Death in the sport of Life

[hottamaly 1]

Found this on FB and thought it was so great a read that I thought I'd share. http://blueskiesmag.com/2013/05/17/death-in-the-sport-of-life/

Skydiving gave me a reason to live
I'm not afraid of what I'll miss when I die...I'm afraid of what I'll miss as I live

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

Thanks for that.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[wmw999 2,556]

Thanks.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[MikeJD 0]

Thanks for the link. A good read, but for me it's spoiled in places by the elitism and sensationalism that we see too much of in skydiving and BASE.

The author's obviously experienced more than his fair share of tragedy, and it's particularly sad that he lost his girlfriend. But it bothers me that articles like that perpetuate some familiar myths:

1) We are all deliberately flirting with death - 'we are making a conscious choice to put ourselves right in front of the reaper and tell him, “Catch me if you can!”'
2) Anyone who doesn't jump is a poor sap who's simply sleepwalking through life - '...the rest of the world goes on living life with blinkers, working until they retire and dying the slow, miserable death of life, they haven’t realized that life can be gone in a split second, taken away forever.'

I can't relate to either of those sentiments, and I think they detract from the article.

[FreeFallFiend 0]

I understand what you are saying as I too hate sensationalism, however in this case I do think its more factual.

Skydiving and BASE are very different from one another. Skydiving is about playing in the sky. BASE jumping is quite literally playing chicken with the ground. Each jump literally starts out with immanent death with a goal of saving our lives with the smallest margin each individual jumper is comfortable with.

As for his second point I agree with him as well and again I think its different for base jumping. BASE jumpers go places very very very few people ever do and see things from an equally exclusive perspective. Its hard to go on these crazy trips and share exit points with your best friends and not think "How does the rest of the world live without this?" I know I am not doing a good job of explaining it but it's just not explainable with words. And yes, after sharing these experiences, when someone you shared it with goes in mere days or weeks afterwards it certainly feels like the blink of an eye.

Fiend

I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

[FreeFallFiend 0]

Also, just to add, i can also understand what you mean when you say you are tired of the elitism. Sometimes though people are unfairly labeled either due to the media or the mere fact that its hard to detect intent and emotions in writing. Douggs is a great example of this as he is one of the most humble people I have ever jumped with. Alexander Polli is another example. Amazing athletes who's videos and adventures have been seen by millions all over the world but they're some of the nicest and most humble guys you'll ever meet and would never turn you down for a chat or a beer.

Fiend

I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

[MikeJD 0]

FreeFallFiend

Also, just to add, i can also understand what you mean when you say you are tired of the elitism. Sometimes though people are unfairly labeled either due to the media or the mere fact that its hard to detect intent and emotions in writing. Douggs is a great example of this as he is one of the most humble people I have ever jumped with.

Thanks. I certainly didn't mean to put Douggs down in any way - he's obviously a highly respected and well liked guy, and he comes across well in the article. I've just got very sensitised by the number of posts I've seen over the years that suggest people's lives can't be fulfilling unless they do what we do.

[FreeFallFiend 0]

Totally understand, and I know you werent trying to put him down.

I recently had a chat with some great friends of mine that i skydive with. We were talking about how we kind of grew apart because I start doing more and more base and they started doing more and more FFing and tunnel trips. One of them said "I miss you but I understand flying down mountains is better and more important than flying in a tunnel." I stopped her and said "No, it is one thing to me and another to you. They are equally important to each individual." That's when it hit me. As I mentioned earlier I do stand at these exit points and think "How can people live without this?" Skydivers frequently say the same thing. The truth is it doesnt even matter what the activity is, people from all walk of life share this thought when they are really into a particular activity. I see the same thing happen in hashing and crossfit. It's am amazing sensation and its natural to want to share it with everyone. We just need to remember it's different strokes for different folks and it's quite possible and in fact even likely two people doing two completely different activities are havign the same sensations and the same thoughts.

Fiend

I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.