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If you don't like hiking I would get out of base

Hi there. Can you find the word "hike" or "hiking" in my post? Just wondering if you are making some assumptions...

what you call climbing I call a hike

Ah.

Clever.

and its about as easy as it gets in base... hence the comment

Even more clever.

I think the two of you need to get off your arrogant sky god pedestals and consider something beside your own perspectives.

There might, just might be new members of this sport who are genuinely interested in learning how to do things like, I don't know, exits properly and realize that by listening to BFL summaries on YouTube (check it out) that dehydration and exhaustion are key contributors to accidents in BASE. In fact, one accident at the bridge last year likely bad dehydration and exhaustion as causal factors.

I can hike here British Columbia. I can learn to climb here in B.C. What I cannot do here in BC is learn to exit unless I wish to do so from a non-bridge object.

I'm a 51 year old airline pilot (12 yr Capt 737NG, 18000 hrs) who is intimately familiar with mistakes due to fatigue. We are trained to spot the effects of this and remove ourselves from duty when we are fatigued.

I'm heading to Twin next week because I have 6 days in which to do so. I want every jump to count. Which means keeping my 51 year old a$$ rested. Because I don't want to make a fatal mistake. I pulled myself off two jumps last week in my FJC because I was tired and I would do so again. Ergo, climbing, er, "hiking" straight up to the bridge is not in my plans next week. Nor would it be safe (for me). Those on my course last week know i kept up and even set the pace on our "hikes" out to the park.

Additionally, I busted my tibia plateau last June while jumping tired so I know too well that I don't have to jump while tired.

And who knows, maybe I will quit BASE. Especially if I run into more, oh nevermind.

Thanks to you both for your help.

@$$holes

No need to get your panties in a wad, I'm just pointing out he was being accurate about that being likely the most easy accsess you'll find to any object in this sport, not just being a smartass.

Not sure about the taxi service route but I've been lucky enough to catch a few rides when there has been a course going on at the bridge. Although you have to coordinate your jumps with their loads. Or you could bring a non jumping friend along and have them shuttle for you.

No need for a taxi. Just find a young Twin Falls BASE groupie that wears short shorts and a halter top. Make it abundantly clear that you will be her sugar daddy if she hangs out to admire your jumps and give you rides. Who knows, maybe you'll get some after-hours action too.

Twin is swimming in tang. You just gotta get your groove on!

Looks like an Uber is about 8 bucks

If you don't like the climb under the bridge it is only 45 mins to hike the road out.
You mention your concern with fatigue. Simple. Do less jumps.
As others have said, Twin is likely the easiest hike you will find. If it is too much then you should probably be concentrating on your fitness not your exit technique.

I just want to say I thought this was quite a solid response to the heckling from the crowd and I enjoyed reading it.

I don't know if he has a valid drivers license, or if he'd be much help given his penchant for BASE, but this sounds like the perfect job for Jester...

your'e an airline pilot...
build yourself a personal drone, you should be qualified to fly it back up to the packing area, pack, fly it down so it's waiting for you, and repeat.
Problem solved

you can just hitch hike back up from where the trail meet the road.. tons of vehicle traffic and mostly trucks.. i did it several times and got a ride almost right away.

No offense, but Wasatchrider is spot on.
I am happy to hear that you are stoked on BASE but if you consider the short hike up out of the Perrine to be "taxing " and anything more than a short hike, then you may be limiting yourself to very benign BASE experiences.
All the Best, B.

I am going to stick up for the guy. He just asks an innocent question, maybe it's not how you or I would jump, but everybody tries to make him feel bad. Maybe thinking they are helping him... but are they really... I doubt it

It's ironic, newbies usually get flamed for asking how to do something really dangerous. This guys is literally doing the exact opposite. As long as he's being conservative, why not let him find his own comfort zone in BASE?

When you say only 45 mins to hike the road out, does that include the walk from the LZ out along the river and up the road, or only the road part back to the bridge?
Thanks.

+1 you can hitchhike out pretty easily.

Sounds like you are prepared to do some physical conditioning back home but want to get as much BASE-specific experience as possible out of the bridge. That sounds reasonable. It is hard to read tone on the internet -- I can see how others read your first post the wrong way.

You are right! Hiking probably isn't for everybody but it always seemed to me that you had to work for your jumps in BASE one way or another, kind of like the mantra in Backcountry Skiing "earn your turns "
That said I apologize if I sounded critical,
Best wishes for fun and safe jumps, B.

Hi.

I just did my first hike up the wall. It wasn't as bad as I imagined but on the same token I have a plate and screws and pins in my l left leg that led to a significant amount of atrophy in that leg last summer... I took a break under the bridge for twenty minutes as the anaerobic effort was too much for me at this point.

No matter what the pursuit is in life, one can't let peer pressure influence the choices you make, otherwise you will make bad choices. Including at exit. Part of maturity is knowing what your limitations are. That and you realize that you can decide whether you want to care what posters on internet forums (or indeed, in real life) have to say.

I think may never jump anything besides the bridge at Twin Falls. Who knows, who cares. Enjoy your own life and don't worry about what others do with theirs.

Take care all. Happy landings.

John Swallow
Vernon, BC
250 208 7462

I can walk LZ to Outback in less than 45 mins. Along the river to the stairs and then up the road from there. I don't like climbing under the bridge when shit is frozen.

fair enough just tying to put things into perspective.
the jump is a very small percentage of a base jump. It takes a lot more time getting there accessing the situation travel and a lot of other things.
People spend years of skydiving and 100s of jumps normally for preparing for base but do nothing else to prepare for actually getting to the jump
maybe hiking during their jumps at the bridge should be part of the preparation if they are going to be jumping anything else besides the bridge and tramland

If you're taking a 20 minute break, or think your effort is anaerobic, you are moving too fast. Moving quickly in the extra steep sections can be helpful, but if you're just trying to make it up eventually, a slow, steady pace will make you faster and leave you with more energy over the course of a day. I usually like to treat packing as my "rest time", because I feel like going slow there is a more efficient use of my time.

Hey John,

One thing about the internet is it's really hard to understand what people mean and where they come from.

I've known Heath (wasatchrider) for a very long time. Been on hundreds of jumps with him and consider him one of my closest friends (when he's not Keith ).

Let me start by saying as a new jumper don't have so much pride . Heath's comments though they seem rather brash are coated with watching a lot of people die or get injured and a plethora of experience. I can assure you he is not saying this stuff just to make you feel bad or him better. Here in Utah, we see probably the most amount of jumps per capita than any other state maybe besides Twin Falls. Basically, we see a lot of people and a lot of dumb stuff. I share some of Heath's sentiments that physical fitness parallels a long safeish career in BASE. Does that mean everyone everywhere every circumstance? No of course not. However, we see a lot of people who are tired and fatigued (as you mentioned) making poor decisions and get hurt or they are just ill prepared skillset wise.

Sorry to hear about your injury, I'm sure that doesn't heal fast at your age. Again your circumstances are probably different and not everyone fits in the same box. Maybe you will just be a bridge jumper, and there is nothing wrong with that at all. Knowing your limits and assets is probably the number one way to have a really fun time with BASE jumping, and it certainly seems like you have that down pat. Being conservative in BASE is great, but (again I don't know you so don't take it so literal) a lot of people seem to think that everything will go okay if you just do step 1, 2, 3. I've seen people with all the right numbers and all the right steps taken still flop off slider down exits in Moab. Even worse, watched some do a few wingsuits or even be very proficient wingsuit fliers on skydives end up smashing into power lines or rocks and then had to listen to deputy doolittle sheriffs tell me how much rescues are going to cost for friends body recoveries. Again, not at you personally, but we don't know you so this is what we have to go on is our experience.

The frustration is that as BASE grows, the training, equipment, and options available are more plentiful than ever. Even with this, there's still a lot of people just scraping by in this sport. Maybe not realizing how perilously close to the edge of death or serious injury they are. Maybe they genuinely don't care? That's not my business to tell them or control them and never will be. But I sure don't mind speaking up if I have a inkling that someone just doesn't know.

So none of this is really about John Swallow and I hope you don't take it that way. It's more the frustration of what is coming out of this sport recently. Personally, I love flying and hope to have more places to openly do so in the future. Therefore, my selfish side tends to speak out when I see stupid things, but I know I'm as guilty as the next in mistakes I have made or steps skipped from my past. So, I use that opportunity to tell people where I fucked up and in the rare case someone takes to heart what you have to say, could prevent them from making the same mistakes.

Anyways, luckily had some spare time to write all this out. My door is always open if you're in Salt Lake City, Utah or want any info on BASE jumping or anything in the outdoors here. At the end of the day we are all part of this silly community that likes to jump off shit with parachutes, so we might as well take care of one another.

How long does one have to be a jumper for before one can have some pride? Is it a years in the sport thing or is it based solely on jump numbers and objects? And then once we achieve said pride, is that when we're allowed to be assholes online?

Hey John! You'll have to ignore plenty of arrogent jumpers. First thing I realized when I got in the sport is to ignore those guys or they'll just ruin your day and BASE experience.

First off just because they can climb out 10 times in a day does not mean you should be able to. Fatique will kill you in BASE! I will climb out no more than 3 times and then I am shot for the rest of the day. If I walk out (or take the boat) then I can jump way more often and be safe about it.

People hitch hike up, and sometimes it's pretty successful. Or you can make friends and try to jump with people so you can arrange a shuttle of sort! Safe jumping dude!

It's 125.6 jumps from 42 objects, and then you can be an asshole online.

OK, Good, Alrighty then, nice to know that I qualify, but just another important reminder, when logging your BASE jumps you are only entitled to count 15 from the Potato Bridge, and any more than that from that particular object are considered to be an unnecessary extravagance and a waste of bragging rights, this is why although I am the world's most experienced BASEjumper with well in excess of 20,000 Jumps, I am still struggling to pass the magical number of 1,000 bonafide, amazing, death defying, leaps from awe inspiring and dizzying objects.
I was considering a stunt where I set fire to my.......Oh never mind,it's obvious that I am more than qualified to be an asshole online....

I'll disagree. I have a couple of objects that you can park either right at the exit or very close. Both of those you can park in the LZ.