An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

thecoolbeans

Getting into BASE has been at the back of my mind for such a long time.

Its one of those thoughts that I just can't shake... I've read all the negative reasons why i shouldn't get into it, A lot of my friends and family don't understand why i can't just be a 'regular girl', someone who is happy doing a boring predictable 9-5job , maybe settle down and have some kids someday etc etc...

I have a few hobbies my friends label as 'extreme', I race motorbikes (track not road), I scuba dive, i enjoy Climbing (although i weirdly do not enjoy heights all that much!).

I have a wicked job in the music industry, I get to tour the world with some awesome artists and hang out in some amazing locations. In fact i try to combine skydiving and touring as much as possible jumping in whatever location i have a day-off in, But a lot of the time I'm unable to jump because DZ's are never located near to major cities in my experience. Often it is impractical to take a £150 taxi ride just for a few hours of jumping.

I've started looking up more and more at the buildings I'm staying in, The bridges i drive across everyday, the antenna's are just starting to look more and more inviting...
I mean, Im travelling around the world on someone else budget and i feel like I'm missing out on so many opportunities. Over the last 3months i've been coast to coast USA, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France. Im in Switzerland for a few days this weekend and in Italy in a few weeks.

I have such a great chance to experience all the locations i hear other BASE jumpers writing about and all my travel and accommodation is paid for me! I would be crazy not to recognise how opportunities are being handed to me on a plate right?

But here's the thing... I am such a noob at skydiving i have this constant doubt at the back of my mind that i will not be good enough to BASE, I know i need to keep jumping and getting better at canopy work, tracking, quick decision making, which i think i am reasonably good at due to my background in racing knowing when to keep a cool head instead of letting emotions get in the way.

Right now I'm sat in a hotel about an hours drive away from Kjerag, right now i feel like i could be doing something way more awesome than sitting here!

Should i just sign up for a FJC somewhere?
Should i find a mentor locally?

What's the best option?
How do i make the 'first steps' guys?

Thanks x

nickgreen

Re: [thecoolbeans] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

Assuming you are actually serious and not a troll I would recommend Douggs' course, it is probably the most comprehensive BASE course around (BASE course being alot more in depth than an FJC as he takes you to Italy and Switzerland to jump there not just a bridge) and he is a Jedi Ninja Master whose skills and knowledge are second to none.

thecoolbeans

Re: [nickgreen] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

Hiya Nick,

Thanks for your reply.

I don't yet qualify to even approach Douggs' because my jump numbers are so low (only 194 all in the last 18months).
Doug' course was actually the first one i looked at but because i don't yet own a base rig (let alone 2x rigs as he requests) i don't know how any beginner could own 2 rigs without a single jump.

I saw his recent videos on youtube and immediately thought it looked comprehensive!

BASE1817

Re: [thecoolbeans] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

Maybe you should just keep skydiving for another season or two, until you feel confident enough, if not that, then just for additional time in sport.

I dont think that "Just signing up for a FJC" is the way you should approach BASEjumping if you want to stay alive and keep on doing it for a while.

--**This post is approved by The Angry Swiss Guy**--

nickgreen

Re: [thecoolbeans] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

No worries, as 1817 says maybe you should have another year at least, you only really need 1 rig for his course as he also rents second rigs to his students, but if you are serious you could start ground crewing which will help your progression, and read the great book of BASE.
Learn as much as you can!!

MBA-PATTO

Re: [thecoolbeans] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

Hey "thecoolbeans"

Being that you feel in your head a little un-confident the best idea would be for you when you get some time off to get as current as hell skydiving, maybe if your back in the states you can get some time away from work at the end of a tour and stay in MERICA.. its a great place to knock out a heap of jumps )100 in a couple of weeks) and for you to get into feeling very current and confident. If your traveling by yourself (as a base jumper) you would really want to be feeling super confident to be able to assess your jumps.

Also you could go to spain and knock off a heap of jumps as well ...

I don't know your age but guessing maybe around
20-30mark ??? if so you have so many years ahead of you with your work and also base jumping ...

Go get current do it the right way get a heap of jumps in,
it don't take that long also the next 100-200 jumps focus on what your thinking in base jumping , slider down jumps Mostly.. or are you around the big walls of Kjerag and brento (slider up)

Also try and be as current as hell skydiving when you finally get ready to take the Plunge and do your base course..

I use to tell my students if they planned on big walls then buy themselves a tracking suit and do as many as 50-100 jumps just tracking by themselves and focusing on getting as much speed as they can...

Your looking at slider down mostly so your training for the next 100-200 skydives will be a little different.

I would say go get a heap more skydive jumps first.

http://www.blincmagazine.com/...=Fatality_Statistics
http://www.blincmagazine.com/...e=BASE_Fatality_List

bluhdow

Re: [thecoolbeans] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

In the States when you say you're "irregular" it means your poop schedule is messed up.

#1816

matt002

Re: [thecoolbeans] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

I would just do it. Find a comprehensive FJC and then find people to jump with after, mentoring does not exist in the way it did. The few people I would say are actually qualified to be a mentor are already running courses or very unlikely to offer any mentorship.

If you keep skydiving until you feel confident to base, then that day will never come because BASE is properly dangerous and if your normal then you should be shit scared by the thought of it. That's the point in many ways.

thecoolbeans

Re: [bluhdow] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

haha.... maybe not too irregular then :)

thecoolbeans

Re: [thecoolbeans] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

Thanks for the helpful replies on here and in private guys.... i am actually a bit surprised by how friendly and helpful you've been. I was expecting more standoffishness if that makes sense?

Here's my rough, non-committal plan... Get another 50 or so skydives in before xmas and aim to book onto Douggs' course in the new year, In the meantime this will give me loads of time to source and buy my first rig, I think i know what I'm doing for this part, I've read a lot of material on buying a first rig, but again welcome any advice.

Also I'm going to help do as much ground crewing for other jumpers as possible to give me more experience.

Hopefully this all sounds fairly normal and not too insane... right??

x

Heat

Re: [thecoolbeans] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

thecoolbeans wrote: Thanks for the helpful replies on here and in private guys.... i am actually a bit surprised by how friendly and helpful you've been. I was expecting more standoffishness if that makes sense?
It's the power of the pussy

On a more serious note - squirrel offers a great deal when buying a container and canopy from them. The Kn and Outlaw would be a great choice for you. Also, you cannot go wrong with the OSP from Atair. It's an amazing canopy.
www.squirrel.ws and www.basetroll.com

Groundcrewing is great - you will learn a lot and you will get to know jumpers from all over the place. It will give you experience you can't get from a fjc during a week at some bridge

Isfjorden B.A.S.E.

setarkos

Re: [Heat] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

I heard from several people, that the Outlaw might not always treat you nicely on terminal openings without wingsuit.

Heat

Re: [setarkos] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

Never jumped one personally, but I've heard mostly good things about it. I do know that most canopies can mistreat you though. It's usually not the canopys fault

Isfjorden B.A.S.E.

setarkos

Re: [Heat] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

The one case I know of first hand (the other 2 or 3 cases were second hand info) happened to a very experienced jumper and rigger who is very meticulous with his packing and employed every possible reefing technique. He regularly jumps an OSP with large hole mesh slider on his tracking jumps.
This might have been a 1 in a million incident... I don't know.

But a canopy that is designed and optimized for low stuff is probably more likely to hurt you worse. Atair does still not recommend the OSP for terminal in their product description. However I haven't been in the sport long yet know many people who are happy with taking their OSP terminal. I don't know of many people with an Outlaw. This could be because I'm in Europe but the OSP has a longer history of terminal suitability, I think.

I'd be careful for tracking jumps, especially slick. I guess for WS BASE it is less of an issue.

basehoundsam

Re: [thecoolbeans] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

A lot o f good input on this thread ...... my 2 cents.... confidence ... not false ego confidence is power . Becoming very confident under canopy while skydiveving should be at the top of your list . You should pick a larger canopy .. something appropriate, base like, and square . You should be able to at least get to the point where you can get your pro rating under that canopy . 10 out of 10 jumps into the peas . You should be able to land into, downwind, and crosswind in - 5-10 mile an hour wind.
Just my humble opinion...... but i feel so many do themselves such a disservice by not being competent canopy pilots before they enter the game. Just because you kinda stick the landing in the base environment, or barely are able to stand it up on a landing , or land kinda close to the lz, but bounce well and don't hurt yourself ..... doesn't make you a competent base jumper .... it makes you a muppet who eventually really hurts themselves , and makes everyone else look like a bunch of monkeys .
Sorry to sound a little cynical ...... but I'm in china .... taking a break from the awards ceremony form this weeks bridge event..... and I think I drank some of that weird juice they keep passing around ...
Good luck , and may the force be with you :)

Jay Epstein
www.adrenalineexploits.com

Heat

Re: [setarkos] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

Yeah I hear ya.

Isfjorden B.A.S.E.

hjumper33

Re: [setarkos] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

setarkos wrote: I heard from several people, that the Outlaw might not always treat you nicely on terminal openings without wingsuit.
Strongly disagree. It's shocked at how softly it opened while tracking, even without the slider brake. With it in place, openings are some of the softest I've ever had.

TomAiello

Re: [setarkos] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

setarkos wrote: I heard from several people, that the Outlaw might not always treat you nicely on terminal openings without wingsuit.
I have more than 100 terminal (mostly tracking suit) openings on my Outlaw with no issues so far.

I use the biggest slider brake and the openings are very nice--consistent enough to predict but smooth enough for an old guy with a broken back to keep doing them.

Tom Aiello

Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com
Snake River BASE Academy

jools

Re: [TomAiello] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

No terminal jumps and only 4-5 slider up 4-6seconds (which were all soft and nice) on an outlaw. However the 2-4 second slider off are brutal (compared to an OSP) but then seem to take quite a while to fully pressurise/fly.
Overall though, very nice canopies.

"It's funny when they don't die"

BEAST #1. Building, Earth, Antenna, Span, Telescope.

thecoolbeans

Re: [jools] An 'Irregular' UK girl wanting to get into BASE...

lots of good replies on here, thanks.... A couple of questions though if i might pick your brains while you're here already :) ...

Realistically my weight isn't going to go up or down much so my canopy is likely to remain the same for the foreseeable future right? Its not generally accepted practice to downsize like in skydiving correct?

What are you opinions on velcro vs pin close rigs for a first timer?

Im not planning on base wingsuit at all! However definitely big wall tracking is something that does interest me immensely, somewhere down the line. Should this affect my decision which rig to buy?