Quick Intro to BASE Jumping
B. - Building
A. - Antenna
S. - Span (Bridge)
E. - Earth
Jumping - To spring off the ground or other base by a muscular effort of the legs and feet.
WARNING!
“BASE jumping is a highly dangerous sport that can easily injure and kill participants. Think long and hard before making a BASE jump. We do not recommend BASE jumping to anybody. You, and you alone, are responsible for your safety.” —www.basejumper.com
Brief History
BASE jumping is the sport of jumping off of a high grounded object with a specialized shoot that allows you to “safely” float to the ground after a short free fall. One of the first recorded jumps was off of the Statue of Liberty by Frederick Law in 1912. BASE Jumping was sporadic over most of the last century and did not become popularized until the 1970s. Filmmaker Carl Boenish filmed the first BASE jumps u
sing ram air parachutes in 1978. At about this time Carl, along with his wife and a couple of friends, coined the acronym B.A.S.E. and the sport has been growing ever since.
BASE jumping grew out of skydiving, but it is a much more dangerous undertaking. You have less time to react, because of the lower jump altitudes, and you have less control over your flight, due to the slower air-speeds attained. That means, if you make a mistake, your chance of survival is greatly decreased in comparison to that of a skydive. Many BASE jumpers do not even carry a reserve shoot, because they wouldn’t have time to use it anyway.
How do you get into BASE jumping?
First you need to put in at least 100 to 200 skydives. You need to know your equipment and you need to be able to react in a split second. Your free fall and gliding times are significantly shortened during a BASE jump, so you need to have be able to hit your marks. Then you need to think long and hard about your decision to BASE jump. There is a high probability that you could get severely injured or die. This is no joke. Sober up by checking out the BASE Fatality list here. If you still can’t live without BASE jumping then you need to find the proper training and mentors. For more details on getting started, check out Dwain Weston’s article on www.basejumpers.com.
Once you make a jump from each of the four categories - Building, Antenna, Span, Earth - you can apply for you BASE #. Now you are one of the few, the proud, and the… crazy. But, hey, that’s okay, because it’s something that I hope to do one day too :) Sometimes you have to be a little crazy to live to the fullest. From what I hear though, once you jump, you are hooked. Know your limits, and if your gut tells you not to do something, wait another day to give it a second chance.
Isn’t BASE Jumping Illegal?
Believe it or not, BASE jumping is legal in the US and in many other countries around the world. The reason that so many people are covert about their jumps is because of the fact that they are jumping off of private property designated “No Trespassing.” But there are many places that are open to “Legal” jumps, including the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia. One day a year, since 1979, Bridge Day has been held in Fayetteville, WV. It hosts over 450 jumpers who legally launch off of the New River Gorge Bridge within a 6 hour period.
BASE jumping at Bridge Day 2009
This weekend I will be at Bridge Day and I will get a chance to interview and film many BASE jumpers. I will ask questions about what drives them to partake in such a daring sport. I will ask them how they can afford to live a lifestyle that includes the expense of so many jumps and days away from home. I will ask them the questions that you Tweet me within the next few days. So what do you want to know about BASE jumping?
Related Links
www.basejumper.com
www.officialbridgeday.com
Dwain Weston’s Article
Base Jumping Wikipedia
BASE Fatality List
