she problem solves. The uniqueness in how she got to do her first wing suit was also pretty cool. Then she jumps with a base rig set backwards over Perrine.

Otherwise, she is known as first woman to free solo a 5.12 grade climb.

I absolutely second reading this book if you are a skydiver, base jumper, mountaineer or simply looking for some good introspective autobiography.

One of my big heroes for sure.

You cannot go wrong reading this book. My mum liked it too and she HATES all this "stuff".

It's been a long time since I updated this thread.

It was a very long time after my course before my first jump in the real BASE world. I had tried many times. Lots of scouting, many sleepless nights going out and various reasons... ie: security, new cameras, weather, someone I wasn't comfortable jumping with etc I had not made a jump.

On Valentines day I finally found a person I trusted and a great Object, and ideal weather. I finally now have my BASE "A" and experienced something that doesn't even compare to the bridge. I really do look forward to continuing my journey in this world and will post again when I have a bit more to share other than this.

Just reading through this again. Really nice thread that I hope a lot of newer jumpers read. Congrats on your A!

Time for another update.

So after my jump and first A in Feb it was a few months before getting a chance to jump again. It was a crane that was somewhere around the 500' mark. This was mid-late May and the beginning of a relatively (for me at least) busy summer with quite a few late nights.

I've managed to get a dozen or more jumps off of cranes most of which were from the same one, one had us flying between buildings to the LZ and 1 I got to open after doing a few nights of recon, and finding a way around security before we finally made it happen.

Today was finally the day I got my first solid B. Not going to post too much on this update other than keeping the thread alive with a little new info and the obvious accomplishment of years of work getting to the type of object I had always wanted to get.

It's taken a long time and much hardship to get to this point. There are several people I have to thank for this but none of which helped me for the recognition, many wouldn't want a mention especially in a public space. You know who you are, so thank you.

One of the things I think I have found most amazing in all of this is how most of the people who have been there for me along the way are equally or more stoked for me as I am. For this reason I also want to thank every person who has been there for a newer jumper. You guys and gals are fucking amazing people. The excitement people had for me for my first stowed jump was encouraging, amazing and infectious. I hope I'm there for someone i'm that person in the future. For the people who stop climbing and turn back to encourage someone that they can do it, or more importantly offer to climb down with them when the conditions aren't the best for their experience. Again THANKS to all who have been that person for someone else.

Latest update.

Feb 23 2019 I went out with a group of jumpers and was able to get my E. It was approx 280' and the weather held out long enough for us to get 2 off the same object. This was the last object I needed for my actual number and hope it was the first of years worth to come.

I have been reasonably active over the last 8 months and now have a trip planned to Brento at the end of April where I will spend about a week and am actively looking for someone to help with sub terminal tracking and big wall expertise.

http://www.brentobaseschool.com/.../56/advanced-courses

Thanks.

I'm actually all signed up with them for the week. Class starts the day I get there and jumping will depend on weather.

Appreciate the help and feedback I've received from everyone.

Have fun, you will surely enjoy going to class.