What is BASE about?

It’s about…

…the flying Dutchman pedaling up on a bicycle, and, upon learning that you have decided to eat mushrooms rather than jump in the rain, shrugging, and responding “that happens.”

…the crazy Belgian opening the door onto the giant crane, and turning to you, with a gleam in his eye, and saying “welcome to paradise.”

…spending four days trying to get off one exit point, and still not doing it, and somehow having that be ok.

…sitting alone on a park bench in southern France, drinking a bottle of red wine, and trying to wrap your mind around the fact that earlier that day yet another friend made his last jump.

…watching some guy play with a boomerang in the Zurich main train station, then returning two weeks later, and seeing the same guy, playing with the same boomerang, in exactly the same spot.

…explaining to a a ski lift operator that it’s ok to traverse a glacier in tennis shoes and street clothes because “I have a Norwegian friend.”

…getting wind info from the tram operator, who seems to know all about downdrafts, rotors and turbulence, and later being grounded by the same tram operator because she feels conditions are unsafe.

…hearing Lukas’ exuberant voice on the radio asking “who’s the fastest motherfucker in the valley?”

…learning that in Belgium, a “flaming” tower, really does have thirty foot flames shooting from the top of it.

…randomly seeing a dam on the side of the road, pulling over, and jumping it, and finding Sector stickers all over the exit point.

…backing off at 4am for the third night in a row, and still having that be ok.

…having to call your friend in to see the insane self-cleaning Swiss toilet, and later learning that a different set of friends had exactly the same reaction.

…skipping loads at a world famous site, and having to make your friend pull the car over, because Vin Rouge Francais is too strong for your weak American stomach.

…jumping in “sub-optimal” conditions.

…sending Flare on a wild goose chase to drink an entire Giraffe himself—and later learning that he has joined the founder of the Mince Division in achieving the rare and coveted title of “Giraffe-man.”

…buying a one way ticket to a roundtrip only destination, being told that hiking down is impossible, and responding “we are flying down,” while flapping your arms to illustrate the point.

…finding a beautiful, overhung slider up exit, only a 10 minute walk from the cable car, and somehow having it end up named “Teddyland,” then changing the name to “Cold Steel” two days later, after a friend goes in there.

…asking “do you exit from the flame?” and having your friend reply by holding his arms out, miming crucifixion and saying, in a haunting voice “I am Jesus, and I have come back from Hell.”

…frantically pumping the toggles to bring the slider down as you snivel toward a nasty ledge at 13000 feet.

…three Swedes singing a little number from the Lion King, and doing a few dance moves, in the rain in front of the Horner, then later giving an encore while packed into the back seat of a rental car.

…waiting for a friend in a foreign city, at 3 am, in a parking lot where the only other people are young women in tight clothes, and men alone in cars who pick them up and drop them off at irregular intervals.

…having déjà vu when a new friend asks you if you’ve seen the video you shot last week, because two weeks before three other new friends asked you if you knew yourself.

…giving a bag of weed to your friends in Switzerland, and getting happy SMS messages all the way to Italy.

…standing at a pitch black, windy exit point and saying, “it has to be each person’s own decision,” and hearing the reply “absolutement.”

…sitting totally alone at the exit point where your friend died, whispering “Cheers Mate,” and wondering if he hears you.

…feeling the cornice you are exiting from collapse as you plant your foot, and somehow not panicking as you fall through a narrow gap in a ledge, accompanied by the ice and snow you meant to jump from.

…falling in love with a different waitress in each city you jump in.

…learning that Smart cars cost just as much as the normal, dumb variety.

…having dinner with three people who all switch language, just to make you more comfortable.

…rolling into some strange city (was it Zurich, Munchen, Brussels, Milano?) and having a friend to take you in, at four in the morning, after an insanely long day of mushrooms, BASE, glaciers, traveling, and whatever else.

…trying to explain to an angry Dutch woman in a severe brown suit, who is screaming “Verbooden!”, and having the only excuse that comes to mind be the totally inadequate “je parle seulement le Francais.”

…successfully walking away from a spinning line over, then playing on the slide in the Lauterbrunnen city park, and not being sure which was better.

…having a collection of round trip tram tickets that are only validated for travel in the upward direction.

…driving all night, then crashing in the car for two hours, and being woken by a climber explaining to his friend, in French, “it’s Chamonix—there are always two guys sleeping in a car.”

…spending a day making three loads in heavy rain, and one in swirling snow, because…why not?

…hearing, yet again, that “this is not possible.”

…getting totally lost, trying desparately to find a place to sleep, and then stumbling on L’Auberge La Vie est Belle, an incredibly hip, rave-like hotel where the hostess and the cook end up drinking with you, and offering to ground crew the following day.

…merrily writing “finding out that ‘Nothing is Harder than Cold Steel,’” while riding a train, then arriving, finding an internet terminal, and discovering that losing Cold Steel is in fact, much harder than Cold Steel.

It’s about Bryan and Doug. It’s about Andrea, Neil, Mick, and Flummi. It’s about Steve, Alex, Vrank, Peter, Eddy, Fabrisse, Maurizio, Percy, AnneMarie, Will, Andrew, Luki, Claudio, Edu, John, Fonz, TJ, Scott, Remy, Per and Lou. And yes, it’s about Nikolas and Rob and Lukas.

It’s about you. It’s about me. It’s about all of us.

--Tom Aiello
tbaiello@mac.com