Army introduces base jumping to India
The Indian Army's sports sky diving team introduced the extreme adventure sport of base jumping to India as its captain Lt Col Satyendra Verma jumped off a TV tower in the national capital on Friday.
Gaurav Sawant
New Delhi, October 29, 2010 | UPDATED 18:23 IST
The Indian Army's sports sky diving team introduced the extreme adventure sport of base jumping to India as its captain Lt Col Satyendra Verma jumped off a TV tower in the national capital on Friday.
The country witnessed its first legal base jump as Lt Col Verma jumped from a height of 235 metre in Pitampura as part of the centenary year (February 2010-2011) celebrations of the Corps of Signals.
Verma, an adventure enthusiast and expert in hand-gliding, paragliding, hot air ballooning, skydiving and base jumping, has been part of over 1,100 free fall jumps done by the army's sky diving team. He has participated in World Military Parachuting Championship in Russia in 2006 and has also performed base jump from KL Tower in Kuala Lampur.
What is base jumping?
Base jumping might not be very popular sport in India, but it is a rage worldwide. It is banned in many countries around the world owing to the high level of danger involved.
Base jumping involves leaping off high structure, usually a tower or a high bridge. Sometimes daredevils jump off cliffs. Base stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump from: buildings, antennae, spans (bridge) and earth (cliff).
The jumper takes a free fall and then, with just enough time left before he hits the ground, opens a parachute. Inconstant speed of the wind and the changing directions add a dangerous twist to the sport.
Base jumping is more dangerous than similar sports such as skydiving from aircraft. Skydivers use the air flow to stabilise their position, allowing the parachute to deploy cleanly. Base jumpers, falling at lower speeds, have less aerodynamic control and may tumble. Also, they get much less time to deploy the parachute as compared to skydivers.
All You Need To Know About India's BASE Jumping Daredevil Satyendra Verma
Sateyendra Verma is India's first BASE (Building, Antenna, Span and Earth) jumper and has 1100 sky dives under his belt. A Lieutenant Colonel in the army, he is passionate about jumping off high rise buildings. His first BASE jump was four years ago in Delhi when he leaped off a 450 foot tower
n a video, Verma talks about why he loves BASE jumping, facing his fears, taking risks and making a the country proud. Watch full video here.
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