JaapSuter

Did you break up with them, or did they break up with you?

Is the skydive an IAD or static-line jump, or does the student have to pitch his own PC? Make the BASE jump a PCA and put a boat in the water, and I'd say it's much safer.

Agreed. MB38, drop me an email if you're interested in hosting it there.

Sorry, it's that time of year. Just for you though, here's a picture of a rabbit with a pancake on it's head. Totally funny...

Bump; this one is for you...

To be entirely honest, it started as a lame attempt to disguise the fact that I lack sufficient skydives to be a safe BASE jumper. Then it slowly transitioned into the question; how often have I plummeted towards the earth requiring action to save myself from death? I have to wholeheartedly disagree with the fact that a number makes a person experienced. There are plenty of beginners with BASE numbers, including myself. There was a time where BASE numbers said something about skill and knowledge, but these days they are a historic link to the beginning of the sport, and not much more. That doesn't diminish their value though! As for the student thing; being a student has been one of my guiding philosophies in life, not just in BASE but in anything I do. I've always found that if you set yourself up to learn something from any situation, you'll come out with more skill and knowledge than you had before. It also reminds me that humility and modesty are good traits, something I definitely need to be reminded of occasionally. I could have 5000 BASE jumps, but I'd still call myself a student. Yeah.

Why? Heading correction. 270 degrees to play with instead of the typical 180. That's subjective on E's and B's to the actual object, though, so neither of us really have an argument. It all comes down to the specific object. But many E's give you nice easy landing areas, less turbulence, and stress-free legalities. The pressure of jumping an illegal object in the middle of the night while the clock is ticking, even the slightest breeze is doing funky stuff and your landing area has a bunch of cars parked in it, far outweigh the extra 90 degrees you get on some, not all, buildings. But I think we both agree that real comparisons are site-specific, so whatever. Let's make fun of Abbie instead.

Why is that? I think in general Bs tend to be more advanced than Es. There are exceptions, the popular B in LA arguably being one of them. No, it's "ASE-in-three-weeks". But not necessarily for the sake of getting a number or some letters. It's for the sake of getting exposure to different objects and environments in a short amount of time. I could take them off a B too, but I'd rather do a crane instead. It comes with all the educational value of an illegal urban night-jump, but carries less risk. Plus, it leaves something they need to do on their own. Call it an 'exam'. Pfff, like he's the hero of responsible behavior...

I'd never advocate anything. The sport carries to many risks to be advocated in any possible way. However, I do think the right person with the right mentality and the right 50 jumps at the Perrine (with proper brake-settings and most of them dedicated to obstacle avoidance drills) can go to Moab and jump with no more risks than most of us (meaning Splatula) jump some of our E's with. If you think you're more prepared for a slider-down 180 offheading with line-over than the hypothetical person above, think again.

I'm not sure if your post is directed to Rhonda Lea or myself, but in case it's intended for me.... Assuming that your active local scene is not willing to take you on as groundcrew... You need to add a first-aid course, and make at least twenty skydives on the very BASE canopy you intend to jump with. I'd also want to talk to your DZO and possibly one of your nearest family members (depending on your age). Having rock-climbing and mountaineering experience is also major bonus points. Then scrap the dishes, and make it three weeks instead of two months, at least one of which is spend at the Perrine. And most importantly, you need to be a nice guy with the right attitude. Then possibly I'd be interested in transfering my knowledge with the proviso that my slider-up experience is very limited. It would probably consist of a short week of groundcrewing, packing and other exploration and touristy stuff. Then a long week at the Perrine where you'll be packing intentional line-overs among other suicidal stuff. Then we'd tour the west-coast on our way back north getting at least an A, E and O in BC and potentially in other places depending on how the locals receive us. It's deathcamping, Jaap style. Do remember that by making 200 skydives you'll have more skydiving experience than I do!

With the right company and a beautiful exit point, there are few things I'd rather do. Jumping is secondary...

Hey John, Great story man. Mind if I copy it on into the story section of BASE WIKI with the pictures? Thanks! Jaap

Woah, very cool Leroy. Thanks for the references. Good stuff. I wonder how low you could take something like that.

Are those the ones with round parachutes already opened and clamped lightly to a ring? I find that hard to believe.

That did that last year and it wasn't financially viable to do it again. Apparently not enough people thought the two versions were worth it.

I lost a 50 dollar WLO toggle on my second jump; did I make it? Ah heck, I'll just have to get it for the pendulator cameo.

Weren't there some folks that clamped an opened round canopy to a ring above them and then jumped from very low altitudes?

Be smarter than the guy that has a mentor. Practice harder, prepare better, make sure you stick around for five days after your FJC at the Perrine, hope that you have a bucket full of luck, and then go at it alone. It's been done before, it'll happen again, and if you're smart and slow, you'll have moderately good chances of survival for at least some amount of time. I also highly recommend gathering some phone-numbers when you meet experienced people at the bridge. Asking for advice on these forums is great, but picking up the phone and talking to some BASE jumpers has often led to much better advice.

Can you elaborate how it can get you in trouble? I've swam several times with my body armor and it was never a problem. I won't get Olympic swimming speeds, but I could easily outswim Abbie. The only problems I've seen with body armor can be the annoyance of shoulder padding when you put it on, slightly restricted maneuvrability (although I think people overrate this, unless they pull triple gainers), and increased pin tension, which is easily addressable in advance.

Hey JP, It's tough man. I had a lot of trouble over it, but in the end it was worth it. For me it was the last big conflict I needed to have with my parents to mark a point in time that seperates the child from the independent grown up. Some people do it over drugs, others get pregnant. I used BASE...

Amen brother, amen. That's what I meant when I said: "Does it matter? Not really, everybody had fun and practiced the sport safely." I don't care that there is an MTV generation. It doesn't matter really, except that we need to take the observation in account when we try to come up with better ways of teaching.

You're doing great. Hang in there, it'll pay off in time.

This I won't disagree with. But I do think we need to recognize that the majority of this new generation of jumpers won't go much beyond easily available objects. I get the feeling that the Potato generation of jumpers thinks they don't have to open up objects anymore. They go to the Perrine, then they visit Moab. Shortly after they do a trip to Europe to check out Kjerag and Lauterbrunnen, and then they come home where they continue to jump their local and easy A until they retire from the sport. The skills necessary to jump an easly available object that is being jumped by millions before you are vastly different than the skills required to explore, scout, open, jump, land and get away from a new illegal object. The latter, call it old-fashioned BASE if you want, has a distinct need for old-fashioned mentorship. The former, let's call it the MTV generation of BASE jumpers. They want quick satisfaction, and they're going to get it with or without our help. So we need to do the best we can. Clearly there aren't enough old-fashioned mentors, nor do I think MTV would become much safer with them. Moab is an advanced area for jumping. Few people disagree. Yet we won't be able to stop the MTV generation from going there, so how can we do it best? Through existing FJCs, where we teach people they need proper brake-settings, and that they can use the bridge to do obstacle avoidance drills. Then, let them go to the Turkey boogie. There, surrounded by many experienced jumpers they can put all the risk management and decision making into the hands of other people. If the experienced jumpers say it's too windy, the MTVers won't jump either. Everybody wins. It really becomes a simple formula. You learn how to pack; you get fifty jumps of the Perrine; you go to Moab where an experienced jumper shows you around if you're lucky, and then the summer after you visit Europe, preferably during the heliboogie, and jump at all the sites where experienced people can hold your hand. It's a lot like backcountry skiing. Some of us still put on our snowshoes and hike for hours to get away from the lifts and face the real dangers of raw exposure to snow. Meanwhile, the majority pays the two grand and goes heliskiing with a guide. Both groups come home and call themselves backcountry skiers, but we all know the difference. Does it matter? Not really, everybody had fun and practiced the sport safely. The real danger is the guy that's gonna go off alone without a guide, nor proper training. This is similar to somebody going to Moab with five Perrine jumps and hiking to the top of Tombstone alone. Bad idea, but neither good mentorship nor regulation are going to stop him. Poor decision making skills can't be cured. The best we can do is steer the majority and hope for the best. That's very true, but I'll argue that today's jumping environment apparently doesn't need the skill. If you stick to the formula, defer to holding hands when appropriate, and follow the beat path, you'll be able to tick off all the checkboxes on your BASE list and call yourself a true BASE jumper. In the past three weeks alone I've talked to two different skydivers that really wanted to try BASE some day. But only the Perrine and maybe Norway some day... Does that person need an old-fashioned mentor? I don't think so. More outspoken experienced jumpers. For example, I really admire what Clint is doing in Moab but from his posts you can tell he just doesn't have time and energy to redirect all the unprepared newbies that try to play on his turf. He needs help, and it's our responsibility to offer that. When we're in the area, and when we talk to other jumpers about Moab. I just reread the above post and noticed it's a little ranty. I'll post it anyway. In the ideal world everybody would have an old-fashioned mentor and life would be good. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that there aren't enough mentors (as you pointed out), but furthermore I think there is a generation of jumpers that are really looking for different things in BASE than what a mentor can offer.

The need for mentors in the real, old fashioned sense, is diminishing with the advent of more legal objects, more relatively easy objects, more information dissemination (through the internet, and through the growth of the sport itself) and the better quality of FJCs available today. Today's needs are very different.

Exactly! The problem is not with potential mentors, it's with potential students. Do things right, and you'll easily find a mentor.