solo base, story

[460 0]

i cannot believe i actually have 250 solo jumps, most of these without a cell.

Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

[dmcoco84 4]

I prefer using VGC “virtual ground crew as Tom put it”. I'll be doing a lot of those in the future. Yea it’s definitely a totally different feeling! Quite wonderful…. exhilarating if I may!

I absolutely love jumping with my buddies, its great to be able to share the experience of BASE with those close to you. But along with that I've always been kind of a loner (that is until meeting those similar to myself in the skydiving and BASE community) too so jumping solo is just like a lot of other things I have enjoyed doing solo in my life. And like base60 said, he never knows when he is gonna be jumping. I’m pretty spur of the moment also so if the winds are right and I call up a buddy and he’s busy, VGC is a pretty smart way to make a solo. It’s the “safety net solo”, as I like to call it.

Coco

[base515 0]

If you're calling people to let them know are jumping then it ISN'T a TRUE Solo.

May we live long and die out

[dmcoco84 4]

I'm up there by myself, I climbed by myself, jump, landed and left by myself. Thats solo enough for me.

[leroydb 0]

coco, 515 has a technical point... I have only 1 true solo (not anymore now eh?) and you cant explain what goes through your head at those times... it is very different that when you have phone-crew...

YmmV...

Leroy


..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio...

[dmcoco84 4]

Yea...... Well I'm not gonna be doing any "true" solo's for a while. If I burned in on one of our towers, I'd die in the middle of a soy field and no one would find me. Screw that!!! I'll do a true solo on a B so at least someone will find me.

But congrats to you Le Roy. That does take some balls. I stick to the VGC!

[tfelber 0]

Quote

A lot more scary when you're alone.

I'm always alone! Most times, although that's very few still, I'm the last one off. I have no issue with it. I have had people tell me they don't want to leave me up here alone, but I think that's one of the reasons I will hang out on the edge for a while before I jump, so I can create my aloneness.

I get clear in my head what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and whether things will be OK no matter which way it turns out. I make sure I'm not doing it for the people watching and/or waiting. With a price this high it has got to be for me and I'll take as much time as I want to figure these things out. If your in a hurry and must go then go. As I said earlier, I have no issue with it.

[Faber 0]

beeing alone on a solo is stupied.. i mean.. ive got myself a few good freinds who always are arround as i climb my objects..
They have learned to fly for real and done it for ever..
yeah im talking about the living envioment arround the jump scene.. most time i find animals arround my objects(uasly A´s)..

besides that doing solos whith out other people arround or knowing about what your doing is great.. now do it whith out video or stills and you´ll experience a hole new thing..(resulting for me that i nearly has stopped doing vid and stills at my solos)..

Stay safe
Stefan Faber

[hWalker 0]

It was meant to be a solo A, but…

Perfect day, winds were calm, sun was shining, not that cold. So I decided this was time for my first solo. Actually, on the way to the A I was hoping that I'd meet other BASE jumpers there, and as I was approaching it I thought I'd seen someone climbing up but I was wrong. Anyways, I got to the top. Called up my buddy, told him to call back in 20 minutes and started to gear up. I was in a good mood and felt no hesitation whatsoever. Then, all of a sudden I felt that the A was starting to get shaky (non-working freestander, around 360). First I thought the winds picked up but no, they were still calm. What the f***. It just didn't feel right. Searching for the reason I looked down and what did I see??? I saw a whole crowd of BASE jumpers climbing up! What a surprise!!! I had to wait for them to get to the top because the exit I'd picked requires some balancing and I wouldn't wanna get out there on a shaky A. So, what was meant to be a solo turned into a big load, but hey! I'm not disappointed. They even brought some champagne with them and let me have a bit.
P.S. BASE jumping is growing on me more and more each time.