Base Jumping

If you are interested in the very extreme sport of base jumping, then you love to live on the edge.  Since you may be thinking about giving it a try, you should know as much as possible about the sport along with the high risk it carries, even for the most skilled jumpers.

Base jumping is basically parachuting from a very tall fixed object. Since there is no airplane from which to launch, the amount of time spent midair is very short and therefore very dangerous. BASE stands for the categories of fixed objects from which you would jump. Building, Antenna, Span, and Earth. The only legal category, and only in a few places, is Earth.

Although history has alluded to some form of base jumping since the 12th century in China, the modern form was invented, and the acronym coined, by Carl Boenish in 1978. That was when he filmed the first jumps from El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in California. Although Boenish used a traditional sky-diving parachute, it is recommended that base jumpers use specially made ram-air parachutes. They cost around $1500. Boenish eventually was killed during a jump in Norway in 1984.

Base jumpers fall at lower speeds than skydivers due to the lack of time to fully accelerate. And therein is the core of the danger. There are many ways to make mistakes which can be fatal. Base jumpers have little aerodynamic control and may tumble during the jump. If the parachute opens during a tumble, the jumper may get caught in the chute or it could fail to open properly. There is no time for correction.
If the jumper is not facing in the right direction, he could hit an object on the way down. It is believed that was what happened to Boenish and that has been the cause of many serious injuries and deaths.

Base jumping off of tall buildings and other urban structures often makes the news but it is illegal. Police are usually waiting at the bottom to arrest the jumper. One of the legal spots for base jumping is Lysefojord in Norway. Other natural formations in Europe are also legal locations to jump. However, that does not include the Eiffel Tower, despite its popularity. Another popular spot is Angel Falls in Venezuela.
Base jumpers consider themselves to be outlaws and are secretive about their jumping locations. So accurate numbers about injuries and fatalities are difficult to assess.

So if you are serious about learning base jumping, you should have at least 100 skydives under your belt, a good mentor, and even better health and life insurance policies. And an understanding family.