antieverything 0 #1 April 21, 2015 For those of you who's done both Sky and BASE jumps, which one was more intense, scary, fulfilling experience when you did it for the very first time? Thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,720 #2 April 22, 2015 First BASE jump was scarier. Overall skydiving has been more fulfilling. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yoink 321 #3 April 22, 2015 billvonFirst BASE jump was scarier. Overall skydiving has been more fulfilling. Yup. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
virgin-burner 1 #4 April 22, 2015 BASE is scarier and more fullfilling; who doesnt like to spend a day or a couple in the mountains hiking, no crowded planes and you dont have to deal with the idiots if you dont want to. “Some may never live, but the crazy never die.” -Hunter S. Thompson "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try." -Yoda Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
akarunway 1 #5 April 22, 2015 billvonFirst BASE jump was scarier. Overall skydiving has been more fulfilling.Agree. Ist AFF reseve side told me beforehand "Don't sweat it. Piece of cake" Ist Base I wasn't really afraid but seemed al little more risky. No reserve and all. Thanks Marta and Jimmy.I hold it true, whate'er befall; I feel it, when I sorrow most; 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 598 #6 April 22, 2015 yoink***First BASE jump was scarier. Overall skydiving has been more fulfilling. Yup. Yup! Far more vivid memories of the golden sunrise, deep green trees and the mist in the valley. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gort 0 #7 April 22, 2015 billvonFirst BASE jump was scarier. These answers are interesting... On your first skydive, you're facing freefall and potential death for the very first time, and doing it with unfamiliar equipment. That's understandably scary as hell. On your first BASE jump, presumably, you're already an experienced skydiver who is used to falling through the sky, accepts the risk of death, and is familiar and comfortable with the gear. So it would seem that these factors would mitigate the fear on a 1st BASE jump. The only new aspect is the reduced altitude, proximity to objects, and zero launch speed. So for BASE to still be scarier, despite all those advantages of exposure to previous skydiving experience, that really seems to say something about how comfortable we get with wide open skies and plenty of altitude! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joellercoaster 6 #8 April 22, 2015 Gort On your first BASE jump, presumably, you're already an experienced skydiver who is used to falling through the sky, accepts the risk of death, and is familiar and comfortable with the gear. I think you are giving too much credit to the majority of skydivers: I think they don't so much accept the risk of death, as assume it doesn't apply to them -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
antieverything 0 #9 April 24, 2015 That ~5x increase in fatality rate probably also contributes to a little bit more sober perspective ;) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MrOneNut 0 #10 April 24, 2015 They are very different disciplines to me that share the common denominator of a parachute. Each has its highlights. I know that I will always skydive. BASE I entered with an objective and am just starting out. Folks have entered BASE without skydiving but this is generally not recommended. It seems that these sorts of discussions focus on risk, but I will say that in terms of intense satisfaction 1 BASE jump is equivalent to some of the best skydives I have had. My first BASE jump ignited a passion that has never left. The preparation, both mental and physical, required to make a BASE jump I feel are part of what makes it more rewarding on a per jump basis to me. If you want to BASE I subscribe to the you can never have enough skydives school of thought, so hopefully you will fall in love with skydiving first and then fall in love with BASE when the time and circumstances are right for you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bluhdow 31 #11 April 24, 2015 Hiking > Plane RidesApex BASE #1816 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
angryelf 0 #12 April 24, 2015 pm sent."Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PixieUK 0 #13 April 29, 2015 antieverything For those of you who's done both Sky and BASE jumps, which one was more intense, scary, fulfilling experience when you did it for the very first time? Thanks I met a guy last year who had learned parachuting via BASE jumping (off a bridge to start with, not proximity or buildings) as the friends who got him into the sport were all BASE jumpers. The first time he went up in a plane to jump, he was horrified at the thought of jumping from a moving vehicle and pretty freaked by the height!! I'm assuming most BASE jumpers start out as skydivers first, but it's not always the case, and that definitely altered my friend's perspective A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baksteen 84 #14 May 5, 2015 Gort On your first skydive, you're facing freefall and potential death for the very first time, and doing it with unfamiliar equipment. That's understandably scary as hell. Then again, you're placing yourself into a situation for which you have no frame of reference at all. The first jump 'happens' to many people, it takes a second (third, fourth...) jump to actually experience the jump. Some people actually get more scared for the second (third, fourth...) jump, as they now know what they're getting themselves into. Gort On your first BASE jump, presumably, you're already an experienced skydiver who is used to falling through the sky, accepts the risk of death, and is familiar and comfortable with the gear. So it would seem that these factors would mitigate the fear on a 1st BASE jump. The only new aspect is the reduced altitude, proximity to objects, and zero launch speed. So for BASE to still be scarier, despite all those advantages of exposure to previous skydiving experience, that really seems to say something about how comfortable we get with wide open skies and plenty of altitude! So now you have developed your skydiving skillset. You learned to reckon altitude and have trained your EPs and hard deck until they are almost second nature. And there you are. Preparing to jump with unfamiliar equipment from an altitude which according to all your training is way too low for a fully opening parachute. Sounds pretty scary to me "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites