Craig
June 24th, 2003, 10:17 AM
From http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2003/06/23/016.html
Monday, Jun. 23, 2003. Page 5
50 Daredevils Take Ostankino Plunge
By Kevin O'Flynn
Staff Writer
Mike Solovyanov / MT
D.A.R.E. divers leaping off the Ostankino television tower Sunday afternoon.
Without a sound, the man fell 300 meters from the top of the Ostankino television tower, his legs and arms waving madly. Then it was somebody else's turn.
Illegal in the United States and many other countries, B.A.S.E. jumping was welcomed to Moscow over the weekend as one of the city's highest landmarks was turned into a platform for 50 jumpers from around the world to leap off.
Developed by bored skydivers looking for the next step forward, B.A.S.E., which stands for Building, Antenna, Span and Earth, is one of the world's most extreme sports. Jumpers parachute from objects 50 meters to a kilometer high.
At Ostankino, the jumpers walked off a specially built metal bridge that extended from the tower 365 meters above the ground. Stepping off, they plummeted to the ground for five, six or even seven seconds before activating their parachutes -- lifting up just a hundred meters or so from the ground.
"It's like Formula One without an engine," said Sebastien Merian, a lawyer from Paris.
To the spectator, the sport looks like suicide. A number of people -- estimates vary from five to 15 -- die every year when parachutes do not open or they are blown into the object they are jumping off from.
"These aren't criminals or morons but professionals," said Denis Lenchevsky, an organizer of the jump and the third-place winner in unofficial B.A.S.E. world championships in Malaysia last year, where jumpers leaped off the world tallest building, the Petronas Twin Towers.
Most of the Moscow competitors are experienced skydivers. The minimum number of skydives needed to throw oneself from a building, antenna or bridge is 150, they suggest. Merian has more than 3,000.
"There are people here from all around the world. I don't think they are fools. They are experienced skydivers with good equipment and training," Merian said.
"There can't be any mistakes. It's a feeling you can't explain. It's better than sex," said Sergei Barbashin, 42, a manager with an oil company in Moscow.
Barbashin explained how to decide when to pull open the parachute: "When you look and see that you want to, you wait for a few more seconds," he said.
"You are in a kind of freedom, like water," Merian said. "But you have to be gifted."
Before they could take the leap, the 50 jumpers had to first take a 40-minute hike up Ostankino's stairs because the elevators, which were damaged in a fire almost three years ago, only go 50 meters up the tower.
The climb did not deter the divers. "It is very special for a French guy," Merian said. "I knew this antenna, I saw it when it was on fire [on television] and said I would like to jump it.
"France is a so-called free country, but you can do less than here. It's great that the city government has allowed us to jump from this nice object."
Gravity did its job again and again over the weekend, hurtling the divers down at speeds of up 100 kilometers per hour. A new world record was set Sunday when 26 people went off the tower at the same time.
The view from the nearby VDNKh metro station was even more spectacular. Men fell from the sky, but high buildings obscured their last-minute rescue by parachute. Few passers-by, however, paid attention.
A few neighbors from across the road came to watch. "I would also like to jump," said Natasha Golubeva. "From one meter."
The jumpers will be back next weekend and hope to hold world championships here next year.
Monday, Jun. 23, 2003. Page 5
50 Daredevils Take Ostankino Plunge
By Kevin O'Flynn
Staff Writer
Mike Solovyanov / MT
D.A.R.E. divers leaping off the Ostankino television tower Sunday afternoon.
Without a sound, the man fell 300 meters from the top of the Ostankino television tower, his legs and arms waving madly. Then it was somebody else's turn.
Illegal in the United States and many other countries, B.A.S.E. jumping was welcomed to Moscow over the weekend as one of the city's highest landmarks was turned into a platform for 50 jumpers from around the world to leap off.
Developed by bored skydivers looking for the next step forward, B.A.S.E., which stands for Building, Antenna, Span and Earth, is one of the world's most extreme sports. Jumpers parachute from objects 50 meters to a kilometer high.
At Ostankino, the jumpers walked off a specially built metal bridge that extended from the tower 365 meters above the ground. Stepping off, they plummeted to the ground for five, six or even seven seconds before activating their parachutes -- lifting up just a hundred meters or so from the ground.
"It's like Formula One without an engine," said Sebastien Merian, a lawyer from Paris.
To the spectator, the sport looks like suicide. A number of people -- estimates vary from five to 15 -- die every year when parachutes do not open or they are blown into the object they are jumping off from.
"These aren't criminals or morons but professionals," said Denis Lenchevsky, an organizer of the jump and the third-place winner in unofficial B.A.S.E. world championships in Malaysia last year, where jumpers leaped off the world tallest building, the Petronas Twin Towers.
Most of the Moscow competitors are experienced skydivers. The minimum number of skydives needed to throw oneself from a building, antenna or bridge is 150, they suggest. Merian has more than 3,000.
"There are people here from all around the world. I don't think they are fools. They are experienced skydivers with good equipment and training," Merian said.
"There can't be any mistakes. It's a feeling you can't explain. It's better than sex," said Sergei Barbashin, 42, a manager with an oil company in Moscow.
Barbashin explained how to decide when to pull open the parachute: "When you look and see that you want to, you wait for a few more seconds," he said.
"You are in a kind of freedom, like water," Merian said. "But you have to be gifted."
Before they could take the leap, the 50 jumpers had to first take a 40-minute hike up Ostankino's stairs because the elevators, which were damaged in a fire almost three years ago, only go 50 meters up the tower.
The climb did not deter the divers. "It is very special for a French guy," Merian said. "I knew this antenna, I saw it when it was on fire [on television] and said I would like to jump it.
"France is a so-called free country, but you can do less than here. It's great that the city government has allowed us to jump from this nice object."
Gravity did its job again and again over the weekend, hurtling the divers down at speeds of up 100 kilometers per hour. A new world record was set Sunday when 26 people went off the tower at the same time.
The view from the nearby VDNKh metro station was even more spectacular. Men fell from the sky, but high buildings obscured their last-minute rescue by parachute. Few passers-by, however, paid attention.
A few neighbors from across the road came to watch. "I would also like to jump," said Natasha Golubeva. "From one meter."
The jumpers will be back next weekend and hope to hold world championships here next year.