BASE Tower

[guest]

Is there any BASE tower, or crane, or any private place or object made specially for BASE jumping ?

If there is not, why not to build a tower for BASE jumping ?:7

[guest]

One word - liability!

[guest]

Thanks for the word, Peter, but Im Brazilian, and Im not that good in your language yet... So, if it is no problem, could you add some more words so I can understand better what you said...

I am really thinking about build a tower here in Brazil, in my farm. Not so tall.. just to people to learn BASE , train and pratice. Maybe 60 m... 180 feet, in front of a lake... I would really appreciate as many opinions as I can receive.

Thanks

[guest]

Liability = (responsibility * money). If someone gets hurt, they can sue the owner of the tower for lots of money.
This might not be a problem in Brazil.
180 ft is too low for beginer training.

If you want to train beginners you should make the tower at least 400 ft. The tower should be free standing without support wires.

Go for it,

that's the spirit!

cheers

[guest]

Yes, responsability is a problem... But in skydiving and other risk activities there is a "responsability term" that intend to free the owner or the instructor of any responsability if anything go wrong. Something like this could solve the responsability problem... One only could jump if agree with this condition.

I am not a BASE jumper (yet)... I dont inted to train anybody in such a tower. Maybe be trained.. hehehehehehh

What gave me the idea was a clip X-VEKO2001 where there is a crane, with not more than 150 feet, from where 3 guys jump over a lake. 2 of them didnt had the skills and fall in the water in a little bad way... and the other one could land ok.

I can send this little part of the clip if anyone wants

[base615]

I disagree, lots of people learn from 180ft bridges, I think people should stop looking purely at height, for instance a PCA from a 180 ft bridge with wide open landing area is in my opinion far better for first timers than a 2 sec delay from a 400 ft tower with a few obstacles.

Craig

[guest]

Yes, At the XPLEX! 1200'. With an elevator! Theres a donut at 200',400',600',800',1000',1200' Gear rental & first Base jumping course! :+

[Greg]

Yea, your right.

At 180ft, there's much more time to deal with premature release of brake lines, more time to deal with bad body positions and the deployment problems that result. And heaps more time to make decisions for landing.

Dammit, I should have known better when I chose that 480ft bridge for my first jump. Should have never let my mentor talk me into it.

Next time I teach someone to jump, I'm taking them straight to Rub-a Dub for a godd ol' safe 175ft jump.

Thanks for the insight!

Greg

[space]

Get real Greg, A privately owned tower is a bit more realistic than a bridge,175ft tower is a bit high unless one´s student´s canopy´s glide slope radius prohibits an object strike in null wind conditions. Explain to us how to deal with a bad body position at 480ft and how it would differ at 182ft. I am open minded. The ultimate instructor is the ultimate student and this is my intermediate goal. Altitude is only altitude, it is not always safety.
take care:7

[Iiro]

Here in Finland we have often rented out a crane for a day. The height has been everything between 80 to 100 meters. The more meters you want, to more it costs. The company who rents out the cranes wanted to us to write a waiver not to sue them. After that we were able to jump and pack, jump and pack ect. ect.

[guest]

Paint it pink! That way at least Feral will come and jump it.:9

[Greg]

Hey Space,

I'm pretty open-minded too, so don't think I'm doggin ya here, but do you think that 175ft is too high? Would you want to take a student to a lower object? Or did I misunderstand what you wrote?

And here's my thought on bad body position at 480ft vs. 182ft:

The difference is not in the bad body position. It's in the time that you have after you open/recover from the bad body position that matters. I know you have worked with tons of students and the point I was trying to make was that a beginner is less likely to get themselves in trouble if they are under canopy at 250ft vs. 50ft.

Altitude does not equal safety, but it does equal more response time.

Greg

[guest]

About the crane...COOL !!!

If you often do this so it worth... Easy, near, legal, cheap... I see a lot of good ponts in these private objects.

About the 50 feet ... This 180 feet tower would be in the middle of a LAKE ! Static line jump....So, if the cannopy opens at 50 feet it is ok... I have made a lot of free jumps from a 50 feet bridge here in Brazil...

Now... Do you think people could learn a lot jumping from a tower like that ? I mean... One could pratice exit position and cannopy control and landing... no free fall ... It would be cheap, near, legal ... Do you think it would be a success ???

[guest]

Gustavo:

YES, it can be a success if you do it right.

One of the very best ways to learn BASE exits is from a 3-meter diving platform (not board) because you get a "solid ground" launch and 3/4 of a second of freefall -- the most critical 3/4 second -- and if you have the wrong body position, you are rewarded with PAIN... but not serious injury.

I80 feet over a lake takes that concept one step further; you get to practice not only the body position but deployment (180 feet over water is enough to do that), getting on the risers, popping the toggles, initial canopy control, etc.

If you're slow or make mistakes, you'll also get rewarded with pain but usually NOT injury (as long as the water is at least three or four feet deep).

As far as I know, no one has done this yet in any country, but your idea is good and solid, and it certainly gives even experienced jumpers a chance to see just how fast they can act and react because you'll only have 5-7 seconds of static line canopy time (less with a freefall).

Obviously, an overhang or boom on the tower would be good to reduce the chances of a collision from 180s (that's what Space was talking about), but not critical. And if the tower is tipped at an angle, like many bungee towers are, then you don't have that problem either.

As for liability, find out what Brazilian parachute centers do to protect themselves and just copy what they do with their waivers and releases of liability.

Keep thinking creatively and good luck.

Robin Heid
BASE 44

[Skypuppy]

Many BASE jumpers might hesitate to take their own canopies into the water. If you're really into it it you might consider a bunch of canopies (even used old ones maybe?) to rent out to jumpers so they don't have to put their own in the water.

Just a suggestion.&-)

[guest]

Gustavo,
I will be in Rio in March.
Can you give me a contact so I can perhaps get a building on the beach? Any good cliffs around there?
Thanks,
Tal
aironot@aol.com

[space]

I totally agree with Skypuppy, Seen s lot of jumpers, prefer to crash into boulders and break themselves up rather than get their gear wet.
take care,
space

[guest]

Thanks for all the info you are giving me...

I have one more question about how large this lake have to be. Because the lake I was talking about is about 50 m large... Could anyone jump from a 180 feet tower and land more than 50 m distant from the tower ?

And there is the other side of the tower, where there is no lake, so experienced jumpers could jump from this side... ( what about the wind? )

[guest]

I believe that within 10-15 years or so everything now broadcast will go satellite and the American landscape will be littered with non-operational AM/FM/TV towers.

Nick

[guest]

Your absolutley right Nick. One of the jobs of the company I work for is to decommision old towers. Only the electronics. The tower stays. BTW, I also occasionally get access to B's (roof tops are a great place for cell antennas) and A's, due to the nature of my job. I would be willing to exchange some of these priveleges for some great BASE tutilage, as I'm a newb with ohhh about 0 jumps. Do skydive, however.

MD/VA/PA area. Sometimes do work in NC/SC.
If any of you experienced jumpers are in my area, feel free to drop me a line.

-Bryan
headdown25@hotmail.com
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[guest]

mmmm pink frosted donuts :7

[guest]

A rented crane sounds great! How much do you pay?, is it easy to transport? & what sort of place do you take it (private property I assume?)