Basejumper.com - archive

In (email) conversation between three experienced (800+ jumps) BASE jumpers:


Be safe out there.

Speaking of odds Tom, i was quoted a 100 jump life expectancy the other day for BASE jumping.

Are there any figures available that suggest this ? or is it as i expect a randomly generated statistic ?

i do belive Tom just got his #1000 And most mentors got 300+jumps..and i do belive its more than luck..

That's an odd comment. 100 jumps? Perhaps if you combine ALL base jumps from all objects you'd get some amazingly low number, although I suspect 100 would be going too far.

Now consider sub-specialties in base. How about the relatively friendly 486-foot span? I've watched hundreds of jumps there in just 4 weekends and roughly estimate there have been well over 10,000 jumps over the years (10 jumps per day, 8 months per year, for 5 years -- completely discounting boogies where there are hundreds of jumps per day.) Texas Tom has 780 jumps off that bridge alone.

As far as I know there has been only one death there. The ratio of jumps to deaths at this bridge is clearly much better than 1:100. More like 1:10,000 which isn't that far from skydiving's numbers.

I think someone was trying to put the frighteners on me, having said that... isn't that what part of the buzz is about ?

It's really only possible to generate reliable statistics for two sites--the legal span in the States and the organized big wall in Southern Norway. At those sites, there are reasonably reliable statistics about number of jumps made, and number of injuries and fatalities.

Based on those statistics, it's quite a bit safer to jump that span than it is to jump the cliff, especially if you are a beginner.

For BASE as a whole, it's quite a bit murkier. Just using anecdotal (i.e. how many jumpers have I known, and how many of them have gone in), I'd say that if you are a "jump until I die" kind of BASE jumper, you have about a 1 in 20 (5%) chance of dying on a jump at some point in your future. If you uses a wider "how many do I think there have been", and look at the fatalities page, I'd still put the number around 5%.

But, since every jump is different, and jumpers risk tolerance vary widely, I'd say that it's pretty much impossible to draw general inferences about a generic BASE jump.

The only real value in the statistics is to see what the causes of accidents are, and try to address them--or to use the statistics to dissuade over-eager students.

You say that like it's a bad thing. Scaring students straight is one of the best things you can do for them.

Don't get me wrong Tom, i'm all for the scaremongering, but i would rather have factual information than hearsay.

I'm not a young guy anymore and i do appreciate the risks (that i'm aware of, that is) and i have a long way to go yet even before i make a jump.

As you rightly say though, it may have been to knock a bit of the eagerness out of me, and i can't see any harm in that.

It was told to me by a CReW jumper believe it or not.

As a founding member of "Team Scared Shitless", Tom could not scare me any more than I already am. My teammates Jimmy Pouchert and Jess Neuger have contests to see who can be the most afraid of BASE jumping. Jimmy got PC assisted from a 1200' cliff so he is currently the team Captain.

*** "I came to kick ass and chew gum, and I'm all out of gum" ***

I was only talking/laughing about your team name the other day.

Do you have t-shirts ? i think i could be a potential new member.

Just to be clear, I had broken my back 7 months prior to this jump and had 2 rods screwed into my spine. This was my first BASE jump since the accident and we just happened to be at a 1200 foot cliff which I just couldn't say no to. Not that I'm saying that I wasn't scared shitless, I was. And I am. I'm pretty sure this feeling will keep me alive much longer. I was feeling pretty invincible up to that terrible jump that I broke my back on and it marked a turning point in my life. Although BASE jumping is one of the best things in my life, my choices are more cautious now and I go over my emergency procedures prior to EACH jump, whereas before I was less focused on this aspect.(ie, not practicing in my head emergency procedures right before exiting). As I move further away from my accident, I am regaining that feeling of confidence(a phenomenon which has been confirmed by those who have been seriously injured and have recovered to keep jumping). I am striving to remember how it felt to lie in that hospital bed and what I can do to avoid that one again.

The figure of a 100 jump life expectancy is ridiculous. If that was true, I doubt if any of us would jump. As a matter of fact, most of us would be dead 5 times over.
We need to emphasize the risk of our sport to newcomers, as it looks easy if done correctly. It's horrendous if it is not.
Jimmy P.

I know what you are talking about(the feeling),but im having a hard time understand how people like you, the moderator of this forum and the lithel Aussie can keep this fear level up at "normal"jumps as you make such(in my world,which move all the time)more demanding jumps aswell...
Or is it that you push it all the time to get the feeling?
Im pretty sure you guys dont feel the same jumping off 400ft handheld,now as you did in the start of your carrer(spell i know).
I hope i dont have to puch my limits too far to get myself scared,so far i dont need to do more than i do at the time....

i think the time i were most scared in my carre(again i just cant spell that) were when i desided to make my first jump after my injury at the same spot under the same conditions(solo handheld slider off jump),but i felt way much better after i had done it,even while it took me almost 1 hour to pshyke me up to jump...(including the 40 min climb to 400ft on my bad leg).

On my recent FJC I was on the bridge waiting to do jump #4. The guy jumping before me had a hard opening, got disoriented and flew to the wrong side of the river. He hit the rocks there, broke both his feet and fell back into the river, Don pulled him out. This was in broad daylight from a legal span with a 'rescue' boat waiting below.

I reckon if I choose to carry on jumping I have to accept that I am going to see or personally experience worse. This is not something that I am coming to terms with lightly or flippantly.

Will

Do you plan to do a write-up on you trip Will ?
i for one would be interested (like that counts) as to what your expectations were and what you liked or disliked (apart from the obvious above).

About quotes ... this quote is in my written instruction (use it for my students so I do not forget to tell them anything)

"It is up to each individual to decide how many times they want to roll the dice and see if they can getaway with it, but it is only a matter of time. The house always wins …"

PerFlare
Team Bautasten

Love to hear your experiences at the FJC. How did you find it, what did you learn from it, what didn't match up to your expectations etc. By the way which FJC was this ? I'm going to go for one someday so I would love to hear what your experience there was.

Hi Spiderbaby,

As we discussed a few weeks ago, I think I'm ready to join your team after my "hangingout" incident in Seattle:)