B is for Building

[georgechurchill]

I'm interested in people's views in jumping buildings.

There seems to be a lot of people saying don't attempt a building until you have x amount of jumps / experiance. And I can see why this would be the case.

However. I can't see all that much difference in jumping a 400ft building with a nice landing area (really nice landing area), nice outs, on a no wind day where security is not really a problem to say jumping an Antenna with Wires all over the place, or a low cliff etc.

Please put me right if i'm wrong

George

[base698]

There is a building somewhere in our area that 1st timers are put off of... They couldn't hit an obstacle if they tried...

[imported_Mac]

George,

How ya going !!

Funny you should post this today as I have been thinking about B's today and trawling the board for back postings!

This was quite an interesting post that I found.

http://www.blincmagazine.com/forum/board/4207.html

Maybe of some interest.......

Be Safe Be Low

Michael


:+

[imported_mknutson]

Putting a 1st timer off a building? are you taking about 1st building, or 1st base jump ever?

[imported_Tom Aiello]

>There seems to be a lot of people saying don't attempt a building until you have x amount of jumps / experiance.

>However. I can't see all that much difference in jumping a 400ft building with a nice landing area (really nice landing area), nice outs, on a no wind day where security is not really a problem to say jumping an Antenna with Wires all over the place, or a low cliff etc.

You aren't necessarily wrong. However...

In general, it takes a certain level of experience to determine that your building really is a safe "beginner" building. If you haven't reached that level of experience, you will need a very experienced jumper to help evaluate the site and determine whether or not it really is as nice as you think.

I know of at least one case in which two very experienced jumpers (around 500 and 1000 jumps, respectively) put a beginner (around 15 jumps) off a building. In this case, the experienced jumpers evaluated the site, jumped it themselves, and then decided that it would be safe for the beginner, at his skill level. Only after doing a complete evaluation and jump did they return with the beginner.

Every object is different, and some buildings can be, as you point out, safer than some bridges, cliffs or antennas. Still, the vast majority of buildings are far more difficult and dangerous than the vast majority of other sites.

I guess my point is:

You may not need to have the experience to jump the building safely, but you DO need to have the experience to tell when a building could be jumped by a beginner.

--Tom Aiello
tbaiello@mac.com

[base698]

1st BASE jump. It's always PCA, and it is impossible to hit anything even if you tried, if they go off on the right corner. Grassy field too.

[Skypuppy]

The other thing is, even if you don;t feel that security is a problem, you're probably in a highly agitated or excited state on a building, anticipating being seen or looking out for cops and security, and you may tend to rush the jump, leading to problems... In my limited experience, a tower or cliff will have much less access or bust-factor problems, leaving you to dedicate more of your brain cells to simply surviving the jump and getting away, rather than worrying about who's voice you can hear or who's headlights those are down below...:+

[base698]

Acutally this building that 1st timers go off isn't a building by most standards... No traffic or possibility of being seen and not in an urban environment. It is a building though complete with windows and stuff, but its abandoned.

[base615]

> I thought BASE jumps were FREEFALLS? not
>pca's. but, whatever YOU want to call it, YOU
>can.

Incorrect I'm afraid. A BASE jump has been historically defined as a fixed object parachute jump with a packed canopy, therefore PCAs, SLs and DBs qualify, not just freefalls.

Craig