Skydiving and BASE

[Karin]

I'm posting this here as well because I think it's pertinent to people getting into BASE. The original post was a response to someone's query about skydiving/BASE in dropzone.com's forum.

This is in response to Covey's "Just Wondering" post from yesterday. I wanted to start a new thread because I think it's important.


Covey,

Warning: this is long.

IMHO, I think that the “skydiving before BASE” thing depends on what type of BASE jumping you’ll be doing (or would like to be doing) and what type of overall BASE jumper you’d like to be.

I’ll be the first to tell any non-BASE jumping skydiver that BASE is a TOTALLY different sport from skydiving. But there ARE some very important crossovers from skydiving into BASE - tracking, gear/canopy knowledge & understanding, body awareness & control at higher airspeeds (i.e. longer than slider-down delays).

If you are going to be doing primary slider-down jumps, then I’d say that skydiving skills “may not” contribute as much to how well you’ll do in BASE. But if you’re ever thinking about traveling abroad to some bigger walls/objects (850+ feet), then a lack of tracking ability will most definitely show.

If you head to Italy, Norway, some places in Switzerland or anywhere w/ BIG BIG walls, then tracking deficiencies could be deadly (BTW, the walls of Italy & Norway are considered to be “safe” because they’re so big - but this “safe” designation assumes that jumpers have sufficient tracking skills). All you have to do is look at Nick DG’s stats every year to see that many fatalities occur at these so-called “safe” objects.

And if you’re thinking about pushing the limits of subterminal & terminal tracking - skydiving tracking experience will be invaluable. I don’t think that Douggs could’ve out-tracked Smellveggen if not for the tracking experience he gained from skydiving.

If you’re ever thinking about getting into Wingsuit BASE -- don’t even THINK about taking skydiving shortcuts here. I won’t even go into why it would be idiotic to go directly into Wingsuit BASE jumping w/o first getting some experience in Wingsuit skydiving.

Canopy knowledge & skill - well, more often than not, experienced skydivers who start BASE jumping generally realize pretty quick that there are some huge differences in the way you fly/land BASE vs. skydiving canopies. Here, two totally different sports.

But, if you’re interested in gear, skydiving is the Mother from where most BASE technology arose. Truly understanding a “wing”, its flight characteristics and how wings (of all sorts) perform under varying conditions can only come from gaining a broader range of experience in flying a variety of wings. P/C's, bridles, different types of containers, lines, fabric & loads of theory come from skydiving's history books.

There are quite a few people who start BASE jumping very soon after they start skydiving, and even some who start BASE before they’ve ever done a single freefall skydive. But those are rare exceptions and I’d venture to say that most seasoned BASE jumpers would not recommend this path for a number of reasons. Most experienced (both in #'s & time in sport) BASE jumpers that I know would not think it “cool”, “extreme”, amusing or impressive that someone skipped the skydiving step.

There’s nothing wrong with starting to skydive with the goal of eventually becoming a BASE jumper -- I think this is EXTREMELY common. But I have a lot respect for those people (who have BASE as their ultimate goal) that go out and make a heap of skydives in preparation for the road ahead - Tom A. is a perfect example of this. He did an impressive amount of skydiving during his first year - I think his progression was something like, started AFF in September, made 300-400 skydives his first year, and started BASE jumping by the anniversary of his first skydives. That’s super cool and earns my total respect. He put in the time, effort, energy & focus to meet his ultimate goal of BASE.

In my opinion, some of the best overall technically-skilled & knowledgeable BASE jumpers are those with a wide variety of “parachuting” skills. Some of those who come to mind: Moe V., Lukas Knutsson, Anne, Jimmy & Marta, Slim, Mark Hewitt, Douggs, Stane (from Atair), Tom Begic, Johnny Utah, Dennis McGlynn, Ueli G., Adam, Rob & Cathy, Loic, Nenad & Robert, Klaus R., DJ, Dwain, JJ… too many more to name. These folks are true parachutists with AFF, tandem, coaching, video & rigging ratings in skydiving and who have made significant contributions to the sport of BASE in their own ways. Without the BREADTH and DEPTH of experience and knowledge of people such as these, BASE would not be where it is today. These people are inventors, OG pioneers and have been “walking the walk” for a very long time.

Generally speaking, I think that a little bit of skydiving experience can take you a long way in BASE. In my opinion, I believe that skydiving can only add to your overall skills as an ALL-AROUND BASE jumper.

Will skydiving experience make you a “talented” or skillful jumper with great reflexes, grace under pressure & a fine camera presence [:P]? Not necessarily. And of course it goes w/o saying that skydiving experience will not categorically ensure longevity or the maintenance of health in BASE. Again, just look at the fatality stats and talk to some BASE jumpers who’ve been in some gnarly BASE accidents. Doo-doo happens.

We’re all on Nick’s List - we just don’t know what order.

But alas, “longevity” in BASE is a whole ‘nother issue that I'm sure you don't want me to start spewing about.

Have fun, be careful & continue to be truthful with yourself.

[Mac]

Thought this was also interesting for the people that ask why they need to get into skydiving first.