BASE jumping
BASE jumping
BASE jumping, also sometimes written as B.A.S.E. jumping, is parachuting or wingsuit flying from a fixed structure or cliff. "BASE" is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: building, antenna, span, and earth (cliff).[1][2] Due to the lower altitudes of the jumps, BASE jumping is significantly more dangerous than skydiving from a plane. In the U.S., BASE jumping is currently regarded by many as a fringe extreme sport or stunt.[3]
History
Precursors
However, these and other sporadic incidents were one-time experiments, not the systematic pursuit of a new form of parachuting.
Birth of B.A.S.E. jumping
The acronym "B.A.S.E."
(now more commonly "BASE") was coined by filmmaker Carl Boenish, his wife Jean Boenish, Phil Smith, and Phil Mayfield.[6] Carl Boenish was the catalyst behind modern BASE jumping, and in 1978, he filmed the first BASE jumps which were made using ram-air parachutes and the freefall tracking technique (from El Capitan in Yosemite National Park).[7] While BASE jumps had been made prior to that time, the El Capitan activity was the effective birth of what is now called BASE jumping.
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 that popularized BASE jumping more widely among parachutists.
Carl Boenish continued to publish films and informational magazines on BASE jumping until his death in 1984 after a BASE jump off the Troll Wall. By this time, the concept had spread among skydivers worldwide, with hundreds of participants making fixed-object jumps.
During the early eighties, nearly all BASE jumps were made using standard skydiving equipment, including two parachutes (main and reserve), and deployment components.
Later on, specialized equipment and techniques were developed specifically for the unique needs of BASE jumping.
BASE numbers
BASE numbers are awarded to those who have made at least one jump from each of the four categories (buildings, antennas, spans and earth).
When Phil Smith and Phil Mayfield jumped together from a Houston skyscraper on 18 January 1981, they became the first to attain the exclusive BASE numbers (BASE #1 and #2, respectively), having already jumped from an antenna, spans, and earthen objects. Jean and Carl Boenish qualified for BASE numbers 3 and 4 soon after. A separate "award" was soon enacted for Night BASE jumping when Mayfield completed each category at night, becoming Night BASE #1, with Smith qualifying a few weeks later.
Upon completing a jump from all of the four object categories, a jumper may choose to apply for a "BASE number", awarded sequentially.[8] The 1000th application for a BASE number was filed in March 2005 and BASE #1000 was awarded to Matt "Harley" Moilanen of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
As of May 2017, over 2,000 BASE numbers have been issued.[1]
Records and competitions
Guinness World 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. 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 Valery Rozov. On 5 October 2016, Russia's Valery Rozov leapt from a height of around 7,700 m (25,262 ft) from Cho Oyu, the sixth-highest mountain in the Himalayas, located on the China/Nepal border. He fell for around 90 seconds before opening his parachute, landing on a glacier approximately two minutes later at an altitude of around 6,000 m (19,685 ft). On July 8, 2006 Captain Daniel G. Schilling set the Guinness World Record for the most BASE jumps in a twenty-four-hour period. Schilling jumped off the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho, a record 201 times.
BASE competitions have been held since the early 1980s, with accurate landings or free fall aerobatics used as the judging criteria.
Recent years have seen a formal competition held at the 452 metres (1,483 ft) high Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, judged on landing accuracy.[10]
In 2018 at Eikesdalen, Norway a world record was set with 69 BASE jumpers jumping from the cliff Katthammaren.[11]
Notable jumps
February 2, 1912 Rodman Law parachuted from the top of the candle/torch of the Statue of Liberty. The top of the candle is 305 ft 11 in above the ground.
February 4, 1912, Franz Reichelt, tailor, jumped from the first deck of the Eiffel Tower testing his invention, the coat parachute, and died when he hit the ground. It was his first-ever attempt with the parachute and both the authorities and the spectators believed he intended to test it using a dummy.[12]
In 1913, it is claimed that Štefan Banič successfully jumped from a 15-story building to demonstrate his parachute design.[13][14]
In 1913, Russian student Vladimir Ossovski (Владимир Оссовский), from the Saint-Petersburg Conservatory, jumped from the 53-meter high bridge over the river Seine in Rouen (France), using the parachute RK-1, invented a year before that by Gleb Kotelnikov (1872–1944). Ossovski planned to jump from the Eiffel Tower too, but the Parisian authorities did not allow it.[15]
In 1965, Erich Felbermayr from Wels jumped from the Kleine Zinne / Cima piccola di Lavaredo in the Dolomites.[16]
In 1966, Michael Pelkey and Brian Schubert jumped from El Capitan in the Yosemite Valley.[17]
On January 31, 1972, Rick Sylvester skied off Yosemite Valley's El Capitan, making the first skiBASE jump (he termed it a "ski/parachute jump" since the acronym BASE had yet to be coined), falling approximately halfway down, about 1500 feet, before deploying his Thunderbow chute. He did this twice more, approximately two weeks later and a year later.[18]
On November 9, 1975, the first person to parachute off the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was Bill Eustace, a member of the tower's construction crew. He was fired.[19]
On July 22, 1975, Owen J. Quinn parachuted from the North Tower of the World Trade Center to publicize the plight of the poor.[20]
In 1976, Rick Sylvester skied off Canada's Mount Asgard for the ski chase sequence of the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me, giving the wider world its first look at BASE jumping.[21]
On February 22, 1982, Wayne Allwood, an Australian skydiving accuracy champion, parachuted from a helicopter over the Sydney CBD and landed on the small top area of Sydney's Centrepoint Tower, approximately 300 metres (980 ft) above the ground. Upon landing, Allwood discarded and secured his parachute, then used a full-sized reserve parachute to BASE jump into Hyde Park below.[22] Video footage is also included in the Australian Base Associations' 2001 video compilation, Fistful of F-111.
In 1986, Welshman Eric Jones became the first person to BASE jump from the Eiger.
In 1987, Steve Dines (Australian) BASE 157 made the first jump from the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
In 1990, Russell Powell (British) BASE 230 illegally jumped from the Whispering Gallery inside St Paul's Cathedral London. It was the lowest indoor BASE jump in the world at 31.1 m.[23]
On May 6, 1991, John Vincent performed a base jump from the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He bypassed the observation deck anti-suicide fence and climbed over a window washing machine apparatus. No charges were ever applied.[24]
On August 26, 1992, Australians Nic Feteris and Glenn Singleman made a BASE jump from an altitude of 20,600 feet (6286 meters) jump off Great Trango Towers Pakistan. It was the world's highest BASE jump off the earth at the time.[25]
In 1996, one jumper was injured and three landed safely in the only authorized BASE jump from Seattle's Space Needle.[26]
On October 23, 1998, Avner Tshori and Inbar Raz BASE jumped from Azrieli Center's round building which was at that time the highest tower in the Middle-East, in the first documented BASE jump in Israel.[27]
On October 22, 1999, Jan Davis died while attempting a BASE jump from El Capitan in Yosemite Valley.
Davis' jump was part of an organized act of civil disobedience protesting the NPS air delivery regulations (36 CFR 2.17(a)), which make BASE jumping illegal in national park areas.
The chute she was using failed to deploy.
In 2000, Hannes Arch and Ueli Gegenschatz were the first to dare a BASE jump from the imposing 1800-metre-high north face of the Eiger.[28]
In 2005, Karina Hollekim became the first woman to perform a ski-BASE.
In April 2008, Hervé Le Gallou and David McDonnell infiltrated Burj Khalifa and jumped off a balcony on the 155th floor. They evaded arrest following their successful jump. However, on a second attempt two days later, Le Gallou was caught and subsequently detained in Dubai for three months.[29][30][31]
In 2009, three women—29-year-old Australian Livia Dickie, 28-year-old Venezuelan Ana Isabel Dao, and 32-year-old Norwegian Anniken Binz[32]—base-jumped from Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world. Ana Isabel Dao was the first Venezuelan woman to jump off Angel Falls.[33]
On January 8, 2010, Nasr Al Niyadi and Omar Al Hegelan broke the then current world record for the highest building BASE jump after they leapt from a crane suspended platform attached to the Burj Khalifa's 160th floor at 672 metres (2,205 ft).[34]
On May 5, 2013, Russian Valery Rozov, 48, jumped off Changtse’s north face from a height of 7,220 metres (23,690 ft). Using a specially-developed wingsuit, he flew to the Rongbuk glacier, breaking the world record for highest base jump.[35]
In September 2013, three men jumped off the then-under-construction One World Trade Center in New York City. Footage of their jump was recorded using head cams and can be seen on YouTube.[36] In March 2014, the three jumpers and one accomplice on the ground were arrested after turning themselves in.[37][38]
On April 21, 2014, Fred Fugen and Vince Reffet (both from France) broke the Guinness World Record for Highest BASE Jump From a Building with a jump of 828 m (2,716 ft 6 in) from the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai.[39][40]
On May 27, 2014, Whisper became the world's first wingsuit BASE-jumping dog.[41]
On August 21, 2014, Ramón Rojas of Chile broke the record for highest earth-based wingsuit ski jump, 4,100 metres (13,500 ft) off of Cerro El Plomo.[42]
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 close to the object serving as the jump platform.
Because BASE jumps generally entail slower airspeeds than typical skydives (due to the limited altitude), a BASE jumper does not always reach terminal velocity. Because higher airspeeds enable jumpers more aerodynamic control of their bodies, as well as more positive and quick parachute openings, the longer the delay, the better. BASE jumping is significantly more dangerous than similar sports such as skydiving from aircraft.[3]
Skydivers use the air flow to stabilize 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 "launch" 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 as problematic in skydiving, but an off-heading opening that results in object strike has caused many serious injuries and deaths in BASE jumping.
At an altitude of 600 metres (2,000 ft), having been in free-fall for at least 300 metres (980 ft), a skydiver is falling at approximately 55 metres per second (120 mph), and is approximately 10.9 seconds from the ground.
Most BASE jumps are made from less than 600 metres (2,000 ft).
For example, a BASE jump from a 150 metres (490 ft) object is about 5.6 seconds from the ground if the jumper remains in free fall.
On a BASE jump, the parachute must open at about half the airspeed of a similar skydive, and more quickly (in a shorter distance fallen).
Standard skydiving parachute systems are not designed for this situation, so BASE jumpers often use specially designed harnesses and parachute containers, with extra large pilot chutes, and many jump with only one parachute, since there would be little time to utilize a reserve parachute.
In the early days of BASE jumping, people used modified skydiving gear, such as by removing the deployment bag and slider, stowing the lines in a tail pocket, and fitting a large pilot chute. However, modified skydiving gear is then prone to kinds of malfunction that are rare in normal skydiving (such as "line-overs" and broken lines). Modern purpose-built BASE jumping equipment is considered to be much safer and more reliable.
Another risk is that most BASE jumping venues have very small areas in which to land.
A beginner skydiver, after parachute deployment, may have a three-minute or more parachute ride to the ground.
A BASE jump from 150 metres (490 ft) will have a parachute ride of only 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 60 metres (200 ft)—to be made, although most BASE jumpers are more motivated to make higher jumps involving free fall. This method is similar to the paratrooper's deployment system, also called a PCA (short for pilot chute assist).
Legality
BASE jumping itself is generally not illegal in most places.
However, in many cases such as building and antenna jumps, jumping is done covertly, because the owners of these objects are generally reluctant to allow their object to be used as a platform.
Jumpers who are caught can expect to be charged with trespassing, as well as having charges like breaking and entering, reckless endangerment, vandalism, or other such charges pressed against them.
In some jurisdictions it may be permissible to use land until specifically told not to.
The Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho, is an example of a manmade structure in the United States where BASE jumping is allowed year-round without a permit.
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. This annual event attracts about 450 BASE jumpers and nearly 200,000 spectators.[43] 1,100 jumps may occur during the six hours that it's legal provided good conditions. On October 21, 2006, veteran BASE jumper Brian Lee Schubert of Alta Loma, California, died while jumping from the New River Gorge Bridge during Bridge Day activities because his parachute opened late; he plummeted to his death in the waters below. Jumps continued after the recovery of his body.[44] He and his friend Michael Pelkey were the first to make a BASE jump from El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in 1966.
The National Park Service has the authority to ban specific activities in U.S. 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. The 2001 National Park Service Management Policies state that BASE "is not an appropriate public use activity within national park areas..." (2001 Management Policy 8.2.2.7.) However, Policy 8.2.2.7 in the 2006 volume of National Park Service Management Policies, which superseded the 2001 edition, states "Parachuting (or BASE jumping), whether from an aircraft, structure, or natural feature, is generally prohibited by 36 CFR 2.17(a)(3). However, if determined through a park planning process to be an appropriate activity, it may be allowed pursuant to the terms and conditions of a permit."
During the early days of BASE jumping, the NPS issued permits that authorized jumps from El Capitan. This program ran for three months in 1980 and then collapsed amid allegations of abuse by unauthorized jumpers. The NPS has since vigorously enforced the ban, charging jumpers with "aerial delivery into a National Park". One jumper drowned in the Merced River while evading arresting park rangers, having declared "No way are they gonna get me. Let them chase me—I'll just laugh in their faces and jump in the river".[45] Despite incidents like this one, 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 U.S. 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 different at other sites and in other countries.
For example, in Norway's Lysefjord (from the mountain Kjerag), BASE jumpers are made welcome. Many sites in the European Alps, near Chamonix and on the Eiger, are also open to jumpers. Some other Norwegian places, like the Troll Wall, are banned because of dangerous rescue missions in the past. In Austria, jumping from mountain cliffs is generally allowed, whereas the use of bridges (such as the Europabruecke near Innsbruck, Tirol) or dams is generally prohibited. Australia has some of the toughest stances on BASE jumping: it specifically bans BASE jumping from certain objects, such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge.[46]
Fatalities
A study of BASE jumping fatalities estimated that the overall annual fatality risk in 2002 was one fatality per 60 participants.[47] A study of 20,850 BASE jumps from the Kjerag Massif in Norway reported nine fatalities over the 11-year period from 1995 to 2005, or one in every 2,317 jumps.[48][49] However, at that site, one in every 254 jumps over that period resulted in a nonfatal accident.[48] BASE jumping is one of the most dangerous recreational activities in the world, with a fatality and injury rate 43 times higher than that of parachuting from a plane.[48][49]
As of 14 October 2017, the BASE Fatality List (maintained by Blincmagazine.com) records 328 deaths for BASE jumping since April 1981.[50]
2015-07-21: American BASE jumper Ian Flanders died in Kemaliye, Turkey after his parachute became tangled in his feet, causing him to fall into the Karasu River at high speed. The jump was broadcast live on a local television station.[51]
2017-11-11: Russian BASE jumper Valery Rozov died after jumping from a 22,000-foot mountain in the Himalayas in Nepal.[52]
2018-11-22: German BASE jumper Dominik Loyen died when his parachute did not open during a 100-meter fall in Portugal.
He hit several rocks on the way down and could not be revived at the scene.
He had previously cited he would be giving up BASE jumping after losing close friends to the extreme sport, but instead he said "You worry about it and then you decide to carry on anyway".[53]
In popular culture
BASE jumping is often featured in action movies.
The 2002 Vin Diesel film XXX includes a scene where Diesel's character catapults himself off the Foresthill Bridge in an open-topped car, landing safely as the car crashes on the ground.
The movie Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life includes a scene in which the main characters jump with wingsuits from the IFC Tower in Hong Kong and fly over the Bank of China, finally opening their parachutes to land on a moving freighter. The stunt was done live, with no special effects, by base jumpers Martin Rosén and Per Eriksson, members of the Swedish "Team Bautasten". The scene was filmed by air-to-air cameraman Mikael Nordqvist, from the same team.
Since the 1976 Mount Asgard jump featured in the pre-credit sequence to The Spy Who Loved Me, James Bond movies have featured several 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 2002's Die Another Day, Pierce Brosnan as James Bond jumps from a melting iceberg. Of the James Bond jumps, only the Mount Asgard and Eiffel Tower jumps were filmed live; the rest were special effects.
In 2005's Batman Begins
A series of BASE jumps are featured in the video for a remix of M83's "Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun".[54]
The 1938 Sierra Club film Three on a Rope ends with a climber jumping off Baldy Mountain rather than dealing with the hassle of rappelling, to the horror of a climbing partner, only to deploy a parachute hidden in his pack.[55]