BASE jump off the route?

[Lafayette]

Hey,

 

Just wondering if any of yall base jump off climbs. I'm curious to hear how you got started doing it. Seems more interesting than rapping off.

 

Cheers,

 

W

[genepires]

Not a base jumper by any means but it would seem that a solid base of skydiving seems like a good idea. Then they start into "easy" base jumps like bridges (B) and then move to towers (S for skyscraper) and aerials (A). Then on to escarpments (E) or commonly know as cliffs.

 

BASE jumping is not an alternative to rapping. It is an activity onto itself. There are maybe a couple cliffs to base jump on in washington and not that many in oregon.

 

One really needs to look into their soul before embarking on anything as stupid as base jumping. There is nothing as dangerous as base jumping. (maybe skiing of a cliff as a start to base jumping) Experience gains you a little bit of safety while climbing but experience means nothing on the base jumpers. MAybe experience makes you even more likely to die as they start doing even crazier shite. There is a site somewhere of a journal of all base deaths in the last 10 years. sobbering shite.

[boadman]

I've seen people base jump off of the chief and the upper town wall at Index. I've heard of people base jumping off of Baring too.

 

I will never do it, but it definitely seems like it would be pretty awesome.

 

Who hasn't wished for a zipline down from the top of Slesse or the north ridge of Stuart?

[stevetimetravlr]

I think if you pick and choose, base jumping can be almost as safe as climbing. Chris Mac, Dean Potter, Steph Davis, the list of rad climbers who basejump is growing. Potter's fall off the Eiger which he turned into a base jump was ground breaking if you think about it. We'll be seeing allot more of that kind of thing in the future. I would love to learn to base jump. Time and money and equipment investment is what it takes.

[genepires]

http://www.splatula.com/bfl/

 

15 deaths in 2010 alone.(worldwide) Considering the population of the base jumping community (I don't know but it can't be that large), 15 is a staggering number. One was on baring this summer.

 

There is no possibility that base jumping can be "almost as safe as climbing" unless you are a real unsafe climber doing incredibly stupid things. This opinion is for cliff jumping. Jumping off a bridge is probably almost as safe as climbing.

 

Yes this is pure speculation from a non base jumper. Would be interesting to get someone who really knows something about this.

[Off_White]

Well, D-Dog won't show up and talk, since everyone will make fun of him for his passion for bestiality and financial scams.

 

From film I've seen, all of Dean Potter's falls while-free-soloing-and-wearing-a-chute have been staged, faux falls that are really about pushing out and getting into position, intentionally bailing out, a much edgier launch site for base jumping. Not that there is anything wrong about that, any more than that his free solos of hard cracks are relentlessly rehearsed and thoroughly annotated with tick marks that define hand and position, its just that he omits these details in all descriptions of how rad he is.

 

He didn't fall on the Eiger either, and he wasn't on the classic North Face, but rather a steep limestone 600' tall sport route on the far right side of the lower face. Though he described it as the Eiger Nordwand, it didn't seem he needed to wear anymore clothing than a pair of shorts. Hey, I'm not saying that freesoloing 5.12+ isn't impressive as hell and a serious undertaking, but inflating your achievements beyond what wild thing you've done is total bullshit.

 

 

See, here's the N Face of the Eiger. He traversed in from the right and climbed route 28.

 

[BASE697]

There are many established as well as potential sites out there and honestly more things have probably been jumped than most people know about not just in WA but everywhere. You only hear about BASE when something goes bad, and BASE jumpers in general used to be a secretive group and for the most part most WA jumpers are pretty quiet and actually loath youtube with its chest beating.

 

Many people talk about the fatality list which is something I recommend anyone interested in BASE look at. Although it looks morbid it serves the same purpose of the annual accident reports put out by the AAC. Concerning the 15 fatalities this year, BASE has changed greatly in my short time (10 yrs). It's much more popular, accessible and acceptable. This is much in part to youtube and the like, because it looks easy, which it is til things go wrong and then skill is required.

 

This has led to an increase in the world population of jumpers. There are no good estimates but 10 yrs ago there seemed to be 1-2 degrees of separation between jumpers. You could travel to europe and a person would know a friend of yours back home. I think it could be equivocal to climbing in the 50's

 

About the danger factor and it's possible relation to climbing. It's all as dangerous as you make it. If you're participating in an activity, and are beyond your skill level and in conditions that are less than desirable then you have put yourself into a situation where nature might show you how insignificant you truly are and that's true in any activity. I still think that riding a motorcycle was the most dangerous activity I've ever engaged in.

 

Someone mentioned more climbers getting into BASE which I think is great. One of the appeals of both climbing and BASE is the effort needed and the rewards of accomplishment, the scenery and yes of course the rush. I think many strictly skydivers don't appreciate the same things that most, especially alpine, climbers do and expect a jump to be handed to them in the same way a skydive is: pay $20 bucks, nap on the plane ride up, jump , land and walk bck to A/C packing area. Also currently climbers, Paragliders and BASE jumpers are learning cross discipline which is advancing all sports.

 

As for the originator of this thread. There aren't a lot of us who climb and jump around here. I personally have taken it easy the last few years in jumping and focused on climbing (I'm started climbing years after jumping) and career. But that said combining the two is one of the most fun things I've ever done. Castleton tower was the first time I did that and it was a great time. To get into BASE go make a couple hundred skydives and then find someone to teach you is the standard answer. Although nowadays you can go take a course thru one of the gear manufacturers.

 

Sorry for the rant but I always find it funny that anyone engages in activities that are dangerous and seem absurd to the general public condemn a 'Fellow" dangerous sport. No offense genepires cause it is dangerous and until you do something enough and understand it, it will seem more dangerous. I once said that ice climbing was too spicy for me but now with the knowledge, little experience and even less skill : ) while still dangerous it's much more palatable and fun. Have a great day!

 

Take care,

Gabe

 

[genepires]

Thanks Gabe for your post.

 

I was not meaning to condemn the sport of base jumping. I was reacting to the original post which sounded like he wasn't understanding the risks honestly. I was hoping to give this person a little reality check before engaging in a risky situation for the same reason you say that the sport has exploded in popularity. It seems that people have a poor sense of risk analysis (nothing new with our culture) and sweet videos of wingsuit flying don't help. Maybe all risky adventure sport participants needs a warning label (like on a box of cigarettes) somewhere on our skin.

 

You are completely right about not understanding the risks until you understand the activity. I ice climb and think it is safe which means I am delusional. My brief experience with paragliding showed me where my limits with risk were. I could not handle the true commitment that paragliding and (even more so) base jumping requires. The run off a cliff with no choice of backing off if something starts to go wrong was too much for me to handle. You have to commit and have faith in the gear. My problem is that I lack that total faith in gear. (especially fabric) I need the ability to retreat wether it is a lower off of bolts, pro, bush or v thread. Maybe if I had put the time into sky diving..........

 

It also didn't help that in those formative years, two great climbers died base jumping. Jean Marc Bovin and Xavier Bongard.

[genepires]

oh yeah, how many base jumpers do you think are there worldwide? roughly of course

 

 

 

[stevetimetravlr]

Offwhite, Potter may have used tick marks and may have rehearsed moves(why not, hes making a movie), but in my mind he ranks up there with Peter Croft and now Alex Honnold as the top rock soloists the world has ever seen. I'm really not sure how he "inflates his achievements" as you say? Anyone that solos Astroman has balls of steel.

Teh Delicate Arch thing was the one lame thing he did i was disappointed in. Everybody makes mistakes though.

[rocky_joe]

Potter is a douche because he can't stop blabbering on and on about how what he's doing is advancing the sport. It's not, there have always been soloists, he's just added a parachute. Honnold and Croft are actually advancing the sport, and not making a deal of it, even in the movies they make.

[Choada_Boy]

There were some AWESOME documentaries on the Boob Tube a week or two ago, about both Potter and Honnold, as well the disastrous attempt of Mt. Edgar by Micah Dash, Jonny Copp, and Wade Johnson.

 

Honnold came off as a great guy, really stoked, super-skilled, my mind can't even comprehend what his solos are. Watching his "flip out" on Thank God Ledge was terrifying.

 

Potter came off as a completely narcissistic douche bag too full of his own brand of homemade pseudo-mysticism. "Look at me" was what I got from him. His parents should have saved us the misery of watching him stroke his own ego and hugged him more. And to say he "soloed the Eiger" is a lame joke that Off-White's topo provided the punchline for.

 

Having said that, watching him have to down climb the crux, in clouds that would prevent a successful BASE jump ("FreeBASEing" he calls it, like a total douche), on his first attempt was like watching the end of "The Ring".

[Lafayette]

Thank you for the informed replies. It is definitely something that interests me. But will not be in the cards in the near future. I was also curious to hear from people that are actively practicing the sport. Besides it beats having Boadman and I build a really really big zip line.

 

Just because my post was brief, does not mean that I do not understand the extraordinary risks involved. If I do choose to pursue this I will likely post online, watch a couple of videos on you tube. Only after this extensive training regimen will

I start hucking myself off buildings.

[Choada_Boy]

[wfinley]

Check out this youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/elcappirate

Watch the ancient art jump!

[G-spotter]

Base jumping turns you into a dog and horse fucker.

[Off_White]

It's possible you have that backwards Dru.

[G-spotter]

And then you get your own Encyclopedia Dramatica page, which is definitely NOT WORK SAFE:

 

http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Douglas_Spink

[Lafayette]

ouch

[sobo]

...Encyclopedia Dramatica, which is definitely NOT WORK SAFE:

OMFG! ED... that was a 2-hour timesuck!