How to make a BASE jump
- Prelude -
I'm going to start off this entry with a tad bit of clarification; this is not a How To meant to be followed but better yet it's to be used as a platform to let you indulge into the world of BASE. It will give you an inside look of what really goes on behind the scenes of planning a jump. I'll start by saying there is no definitive rules in jumping, no guidelines or manuals set out by a governing body. The following is how I (a very low experienced jumper) performed a specific BASE jump and it could very well be completely different from the way other jumpers approach the same end goal. The point of this post is to break down the common misconception or typical stereotype that so many label BASE jumpers. There's a little more to it than putting on a magic backpack yelling extreme obscenities and jumping off of things.
In no way shape or form is this to be used as a how to guideline to BASE jump.
- Brayden before his first wingsuit flight from the Stawamus Chief
- The Meat and Potatoes -
Now that we have the CYA *Cover Your Ass* stuff out of the way we'll get right into it. For this post I'll walk you through my most recent jump along with the preparation that was involved to accomplish it and the considerations that I took into account when planning it.
We'll start from the beginning and list the main keys I consider when planning a jump.
1) What type of object is it?
2)What does the approach entail?
3)What does the exit look like?
4)Are the conditions/weather appropriate?
4)What does the landing look like?
5)What to do after landing?
That's it. Blog post complete.... Sounds pretty easy right!?... Lets indulge a bit more and break the above categories down a tad further.
- The Breakdown -
What type of object is it?
BASE is an acronym Buildings, Antenna, Span (Bridges), Earth which are the main "objects" in which you jump off of in the sport of BASE jumping
Earth jumps can further be broken down into Terminal/Slider up or Slider down, usually determined by the height of the exit and how long you have before you deploy your parachute.
Each of the above has specific considerations depending what object you're jumping. In this case we'll be jumping a slider down cliff which *generally means it's a lower cliff (500 ft and under)*
- Slider up tracking jump in BC
The most common danger associated with slider down cliffs are the chance of an object strike, this is usually caused by the parachute opening off heading (pointing away from the initial jump direction and facing the object you jumped from) This can be influenced by several reasons including pilot chute osculation, packing error, body position during free fall, wind conditions etc etc etc.
It is the jumpers responsibility to train accordingly for each type of object whether slider up or slider down. When jumping low slider down objects specific object avoidance drills should be practiced along with fine tuning the canopies forward speed (in the event of an off heading opening you have minimal forward speed approaching the cliff which in turn gives you more time to react and fix the situation before impact). *To date 40 of the 300 deaths in BASE jumping have been caused by object strikes
I'd had this particular jump on my "bucket list" of objects since before I even started jumping. It's a 400 +/- foot granite cliff located in Western Canada. I had taken an object avoidance course prior to the jump which allowed me to practice avoidance drills and fine tune my canopies forward speed, this proves to be extremely valuable in the event of an off heading opening. I had also had a previous trip to Moab to jump some "more forgiving" cliffs.
What does the approach entail?
Each object has a different approach, some are short hikes, some are multiple hour climbs through the mountains and some you can drive too etc etc. These need to be taken into consideration when planning to jump a specific object. How long will it take to get to the exit point? Is any equipment needed like ropes or climbing gear?, can you walk/climb down if the weather doesn't allow for the jump? Are there any dangers of falling during the approach?
The particular jump we'll be analyzing is just under 2km with a 400 foot elevation gain. It's a non- technical climb (no climbing gear needed) but requires the use of fixed ropes as aids to help get to the exit. It took me on average 40 minutes from the parking lot to the exit. I would label it on my personal scale as a moderate hike involving a fair amount of physical fitness.
My mindset: Bring a good amount of water (a bottle I need to be able to jump with) , hike in the early morning to avoid the daytime heat, pay attention during the hike to not injure yourself as it's a long way back to the car.
What does the exit look like?
Again, each object and exit is different along with their own features that need to be taken into consideration. Can you run/walk/or have to jump from a stand? Is it flat/sloped or uphill? Is it sturdy/slippery or have objects in the way? Are there ledges/trees/objects below the exit you need to clear during free fall? These are only a small list of considerations that need to be taken into account when planning your jump. A clean exit is extremely important on all jumps as it contributes to further separation from the object you jumped from. (the more separation you have the more time you have to correct an off heading opening in case of a potential object strike). A clean exit also allows for best possible body position in free fall which in turn helps contribute to good on heading parachute openings the absolute most important part of a slider down cliff jump.
The exit is a fairly large granite pinnacle protruding off the face of the main cliff wall. It's flat with a slight down hill slope half way to the edge with a small elevated crack which could potentially catch a toe when approaching the edge. The granite exit affords lot's of grip and enough space to allow for a good run off the exit. There's a fairly large ledge below the exit about 50 feet which needs to be cleared in order to safely deploy the parachute (a good run and push off the edge is imperative on this jump). Along with the large ledge below there is a cliff feature to the left of the exit about 150 ft which is a possible danger if your parachute were to open 90 degrees to the left. Not an ideal off heading.
- Looking down from the exit you can see the ledge that needs to be cleared in order to have a safe deployment
My mindset: The exit has a large ledge below so a good run and push is extremely important. A longer delay (amount of time used before you deploy your parachute) is also crucial to allow you to pass the ledge before your canopy opens in the event of a 180 opening this ledge would cause massive problems. The exit has a small lip and downhill slope that could potentially cause you to trip and fall while you run extreme care is needed.
Are the conditions/weather appropriate?
- Brayden checking conditions prior to jumping. The sweat is indicative of the approach to the exit
As I'm sure it's no surprise that weather plays a huge factor in the sport. We're essentially hanging from 7 inflated nylon wind socks sewn together and suspended from a bunch of lines made of ethylene glycol. Wind has a massive effect on a parachutes flight characteristics as well as how it opens. Every jumper has their own personal wind limitations and what their comfortable jumping in. Depending on the objects being jumped different wind conditions are ideal, In this post we'll strictly be covering low solid/Slider down earth jumps. Without going too far in to a lengthy post covering meteorology and principles of flight (which I'm in no way even remotely qualified to discuss) I'll keep it short and to the point. Ideally jumping in 0 winds gives the best conditions for low solid objects. With 0 winds you remove any factors that can play during the deployment sequence, canopy flight or landing. Keeping this in mind seldom are winds completely dead so there is always the constant battle with assessing winds and evaluating risk vs reward, there's nothing more fun than doing a 2 hour hike to have to climb back down due to being winded off the object. As deflating as it can be I take great pleasure in knowing that the cliffs aren't going anywhere and there's always time to do it again.... As the skydive community says "better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than in the air wishing you were on the ground"
What does the landing look like?
A BASE jump isn't over until you're at home laying on your couch with a beer in your hand... Even then there are some exceptions. A huge cause of injuries in the sport are due to poor landing for several reasons. Unfortunately in BASE jumping most landing areas are not ideal and involve a great amount of skill to be done safely. On any jump you can expect to be avoiding trees, power lines, cars, lamp posts, boulders, rivers etc etc etc. In order to complete a successful jump a landing strategy needs to be planned and executed precisely. A main landing area needs to be established along with any alternative landings that may be available in case of a malfunction to your gear or an off heading occurs. If you do land off or get injured are you able to get help? How easy would a rescue be if an injury were to occur?
There's two main landing areas for this particular jump, both being a parking lot which can either be empty of full of cars. In order to land at the lots you need to cross three sets of power lines, a talus of trees, avoid a few lamp posts and cars that may be parked or moving and the main highway located right between the two lots. This particular jump has very little alternative landing areas due to the power lines and main highway. A few gaps between these are available and require a higher skill level to navigate to them safely.
- The 2 main landing zones, all other lots to the left are blocked by power lines running along the road
My mindset: My main LZ is the furthest lot as it generally has less car traffic, if I'm not able to land there I'll take the main parking and land outside of the parking spaces. In the event of a severe off heading opening (which burns a lot of altitude) I'll keep my options open on the alternative landing areas and hope my skills allow me to land safely.
What to do after landing?
Like stated above just because you've landed safely doesn't mean the BASE jump is over. If your initial landing plan went to shit you could find yourself stranded in some pretty obscure places. That said, similar to the approach how long of hike/climb is it after landing? If the climb back to car involves technical gear how will you jump with it?
If all goes well with this particular landing you pack up your gear and you're right in front of your car. Doesn't get much easier than that. That being said if an injury or off landing were to occur it's a popular area with lot's of people who could possibly help along with great cell phone service if needed.
- The Jump -
- The Debrief -
In order for one to progress in their jumping they need to be able to look back and analyze previous experiences. Video for many reasons is a key tool to do so. In re watching the jump above there's lots of room for improvement. The run could have been stronger (more separation is always best), my body position was slightly flat probably due to looking down at the ledge as I jumped passed it. Ideally I could have taken a bit longer delay to add more vertical separation to ledge below. The canopy opened on heading and the flight felt good but there was a strong inflow/headwind above the trees. My initial plan was to land in the far lot but mid flight I realized it would be a pretty fast downwind landing that I was not interested in trying to pull off. Having just enough altitude I turned around and went for the larger lot on the east side, I came up a bit short on landing but nothing to be too worried about. Lots of room for improvement.
- Conclusions -
- Jacqueline watching jumpers coming in for landing early AM Photo by: Jeremy HuckleberryFin
4 years of dreaming, 3 hikes to the exit, 2 trips to Squamish and lot's of planning... All for 2 seconds of free fall and 1 minute of canopy flight. A lot goes into planning a BASE jump. The sport can be extremely dangerous and it's important to keep all the variables in mind. The margin for error is so small 1 mistake can easily be fatal. That said, all of the above is worth every bit of the hiking, planning and traveling just for the feeling you get as soon as your feet touch the ground. With the proper training, preparation and good judgement BASE jumping can be done relatively safely. I'm hoping this little post sheds some much needed light on the sport of BASE jumping and the planning that is involved to do so...
Stay safe fuckers
- Walczak
