Basejumper.com - archive

So, while lingering through this forum, I've noticed that more experienced jumpers keep telling people that they need to be ready if they wanna get into base jumping.
I was wondering, and this is a serious question, if anyone can ever be ready or feel ready to start base jumping.
I mean, how would you know wether you can deal with a friend's death? How would someone know wether he is able to deal with the pain of breaking several bones if he never experienced something like that?
I'm not even trying to get into base jumping since I'm only 17 and just interested in the whole thing, but I could not tell if I ever was 'ready' for it.

With respect to your two examples I dont think anyone is truly ready for either and thats not what is ment by being ready for base. To me being ready for base has to do more with having the skill, restraint, and brains to make the right desicions to minimize the risk of death or severe injury.

The fact that you are asking the question is a good start. People who are overconfident and rush in are the "least ready." Most 17 year olds are pretty sure they're bullet proof. The fact that you're wondering about it is a good sign.

I've attached a couple .pdf files to this message.

The first file is recommendations for preparation. If you've done everything listed there, then you're ready to start asking yourself if you're mentally/emotionally ready. If you haven't done the preparation, then there is no point in asking if you are mentally and emotionally ready for BASE--do the preparation first.

The second file is a set of canopy drills to work through at the drop zone. Reading through them and performing them will give you a good measure of whether your canopy skills are up to par for starting BASE.

Thanks for the reply, I'll start reading the files later today.
I actually think that a lot of young people feel overly confident and underestimate the risks and needed preparation. When I first heard of base jumping, I thought it was relatively easy. "Jump, pull, land - that's it" but when reading the fatality list, I noticed how many things can go wrong so easily and how much preparation and experience is needed. One of the reasons base jumpers have earned my biggest respect.

I think "maturity" would be my favorite word to answer your question. Whether it's about the dark side of BASE, ethics, skill level, etc... However, it seems that people have different definitions for maturity, which is the problem. I don't want to start digging into a philosophy discussion so I'll leave it to you to reflect on your own definition.

As with most things in life, people generally aren't very good at deciding if they are "ready". How often do we see people who swear they are ready for that new canopy (or car/bike/ whatever), only to see the wreckage later.

The best way to know for sure- Ask a RESPECTED jumper in the BASE community, and see what they say. It can't hurt- and even if you aren't ready they can hopefully put you on a path on how to get there.

I think a good interpretation of being 'ready' consists of preparing yourself mentally for things like sketchy tower ladders, some of the sketchier E climbs, making clear headed decisions about unexpected/undesirable weather conditions, properly dealing with the douche bag's that your likely to get stuck on a load with, being able to handle hiding quietly from/near cops or security. Nobody starts out perfectly ready for all of that, you just don't want to be THAT guy that run's away like a bitch because he "thought" he heard some rustling in the bushes.

i think theres a skill set ready vs a mentally ready what do you think from your experiences teaching fjcs? do you ever get very experienced canopy pilots etc that perform poorly due to lack of mental prep?

Yes.

But honestly it's rarer than the other way around. The most common lack of preparation is _both_. I've found that someone who takes the time to sit down and work through a bunch of preparation (canopy drills, reading, rigging practice, etc) is also working on their mental preparation, whether they realize it or now.

The guy who thinks "I'm mentally ready, so let's go" without doing the physical preparation is often underprepared in both ways.

When I made my first BASE jump I "knew" I was ready for it technically.

That is I knew, from having been skydiving for years, that I was unlikely to mentally tunnel vision out, unlikely to do something dumb like forget to toss the PC, and that I could fly and land a big clunky 7 cell in a somewhat tight LZ, and could function in a "parachuting environment" at night.

However, I also "knew" I'd be scared off my bloody ass leading up to it. That was my main block against knowing if I was "OVERALL" ready for it. Would the fear to reward ratio be heavy enough on the reward side that I'd want to continue to do it?

Ultimately it wasn't so I stopped.

And really I think that was part of the initial intrigue on this sport; "going backwards" into an arena with high learning curve, total excitement/fear, away from "doing tandem video is like rolling out of bed in the morning", etc etc.

So, glad i did it a few times, not for me, but still attracted to the concept enough the basejumper.com is still one of my first web-stops in the AM before I hunker down and start doing actual work.