Basejumper.com - archive

Instead of an angry thread where everyone
supports their friend or attacks their enemy...

How about we discuss the qualities that make
a person ideal for teaching either FBJCs or the
old school method of long term Mentorship?

Oh, and to get it out of the way, YES, I have
personally taught a person with less than 100
SKY jumps and YES my Playboy exit sucked!!

oh my god! Tar and Feather! Laugh laugh laugh...Lets get Him!

Ha, you took me out when I had like 120 sky jumps and like 12 BASE jumps. I was also soloing A's on my own over there, finding objects, scouting them, and jumping them so I think numbers don't really matter all that much. It depends on the student and his ability to stay within his skill level. I am currently on a hiatus since I have been doing some pretty stupid shit lately and operating outside of where I was comfortable. People's ability to make decisions and react under high stress environments play a vital role in BASE survival. If I were to ever instruct a person, god help them, I would first have a long days discussion to judge their mental acuity. If you're a dipshit chances are you're going to die fucking something up.

It must be hard to be a mentor / instructor. I couldn't do it, I think, with all the distractions of life.

I guess you have to tailor your instruction to meet the individual, but you also have to keep reinforcing the important messages. Every BASE jumper I have met is very different (they all seem to pack differently, for example), so how do you identify the attitude adjustments / knowledge shortfalls / etc for each person?

At least with being a driving instructor you can just recite the highway code. With BASE you have to get someone to engage their brain.

I guess it's easy to identify each end of the bell curve fairly quickly, but the centre part would be tricky.

-Communication
-Organization
-Knowledge of Jumping
-Rigging/Packing Skills
-Time/Energy/Effort

i dont understand ... are you looking for a mentor because i only teach chicks.