Finding a Mentor

jasonnever

Re: [DanielRjumps] Finding a Mentor

Chill..... bullshit. One of the best base jumpers I know started at 18. And was solid from the start. If that's what your dream is , then do it. I just hope you have really good decision making skills. If you don't then wait. Think about what I just said hard. Good luck.

goinin

Re: [jasonnever] Finding a Mentor

Chill? That's great that you know someone that started at 18, how old is he now 24-25, let me know if he makes it to 40? You missed my point also, more power to him, it can be done. I moved to Europe at the age of 16 to pursue my dream of being a pro skier, raced in college and skied professionally til I was 30. So I'm all to familiar about following your dreams. My point is/was at such a young age there are so many RAD experiences to be had without as many risks as BASE. This last Aug-Sep we experienced more deaths in such a short amount of time. Do what you want, it's a free country, and opinions are like assholes everyone's got em. I personally know a girl that started at 16 and at 17 was jumping cliffs with us in Norway, but it takes a very mature attitude at young age to survive! Maybe I'm saying all this because I can remember my feeling of invincibility at 17, and that I personally probably wouldn't have survived to make it past 40 if I started jumping so young. So when someone asks about a "mentor" that means they want some advice and aren't just going at it on their own. Not trying to scare the kid or discourage him in anyway, just giving some thoughts and ideas to think about!

bluhdow

Re: [goinin] Finding a Mentor

goinin wrote: Maybe I'm saying all this because I can remember my feeling of invincibility at 17, and that I personally probably wouldn't have survived to make it past 40 if I started jumping so young.
This is the most important point here. When kids start skydiving/tunnel flying/BASE jumping at a young age it's pretty cool because they have a ton of time and energy with no real responsibilities to hold them back. As a result they usually wind up being pretty f*cking impressive.

The other side of that coin though, is that they are usually the most aggressive. We all remember when we were bulletproof teenagers. My advice to anyone who is young (teens, early twenties) is always to put off BASE and/or swooping until they're a little older. Even if you are a mature 18 year old, you'll be an even more mature 28 year old and better prepared to exercise sound judgement in very dangerous circumstances.

One of the biggest weaknesses in teenagers is a relative inability to push back against peer pressure (generally speaking). A very important survival skill in BASE is being able to walk away while your buddies jump in marginal conditions. It's made even more difficult if you see a few of them jump and get away with it.

If you're 17, 18, 21, etc...just be a skydiver for a while. You'll still be way ahead of the curve since most of us didn't start until our late 20's/early 30's. By the time you're our age you'll be a badass flyer, mature adult, and well prepared to become a badass BASE jumper.

Also you'll have gotten laid way more and that's what's really important here.

#1816

goinin

Re: [bluhdow] Finding a Mentor

spot on +1000

DanielRjumps

Re: [goinin] Finding a Mentor

goinin wrote: I'll be in Lodi jumpin the next few weekends if want to chat
That would be awesome. I might be up there next weekend. I'll PM you

BASE 1988

DanielRjumps

Re: [bluhdow] Finding a Mentor

bluhdow wrote: One of the biggest weaknesses in teenagers is a relative inability to push back against peer pressure (generally speaking). A very important survival skill in BASE is being able to walk away while your buddies jump in marginal conditions. It's made even more difficult if you see a few of them jump and get away with it.
It probably doesn't seem like it because of me wanting to start BASE, but I'm actually pretty good at judging risk and knowing when to back down. I've done 4 hour approaches to climbs before, and decided to turn back due to some storm clouds in the distence, even though they usually weren't a real threat. I'm planning on working on my canopy skills more (I've already been practicing flat turns and quick 180's on every jump) and hopefully will be taking Tom A's course after my birthday. I'll be looking for people to jump with and show me around after though!

-Daniel

BASE 1988

TransientCW

Re: [DanielRjumps] Finding a Mentor

DanielRjumps wrote: bluhdow wrote: One of the biggest weaknesses in teenagers is a relative inability to push back against peer pressure (generally speaking). A very important survival skill in BASE is being able to walk away while your buddies jump in marginal conditions. It's made even more difficult if you see a few of them jump and get away with it.
and hopefully will be taking Tom A's course after my birthday. I'll be looking for people to jump with and show me around after though!

-Daniel
and there it is!
good luck young man. you'll need LOTS of it, and even more sound judgement. hopefully you have/develop both.

gravity brings me down............

tyro

Re: Finding a Mentor

To nobody in particular, from a psychological perspective, your "executive function" which includes self-control doesn't really mature until around 26 - this article says 25. http://psychcentral.com/lib/executive-function-problem-or-just-a-lazy-kid-part-1/0009272

Zero doubt I would have killed myself if I started base when I was 19. In retrospect, I'm really glad I didn't wind up switching from sky to base back when I was 21 and first got 200 sky jumps. I totally wasn't mentally ready.

That said, if you're going to do it young, someone with solid decision rules (using implementation intentions, being mindful of the difference between automatic and controlled processing, being wary of the empathy gap, ego depletion, the danger of social proof, etc.) could easily make acceptable decisions.

Mitchpee

Re: [tyro] Finding a Mentor

tyro wrote:
Zero doubt I would have killed myself if I started base when I was 19. In retrospect, I'm really glad I didn't wind up switching from sky to base back when I was 21 and first got 200 sky jumps. I totally wasn't mentally ready. .
Agreed, me too. People think I'm 11 anyway so it can be entertaining in that aspect.

More importantly though BASE jumping has definitely had a direct correlation to sexual experiences with girls that were otherwise probably out of my league. I think that's the real take away lesson here.

BigfcknG

Re: [Mitchpee] Finding a Mentor

Mitchpee wrote: tyro wrote:
Zero doubt I would have killed myself if I started base when I was 19. In retrospect, I'm really glad I didn't wind up switching from sky to base back when I was 21 and first got 200 sky jumps. I totally wasn't mentally ready. .
Agreed, me too. People think I'm 11 anyway so it can be entertaining in that aspect.

More importantly though BASE jumping has definitely had a direct correlation to sexual experiences with girls that were otherwise probably out of my league. I think that's the real take away lesson here.
Anybody who disagrees obviously hasn't been to the Bomb Shelter or the Horner. And I though you were 14!!

colinstandifird

Re: [xmesox] Finding a Mentor

Location: Tucson, AZ
Skydiving Experience: 120
BASE Experience: 55
Motivation: High, like everyday, just give me time and place.

gauleyguide

Re: [colinstandifird] Finding a Mentor

LOCATION: Tennessee
SKY JUMPS: AFF
BASE JUMPS:Not enough
MOTIVATION: Wingsuit videos get more likes on Facebook.

Don't kill yourself!
1-800-273-8255

~Appalachian BASE Club

TransientCW

Re: [gauleyguide] Finding a Mentor

location: MORDOR
skydives: several dozen
base jumps: ive been playing a base jump video game which has helped and given me some serious risk assesment skills
motivation: crystal meth

gravity brings me down............

TovRa7

Re: Finding a Mentor

Location: Basel Switzerland
Skydiving Experience: 250+ jumps
BASE Experience: none
Motivation: I am 28 and since i was 9 or even younger i have had the dream to be up in the sky. its pure freedom and happiness. i really like the trill, the focus and the only thing which counts is here and right now, to life in the moment.
And as i grew up my dreams got also bigger…now!
i am motivated to do base from pure fascination and the kick to stand on the edge on top of a beautiful mountain in pure harmony with the nature and my self. we all have one life! everyone should do the best out of it with out any doubt.
if i imagine the worst thing in my life that can happen, it would be the point, close to the end. while i asking my self, was this the life that i wanted do live and i answer it with no!!! and i realize that i ignored my dreams to be suitable with the society.

kiss the SKY and let it DIVE

flybyidiot

Re: [bluhdow] Finding a Mentor

bluhdow wrote: goinin wrote: Maybe I'm saying all this because I can remember my feeling of invincibility at 17, and that I personally probably wouldn't have survived to make it past 40 if I started jumping so young.
This is the most important point here. When kids start skydiving/tunnel flying/BASE jumping at a young age it's pretty cool because they have a ton of time and energy with no real responsibilities to hold them back. As a result they usually wind up being pretty f*cking impressive.

The other side of that coin though, is that they are usually the most aggressive. We all remember when we were bulletproof teenagers. My advice to anyone who is young (teens, early twenties) is always to put off BASE and/or swooping until they're a little older. Even if you are a mature 18 year old, you'll be an even more mature 28 year old and better prepared to exercise sound judgement in very dangerous circumstances.

One of the biggest weaknesses in teenagers is a relative inability to push back against peer pressure (generally speaking). A very important survival skill in BASE is being able to walk away while your buddies jump in marginal conditions. It's made even more difficult if you see a few of them jump and get away with it.

If you're 17, 18, 21, etc...just be a skydiver for a while. You'll still be way ahead of the curve since most of us didn't start until our late 20's/early 30's. By the time you're our age you'll be a badass flyer, mature adult, and well prepared to become a badass BASE jumper.

Also you'll have gotten laid way more and that's what's really important here.
let me tell you my story.
did my first tandum skydive as a result of some stupid drinking game at the age of 18. Was scared shitless and hated it. but my god loved the freefall. spend all winter saving up for an aff course. did my aff graduation jump 11th of april 2011 at the age of 19 with my underpants filled with 7 shades of brown. As my passion got worse and worse i spend every free minute at the dropzone packing and jumping. since i had no cash from other jobs i paid my first 200 something skydives and my rig with all i earned from packing. As i learned how to pack reserves i also got the hang of baserigs and was packing for friends. after a while i got more and more interested so one of the guys who i was packing his base rig for agreed to take me for my first jump on 8th of april 2012.
Now i am 22 years old. i have 450 basejumps and only some 40 of them slider up. i have close to 700 skydives. about half 4way camerawork and half freefly, wingsuit and other stupid things.

As far as injuries goes. i bounced quite hard attempting to swoop my 150sqrft canopy. Got away with a soar hip and to this day i still don't swoop. With base i sustained nothing more than a few scratches on my hands from shitty downwind landings on sketchy jumps.

This is just to point out that judging by age alone isn't the best way to go in my opinion

bluhdow

Re: [flybyidiot] Finding a Mentor

Good on you, but I wasn't saying that age is a causal factor of bad judgment. I was just saying they are very, very highly correlated. There are exceptions to every rule.

Then again, if your botched swoop had been worse you could have easily been a story supporting my argument.

#1816

flybyidiot

Re: [bluhdow] Finding a Mentor

yeah but thank god i learned from it.

To embarrass myself once more here is the vid of the end of my beautiful swooping career

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oP0wGTg0tw

and to prove my point of age doesnt matter. this fuckface doesn't exactly look like the average 20 year old cunt does he?

https://www.facebook.com/...?v=10151690883287842

TransientCW

Re: [flybyidiot] Finding a Mentor

flybyidiot wrote:
and to prove my point of age doesnt matter. this fuckface doesn't exactly look like the average 20 year old cunt does he?
nope!
he looks like a broke ass sexual chocolate!!!

gravity brings me down............

Bealio

Re: [TransientCW] Finding a Mentor

That boy good!

DanielRjumps

Re: [flybyidiot] Finding a Mentor

Nice to hear about other jumpers starting young. Another exception to the rule would be be Clair, staring at 16 with no skydives. But my goal isn't to be an exception like that. BASE is something I really want to do, but also something I want to be able to keep doing (not end up dead or too injured to continue). A little update on my progress toward my BASE goal, I now have ~80 skydives and am going every weekend. I got to ground crew for the first time last Saturday for three jumpers, and earlier today someone at the DZ was nice enough to let me practice packing on her rig. I'm signed up for Tom A's course in February, and can't wait to start jumping!

BASE 1988

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