BASE jumping is the sport of parachuting from fixed objects. BASE is an acronym that contains the major groups of objects we use.
B: Building
A: Antenna
S: Span
E: Earth
Beginning with a parachute packed into a closed container, the athlete jumps from the object and opens the canopy to stop the fall, then gliding to a landing. Once seen as an activity for the insane, increasing research and development in the equipment and techniques involved have led to this technical, cutting-edge sport reaching remarkable safety levels.
Using modern equipment, and with experience and the right conditions, jumps can now be made from as low as 30 metres (100 feet), or as high as you can find an exit point! Chimneys, pylons, roller-coasters and cranes are all used as jump platforms, and almost anything vertical and over 200 feet has probably felt the footsteps of BASE jumpers at some point.
Getting into BASE
If you think its easy to learn how to BASE jump, think again. The sport requires many skills such as controlling your body in freefall, flying your canopy, canopy accuracy, quickly and decisively being able to deal with problems, climbing abilities, equipment and rigging knowledge. First of all, you should take a beginners skydiving course where you can learn to basics of freefall from an aircraft much higher up. Spend a few years learning how to fly your body in different orientations such as formation skydiving, freeflying, backflying and tracking.
Before you book your first jump course you should try to meet up with some local BASE jumpers in your area. Assist them by offering to act as ground crew on their jumps. Making friends and getting a mentor is one of the most important things you can do. In addition you should spend lots of time learning from the biggest two forums on the internet - basejumping.org and basejumper.com.
There are various first jump courses you can take to make your first step in BASE jumping. Most courses require a minimum of 200 skydives, although it is recommended to get 500. Freefall and canopy awareness takes time to learn. Being sure of your own abilities will go a long way towards your BASE progression and safety.
Once you return home, you can now spend lots of time under the
guidance of your BASE mentor. Expect to take over a year learning
the finer details such as object evaluation, static line setup,
different types of exit position, rigging and much much more.
Why do we BASE?
"What BASE Jumping Does To Me" by Max Hurd
Prior to the jump, on the drive there, the approach hike or the climb I get the excitement building along
with apprehension, knowing it's a risky undertaking and have I got it right? Have I thought it all through
clearly, made all the right decisions, properly prepared my gear?
There can be quite a lot of anxiety sometimes and I have to work it through, is this just fear or is there something else that's not right, something I don't feel good about. If it's all good then the nerves fade into the background and the anticipation builds the closer I get to the jump. I'm looking forward to it. Gear on and check everything, I don't want to have a niggling worry in the back of my mind when I'm stood on the edge.
When I step to the exit point my mind is calm and clear and I'm committed to the jump. When I launch there is complete peace, total release from the rest of life. What has happened has happened, what will happen will happen and there's nothing I can do about either. I exist in that moment, just me and the universe. Clarity, tranquillity, harmony. Very quickly gravity takes hold and I start accelerating earthwards, I can feel the airspeed increase, the drag of the wind against my clothes and the noise increasing in my ears.
If I'm performing an aerial manoeuvre like somersaults or twists then I'm also concentrating on my body and the visual cues simultaneously, judging my moves. Does it feel right? Can I make another rotation? When I level out the sight picture is breathtaking, accelerating down the structure or cliff, the ground filling my field of vision, details pin sharp and growing larger by the millisecond. Sometimes the sensation is kind of reversed and it feels like I'm suspended and the planet is rushing up towards me.
Then I deploy my parachute. There is a moment where I'm still accelerating and there's nothing I can do for a second until it's open above me. Sometimes it feels like a microsecond too long and my heart leaps into my mouth. This is the time when the experience peaks, then the parachute is there above me, I've stopped but I've still got to deal with any off-heading opening, I'm still dangerously close to the thing I've leapt from and it can be fatal to sustain an "object strike". Then I've got to guide my parachute to a safe landing, sometimes a tight area amongst trees or in the street avoiding lampposts and parked cars, I've got to concentrate hard but it's easy as I'm completely focussed, flying my parachute as if it's an extension of my body, my mind connected directly to it and not thinking of the physical moves I'm making, until I touch down and the euphoria is swirling my mind and all the natural chemicals and endorphins are rushing through my veins.
I feel super aware, hypersensitive to my surroundings, my vision feels acute, all colours are bright, and I can hear every sound around me. My hands are usually trembling as I gather my parachute. The excitement is sometimes overwhelming and I have to take a few deep breaths to calm myself. And I feel invincible; I took on a challenge of mind and body, gravity and fear, and measured up to the task. I slipped the bonds of the regular world we all share and experienced, fleetingly, a higher existence. Some people say it's better than sex, but no, nothing's better than sex. BASE jumping comes a very, very close second though.........