Basejumper.com - archive

Dear all,

I am a student at Sixth form college in West Sussex in the UK. For my Leisure A-Level I am producing a report on BASE jumping. I would appreciate it if you could take some time to answer the questions below:

1. Do you think BASE jumping is a sport that is growing in the UK and worldwide. Give Details?

2. What are the issues that may prevent people from taking part in the sport?

3. What do you think the future holds for BASE jumping?


Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions.

Regards,

Kieran Wood

I only did 2 jumps years ago so am not going to supply any answers for you, but you might want to consider changing Q2. I don't think the issue is with things getting in the way of people entering the sport, but with not enough barriers preventing people from getting into the sport, or getting into the sport without the right skills, knowledge, mindset, training, experience etc. There are a lot of discussions on here about the "YouTube Generation" getting in too deep too fast. in the "old days" getting into BASE was considered by many to be a right of passage that had to be earned by finding the right people to learn from, ground crewing for them, learning proper packing and rigging skills, numerous skydives on BASE canopies, etc. followed by a slow progression from suitable objects. Nowadays, with the availability of BASE courses being run for people with only a few hundred skydives (or less??) and a huge set of videos to watch of people doing incredible jumps around the world that progression has fast-tracked, and many feel that is detrimental to the sport.
Anyway - food for thought!
Spend a few hours reading the incident reports and the beginners forums and you will see what I am talking about.
A lot of people on here will not answer you as they expect you to do your research yourself - read the forums, learn as much as you can, then post more specific questions that show you have put in the leg work and you might get a better response and a more in-depth knowledge to base your report on.

Good luck!

Nick

1. Do you think BASE jumping is a sport that is growing in the UK and worldwide. Give Details?

Yes, it is growing worldwide. Gear is getting better and safer. This makes it more fun and more accessible. Base jumping is more publicized than ever over the internet so it becomes peoples dream to do it and then they achieve the dream. There are also more courses for learning.

2. What are the issues that may prevent people from taking part in the sport?

Legality. Many places are illegal for base jumping.

3. What do you think the future holds for BASE jumping?

Lots of good clean fun and lots of people dying.

Good luck with your report!

JT

1. Do you think BASE jumping is a sport that is growing in the UK and worldwide. Give Details?
Yes. Plenty of places will teach you with minimal skydiving experience. More new jumpers starting than people retiring/dying (at least where I am)

2. What are the issues that may prevent people from taking part in the sport?
This I can answer as I was super keen to get started in BASE after my 200 skydives and go be awesome in a wingsuit. What is stopping me is the risk does not exceed the reward for me personally. I currently live in an area without an available mentor or active jumpers so I would not be able to remain current in BASE and keep the risk at an acceptable level. The more I realize the dangers the more I put off jumping while I watch others I know pushing hoping they don't get hurt.
In summary i am a pussy who doesn't want to get hurt and die.

3. What do you think the future holds for BASE jumping?
More wingsuit deaths, Hopefully a change in glorifying images of super close proximity flying, more high profile events like WWL, Wings for love, airgamez

1. Yes, see BASE #s issued, jumps made, videos/photos, etc.

2. Mental & Physical Ability, Skill, Effort, and Risk Tolerance.

3. New Events, More Objects, Lots of Injuries, Many Deaths.