Fatalities

[guest]

ok ive been looking through alot of Base jumping information the past few months and i think im going to try and get into it but of all the sites ive looked through i have seen no record of the fatalities/injuries in base jumping now i realize that its not a very cool thing to bring this up but how am i supposed to know what precautions to take if i dont have an extremely firm grasp of how dangerous this sport really is,

i would appreciate it if you would email me any comments sreves@hotmail.com

[guest]

how dangerous is this "sport"?

1) if you do something; stupid / wrong / ill-timed you may die or be gravely injured.

2) if you do everything right / well-informed / properly timed, you still may die or be gravely injured if you have "bad luck".
( luck, good or bad, is in direct proportion to ones level of preparedness, IMO ).

doing things right, while well informed, at the right time, will vastly increase the fun to death ratio.

learn, be safe.

kleggo

[guest]

I died once....

....I got better!

[guest]

hey i rememer that time it was a great video but glad only tempoary and that you are back
see you tonight hopefully

Jonn johnson (no relative to dave)

[guest]

I've died several times now, I always got better than I was before I died, and let me tell you, it greatly enhances life...

Nothing can replace the feeling of BASE...

JJ

[guest]

Have you asked yourself WHY? What is your interest or shall I say curiosity? Do you have the right mindset? Do you really have a desire to step off the edge? If you can be honest with yourself and say it is purely for yourself then think about the level of committment required to jump just your reserve from a very low altitude.
Just ask any base jumper that you know with any time in the sport. They'll have their own stories of near-death experiences and stories of friends lost. There is no lifeguard in this gene pool!!!!

[guest]

well it looked extreme and skydiving was getting really booring i want somthing that has a far greater potential of killing me to me thats what makes it fun the closest ive gotten to death is pulling the chord and a big ass knot coming out

[guest]

I did a bit of research into the fatality rate a while back. I wish I could find the hard data, but I'm having trouble locating it. If I do find it, I'll post again with more info. I do know that somewhere in the BLiNC archives, Nick (then BR) posted "the list" of the fatalities. I think it was about a year ago (like I said, if I can locate it, I'll post the link). I've also heard that someone Down Under keeps a list of injuries and fatalities there, but I don't think it's public. Since the degree of risk involved is a frequent cause for banning the sport, most jumpers are understandably reluctant to pass out hard numbers on injuries and fatalities. In fact, absent severe injury and death, I'd say the majority of BASE accidents go unreported.

Basically, my conclusions were something like this:

If you are a regular BASE jumper, you have approximately a 10% chance of dying BASE jumping. (I think it was around 600 people who had actual BASE "careers"--i.e. more than a few jumps--with about 60 fatalities).

If you are a regular BASE jumper, you have a 95% chance of serious hospital time (an old adage goes "there are two kinds of BASE jumpers--those who have been seriously injured and those who will be seriously injured). A few outstanding jumpers (like the little Aussie and the mad Russian) aside, you're pretty much going to get hurt in a no-fun-serious-hospital-time kind of way.

You seem to be approaching this sport in a very heads-up manner (evaluating the risk before deciding to participate). I plan on participating in this sport for the rest of my life, and my advice to you is DON'T DO IT. If you want to live a long, healthy life, I would not recommend BASE as the sport for you.

--Tom Aiello
tbaiello@ucdavis.edu

[guest]

"how am i supposed to know what precautions to take if i don't have an extremely firm grasp of how dangerous this sport really is"

BASE jumping is one of the most hazardous sports you may ever contemplate - but it compensates with a fabulous payback. It is essentially a six-part part mix of :

1) Pre jump skill development
2) Risk management during planning
3) Emotional control and intellectual focus
4) Exit performance
5) Variable management during landing
6) Performance assessment for the next jump

Also, keep in mind that there is no way to gradually make a jump. You may think about a jump for as long as you wish. However, once your center of gravity passes the exit plane, your body is totally committed to the jump. At that point, it has been found to be really handy if you mind is committed too.

BASE jumpers consider and manage all the risks they can predict and make a go or no go decision. After the exit, they sometimes find new and unpredicted problems. BASE is not the easiest sport, but as one of my mentors pointed out, "if you aren't smart, then you better be tough."

If you are really interested in learning more about BASE jumping, accident statistics are not what you need to study. Perhaps you might consider a three-part learning program of theory, coaching, and practice. A free start on the theory is available at http://www.crmojo.com/frame_main.htm where you can download the following publications

CJAA General Guidelines
Protective Gear for BASE
BASE Canopy Control
Pilot Chute Stowing Options
BASE Ethics

Knowing something about how things are supposed to work will help you develop a personal training plan. Then you need to find some BASE jumpers to talk with. Try the local homeless shelter.

[guest]

Well said Tom. Glad to hear your sense of humor is intact. I've always heard that basically not many people have more than 100 jumps and don't have some kind of decent injury.

Heal fast, jump soon!

Tree

[guest]

see replies below:


>>>>>>>>I've also heard that someone Down Under keeps a list of injuries and fatalities there, but I don't think it's public. <<<<<<<<

Yes, there is a database of injuries, incidents, and accidents down under. And yes, not all incidents are reported. Just like in any other part of society.

>>>>>>>Since the degree
>of risk involved is a frequent cause for
>banning the sport, most jumpers are
>understandably reluctant to pass out hard
>numbers on injuries and fatalities. <<<<<<<<

The degree of risk is relative only to the degree of common sense / stupidity of the participant. If you're real stupid (no training, poor gear, difficult site, jump beyond your ability, etc - than the degree of risk is certainly high. But that is not attributable to BASE jumping itself, BUT TO THE JUMPER. The individual is responsible for his/her actions. When I frap in its because I MADE A MISTAKE!!!!!

>
>Basically, my conclusions were something
>like this:
>
>If you are a regular BASE jumper, you have
>approximately a 10% chance of dying BASE
>jumping. (I think it was around 600 people
>who had actual BASE "careers"--i.e. more
>than a few jumps--with about 60
>fatalities).

No offense Tom, but that is a shocking way of looking at the statistics and is certainly no way to portray the sport in public. Delving into a bit of root cause analysis of each fatality will suggest that people who make fundamental mistakes AND DON"T DEAL WITH THEM in a timely manner, have a high chance of dying in BASE jumping. However, those that persevere with training, equipment, single step skill set advancement, common sense, pushing the limits of common sense as opposed to stupidity, have a greater chance of dying on our roads than ever coming close to dying whilst BASE jumping. e.g. I think I could do a thousand jumps off NRGB with no problems whereas if I walked across the bridge I may very well get hit by traffic well before my 1000th attempt.


>
>If you are a regular BASE jumper, you have
>a 95% chance of serious hospital time (an
>old adage goes "there are two kinds of BASE
>jumpers--those who have been seriously
>injured and those who will be seriously
>injured). A few outstanding jumpers (like
>the little Aussie and the mad Russian)
>aside, you're pretty much going to get hurt
>in a no-fun-serious-hospital-time kind of
>way.

The only certainty is that people who make fundamental mistakes will have some sort of injury!!!!! p.s those you mentioned have been injured too!!!!


>
>You seem to be approaching this sport in a
>very heads-up manner (evaluating the risk
>before deciding to participate). I plan on
>participating in this sport for the rest of
>my life, and my advice to you is DON'T DO
>IT. If you want to live a long, healthy
>life, I would not recommend BASE as the
>sport for you.
>
>--Tom Aiello
>tbaiello@ucdavis.edu


Poor recommendation I think. With proper training, the right gear, good mind set, common sense, a sense of self preservation, the ability to say no based on your skill and experience, etc - BASE can in fact be a very safe sport...

Flame me if I'm wrong!!!!!!


Luv your work.

Stay Safe
Have Fun
Good Luck

;-)

[Yuri]

Yo !

>However, those that persevere with training,
>equipment, single step skill set advancement,
>common sense, pushing the limits of common sense
>as opposed to stupidity, have a greater chance
>of dying on our roads than ever coming close to
>dying whilst BASE jumping.

Tom, i have to both agree and disagree ;-)

While common sense and training do increase your chances of survival, there is still a random luck factor involved.

Common sense helps to analyse your chances and makes you stop at a certain level where chances are becoming unacceptable.

As you progress in the sport, more objects, aerials and other things will become acceptably safe, thus opening up new opportunities that until now were too dangerous. However, as a general rule for a thinking jumper, the level of risk will stay fairly constant throughout one's BASE career. New skills only mean you can take on more complicated and dangerous jumps. Just how risky you want it to be is determined before you even start BASE jumping.

Training helps to expand the boundary of acceptable risk, while common sense guards you from stepping over it.

What i am saying is that in BASE, like most other live adventures, you decide how much risk you want to take (consciously or subconsciously) when you start to walk the road. Skills and experience neither decrease nor increase the risk - they only let you pick a harder road and take uphill turns. If it suddenly gets safer along the way, your assesment of acceptable risks has changed. In other words, you are getting older! I know, because i am ;-)

>The only certainty is that people who make
>fundamental mistakes will have some sort of
>injury!!!!! p.s those you mentioned have been
>injured too!!!!

I haven't, neither was Adam i believe. However, this means nothing - at least for me. I attribute my luck to, well, pure luck ;-) If i don't see a reasonable chance to survive the jump i will stay on the ground. However every jump i do take carries the risk i'm willing to accept - so all in all it's a game of numbers, also called statistics ;-)

Yet another way to put it: all the fun we have is paid by the risk we take. More fun, more risk. Everybody picks a fun-to-risk ratio that he's happy with. I personally like to maximize my lifetime fun - it's a complicated non-linear equation... but what the hell, let's stop here and go play! ;-)

bsbd!

Yuri.

[guest]

600+ jumps havnt died yet.
No hospital time.
No injuries.
one cliff strike.
just be really good at what you do.
Brian Choppin

[guest]

" in my experience, there's no such thing as luck"

[guest]

dennis has nearly l000 BASE jumps and only scratches and perhaps a few bruises here and there to show for it.....

[bps]

But one must understand that this is "Dennis McGlynn" we're talking about.

And I mean this in a totally positive and respective way.

For those of you who are very new to the sport or just followers of the BASE Board, Dennis is one of our "fathers" in BASE. He dedicated his life to this sport along time ago and has jumped more objects than you can imagine - with some of them being very gnarly.

And he's still alive and well.

My belief is that proper training, sound judgement at the object, and the ability to walk away when things aren't right will take you a long way in this sport. I'm not naive...injury and death can still come at any time...but using the above as a guideline will improve your chances...

Bryan