Basejumper.com - archive

Hello fellow base community!
I was wondering if you guys could give me some advice on my upcoming Lauterbrunnen trip.

The most important thing for me is: it has to be as cheap as possible!
I want to go there for about 3-4 days and either sleep in a tent or in my car. So my most important question is: Is there any cheap place, where I can go to use a shower maybe once or twice a day?
I just want to clarify one more thing: I'm not a basejumper (yet :D). I'm still a beginner skydiver who is very amazed by basejumping, so I just have to see it myself!
My plan is to bring my bike and check out the whole location, visit some exit points, meet new people and just smell some of that glorious base air! ;D

Any advice will be very appreciated, thank you!
I wish you all blue skies and always onheading openings! ;)

Cheers

car camping in LB is highly illegal and you will get a BIG fine.
I wouldn't even bring a car because they charge you for parking, it isn't cheap.
if I were you, I would get on the train and take it there. then stay at the Horner pub. its very cheap like $30 US a night. plus everyone will be there hanging out for you to meet. and buy your beer at the prix, its waay cheaper.

Unfortunately, in my view there is no such thing as a 'cheap' LB trip. If you want to save money don't stay at the Horner, take a tent and camp at the campground down past the Shutzenbach and take cooking gear if you can. Meals and accommodation in town will cost you

switzerland is not a cheap country period. Depending on where you're flying into, see if it's worth renting a car vs taking a train. The train to lb from Zürich was about the same price as 2 days car rental last I checked. You'll get busted sleeping in your car in lb itself, but I've had good luck sleeping a few min outside of town. Staying at the Im rohr is only a bit more expensive than a campsite, and you get a shower and access to packing areas and a kitchen. Cooking for yourself will save quite a bit of money too.

Discount train tickets if purchased ahead online.

Going to exits will cost tram fee.

The best way to do a cheap big wall trip is to go to Italy.

Switzerland (and Norway, too) is an expensive country.

Best advice for doing LB (a tourist area of an already expensive nation) cheaply:

1) Grocery Shop in Italy. Bring as much food as possible with you. Buy nothing in Lauterbrunnen itself, and as little in Switzerland as possible.

2) Stay at the Chalet Im Rohr. $35 (approximately) per night with a kitchen is the absolute bottom end here (I'm typing this from the Im Rohr dining room) and having a kitchen is critical to reducing expenses.

3) Get the train pass (it's around $75 but worth it to get the jumps in). Never buy an individual train ticket.

4) Don't jump the mushroom. It's a super awesome jump, but it's also pretty expensive to get there (even hiking).

And remember to buy REGA membership. If you'll get rescued without it, it's going to be even more expensive if you do not have insurance.

I would even go further than that and say "buy an insurance that covers rescues". Please bear in mind that Rega membership IS NOT an insurance...

Wrong! REGA membership is not insurance. Buy travel insurance.

I know that. And I never wrote that it is. But it will still most probably cover the rescue. And nothing else. Have a good travel/sports insurance also...

Sorry, your second sentence heavily implied that it was insurance and a necessity. It's possible for most nationalities to find travel insurance that will cover BASE (or an extreme hiking accident if your friends remove your gear) for as low as $20/week, which covers not only your medivac but also your ER inpatient stay. REGA dicks around and wants you to pay upfront and then maybe they'll decide to cover it later on.

Medivacs also are quite inexpensive compared to hospital stays. A 1 hour heli ride from LB to Inselspital is ~$5k, getting busted at Brento costs $30 (or $110 if it's just a light injury).

Sorry, maybe wrote it in not precise way. Has there been base related rescues that were not covered by REGA membership?

Depending on where you live you could also consider to visit Lysebotn.
Norway is super expensive country too, but it is much easier to avoid some expenses there than in Swiss.
Probably the best time for your stay will be during the Heliboogie (21-24 of June). Many people, lots of jumping and good parties.

If You interested I can post more detailed info?

As I understand it rega will only pay if your insurance won't pay. You're supposed to have insurance too.

And even then, its possible for them to decline covering it.

Get insurance, for both medical expenses and rescue...before we see GoFundIt for the Nth time to have everyone else pay instead of the person responsible..

Buszi- I'd like some more info on Norway if you don't mind posting or PMing me. Thanks!

I have been in Lysebotn, so the info will be for only that part of Norway. I will answer to original question: how to make it cheap. And sorry for my poor english.

How to get there:

From Stavanger lufthavn you need to take a bus and a ferry after that. Very helpful site: https://www.kolumbus.no/en/
You can take what "plan your journey" will say (from stavanger lufthavn to Lysebotn ferjekai). Personally I prefer to go different way. Bus 42 from stavanger lufthavn to sandnes then bus47 to lauvvik kai and next take a ferry "560" at 13:55 to Lysebotn. That will be a little cheaper(117nok-flybus+160nok-ferry vs. 70nok-buses+113nok-ferry), but it is possible only when you land at the morning. When You need and have time, I usually take earlier bus 42 and get out of it at Kvadrat holdeplass 1 to buy some gas cartridges at Biltema store. You can continue your journey with the next bus 42 after shopping on the same ticket. There is also some shops at Sandness rb.st.
Keep in mind that during weekend in Norway almost all shops are closed and there is not many buses running.
Bring as much as you can with you. Except few thing, like for example salmon, prices in shop are crazy. Especially alcohol. At the airport you may find that the prices in the free zone are not as good as you might expect, but the closer to Lysebotn it will be worse. One beer there is 70NOK.

On site:

To make it cheap you need to cook by yourself and take a tent. You can camp in Norway for free with few rules.
Unfortunately, a few years ago the construction of a new hydroelectric power plant began (http://www.lysekonsern.no/lysebotn2/), and since then the most popular sites have been occupied by construction camp, but you should still find some spot. Maybe not that good (close to Stavanger Base Klubb, river/water and WC next to ferry stop), but free.
Bring a US code two way radio with You (You need only one). You can buy it on site also, but that way it would be more expensive of course.

Visit http://stavangerbase.com/

If You have more questions, feel free to ask.

Pssst... did you guys even read the OP?

"I just want to clarify one more thing: I'm not a basejumper (yet :D). I'm still a beginner skydiver who is very amazed by basejumping, so I just have to see it myself!
My plan is to bring my bike and check out the whole location, visit some exit points, meet new people and just smell some of that glorious base air! ;D "

So unless he crashes his bike...

I don't see what harm was made in mentioning the importance of REGA/insurance...? OP is quite clearly interested in BASE and maybe one day jump himself

Hey guys, thanks for all your answers!

I am aware that Swiss is an expensive country but I'm still confident to make it a cheap trip.
Since it's illegal to sleep in the car, I will probably have to use a tent. I'm just not sure where exactly to camp. Is it possible to stay outside official campsites? Maybe somewhere at the edge of town in the forest or this this illegal as well? I will also bring and cook my own food.
My biggest concern is still that I have no idea if I'm gonna be able to find a bathroom that I can use.
I'm going anyway, even if I have to use the lake for washing :D

Cheers!

Bandit camping in Switzerland is pretty tough to pull off. It's a very organized country. I know people who've done it, but there's a lot of looking over your shoulder and keeping on the move.

if you use the big beautiful bathroom please buy biological bodywash and toothpaste!

Or maybe just make use of one of the campsites with everything you need, including kitchen and bathroom. Check out camping jungfrau if you want to be near bars and restaurants or stores.

rega is an annual membership and generally encouraged for any mountaineering endeavor including hiking tho maybe more for winter months.

huge user base aside from the base community and not just for swiss stuff. i'd go for it.

It's illegal. I know people have done it but they stayed way out in the boonies and moved every day. Keep in mind that the locals and the local police know every inch of the valley way better than you do.

If you're determined to go just suck it up and stay somewhere. Don't bother with camping Jungfrau, it's only a few francs cheaper than a room. some of the other campgrounds are cheaper, there are a couple of dorm room hostels too. The Horner might let you sleep in their carpark for a reasonable rate.

I believe shutzenbach backpakers is cheaper.

Regarding illegal camping, the best place would be about halfway down to the noses, abut 50 meters to the right of where the stream ends.

Tom- or anyone that cares to chime in.

What train pass would you recommend? I'm looking for an affordable way to get gondola rides while I'm in the valley next weekend. Landing in Zurich on Fri and I'll take regional trains to Lauterbrunnen. After that, I'm stumped. I've got my escape planned from Brig to Venice via the high speed trains on the 10th. Could really use some advice on gondola tickets though.

Thanks in advance!

Anyone going to be in the valley July 7-10, 2017? Traveling w my wife and jumping alone at the moment. Till I meet folks at the horner I'm sure

Just walk into the train station in Lauterbrunnen and say (in English): "I'm a BASE jumper and I need the train pass."

They know which zones to give you to get you to all the exit points. It costs about $80 for a month. Even if you're there for three days, if you do a fair number of jumps, it's worth getting the pass rather than buying individual tickets.

edit: Bring a spare passport photo, for the train pass. If you don't have one there is a booth there to get one made, but it's much cheaper to get one at home and bring it. Save the pass afterward. It's slightly cheaper the next time if you bring the old pass with you.

Nice! I appreciate it. I'm clearly over thinking all of this. I'm sure it'll be worth it. Going to be cranking loads as fast as possible while weather permits

 

Great Alan- thanks for the help. Top notch advice right there. PS, I see a few years back you were looking for beta on my local A. The big one in the desert. if you're ever back in the area, reach out. We've got that elevator running great. I may suck, but I would gladly help a jumper w questions.

If I knew what I know today, I would have started surfing and freediving instead. Just my two cents

How old are you?
Spend your money on skydiving, jump some few antennas when you are ready, or go with the suggestions i made first. Many things out there to explore, big walls and all that, will still be there later. And Im not joking, surfing and freediving will get you excellent bakground for skydiving and base later. Mind, body, reaxtion and muscle memory.