Competition = good?

[guest]

Well, ok, first off I am a really new BASE jumper so I am not qualified to talk about much here. But I am a rock climber and boulderer with 15+ years experience and while I'm far from international stardom, I have bouldered to V9 which at least shows dedication in someone who doesn't have much inborn skill.

Anyway, my point is that many, many climbers are opposed to big, glitzy, nasty competitions. Back in the late '80s, competitions were going to "revolutionize" climbing. Media exposure, big sponsorship gigs, loads of new climbers, recognition, legitimacy. So there were a bunch of comps in the U.S. and the (completely predictable) political nastys and back-stabbing and crap that comes with big-ticket competition.

What happened? Not much. Rock climbing didn't become some big phenom as a result. TV crews didn't flock to the local crags to film climbers. Nobody got rich. But alot of friendships were blown out, and alot of political crap was tossed back and forth.

Well, then bouldering got big. More of a loose vibe, more friendly, more individual. Less focused on grades. Guess what happened: it attracted lots of new climbers, lots of GOOD climbers, lots of young climbers. These new climbers were much attracted by the fun vibe of bouldering. They pushed the sport - REALLY pushed the sport - to new levels like no competition ever did.

Now bouldering comps are all the rage, but they are collegial and fun and not back-stabbing gabfests. They are an excuse to climb and hang out, not a goal in themselves.

So my point is this: is some World Championship really going to do good things for BASE? I think not. I think it will just make us look like the same money-grubbing, TV-whoring, "extreme" bozos one can find on any TeeVee set any day.

In contrast, local comps with a good vibe and good folks are going to make the sport seem less populated by pompous goons and more by people who love experiencing the world in good company. Tombstone, etc. seem good examples of this. They work. Big, flashy, corporate gigs do NOT work.

This is not meant to diss anyone who has worked really hard on doing the big comps. I respect that, as I did the work that went into climbing comps in the late '80s and early '90s. But I think that passion could really make more happiness by doing more local events that are fun and mellow and SAFE and go well. That's grassroots, and the sort of growth a niche sport can really support without coming apart at the seams.

As I said, I'm new here so what the heck do I know. Still wanted to share my experience. Comps don't lead to Nirvana. When taken too far, they lead to recriminations and nastiness and backstabbing and in the end make us look like bitter wannabees. Case in point: Petronas thread.

Just my thoughts,

d-dog
ddog@wrinko.com

[base311]

You are dead on heading with this... I couldn't agree more.

I've given countless hours of thought to this.. how we, as a group (and I'm especially referring to the american base jumpers), always seem to crap the bed right when it's time to go to sleep. I don't get it, but I do think it has something to do with being american. Other countries seem to be able to achieve enough consensus to have wonderfully organized situations where the individual is generally respectful of the group and willing to operate in a manner consistent with guidelines set up collectively. I suppose that may stem from socialist thought to a degree... but I think it goes beyond all of this. Egos and capitalism and the resulting competition to 'be somebody' always seem to get in the way of the collective good of the group. If we are to EVER gain recognition as a legitimate sport, then we must face up to the fact that sometimes we must defer to the benefit of the group rather than for the benefit of ourselves. What we fail to see, especially as americans, is the long-term reward for this posture: recognition as a legitimate sport, die-hard faithful friendships, and a climate which will ultimately reward the individual with more legal jumps and less legal hassle. Our problem is we want what we want when we want it... and we want it so badly we are willing to go to any length to get it... which includes stabbing friends in the back. DAMN Y'all really piss me off sometimes...

Love and Vomit,
Gardner

[guest]

Part and parcel with the american "attitude" is pride. Think about it. Subsuming ourselves to the group really means bobbing and scrapping to the egotistical likes of Robin Heid, or whatever individual or minority of people "control" base, or elect themselves God. These are the screamers and troublemakers who put up a squall if everything doesnt go according to THEIR plan. People who desperately need to control others, to be important, to get attention, to be in charge---the true pathetics of the world. As long as they are allowed that power-Business as usual aka petronas. It would be nice if we could rotate "the Biggies", limiting them to a term of office to give them the importance they pathetically crave, while putting them to a socially useful end. Trust me, to not allow these sorts their "special day" is to motivate them to get attention elsewhere, like calling the media to film them while they daytime jump and burn some of our established non legal sites. Honestly, I think little can be done with "the biggies", but I dont see why a second group of us cant exist, cooperate, and let the fun and freedom and individuality of the sport shine through to become "bouldering". The Base Boogies seem to have a bit of this spirit...

[guest]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jul-31-01 AT 03:51 PM (PST)[/font][p]My thoughts on competition...

1) It's quite personal. I can think of BASE jumpers who I count as my friends, and who I respect greatly, who feel that competition is inappropriate in the BASE environment.

2) Competitions have helped BASE. In my opinion, the IPBC competitions have acheived their original goals (as explained to me those were to (a) increase the overall skill level of the sport in survival skills such as opening heading and landing accuracy, (b) to generate a database of statistics encompassing thousands of jumps, to use as a demonstration for negotiating with land managers, and (c) to provide a fun place to meet and hang out with fellow jumpers).

3) When people take the competition itself too seriously, we all suffer. The people who aren't having fun, and are getting upset about the competition, are, in my opnion, missing the point. Who really cares if you come in 12th or 22nd at the Tombstone Challenge?

4) The competitions provide a great opportunity for younger jumpers to meet and learn from, more experienced jumpers. I personally have found that the IPBC events are way better for this than the informal gatherings at the legal bridge on Labor Day and Memorial Day. Partly that's because the average skill level at the competitions is much higher (again, my opinion, feel free to flame me). Partly it's because the competition itself mixes us all together, discouraging the cliques that can form at the informal gatherings. (One super experienced jumper once confided in me that they didn't like those gatherings at the bridge because "no one knows anyone else, and no one cares--it's just like being back at an unfamiliar drop zone" . ) Partly it's because the competition focuses us back on the survival skills that are judged in the competition, so the very best jumpers, who would otherwise be working on other things (like aerials) demonstrate techniques for the basics to the rest of us (and we all talk them over).

5) In contrast to climbing competitions: No one ever died from not being able to lead .13c. We all know people who have died from not being able to open on heading, or deal with the opening they had, or land accurately. I believe that the skill advancement that competitions brought to climbing (we can argue this point if you like) was significant. While competitions bring negatives as well, in BASE, the increase in skill is a safety issue, where in climbing it is not. So, competitions may not improve the total quality of the climbing experience, but they will improve the total quality of the BASE experience (if only because they will keep jumpers alive, where they would not play a significant role in keeping climbers alive).

Picture it this way, if climbing competitions were about building solid anchors, rigging correct belays, and keeping your brake hand on the rope, they'd keep climbers safer. BASE competitions ARE about things like that (even the majority of Robin's proposed categories at Petronas--aerials possibly aside [again debatable]--were about safety skills [subterminal tracking, opening heading, landing accuracy].

With this in mind, I think a "low budget" IPBC style comps are a far better idea than the "World Championship", $25,000 prize comps. It's the same reason that low-key, local and regional climbing competitions are a more positive force than high profile X-Games style competitions.

So, in conclusion. I think that competitions can be a serious force for good in BASE. The trick is to keep ourselves from taking them too seriously.

--Tom Aiello
tbaiello@ucdavis.edu

P.S. I have avoided using the term "boogie" to describe what occurs on big weekends at our legal bridge. I have done so intentionally, as I feel that (a) we ought to create our own terminology to differentiate ourselves from skydivers, (b) skydivers who hear that there is a "boogie" often get the wrong impression about what's going on (i.e. if I just show up, someone will put me off for my first jump), and (c) the anything goes "boogie" mentality has been shown to create serious errors in the BASE environment (myself being an excellent case in point, but also think of the accidents in Norway last summer) .