In the negative posts about the IPBC, one issue seems to continue to pop up: What HAS the IPBC done for BASE?
As I understand it, the purpose of the IPBC is to organize the competitions that comprise the circuit, providing the opportunity for those who prefer to BASE jump in that format. I suspect the IPBC has not avowed to offer anything more than that. While that purpose might be easily summarized in a single sentence, the time, effort, coordination and energy that is put into it is tremendous. Even though that is the primary purpose/goal, those tremendous efforts have certainly resulted in much more than that, not the least of which is a no-worries environment where jumpers can share knowledge technique, etc. (I could elaborate, but this has been well covered by others with whom I share this view --thanks Bryan Stokes and Tom Aiello, to name a few).
Unless you participate in the competitions, I just don't understand why you would expect the IPBC to "do something" for BASE Jumping. Just what is it that these nay-sayers believe the IPBC is obligated to do???
One grumbling post stated "99% of BASE is underground and always will be." If that's true for you, that's fine, of course. But, if you're an underground BASE jumper, I'm not sure why anything the IPBC does (or doesn't do) would bother you. And if you're so much happier underground, why bother posting on the BASE Board anyway? It's certainly not an "underground" platform.
The IPBC competition circuit is the reason I made my second, and all subsequent BASE jumps. I knew that eventually, it would be the way I could participate in the sport in a way that was both challenging and comfortable for me. Thank you Avery, Dennis and Harry for putting forth your time and effort (which is clearly extensive)! Thank you to your spouses/significant-others for your tireless, devoted, enthusiastic support of your partners. You all are inspiring.
~Carrie Trick
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