Free BASE FJC: March 18-20

Tom Aiello · February 12th, 2005, 07:36 PM

I will hold a BASE First Jump Course on March 18th, 19th and 20th (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) in Twin Falls, Idaho. Course will begin at 8am Friday and conclude at 6pm Sunday.

There will be no charge for this instruction. The course will focus on basic BASE skills, with an additional emphasis on the history and ethics of BASE, and the teamwork necessary to many BASE jumps.

I will also allow a maximum of two non-jumping auditors in the course. If you want to audit the packing and discussion segments, I will also ask you to help out with some of the other parts of the course (such as ferrying cars). Auditors should be people interested in BASE who have not yet sufficient skydiving experience.

Course requirements:

1) Gear: I have some spare gear I can loan out, but it’s best if you can come with your own. Contact me for help finding gear, if you do not own it.
2) Mentoring: You must make a reasonable effort to find an experienced jumper local to you, who can help you with your jumping when you return home. You must provide me with contact information for this jumper, so that I can talk with them. If you cannot locate someone, I will assist you in doing so. This requirement will be waived for jumpers in an area where I am unable to locate a suitable mentor.
3) Prerequisites: You must have appropriate canopy experience, as evaluated by me. I will ask for details of your experience when you contact me, as well as contact information for people able to verify your experience.

Course Syllabus:

Day 1: Packing

Discussion: The risks of BASE
Exercise: Letter to family
Packing
Discussion: Differences between skydiving and BASE cultures

Day 2: Exits

Exit Training
Discussion: Logging jumps
Landing Area Preview
Discussion: Jumps, landing, flight patterns
PCA BASE jumps
Discussion: BASE History

Day 3: Deployment

Discussion: BASE ethics
BASE jumps: Hand held, delay nomination
Discussion: BASE community
BASE jumps: Delay nomination, stowed

Space is limited, so I will accept the best prepared applicants. If you want to come, you must contact me via PM here or via email (tbaiello@mac.com). If you have any questions, post here, or PM or email me.

When you PM or email me asking to come, please include:

1) Your total number of skydives.
2) Your total number of CRW and Accuracy jumps.
3) Your primary skydiving discipline.
4) The names and contact info (email of phone) of:

(a) any BASE jumpers in your area who know you,
(b) a BASE mentor who has agreed to help you progress,
(c) any skydiving instructors who are familiar with your skills,
(d) either the DZO or S&TA of your home drop zone

5) Any other relevant experience (paragliding, rock climbing, etc)
6) Anything else you think I should know about you, or your preparation

I have spoken to several people about this course. Unless you are one of the people I have just sent an email or PM to confirming your attendance, you need to email (or PM) me details of your experience so that I can continue student selection.

I'll also try to send this via email to everyone I've talked to and have email addresses for.

Tom Aiello · February 18th, 2005, 08:16 PM

I've had quite a few applicants for this course.

I'll select students this weekend, and notify people early next week.

If you want to get in this class and haven't yet emailed or PM'd me, you must contact me ASAP.

Tom Aiello · February 22nd, 2005, 10:16 PM

Ok, the course is full. I had 18 applicants (not counting 3 that came in late). I believe I've either emailed or PM'd everyone who contacted me, but if you did, and haven't heard back from me, drop me a line and let me know I missed you.

I plan on doing free weeklong courses Memorial Day and Labor Day this year, that will be significantly more intensive, and include a number of (I think) important skills that take too long to cover for a 3 day FJC.