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February 12th, 2005 I know there was a very good, and long thread a while back about YOUR biggest mistake in base.
I would like to start a similiar thread about the biggest teaching mistake.
Whether I like it or not, many people who are, or ar not qualified to teach base, DO anyways.
So, maybe this thread will help students understand the common teaching mistakes, and give them an advantage when starting into BASE..
So, Fire Away!
February 12th, 2005 The biggest mistake I have seen in teaching base are instructors that do not properly teach the need for, nor mandate the use of knee pads and helmet at a minimum.
I personally saw a guy in Norway that had a cliff strike, and cracked his globe, and thus, lost his sigh in 1 eye forever.
I also saw a guy in Moab that jumped a daisy-chained field packed rig, and streamered into the talus. He had a protec on. The protec had a major 5" to 7" crack in the front of it. He had to get about 20 stitched in his head, but without the helmet, he would be dead for sure!
"Dress for the crash, not the jump"...Adam F.
February 12th, 2005 I have heard of this happening at another DZ close to mine! That a person has approached low time jumpers asking them if they wanted to go on a BASE jump! Someone that I know that doesn't BASE jump approached the person and told them that it wasn't cool to drag new guys into something that they know nothing about. The guy acted like he wasn't doing anything wrong by asking others to go with him since no one else would jump with him.Originally Posted by mknutson
So my comment to people looking to get into BASE, "If someone approaches you about getting into BASE jumping, run away from them! Start jumping because its something that you want to do! Because you cant get it out of your mind Not because you think its cool, or because someone wants you to go with them. Learn all you can about what you are getting into. ASK OTHER BASE JUMPERS about the person that invited you to jump.
February 12th, 2005 A mistake I see is Mentors being too sure of themselves.
While BASE in no longer in it's infancy, it's still a toddler. Always impart to students that the knowledge you are passing on reflects what's going on today. Tell them to keep an open mind and never stop learning because what sounds good today may kill them tomorrow.
There was a time when no one could tell me anything I didn't already know about this sport, and now pups like Tom Aiello can make me look lame . . .
I'd also like to see more of an emphasis placed on the history of the sport when teaching BASE. I realize there is no text book for that, but I'm working on it.
NickD
BASE 194
February 12th, 2005 Man, I have to chime in on this one!
1st off, a mentor, could actually not be a teacher, but someone that other people observe and want to imitate.
So, if any mentor has the opportunity to influence a low timer, this is the greatest opportunity you have!
Why let a new jumper go to a prize secret tower that is beyond his skill level, and hurt or kill himself. Then, burn the site forever!
Take him to the not so secret spot that is a super easy jump, with very low risk. Then, the chances are greater that he will have a great jump, and probably make many jumps from an easy object before getting in over his/her head.
The thing I hate most about base: "Rescuing my brother or sister on a jump". Be safe!
February 12th, 2005 Nick, no one is ever going to be able to make you look lame.
February 13th, 2005 Sorry about not clarifing myself. The low time jumpers I was refering to were low time skydivers!
The jumper that I was talking about is asking people to go that have never thought about BASE jumping before and trying to talk them into going with HIM. I know its a good thing for someone with more experiance to take the new people under their wing if only to give advice. But what I was trying to get across to NEW jumpers or people looking to start jumping is to start BASE JUMPING because its their own IDEA, NOT because someone talked them into it!
February 13th, 2005 John i do agree 100% whith you in this subject.
One of the biggest teaching mistakes is when the teacher looks at him/her self thinking they know evrything and do it correct.
A good teacher will discribe or tell in other ways to do a thing,but then clarify why the person does as he/she does.
February 13th, 2005 I am in the process of finding a mentor and learning everything I can about BASE and this thread is of great interest to me.
I have not yet done a BASE jump and to be honest with you the easier the first object is the better. Also what ever difficulty or secrecy of an object for the first number of jumps I am going to feel stoked anyway so why take the risk of injury to me or burning of the site with a first jump off a difficult object.
Ian
February 13th, 2005 My biggest teaching mistakes:
1) Taking on a student who wasn't ready, because I was afraid they'd go chuck themself off something if I didn't step in. I think, in retrospect, I ought to have made them wait, and brought them in to ground crew, or whatever, in the meantime, which also would have given me some latitude to get them practicing the right skills while skydiving.
2) Not allowing enough time for a FJC. I'm starting to wonder if they don't need to be a week long, all the time.
3) Not laying out a good enough progression for what people ought to do after they've finished their initial FJC.
February 13th, 2005 >>Mentoring is a huge responsibility. Consider just for a moment that in BASE the term "mentor" is used in lieu of "instructor". "Mentor" impies not only a technical instuctor but also one who acts as sort of a guide and counselor for the intense emotional roller coaster ahead. I feel the biggest mistake a mentor can make is to lose the sense of humility. BASE for me personally has been the most humbling experience
of my life, and there is much a fool can learn that a sage wil never see. If I could teach a prespective BASE student but a single thing, I teach them that their ultinate goal should be to walk away from BASE, not have BASE walk away from you.
February 14th, 2005 Hi Tom,
I do agree but like to add a personal opinion and some thoughts if you don't mind.
Personally I have one student per year ... sometimes longer. The concept of FJC are, in my personal opinion, a concept not actually in the best interest of the student.
It is a concept that enables "mass production" and with mass production you have to make a standard course that does not allow to many custom changes to be cost effective. The goal with mass production are usually to make money from it ... not to share a lifestyle or mentor someone in to a very high risk activity.
I am not against FJC's ... as I see it FJC's are a symptom, now days there are so many out there that are looking to get in so the only way to accomplish that demand are mass production ... the only thing I sometimes wonder about are ... that demand, did we create it with making BASE easy to get in to like FJC's ... or is FJC's just the logical answer to the increase of people that like to become basejumpers.
... and if we created that demand ... did we create a monster?
PerFlare
www.swedishbaseteam.se
Last edited by PerFlare; February 14th, 2005 at 05:46 AM.
February 14th, 2005 I actually think about that a lot.
Do we create the problem ourselves, by offering FJC's in a commercial way? Or do the FJC's help to spread knowledge?
Honestly, I think a FJC is worse than dangerous without follow up instruction and long term mentoring. Unfortunately, it's usually very difficult to find quality long term mentoring (and also often depends on location).
It's a puzzle for sure. Personally, if I could find a way for every student to have a multi-year apprenticeship, I think that would be the best way to go.
What can we do, from here, to improve it? We can't make FJC's go away--there too may people making money (and in some cases their living) from them.
I am wondering if the best steps to take are (a) to try to get new jumpers in touch with mentors at home, (b) to create a publicly available "progression plan" for taking a FJC student and working them through to intermediate levels, and (c) perhaps to offer some "second, third, or fiftieth" Jump Courses, that teach intermediate level skills that don't get covered in FJC's.
The real difficult thing to convey in those formats, I think, are going to be ethics and history. Those two things tend to get absorbed by osmosis, especially over time (and especially for the ethics). It's hard to ram an attitude about jumping into a students head during a short duration course.
February 14th, 2005 I will play devil's advocate here, and wonder if the situation is really that bad. Looking at Nick's fatality list, the number of accidents caused by unprepared newbies going off jumping after their first FJC is not that high.
In fact, the number of fatalities among experienced base jumpers (more than 300 jumps) tells me that the current fatality rate is almost a constant, regardless of training.
Given the nature of the sport, it will be a while before education will replace gear-innovations as the biggest source of safety improvements.
Obviously there are other problems caused by minimal education. One that I see is lack of ethics, morals and values. But then again, wasn't that what Dwain wanted?
Seriously though, I don't quite see the situation as pessimistic. If anything, try to instill a sense of patience into your students. The biggest lesson I learned at the bridge was that an FJC is just that; a first jump course. Maybe students expect too much from an FJC and think they'll become an experienced jumper by learning how to pack in one day.
Compare the following three:
1. Never having skydived at all.
2. Doing a first base of a friendly span.
3. Doing a first building or cliff jump.
I would argue that for somebody with not that many skydives, the skill gap between 2 and 3 is much greater than it is between 1 and 2. I wouldn't be surprised if many FJC students see this differently, and actually believe that once they're at level 2, they'll soon be able to complete level 3.
Is jumping the span with only 150 skydives okay? I believe so, as long as the student understands that doing a building with just 150 skydives is not okay. They're different things.
But that's just my opinion, and what do I know.
Jaap Suter
February 14th, 2005 Interestingly, I've been on buildings with people who had a lot less than 150 skydives, but who I felt totally comfortable with in that situation. They pretty much all had more than 150 BASE jumps, though.
The skydiving experience, while very important at the beginning of the BASE career, becomes less of a deciding factor as you gain BASE experience, I think.
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