Reason for BASE jumping
I read a section on free soloing in rock climbing that applies very well to basejumping versus skydiving. It's an except from John Long's book "How to Rock Climb," with the words replaced from aid climbing/solo free climbing and skydiving/base. "the penalty ... is almost certain death... even experts will question the sanity of the campaign. To the person not given to risk-taking, even the most passionate explanation will ring hollow. Remember, base jumping is rarely a reckless practice - rather a very calculated, conscious act. And it's a matter of degree... To the novice witnessing this first hand, it seems the purest madness. Why do it? You should certainly not attempt it to find out why. The few who regularly practice base jumping are inevitably experts who technically know exactly what they are doing, and intuitively know exactly why.
What the base jumper craves is either raw intensity, or the joy and freedom that comes from mastery. If he craves notoriety for his feats he is motivated by sham values and may pay for his vanity. The reasons to base jumping must come from the heart and be monitored by an icy, analytical mind. Anything else courts disaster. We all jump, amongst other reasons, because it is exciting. So when the base jumper ups the ante to include all the marbles, you can imagine how the thrill is magnified. Foolish? Perhaps, but an element of tomfoolery runs through the very skein of any jumping. Then base jumper has simply pushed things to their ultimate expression. His rewards, in terms of intensity of experience, are the greatest. And so are the penalties. Amazingly enough, very few base jumping accidents ever occur. This is a clear testament that the practice is undertaken by experts in a very measured and sober way. Unlitmately, base jumping is a distinctively personal affair, and even daily practitioners discourage the practice, as they should. There is certainly no reason for the recreational jumper to ever even consider it."
This is what base jumping means to me.
-BASE 460
