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Is there a general guideline as to when to start? Up at the Perrine and wanted to try one where it was safer while I'm here. Only 8 jumps and still suck at a good stable exit. No go?

I do seem to be able to rotate fine. Haha.

I used to think a stepping stone of BASE was aerials, but I changed my mind when I saw a guy at Bridge Day do a gainer and purposely land in the water. I went flat and stable and stuck the landing. Aerials only impress dudes. If you do aerials, you're a homosexual.

Honestly, I think your better off going for a triple gainer off the Tombstone. Waaaaay safer than the bridge.

Sounds good to me. Will there be plenty of dudes around to watch me in awe of how cool I am?

Lmao. Seriously not trying to impress anyone. Just looking for advice as to when to give it a go. Idk if it's easy and whatever or something that takes some high level of experience/training or what.

Go do flips on a trampoline first

I can't tell if you are taking the piss or not.

Assuming you are serious, and you are struggling with a stable exit then why the fuck would you add shit to it?

Has anyone on here jumped with you? If not then how can anyone say if you are ready or not?

Clearly wrong info. BASE rule #5 cleared to gainer on jump #9.

Im sure your stowed technique is second nature. Sounds like your exits are dialed. Start with double gainer they are easier to execute pitch timing.

Also. Make sure you do it in December.
You have to do it in December

The question isn't "When to start aerials?" but "Where to start aerials?"

It's not about having an appropriate number of jumps, but about having the appropriate object.

If you are at Brento, trying your first gainer (with proper briefing and safety instruction) isn't a big deal, even if you just have a 100 jumps: since your AFF, you know how to get back on your belly and pull, so you should be able to do it and save your life if shit hits the fan.

On Perrine, you have less time to fuck up, and you will need more altitude awareness and body awareness if your aerial goes wrong. Also, the fact that it's lower will be a mindfuck, so you will be uncomfortable and most likely to fuck up. Many people do their first aerials from there, but that wouldn't be my choice.

Wait for the appropriate object. Meanwhile, you can use that bridge to train for things that will matter in your basejumping life: staticlining yourself, PCAing a friend, do rear risers turns, toggle turns, accuracy landing, etc.

This will :
A) Give you the possibility to jump places where you need these skills.
B) Help you on your first aerial: when you will do your first gainer from Brento, you will launch knowing that even if you open facing the wall, you have the skills to turn your canopy in a split of a second. That will give you confidence and you will be able to focus in doing a nice, beautiful, stylish slow rotating gainer.

Also, don't hesitate to ask this kind of question to Sean Chuma instead of on a forum: he's the master of aerials and the Perrine resident. His advices are gold!

Have fun! :)

David

Aerials should begin immediately after the first jump. Beer helps with the nerves, calms the mind and provides courage that many newbs lack.

This is a perfect question for Slambo .

Probably, if you are not able to perform stable and flat exits, this already could be considered as "aerial"-exits ?

Check back here the last week of December for advice for, against, or doing a two way while standing on a friends shoulders!

Assuming you're not taking the piss (as the Aussies say), step one is to nail body awareness. And that starts with bomber flat and stable exits. I've seen plenty of experienced jumpers who use gainers as a crutch, and suck going flat and stable (Jerad was one of them - this may or may not have contributed to his death). Get so comfortable with what your body is doing that you can do things with your eyes closed and it looks on video the same as you envision it.

Step two: trampolines, diving boards, coaching (both real & video), visualization and cliffs into water are all mandatory steps prior to BASE aerials, IMO.

Step three: find a higher span. IMO, the Perrine is low for learning aerials. There's not a lot of time for recovery if inadvertently entering an extra rotation.

Most importantly, your mindset of even considering it at this point (8 jumps) is most concerning. With ANYTHING in BASE, ask yourself why you want to do something. Then ask again. Then again. Until you come up with ego/self-importance as an answer, you haven't asked enough.

Nope. Pretty sure he said "when".

If you need to ask strangers on the internet you should go back to skydiving because you haven't learned what the precursor sport was supposed to have taught you.

Heaven help our sport.

Jump 6 was the right time to start.

I got smashed and did it. I was the coolest person on the bridge. Tops came off and everyone was stoked.

Always entertaining here haha...

No, I was serious. Ego and showing off have nothing to do with it. It looks fun. Idgaf about the rest.

Thank you for the replies with advice (and the entertaining ones without). I got my answer. Wait. I'm ok with that. Wasn't sure if it might be easier than a flat exit considering rotating seems to be.




Am I missing something here? What do gainers skydiving have to do with sub terminal base aerials? What's this site for if not to ask a question and get answers from a variety of people.

i did a few balloon gainers from about 1000 feet before doing the real thing at the bridge. first was at 80 jumps.

Then i did a bunch of doubles from a balloon at about 5-600 feet. They are easier than singles in my inexperienced opinion =)

if you suck at a flat and stable you shouldnt be thinking about throwing aerials into the mix. nail your exit.

go to a gymnastics facility, or one of the trampoline places that have a foam pit and practice throwing yourself in there. do gainers, front flips, twisty things, gain body awareness before thinking its ok to "try" one of these off an object.

just because you are at the perrine doesnt make it any safer. the altitude is fairly low and you can get into trouble pretty quickly.

i have accidentally had to rotate another flip so i wasnt pitching on my back and ended up with a very short canopy ride out there. you can still die even though its daylight and legal.

with that said, take away what you will.

jump out, throw your knees at your face and you'll rotate no problem.
dont forget to pitch.

Don't ask questions and obey the hierarchy? Contrary to popular belief, there are people typing on keyboards behind these usernames, some of them more identifiable than others. There's nothing wrong with reaching out to every resource you can get your hands on as long as you frame the source appropriately. When I see "blitzkrieg" or "hjumper33" (obviously only because his name is green) say something, I know I can expect reasonably sound thoughts/advice, so long as they aren't taking the piss out of someone.

That being said, and knowing nothing about aerials, I think if you're asking, the answer is "not yet".

Sorry Mr Moderator. I thought it was an apt response after his own admission of having shit exits and wanting to do aerials. But hey, maybe all the carnage and lack of progression of late is turning me into a cynical cunt.

Your heart was obviously in the right place, and it's certainly reasonable to feel that way given everything going on. But I don't think "stop asking these crazy questions" is as effective as "well, you certainly have a lot of preliminary training ahead of you". When you turn people away, they usually just try to figure it out themselves.

Thanks. Both of you. Im completely ok with waiting and progressing.... I just wasn't sure what the progression exactly was. I like being able to have this resource and hear from people all over the world and collective experience.

Ok, enough jokes made ... Back to serious ...

Don´t "wait". Talk to your mentor, talk to others who are experienced, listen(!), learn and practice.
I guess, they will tell you all the same:
Proceed step by step. It is not connected to a certain numbers of jumps.

And don´t expect good advices in a forum like this ... -joke-

Learn to launch flat and stable from static to running exits,
from handheld to stowed. proof the ability to launch good exits on every jump.

for beginning aerials, first read the stuff from dwain.
It is still a kind of "bible" in my opinion.
http://www.watchthybridle.com/...-Aerials-in-BASE.pdf

If you have the chance for balloon jumps: perfect
If you have the chance to practice in a facility with diving board and foam-pit: great.
Usually the waterdiving guys are real experts in low altitude aerials.
Note: they usually end the aerials really headdown ...

Once you are familiar with the theoretical part and have gained good body awareness, I would suggest balloon jumps from greater height as a start.
Then it is up to you to lower the altitude..
And don´t f.ck up ...

Wanna see a friend of mine who was very motivated in aerials at that time? Yes, he is still alive ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRSlGTGWTPk

Yes sir, yes it is.

My first aerial was I believe jump 16, a gainer off a terminal A. Stuck the shit out of it. Im awesome.

Second aerial, jump 17, perrine. First time at the Perrine. Old borrowed mojo. Slider up. Gainer, turned into double gainer, turned into water landing.

Start aerials when you think you are ready. Try to be smart about it. Learn to be flat and stable first.

On Page 7, the Aerial Progression Order. Step 4, Front pike - p/c handled initially.

Did he literally mean this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekBvFDimpcs

This whole discussion reminds me of the "when is it ok to downsize" thing that happens in skydiving. Of course the answer is the same: "Do it anytime you want but finding out that you weren't ready is really going to fucking hurt".

the real question is;

When should you start your own athlete page...

Don't do it yet. They take time and body awareness. I did my first aerial at jump 30 while and bridge day 2012. Considerably more height. That being said, you can start doing them here at the perrine of course, but you need to be body aware (pitching, orientation, blah blah) and should have a good amount of jumps first before flipping. It increases the good odds :) !