JaapSuter

Definitely. I wouldn't consider doing a snowboard- or ski-BASE jump on delays longer than two seconds.

Hey, as some figured out already, it was yours truly who hit a cliff last week. I finally got around to writing the incident report and you can read it here. The story is a little long but maybe it'll be useful to somebody. If only to show that BASE jumping ain't all fun and glory, no matter how much you try to fool yourself into believing that. In particular, I want to warn all prospective snowboard-BASErs (like those interested in a possibly APOOPA event) to be aware of the complications that come from a snowboard-BASE exit. I've been riding for twelve years, and I've done a fair amount of freestyle snowboarding (see attached pictures). But unlike last year, this time I didn't go off as stable as I should have gone... Then again, maybe the confidence in my snowboarding skills was actually the very thing that caused me to underestimate the seriousness of the exit. From that perspective, an underprepared jumper might actually do better. Live, learn, be embarrassed, move on... Jaap

I'm human enough to admit that I'm only proud when everything goes well, and even then only in relation to a certain group of people. Laymen have seen it all after they've seen one BASE jump of ya. They lose apreciation quickly. When shit goes bad, pride quickly turns into embarrassement and humility. Plus, pride should not take priority over care for objects and fellow BASE jumpers. So when given a choice between satisfying our own pride by letting the media in on things, and leaving an object intact, we should strive for the latter in my opinion.

In the press, I'd prefer names not to be mentioned. Here on the forums, I'd prefer names not to be mentioned unless the person is okay with it himself. In private conversations within the BASE community, I have no problem with names being mentioned as it part of the reference checking unknown jumpers ought to do on each other. If you are referring to my recent cliffstrike in British Columbia, I have no problem mentioning that it was me that hit the cliff. I kept that information off the forums for a little while until the press settled down. But the BASE community itself knew the day after the incident that it was me. I have been working on an incident report this past week and it'll go online shortly. Now that the press has quieted down, I have no problem publicly announcing that I'm a stupid cunt. If you are referring to the fact that the two of us haven't done a whole lot of jumping together, that's understandable. I'd much rather take that off the board. Drop me an email or give me a call. You have my number.

It's because a negative reputation can damage things beyond the individual, like the sport at large; for example through new leglislation.

Don't forget the importance of a mindset. What you learn in 250 jumps versus only 50 goes far beyond the things your body learns. It's about maturing in a stressful environment that can be hazardous to your health. There are other complementary ways to get this experience, but skydivings works great. And it gives you plenty of canopy experience too. Read BASE WIKI's skydiving preparations for BASE.

Thanks Rhonda! And you're right, it's not exactly a huge newspaper, but it could nonetheless turn into a nuisance for some people (not just for the jumper involved, but also for other local jumpers and their objects).

My gut feeling says it may be better to ignore the article rather than send argumentative emails to the editor. They may get posted only putting oil on the fire. I know that the jumper is in the middle of taking appropriate actions to make sure that all rescue personnel is awarded appropriately. Furthermore, a generous donation to a local Golden charity will be made to try and make up for having disturbed the nighttime peace. This may not make up for the rescue cost, but as has been pointed out; the line between recklesness and risk management is a fine one. Is a stranded hiker unable to use a compass less reckless than a BASE jumper? I'm not argueing the jumper didn't make mistakes, but there's a lot of perception involved... So please, do not write any emails to the editor. Just let it go and discuss here instead.

Actually there is (just look at BASE). The problem with games is that it's not about how many people play your game, it's how many people have actually paid money for the game they're playing. Piracy is still a big issue. If a hot coffee mod (and the resulting publicity) causes 'ethically correct/retarded' Wal Mart to drop the product of the shelves, you just lost fifty percent of your revenue.

Thanks for the detailed answer Hajo! I assume this only applies for newbies interested in getting involved in the legal and regulated jumping, correct? For underground jumping it only remains a highly recommended approach, not a mandatory step?

Jumper in question is home sound and safe. Email [email protected] if you want to get more information. Press need not apply; will only forward messages from known jumpers. Perhaps the jumper will post the story on the forums at some later date. For now, his only message is... Tom, can you lock this thread?

Try installing VideoLan and playing it on your computer. If that doesn't work, the disc is fucked.

Awesome, simply awesome. Thanks for sharing!

Hello, I just learned that the German BASE Association has 'official' BASE instructors. Can somebody from the G.B.A. elaborate on what that means? I'm also curious how having an organizational body and legal jumps from high profile objects has affected BASE jumping in Germany. Is it still true you have to wear a belly mounted reserve on those jumps? Has it affected the underground jumping and traditional influx of BASE jumping at all? I realize I could have just send an email to the G.B.A. directly, but I'm hoping to stir a broader discussion on how organizational structures can affect the sport. It appears to me that our constant struggles with jumpers pushing the boundaries of what the common deem ethical is the price we have to pay for our sport to remain free (in the moral sense). As such, maybe we're already doing the best we can today (through our discussions, and occasional 'educational' reminders).

I can't say since I've never flown any sizes other than 260s. However, just this Sunday I was forced to land from a near stall without any opportunity to flare (I was about to overshoot a tiny landing area and hit some power-lines). Having your toggles at hip-level all the way from 200 feet till touchdown is not recommended on high wingloadings. I'm pretty sure the combination of solid boots and a light wingloading saved my legs from snapping on that particular landing. So be very careful what landing areas you pick, and more importantly do not underestimate the lure of a great object with a less-than-ideal landing area. Ask yourself; am I really going to pass up on a great jump with my friends because my wingloading might be a tad too high for that particular landing area? Fact of the matter is; the temptation to 'take your chances' just that one time might result in a broken femur or worse.

Last Thursday we had a climber's slideshow and footage night in a local pub. All in all there were about thirty people showing photos from their 2005 alpine and climbing trips. I had a few of my own mountaineering photos and included three BASE pictures from our local cliff. I gotta tell ya, after hearing the crowd react to seeing somebody jump their own wall, I suddenly understand a lot better why some of us are such attention whores. It sure gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling when thirty people say: "That is kick ass!" The force of the dark side is strong... watch for my 2006 video in your local theatre... Anyway, enough with the personal media-whoring; after everybody had shown their footage and the night transitioned into chatting and drinking beer, I took the opportunity to sneak my copy of Superterminal into the DVD player and show it on the big screen. I've never heard such a big collective HOLY CRAP from a single crowd. Generally the climbers here have seen plenty of BASE footage already, often through Mountain Film Festivals or other climbing videos. In fact, some of them even yawn when seeing BASE (and rightfully so, compared to some of their big-wall feats). But with Superterminal, the whole bar just fell silent and watched the whole thing beginning to end. Their chins fell on the floor. Anyway, just a little media-whoring; but I figured the VKB would enjoy hearing they made a smashing impression with the BC climbing community. By the way; the soundtrack helps a lot too. I'm looking forward to a new wave of BASE movies that looks beyond MTV and Fat Wreckords for their soundtrack. Edited to add; one of the climbers that helped me scope out a potential terminal wall last summer scolded me for judging it unjumpable. His words: "Dude, the backside we used to climb up that thing is steeper than what these guys are flying down. Certainly the frontside must have been jumpable then!" Yeah, let me just grab my superduperubertrackingsuit...

Brother, if the winds have mercy on us, let's get him his B tonight! Give me a call...

Right, that's pretty much what I expected. But that's what hook-knifes, WLO's and reserves are for, right? There is no denying that! Not at all; I'm not that cocky. I'm sure there have been many people that have tried this setup. I'm also moderately confident there have been close to the same amount of people that lived to tell about it. I would never recommend it as a consistent setup to anybody. Lines through grommets has all the advantages here. But as an exercise to an aspiring BASE jumper to get a feel for what it's like to jump with the lines free; I'll recommend it any day.

I did the same thing four times on an original Sabre 170, didn't have any problems. It may have had Dacron lines. Again, not saying that means anything, but my openings weren't hard.

Very interesting. I would have guessed (and my experience confirms this to an extent) that the openings would be slower, since the slider isn't pushed down as aggressively as with the steering lines through the grommets.

While I won't argue it is a trivial matter and that it doesn't come with any risk, I wonder if your opinion is based on experience (yourself, perceived or hearsay) or on your own reasoning and judgement. Either way, I hope you can elaborate on some of the potential problems one may run into. I'm well aware your a much more experienced skydiver and BASE jumper so I'm seriously curious if I may be overlooking some risk... Edited to add; I have done at least eight jumps this way and not had a problem. It's not a large enough sampling to say it's a safe thing to do, but at the same time it is large enough to say that in fact it can work at least eight times...

Also, I should add the question of why you don't just jump a slider-up setting with the lines outside the grommets? I have done this on several skydives on both my Sabre 170 and my BASE canopy. I never had a problem of the slider not coming down, but even if it did, I'm pretty sure some pumping on the rear-risers could fix it. On my Sabre 170 I even stowed my lines the regular (non slider-down) way, and they never blew up on opening. Not saying this is good advice for beginning skydivers, but I think it's a valuable exercise in the hands of a heads-up jumper who is flying a conservative canopy and capable of landing on rear risers (in case he has to. But then again, he'd also have to with your slider idea). Two cents...

Yeah, I realize that. I'm not really interested in your invention because I like to keep my BASE rig stupid simple... It was a bit of a jest towards your slider idea, as I've generally found flying with the lines free to be much easier than with the lines through the grommets. Maybe it's just because I'm biased since most of my jumps are slider-down these days, but I don't recall that the transition from lines-through-grommets to lines-free was a particularly difficult one. I think the particular canopy control issues that pose problems with beginning BASE jumpers (like myself) can easily be trained on a slider-through-grommets setup as well. That said, it never hurts to make things more realistic, so I definitely encourage the idea. I just think the gains are marginal.

Awesome, I want that slider for my slider-up BASE jumps! I love flying with the lines free. I feel it increases my control range and gives me a better flare.

This is a difficult discussion unless we define safety and the context in which we can use this definition. As things become 'safer', more people will try 'it' and more people will try 'harder' things within the context that 'it' is... One question we could ask; are statistically less people dying per BASE jump? And; are statistically less people getting injured per BASE jump? To what extend of the injuries? To be entirely honest, the question doesn't interest me very much anymore. It did at one point, but I have since learned that risk analysis and management is one of the most individual games you can and should play.