Before Sunday, 541 deaths around the world since 1981 had been logged by the BASE Fatality List, maintained by an online community for the sport. This year, 15 such deaths have been reported globally, according to the list.
Long ago I came across some clip where it was claimed that there’s about 20 or so people who were integral to the development of the modern wingsuit and BASE jumping, and every single one of them died in a BASE jumping mishap.
Safety rules are written in blood.
That’s true of a lot of safety critical fields. Regulations/rules are written in blood
Whole lot of people had to die for us to learn about decompression sickness in diving
Some individual lessons in aviation cost us hundreds of lives
Early mariners died in droves for us to learn how difficukt the ocean is to cross
BASE just seems more shocking because of the recency. It developed very late, long after nearly every other safety critical field was mature
Cave diving is largely the same way
I get the concept, but it also seems that there’s degree of necessity to most of those other practices. Diving supported exploration, aviation and sailing did the same and travel. I think that part of the shock is that there isn’t an obvious necessity to base jumping or cave diving, and that the appeal is the danger for the participants.
The appeal isn’t the danger though. If it is you shouldn’t be doing it.
It’s one of the very few sports that gets more dangerous the more experienced you get.
Photographer Carl Boenish helped coin BASE as a description of the sport’s adrenaline-inspiring launch points (buildings, antennas, spans, earth) in 1978, when he videotaped early jumps from Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan rock formation.
TIL.
A friend of mine was engaged to a wingsuit base jumper. This guy wasn’t a noob. He had been doing it for years. One day he missed a turn or something happened and he went face first into a side of a mountain.
I’m not sure if this friend ever recovered from that experience. She has a tattoo of his finger point on her to remind her of him.
She told me that base jumping is one of the most dangerous sports.
She told me that base jumping is one of the most dangerous sports
you… needed someone tell you that?
I dont know much about extreme sports. Figured rock climbing without a rope is more dangerous.
That’s more controlled. You have time to stop and assess.
You can’t pause while falling.
I mean it’s no jai alai
This is why you can kickly reach the top 10 rank in this activity
“You, too, can be one of the top ten BASE jumpers!”
Someone leans in, whispering in their ear.
“Uh… you, too, can be one of the ten BASE jumpers!”
Even if there are more than ten at certain times, they’ll all die so quickly that if you stick with it (and don’t die) you’re basically guaranteed to end up in the top ten at some point. It’s like a revolving door. Everyone gets a turn!
“On today’s jump, something went wrong and he did not have enough lift with his wingsuit,” Peck said. “He impacted the ground at a high rate of speed resulting in his death.”
When I flew RC gliders, we flew off cliffs because the wind hits the cliff and shoots straight up, letting the glider just float around in the updraft. It’s called “ridge lift”.
Maybe the wind died at just the wrong moment?
I realize wing suits don’t fly the way gliders fly. But, I suspect they need ridge lift when they first jump off to get started.
Just a guess.
What in the hell is that from?
The new episodes of Red Dwarf is my guess. I wouldn’t bother. They don’t have the charm of the older stuff.
just want to remind you that people in wingsuits also wear parachutes. There are multiple levels of failure here.
I support people who like dangerous sports. Except for gun ownership. That’s shit is so stupid dangerous and reckless you don’t have to participate to be killed.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
