Re: [pmujesab] I started BASE jumping because.....
I guess I'll post an answer here... being as I am a person who has recently made this decision but has yet to start, perhaps my banter will aid someone else one way or the other. Let me reiterate: I'm only just starting BASE and have made no jumps yet, if I live for another three weeks, I'll have completely begun by taking a FJC offered by one of the manufacturers.
My attraction to dangerous sports has arguably always been a part of me. I remember my mom telling me that I was climbing my dresser when I was just a couple years old, and since I was eight or ten I’ve been very attracted to parachuting. When we first got a trampoline I was in love with the repeated feeling of jumping up and falling down and I yearned for longer and longer freefalls. My sister and I would jump from an old rickety ladder onto the trampoline, and while this took the edge off the urge to fall farther, it didn’t satisfy it. I soon realized I wanted very badly to jump from the roof onto the tramp, and then having done that, I wanted the extra 4 feet altitude of not landing on the tramp, but on the ground. I realized though, that I would need a parachute. I rigged up a silver dome-tent rain-fly and jumped it repeatedly off of the trampoline, experimenting with different configurations and inflation techniques. Once I felt confident the rain-fly would slow my fall enough, I took it up to the roof and fearlessly jumped. The landing sent shuddering pain up my legs and tears streamed from my eyes as I laid there thinking I’d just broken my legs - they weren’t broken, just painful. And so I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t do such a silly thing again unless I was more properly equipped.
All through high school, all I wanted to do was rock climb. While climbing satisfied many of my dangerous urges, I learned how to control the dangers and climb without the risks. Climbing became less of an endorphine pastime, and more about my body being fluid with nature. Skydiving was where my heart was dreaming. I thought it would be just about the scariest thing a guy could do, and so I saved up, went down to the DZ, lied about my age, and did my first tandem. While I was extremely disappointed by the lack of falling sensation, I was hooked by the weightless flying feeling, and knew I needed to become a skydiver. The rest of the story is intuitive, and while most think I keep pushing the limits of sanity, I feel I’ve always approached dangerous activities very carefully, always realizing that the best part of living is that you can keep living, to climb another cliff, jump another plane.
So for the past few years my heart’s wandering off this other crazy dream of flight. BASE jumping is a hurricane of thought that has plagued my mind most of the time, both waking and asleep. For the last year, there hasn’t been a night that passed without me dreaming of strapping on a BASE rig atop a dream climb or a bridge and leaping off gracefully. I started asking people about the sport to find they had little to tell me that I didn't already know, that BASE is an extremely stupid pastime that should never be done, that I was silly to even think about it... I was trying to focus on other things, yet my BASE jumping dreams were increasing to a point of distraction. I have now come to a point where I know with all my heart and soul that I will start BASE jumping, and that I will love it. I feel like to fits me like a hand in a glove. I have realized that every time I’ve been way up on something tall, my spirit was jumping off of it. And so I have been selling my blood and plasma at multiple locations, weakening my immune system to the point of near failure, eating no more than $3 of food per day, and spending no extraneous money in order to purchase my BASE gear and pay for the FJC. My commitment is total and all encompassing.
I've thought a lot about why I want to BASE, and writing it down really helps. I wrote a similar explanation to my mom and my sister, and I feel like the reason I’ve shared this mumbo jumbo here and with them is because I wanted people to understand the decision I’m making is not only one of the biggest decisions of my life, but the one I’ve put the most thought, time and energy into making. I wanted people to know that I’m not trying to be reckless, I don’t want my family to think I’m disregarding their interests in having me in their lives, and I am not trying to hurt myself or anyone who feels close to me. I am going to start BASE jumping for many well-thought-out reasons and while one of the principle goals I have is to continue doing it into ripe old age, I realize this may not happen, that I may die on my first or second jump. I do not feel like I am someone who will needlessly risk his life, I feel that I take calculated risks in order to live my dreams more completely and fulfill my heart’s desires.
My decision was facilitated by the fact that I have no true girlfriend, very few people who I feel super close to, only two surviving family members, and a plethora of accomplished goals and ambitions. When I was 12 I wrote a list of over 450 goals, I've accomplished more than 300 of them from surfing 25' waves to skiing fourteeners - When I make a decision that limits my life, I'm satisfied knowing I've done most everything else I ever wanted to do. All the rest that comes is bonus! If this weren't the case, the decision would be different. Think about your loved ones, think about your goals in life. BASE will always wait for you to finish all your other plans... I feel that even though I'm not done living, I have to live like I am willing to be if I agree to become a BASE jumper. For the last 10 years of my life I've lived each day like it was my last. I'm well versed doing that and so now it's time to up the anti I guess.
Cheers to many many more bonus moments to be enjoyed by all,
CP
