Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
cintune
climber
The Utility Muffin Research Kitchen
|
|
|
Mar 25, 2014 - 08:16pm PT
|
You know you've watched too many BASE videos when the part that actually makes you cringe is the dude running a red light.
|
|
Will_P
Trad climber
Melbourne, Victoria
|
|
|
Mar 25, 2014 - 08:37pm PT
|
You've got a right to your opinions, Batmannn, but seriously, your timing couldn't be more insensitive or thoughtless. So keep it to yourself.
|
|
philo
Trad climber
Is that light the end of the tunnel or a train?
|
|
|
Mar 25, 2014 - 08:45pm PT
|
BASE is beautiful! It shouldn't be against the law.
Awesome jump. I hope they have a savvy lawyer.
I often wonder how public opinion might have changed if even one person had BASE jumped to safety on nine one one.
|
|
k-man
Gym climber
SCruz
|
|
|
Mar 25, 2014 - 08:55pm PT
|
Its not a sport, its a Stunt, and a damn dangerous one, and OBVIOUSLY DANGEROUS to everyone.
Whew, that was close! I'm glad the danger for me has passed, and that I get to keep typing from my little chair, a seemingly safe place.
|
|
Rudder
Trad climber
Costa Mesa, CA
|
|
|
Mar 28, 2014 - 06:02pm PT
|
If you read my posts going back years here you'll find I don't like rules and regulation. But this case seems clear cut to me. If the police would have shot the jumpers off the roof, in the air, or when they landed... and asked questions later?... I would have been good with that.
|
|
rectorsquid
climber
Lake Tahoe
|
|
|
Mar 28, 2014 - 06:15pm PT
|
There's is some funny sh#t in this thread. Some guy saying that BASE jumpers are just idiots and that they are a danger to everyone? I think that the odds of being killed by a BASE jumper landing on you is... zero. It is certainly less than the odds of being killed by a falling vending machine, which itself is higher than the odds of being killed by a shark. Don't get me started on drunk drivers, which kill most people on most days. BASE jumpers a danger? Just to the ego of every cop in NYC.
But what's really funny is when any person involved in a dangerous activity is critical of someone involved in a more dangerous activity. It's as if there is supposed to be some line that is never crossed and everyone is told of this line of danger when they are born. "Son, there are dangerous things in the world. Some are on our side of the danger line and some are on the other. DON'T CROSS THAT LINE. It's right there just past rock climbing but before you get to BASE jumping."
To be honest, I had heard almost nothing about this new building. I think that it was built by a conspiracy when no one was looking. Each night when no one is around, men in black sneak in and add another few bombs to the structure to make it look like a plane... Sorry, wrong conspiracy; men in black go in and add a few new floors every night and no one sees or hears them.
Dave
|
|
tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
|
|
|
Mar 28, 2014 - 07:08pm PT
|
there is Zero doubt that BASE is off the charts danger compared to climbing. only thing that comes close in the climbing world is high altitude peak bagging. proximity flying is beyond stupid. I am certain that the act of flying is amazeing but to attempt to see how close you can get to solid objects without going splat is FCKIN stupid.
|
|
Sanskara
climber
|
|
|
Mar 28, 2014 - 08:29pm PT
|
But it sure sounds fun!
Gotta come down to a matter of quality vrs quantity thing. How much stock a person decides they are going to put in this shell we call a body that since inception our society has burned into our brains we must cling so tightly to.
I don't see it as crazy but I see why most do.
|
|
lostinshanghai
Social climber
someplace
|
|
|
Mar 28, 2014 - 09:19pm PT
|
It would be cheaper and easier to hire the guys for teaching the proper authorities of the State of New York as well as other States/cities that could be and need High Target Structures Security Placement in way of safeguarding, protection and securing said structures.
New York City will charge the tax payers 3 million dollars over a period of a year or two to recheck all work down from the time the first yard of concrete has been placed to see if any parts [material] has not been compromised in the construction from day one.
Dumb sh%ts, Hey! what do you expect [mistakes] with them happens all the time.
|
|
tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
|
|
|
Mar 28, 2014 - 10:43pm PT
|
Seriously . Proximity flying is like rideing a motorcycle at top speed and trying to get as close as possible to bridge abutments, big trees, tractor trailers, cement trucks, stone buildings etc. In all my years of street raceing we did a lot of very, very stupid sh#t and not all of us lived but we Never tried to get close solid objects. certainly sometimes we did get too close. the point being to pick the fastest line but you knew damn well that you did not get too close the fcking cement trucks. run fast, run clean but no playing chicken with logging trucks. We were dumber than whale sh#t and even we knew that was stupid! Proximity flying seems to be all about getting as close as possible to things that will kill you. I would think that the act of flying itself would be cool enough that you would be totaly happy dropping out of a plane and flying like a bird without trying to get close to sh#t that is going to kill you. heck most of the birds just fly arround and chill. The only ones I see that play chicken with cars are Robins. something about robins they seem to like to cross the road right in front of your car? Barn swallows proximity fly but they Never fck up. Heck if I could fly like a bird i would be stoked to just cruise arround checking sh#t out. no need to fly straight at a rock wall and miss it by inches.....
|
|
Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
|
|
|
Mar 29, 2014 - 01:47am PT
|
I find they have been leaving a big wake of sadness in their glory.
Ah, yes my friend but what is sadness, but selfishness . . . and what is glory?
The attainment of that which most fear.
|
|
Braunini
Big Wall climber
cupertino
|
|
|
Mar 29, 2014 - 01:53am PT
|
Exhibitionisim
I don't think that's a word
|
|
weezy
climber
|
|
|
Mar 29, 2014 - 03:55am PT
|
Exhibitionisim n: to lead Supercrack with only three peices in front of a gallery of admirers.
|
|
Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
|
|
|
Mar 29, 2014 - 12:52pm PT
|
Ah, yes my friend but what is sadness, but selfishness . . . and what is glory?
Yep, those survivors are such selfish people, particularly those children.
|
|
philo
Trad climber
Is that light the end of the tunnel or a train?
|
|
|
Mar 29, 2014 - 03:24pm PT
|
Mar 28, 2014 - 06:08pm PT
While base/wing suiting are amazing sports, high risk high reward I guess. I find they have been leaving a big wake of sadness in their glory.
Just saying......
Many of us, friends and family, have had huge wakes of sadness overwhelm us when our amazing high risk Alpineer brethren die. What's your point? I watched a video of a guy jumping out of a plane without a parachute. During free fall he links up with another jumper who is holding an extra rig. But the guy doesn't put it on he just deploys the chute and holds on to one of the straps in on hand. At one point under canopy he hangs inverted from his feet.
One tiny slip and he is history. Kind of like driving on Californian freeways.
|
|
BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
|
|
|
Mar 29, 2014 - 06:36pm PT
|
I know that guy from '87. His visa had expired, so he didn't care too much.
What most of you don't realize is how often this is going on. It is going on as I type, and tonight while you sleep, jumps are still going on.
I've alpine climbed and BASE jumped. I would say that alpine climbing is more dangerous than BASE. How many rocks have missed your head by 12 inches, Donini? My closest calls were in the mountains. For an expert jumper, something like El Cap is ridiculously safe.
It also doesn't help when someone makes less than ten or even fifty skydives, and then goes around making judgments. It takes a good thousand skydives for you to start getting good at it. Same with BASE. It is like somebody who got guided up Double Cross passing judgment on climbing.
I've done a ton of sh#t, and a good long terminal velocity jump is hands down the most amazing experience that I've ever had.
Hank probably averages a jump per day, yet you never hear of it. He keeps it on the down low, and that is part of the BASE ethic. You won't hear much about illegal jumps, which still go on in this country every day and night without incident. You usually jump buildings when they are under construction, and there are many buildings that were jumped hundreds of times with zero incidents, including busts. At 3:00am, there is nobody around. I've also never heard of a bystander getting hurt by a jumper.
Sorry to say this, but you guys know little about what you are talking about. Hell, compared to Hank, I am an old fart with little knowledge of the modern scene. I was a hardcore back when it was a very small community.
Geez. The SAR site used to be my hiding place.
I will say that it is too bad that it is becoming more popular.
Out of the hundreds of jumps that go down with no big deal, there is the occasional one that you even hear about. Very few BASE jumps are even witnessed we are so sneaky.
|
|
fluffy
Trad climber
Colorado
|
|
|
Mar 29, 2014 - 07:31pm PT
|
Posting the jump on YouTube?
Very sneaky.
Anyway it's all just rationalization like all of us do, a lot. You decide it's worth the risk and then you go and do it. Hopefully you live through it and don't devastate others in pursuit of your dreams. Or you decide it's not worth it and you walk away.
I'm not going to judge it, however it does seem to me that when you have children with someone you are kind of agreeing to doing your best to be around for them...not sure BASE jumping or free soloing fits that agreement. I got out of that by not having kids...still, I feel some obligation to my girl, brother, dogs, parents, friends etc. to not push it chasing some feeling. I'm an adrenaline junkie and lucky to be alive. I see that now, and I know where it ends up.
Be safe out there.
|
|
Flip Flop
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
|
|
|
Mar 29, 2014 - 08:31pm PT
|
I listen to Xaver Bongard and all the other dead jumpers. Endorphins are a drug. Use responsibly. It turns out that there is cooler stuff than being brazen. Why are we at the fringe anyway? Did you believe that it's because we are enlightened? I thought that was just hype to justify meaningless pursuits and conquests if the useless. What do I know? I'm a poor carpenter and a cautious father who cherishes life.
|
|
Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
|
|
|
Mar 29, 2014 - 09:07pm PT
|
It also doesn't help when someone makes less than ten or even fifty skydives, and then goes around making judgments. It takes a good thousand skydives for you to start getting good at it. Same with BASE. It is like somebody who got guided up Double Cross passing judgment on climbing.
It also doesn't help when you post the above, then later in your post state you are unqualified to judge.
I'm not much into telling people what to think, or that they are allowed to think.
Climbing is about, to a large degree, self-reliance. That means constantly making judgments. It you don't, and you get into dicey things, you really risk death through stupidity.
so posting about a risky sport, here, and not expecting to get judgments is just silly.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!