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Hey everyone. First off an intro I suppose. I'm an Aussie now living in Germany.
I've been lurking on these forums for a few years now, reading as much info as I can. I can't describe the feeling I got when I first watched a BASE documentary, I knew straight away it was something that I needed in my life. It took me a while to get into skydiving but knew that I had to do it to get on the right path to fixed object jumping. I planned to make a start in base at the end of the last season but half way through the year with about 100 jumps I had an accident, a hard opening busted up my back and I fractured 4 vertebrae and smashed a 5th one that has been replaced with a titanium piece and held together with a couple of screws. I'm back at my landscaping job and working out 3-4 times a week since the last 6 months with no problems. I start skydiving again next week, the first time since the accident. I'm not too worried about the skydive openings as I will be jumping a pilot and can just pack it so that it snivels for a 1000ft if I need to. I'm looking to hear from anybody who has had a similar injury and is currently still in BASE. Is it possible to withstand the harder openings of a BASE canopy (especially slider down stuff) without seriously fucking myself up? I have dreamt about BASE for so many years and can't imagine just giving up that dream now but I also don't want to end up in a wheelchair. I have planned to hit up a FJC in October this year but need to know if it's even still a possibility or if it's just asking for trouble.
Thanks for any responses

I wouldn't be concerned with the openings as much as the possibility of a hard landing. I have collected a few fractured vertebrae over the years and doubt they will slow you down as much as the titanium.

Ouch, what happened to make a skydive opening so hard it broke your back?

I got compressions fractures of T10-L2 but didn't need surgery. No issues with hard BASE openings on my end after the injury. Definitely all depends on what kind of hardware you got and the full extent of your injuries. Talk to your doctor, only they can know this. Or post your X-rays, that's always fun ;) You are almost certainly at higher risk of re-injury at much lower forces than before-- slipped discs, more compression fractures, hardware slippage, or worse. Know that going into it and evaluate if it's still worth it. Doesn't mean you will get hurt, but BASE openings can be pretty hard and your back is not normal anymore.

But, if you already broke your back once skydiving, how can you be sure you can just "jump a pilot and can just pack it so that it snivels for a 1000ft if I need to". Sounds like maybe that didn't work so well the first time around?

The opening was from a sabre 1.. Previously had a few 'quick' openings on it but nothing like this one. It just exploded open as if it was a slider off terminal jump.
I went for a checkup at my orthopedist a few weeks ago and explained that I planned to continue jumping. He said there is physically no reason why not although he wouldn't recommend it (although he also said even without the injury he wouldn't recommend parachuting to anyone).
As for the '1000ft sniveling pilot' comment I mean that I know that pilots are know to open a lot slower (600ft+) and I would roll the shit out of the nose and am even considering installing Dacron lines. I just meant that I'm not worried about the skydive openings and just more worried about slider down BASE. I had always packed the sabre the same but this time it just wanted to kill me..

Video of the opening- http://youtu.be/ZOvRJ3UBUmc
I don't know how to make a clicky, sorry

I had a bad spinal break and need surgery and had a bunch of bling put in. 95% of what I do is slider down base. I jump a black jack and an osp. the only time I could feel some pain was when I took 3 seconds on a ski base jump with my osp slider down...... I would have felt that even if I never broke my back. stay in the gym and have fun base jumping

Ouch indeed. It's too bad you didn't know about using a different slider. One that is about 3-4 inches deeper front to back. (Side to side dimension is fine), or having a pocket added. You would immediately experience good slow comfortable openings. PD failed with the slider size on the Sabre. There are other things that will result in a fast opening too, but I won't get into it here.

With your Pilot, rolling the nose isn't really going to do anything. Just get better at packing. Don't cut corners just because it works. Watch the PD parachute packing video in YouTube. They're the best ones out there.

I can't offer any advice on your back. Openings USUALLY won't hurt you, but hyperflexion of the neck can occur sometimes... Besides breaking vertebrae you likely experienced it on the Sabre opening. If you look up instead, then you can expect a good case of hyperextension. BASE jumps result in some very interesting body positions at t opening sometimes. Brace yourself when that happens :)

Most often the opening won't hurt too much, but landing that over size docile 7 cell poorly, will hurt you. The more you prepare and learn to fly in deep brakes properly, the better off you'll be.

Good luck. If you must do things that involves a parachute .. Skydive a lot more, and get strong. I know several people that are busted up pretty badly (not necessarily from parachuting either) and they Skydive, BASE jump, Tunnel fly, all at open class competition levels.

Hey mate,

I had a spinal tumour that almost killed me in 2012. spent 3 months in bed and learnt to walk and skydive/track all over again..

They took out my T1 vertebrae and shaved off my T2.

My first jump back was in front of 450million chinese at a bridge event

I was shitting myself , Not because of the base jump and being uncurrent but the opening..

I find that if you are doing your physio and working out and getting on top of building up your muscles again around your stomach and spine you should be good...

Start off slow mate skydive a heap first before any base openings and stay away from slider down first...
Until you find your area again..

Its a scary feeling not knowing what that snap is gonna do

But its a little exciting too

Good luck mate


You still have a fair way to go if your only got 100 skydives so you have heaps of time to build yourself up..

Don't rush it mate get into skydiving for a while

Thanks for the responses guys. I really appreciate the input. Given me a bit to think about. I'm just going to skydive as much as possible this year, keep training my back/core and see where I'm at at the end of the season. Thanks again.

I had L5/S1 fusion and lamenectomy little over a year ago. Still an active T/I and 99% slider-off BASE jumper. Been fine, just be smart. CrossFit helps me.

I had an open book pelvis fracture (in three places) and hairline fracture in my L4. This was in Oct 2014. A good amount of hardware inside me. After 6 months I was skydiving again and a year later I was doing S/D jumps.. Was sore after but nothing re-broke

i got Dacron lines on a saber, it can still smash starts into your head, there are a lots of other canopies out there not known for smashing, BASE in my experience will rock you on opening or landing, in some about of time, object depending....but if your dream.... do it, no pain no gain!

PCA, and static-lines are super nice and soft.

What I really want to know is if you'll tell us about Crossfit.

They replaced my L2 with a metal cage and fused L4-T12 (see attached x-Ray).

In general the fused section is actually stronger than a normal spine because it's a giant hunk of titanium and bone, and the real risk is the additional leverage such a long solid bit can apply on the joint just above and below it. Taking centered, vertical forces along the axis of the spine (as in a normal opening) isnt that hard on it whereas anything that torques to the side it significantly is amplified times five because of the length of the solid bit.

So although it's obviously not ideal, it handles slider down openings well, and in general it constantly surprises me how much abuse it can take. What really tends to make it hurt are insults that involve repetition and duration - for example pulling moderately high G maneuvers on a Paraglider or even stiletto, or riding off-road in a car with crap shock absorbers is the sort of stuff that bothers me. Bending over to pack the parachute for twenty minutes is also harder on my back than openings.

That being said, I basically have a pair of titanium chisels screwed into my back, which will make any force strong enough to break the bone that much more dangerous. It'll hold fine to normal abuse, but what might be a comparatively minor compression fracture to someone else could be much more extensive for us. That's why what strikes me as the biggest issue here is to just realize that injuries are now a lot more consequential and that reality should play into your decision making process as you continue to play with these kinds of dangerous sports.

So for example while there isn't necessarily anything wrong with taking a bridge FJC with 150-250 skydives worth of experience, you can significantly increase your odds of staying away from the sort of incidents that will damage your back by waiting until you have a lot more experience than that.

TLDR - I wouldn't worry too much about the openings, I would worry about scheduling a FJC in October when you only have 100 skydives and are coming off of a six month hiatus due to a very serious injury. its already pushing it to be jumping with this sort of spinal hardware, so I think it's smart to find some other way to cut down on your pushing of things just to balance things out.

Because obviously it's not an option to just not jump :)

I'm sorry but that sounds far too sensible.

Hello Friend. I broke L1 while learning base jump. I had two surgeries. Plates connecting the T12 to L2. I have done slider down and wingsuit no problems. I think if you can skydive then you can base jumping. Important to have strong muscles.

Cheers

Ricardo Augusto
basejumper.com.br

An atheist, a vegan and a CrossFitter walk in a room...I only know because they told everyone in 30 seconds...

I broke myself to pieces when I had a canopy collapse on an 84 at 100ft or so. Fused L3-L5 and I'm numb below my belly button to my knee on my left side, also a fused ankle and a metal femur. I went from full time skydiver to full time student and it fucking sucks, I also went from 40-80 BASE jumps a year to 4. I can't climb, I'm in agony when I walk and after I land I have to load up on fentanyl.

PCA/SL are fine but as rewarding as a kick in the nuts, slider off 1 sec delay is also fine. I'd like to do some bigger slider up stuff but I just know a hard terminal will wreck me. So something like a 1000ft bridge would be ideal slider up as I could take a 5 or so and have a nice opening, but I don't think I trust my body enough for big walls.

Hey matey,
I had my C5-C7 ACDF done early July; plate and screws.
Surgery was tip top.
I started swimming laps last week and am getting stronger again by the day.
I'm surprised by the speed of recovery but quite stoic by nature.
I'll continue with Physio and laps for the remainder of the year, then planned slider off with 1-2 sec is pegged in for the New Year.....but I'll ease into it.
My C3-C4 is perhaps up for a recon sometime in the future also.
I wish you well. Sound advice by all.
Fox.

Hey freedom flyer - i am from Germany and i had also an accident with smashed my 3 lumbar which had to be replaced by a titanium piece and screws , this happend two month ago. For me and my family i decided not to go into B.A.S.E but i have ordered a brandnew rig in April which arrived last week. I´m about to sell it:

Anyone interested in buying a Base Rig ?

Adrenalin Zak 3 with 265 Atair Troll DW with 5 vents 1,78m - 76 kg

3745 EUro was the price - I wil offer it for 3200 Euro

Sometimes jumping makes my back feel better and other times it makes it worse. The amount of sitting I have to do for work doesn't make my back feel any better, except sometimes it does.

Catch-22

I've learned to do following exercise by my orthopedic: Lay on a flat, hard surface like a floor, rest your legs such as they're bent to 90° at hip and knees, say put them on a chair. Stay for 5-10mins. Repeat 5-10 times a day. My Hernia loves it!