BASE jumping

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BASE jumping is a sport involving the use of a parachute to jump from fixed objects. "BASE" is an acronym that stands for the four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump:

  • Building
  • Antenna (an uninhabited tower such as an aerial mast)
  • Span (a bridge, arch or dome)
  • Earth (a cliff or other natural formation)

The acronym "BASE" was coined by film-maker Carl Boenish, who in 1978 filmed the first jumps from El Capitan to be made using ram-air parachutes and the freefall tracking technique, which effectively defined modern BASE jumping. BASE jumping is significantly more dangerous than similar sports such as skydiving from aircraft, and is currently regarded as a fringe extreme sport.

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[edit] History

There are isolated examples of BASE jumps dating from the early 1900s.

However, these and other sporadic incidents were one-time experiments, not the systematic pursuit of a new form of parachuting. After 1978, the filmed jumps from El Capitan were repeated, not as a publicity exercise or as a movie stunt, but as a true recreational activity. It was this which popularised BASE jumping more widely among parachutists. Carl Boenish continued to publish films and informational magazines on BASE jumping until his 1984 death on a cliff jump in Norway. By this time, the concept had spread among skydivers worldwide, with hundreds of participants making fixed-object jumps.

[edit] Comparison with skydiving

BASE jumping grew out of skydiving. BASE jumps are generally made from much lower altitudes than skydives, and a BASE jump takes place in close proximity to the cliff or tower which provides the jump platform. The BASE jumper also has a lower airspeed than a skydiver throughout the jump, because a BASE jump starts with zero airspeed, and due to the limited altitude, a BASE jumper very seldom approaches the terminal velocity airspeed of a skydiver. All three factors have significant implications.

Skydivers use the air flow to stabilise their position, allowing the parachute to deploy cleanly. BASE jumpers, falling at lower speeds, have less aerodynamic control, and may tumble. The attitude of the body at the moment of jumping determines the stability of flight in the first few seconds, before sufficient airspeed has built up to enable aerodynamic stability. On low BASE jumps, parachute deployment takes place during this early phase of flight, so if a poor "exit" leads into a tumble, the jumper may not be able to correct this before the opening. If the parachute is deployed while the jumper is tumbling, there is a high risk of entanglement or malfunction. The jumper may also not be facing the right direction. Such an off-heading opening is not a problem in skydiving, but off-heading opening that results in object strike has caused serious injuries and deaths in BASE jumping.

An experienced skydiver is recommended to deploy their parachute no lower than 2,000 feet (600 m). At that time, if they have already been in free-fall for at least 1,000 feet (300 m), the jumper is traveling 120 miles per hour (54 m/s), and is 11 seconds from the ground. Most BASE jumps are made from less than 2,000 feet (610 m). For example, a BASE jump from a 500 foot (150 m) object is about 5.6 seconds from the ground if the jumper remains in freefall. On such a jump, the parachute must open at about half the airspeed of the skydiver, and more quickly (ie. in a shorter distance fallen). Standard skydiving parachute systems are not designed for this situation, so BASE jumpers use specially designed harnesses and parachute containers, with extra large pilot chutes, and jump with only one parachute—since there would be no time to use a reserve parachute.

Standard skydiving equipment can only be used on high BASE jumps. If modified, by removing the bag and slider, stowing the lines in a tail pocket, and fitting a large pilot chute, standard skydiving gear can be used for lower BASE jumps, but is then prone to kinds of malfunction which are rare in normal skydiving (such as "line-overs" and broken lines).

Another risk is that most BASE jumping venues have very small areas in which to land. A beginner skydiver, after parachute deployment, may have 3 minutes or more of a parachute ride to the ground. A BASE jump from 500 feet (152 m) will have a parachute ride of about 10 to 15 seconds.

One way to make a parachute open very quickly is to use a static line or direct bag. These devices form an attachment between the parachute and the jump platform, which stretches out the parachute and suspension lines as the jumper falls, before separating and allowing the parachute to inflate. This method enables the very lowest jumps (below 200 ft) to be made, although most BASE jumpers are more motivated to make higher jumps involving free fall.

On higher BASE jumps, those which allow a free fall of five seconds or more, it may be necessary to use freefall tracking technique to move away from the jump object (especially on cliff jumps, where there might be underhangs). Jump platforms providing an overhang, such as arch bridges or naturally overhung cliffs, are more forgiving in this respect and so are more suitable for beginner BASE jumpers.

[edit] Legal issues

In the United States, skydiving from an airplane involves regulations set by the FAA, notably the requirement of an airplane jumper to carry two parachutes. Since BASE jumping does not involve an airplane, the FAA has no jurisdiction.

New River Gorge Bridge
New River Gorge Bridge

The legal issues that a BASE jumper must consider concern permissions to use the object from which the jump is initiated and the area used for landing.

Covert BASE jumps are often made from tall buildings and antenna towers. The general reluctance of the owners of these objects to allow their object to be used as a platform leads many BASE jumpers to covertly attempt jumps. While BASE jumping itself is not illegal, the covert nature of accessing objects usually necessitates trespassing on an object. Jumpers who are caught can expect to be charged with trespassing, as well as having other charges like breaking and entering, reckless endangerment, vandalism, or other such charges pressed against them. Other people accompanying the jumper, such as ground crew, may also face charges.

In some jurisdictions it may be permissible to use land until specifically told not to. Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho is the only manmade structure in the United States where BASE jumping is allowed year-round without a permit. [1].

Once a year, on the third Saturday in October ("Bridge Day"), permission to BASE jump has explicitly been granted at the New River Gorge Bridge in Fayetteville, West Virginia. The New River Gorge Bridge deck is 876 feet (267 m) above the river. An object dropped from the deck will hit the water in 8.8 seconds. This annual event attracts about 450 BASE jumpers, and nearly 200,000 spectators. If the conditions are good, in the six hours that it is legal, there may be over 800 jumps. For many skydivers who would like to try BASE jumping, this will be the only fixed object from which they ever jump. On 21 October 2006, veteran BASE jumper Brian Lee Schubert of Alta Loma, California was killed jumping from the New River Gorge Bridge during Bridge Day activities. Apparently, his parachute opened late and he plummeted to his death in the waters below. Jumps continued following the recovery of his body.[2] He and his friend Michael Pelkey were the first to make a BASE jump from El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in 1966.

El Capitan and the Merced River
El Capitan and the Merced River

However the National Park Service has the authority to ban specific activities in US National Parks, and has done so for BASE jumping. The authority comes from 36 CFR 2.17(3), which prohibits, "Delivering or retrieving a person or object by parachute, helicopter, or other airborne means, except in emergencies involving public safety or serious property loss, or pursuant to the terms and conditions of a permit." Under that Regulation, BASE is not banned, but is allowable if a permit is issued by the Superintendent, which means that a mechanism to allow BASE in National Parks was always in place. However, National Park Service Management Policies have stated that BASE "is not an appropriate public use activity within national park areas ..." (2001 Management Policy 8.2.2.7.) This meant that there could be no permitted air delivery. It is noted, however, that this policy has a proposed change that strikes the language banning it outright and replacing it with a different test. Whether this will be approved, and whether this will make the granting of permits easier, is open to speculation.

In the early days of BASE jumping, the Service issued permits under which jumpers could get authorisation to jump from El Capitan. This program ran for three months in 1980 and then collapsed amid allegations of abuse by unauthorised jumpers. Since then, the Service has vigorously enforced the ban, charging jumpers with "aerial delivery into a National Park". One jumper drowned in the Merced River while being chased by Park Rangers intent on arresting him. Despite this, illegal jumps continue in Yosemite at a rate estimated at a few hundred per year, often at night or dawn. El Capitan, Half Dome and Glacier Point have been used as jump sites.

Other US public land, including land controlled by the Bureau of Land Management, does not ban air delivery, and there are numerous jumpable objects on BLM land.

The legal position is better at other sites and in other countries. For example, in Norway's Lysefjord, BASE jumpers are made welcome. Many sites in the European Alps, near Chamonix and on the Eiger, are also open to jumpers.

[edit] BASE jumping today

When a jumper completes a jump from each of the four categories of objects, they may choose to apply for a "BASE number". These are awarded sequentially.[1] In 1981, Phil Smith of Houston, Texas, was awarded BASE-1. In March 2005 the 1000th application for a BASE number had been filed by Matt Moilanen of Kalamazoo, Michigan.[citation needed]

Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower

BASE jumping is often featured in action movies, like the 2002 Vin Diesel film xXx' where Diesel's character catapults himself off a bridge in an open-topped car, landing safely as the car crashes on the ground. After the 1976 Mount Asgard jump featured in the pre-credits sequence to The Spy Who Loved Me, the James Bond movies continued to feature BASE jumps, including one from the Eiffel Tower in 1985's A View to a Kill, the Rock of Gibraltar in 1987's The Living Daylights, and in Die Another Day, 2002, Pierce Brosnan as James Bond jumps from a melting iceberg. Of the James Bond jumps, though, only the Mt Asgard and Eiffel Tower jumps were filmed in reality; the rest were special effects. Also in Tomb Raider 2.

The 1990s surge of interest in extreme sports saw many developments in BASE jumping and increasing acceptance of it generally, though it is still widely seen as a daredevil stunt rather than a sport. Even though it is a highly skilled activity, the lack of an objective way to measure skill as the basis for records and competitions, hinders acceptance as a true sport; and it remains as dangerous as it looks, prompting some, with typically black humor, to say that BASE stands for "Bones And Shit Everywhere". Through the availability of specialised equipment and wider knowledge of techniques, it is safer today than in the early days, though the occasional fatalities and injuries occur. Some deaths through ground impact in freefall or object strike do occur, but most incidents are due to hazardous landing sites or other problems which develop after the parachute has opened. Because of the covert nature of much of BASE jumping, no reliable figures are available to assess the statistical risks of the activity.

Trango Towers
Trango Towers

The Guinness Book of Records first listed a BASE jumping record with Carl Boenish's 1984 leap from Trollveggen (Troll Wall) in Norway. It was described as the highest BASE jump.[2] (The jump was made two days before Boenish's death at the same site.) This record category is still in the Guinness book and is currently held by Nic Feteris and Glenn Singleman with a jump from the 19,000 ft Trango cliff in Pakistan. However, Singleman and partner Heather Swan claimed a new record for highest starting elevation on 23 May 2006[3] by jumping from Meru Peak in northern India at an elevation of 6,604 metres (21,667 ft)[4].

The sheer variety of the nature of the challenge at different jump sites means that direct comparisons of different jumps are often meaningless. As a result, some of the claimed records in the field may seem spurious. There is another Guinness entry for "oldest BASE jumper" which is clearly nothing to do with sporting skill. Even more contentious are claims sometimes made (although not recognised by Guinness) for the lowest jump. Given that a static-lined parachute can be made to open in little more than the length of its suspension lines, jumps can actually be performed at practically any altitude right down to the point at which a parachute is not necessary for survival.

BASE competitions have been held since the early 1980s, with accurate landings or freefall aerobatics used as the judging criteria. Recent years have seen a formal competition held at the 1300 ft Petronas Towers building in Malaysia, judged on landing accuracy. While BASE jumping is a long way from being an Olympic sport, an increasing number of BASE devotees take their sport seriously as a skilled athletic pursuit. It is moving steadily towards the crossover point at which it will be taken seriously by everyone, as a minority, but genuine, sport.[citation needed]

For now, BASE jumpers are mostly focused on the challenges of public acceptance and understanding of a sport so obviously extreme and so highly dangerous; and on the development of equipment and techniques. Searching for new, and preferably legal, jump sites has also been a fruitful activity for many devotees.

[edit] Fatalities

Between 1981 and 2007 there have been at least 109 fatalities within the sport.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Base Numbers
  2. ^ Here meaning "greatest vertical descent," not "highest starting elevation."
  3. ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 8 June 2006
  4. ^ This jump is claimed to have a vertical descent of approximately 1,754 metres (5,755 ft), which is almost exactly tied with the vertical descent of the Trango Towers jump. So in that sense of "highest" it does not seem to set a new record.
  5. ^ World BASE Fatality List

[edit] External links

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