Posts Tagged ‘basejumping’

Geoffrey Robson was a qualified mechanical engineer and mathematician who happened to love to wingsuit fly.

The fantastic video below (fmalan1) taken in early April, shows Robson opening a new route from the Groot Drakenstein mountains above Boschendal, near Stellenbosch, South Africa. It was recorded on his helmet-mounted video camera and shows graphically why this is such a seriously extreme sport:

Robson completed his Master’s degree at the University of Stellenbosch, and was a PhD student at the ETH in Switzerland, where he conducted research on wingsuit flying. He considered himself lucky enough to be able to combine his interests in one study: aerodynamics and wingsuit flying and aimed to combine maths and science to improve wingsuit flying.

He had been studying wingsuit flight to unprecedented accuracy by using a highly sensitive instrument which measured 3D location by GPS and inertial measurement, flyer attitude and heading, altitude, and air pressure during many wingsuit Base jumps.

Robson was said to be the only person in the world who combined the scientific capacity for this kind of research with the ability to test it himself in the air.

Thank you to zurichminds for this fascinating video.

Today Geoffrey Robson is dead.

Early in the morning of Monday, 12th April, he tried the same route, but this time he wanted to cross the ridge between Devil’s Tooth (the peak to the front, right) and the mountain. His calculations were wrong, and he failed to clear the ridge, resulting in his death at the age of 31.

“If he were two metres higher, he would have survived” said his jumping companions, and that is the name of the game with wingsuit flying. It is an inherently dangerous sport, but a sport participated in by people with huge skydiving experience and a deep love of adventure, of setting themselves new challenges and of taking on the ultimate challenge – wingsuit flying or ‘proximity flying’ as it is also known.

All extreme sports are dangerous, some more than others, and wingsuit flying and BASEjumping probably the most dangerous of all.  We found this little list of statistics on fatalities in extreme sports over the past 5 years per 1,000 participants. Anyone with an ambition to climb K2 might take note of these figures too!

Skydiving:                                3.3
Base Jumping:                      44
Hang Gliding/Paragliding:  3.8
Summiting K2:                    104
ATV Riding:                              0.5
Scuba Diving:                              .06
Snowboarding:                           .05

Although wingsuit flying is not on the list (there is probably not enough data to work with yet) it is probably somewhere between skydiving and BASEjumping. It is an interesting aside, though, that fatality rates were very high during the developmental period for this extreme sport. Between 1930 and 1961, 71 out of 75 people died trying to perfect a wingsuit.

But it is immensely popular with a small handful of hardcore adventurists. ‘To fly like a bird’ has always been man’s ambition, and with wingsuit flying you are nearly there…

“Wingsuit flying was his life” said his friend and jump companion Leander Lacey. Robson’s father, Bill, described his eldest son as a “brilliant mathematician” who was most comfortable in the outdoors. “He came here for a Base-jumping holiday. There is an element of danger, but this is just so tragic,” he said.

Our commiserations go to Geoffrey Robson’s family and friends.

We have shown many videos on BASEjumping and wingsuit flying, but this one (BASE885) really takes the biscuit. The photography by Edgar Kraus is magnificent:

The footage was shot on Super 16mm film.

There is a fine line between these two extreme sports – BASEjumping and wingsuit flying and the one frequently leads into the other. Remember that BASE is an  acronym that stands for the four categories of objects from which one can jump; building, antenna, span, and earth.

When BASEjumping progressed to wingsuit flying, the aim was to jump as far off the cliff as possible and keep as far away from the rocks as possible. But the guys who do this sport are no ordinary sportsmen – they seek the thrill of danger, and it was not long before they were virtually trailing their fingers along mountain edges.

They are under no illusions though. The official site www.basejumper.com warns that

“BASE jumping is a highly dangerous sport that can easily injure and kill participants. Think long and hard before making a BASE jump. We do not recommend BASE jumping to anybody. You, and you alone, are responsible for your safety.

Always seek proper training and mentoring before attempting any sort of BASE jumping. Wherever you jump; take only pictures, leave only footprints.”

Erik Roner has been a professional skier and avid BASE jumper for the past 6 years. He’s been published in over 30 different magazines world-wide, starred in over 10 major ski films, participated in numerous TV shows on Discovery, National Geographic, NBC, Showtime, FUEL TV and others. Each winter he travels the world and films a progressive big mountain ski segment with Teton Gravity Research from which the following video comes from (TheErikRoner):

Here, Erik, Teton Gravity Research Big Mountain skier, BASE Jumper & Nitro Circus athlete becomes the first person to Ski BASEjump off Cajun Coulior in Jackson Hole, WY. Cajun Coulior is near the popular Corbet’s Coulior.

Erik started skydiving and BASE-jumping in 2000 and quickly developed a passion for BASE-jumping. He has helped pioneer ski BASE-jumping, skiing numerous first descents all over the globe. Ski BASE-jumping is where you ski down a line that ends or closes out in a 200ft-2000ft cliff. The line is only ski-able if you ski off the cliff and deploy a parachute.

Roner, 31, first came to the publics’ attention when he ski-BASEjumped in the 2005 film, Tangerine Dream. Although generally hanging out at and around the Tahoe ski scene, if you see a guy wearing skis and a parachute floating down off the gnarliest cliff at your favourite resort, chances are Erik has come to visit.

What sort of a man is he? Well, when a friend asked him if he’d like to “ come BASE jump dirt bikes into the Grand Canyon?” His immediate response was, “I’ve never even been on a dirt bike but, yeah, I’m in!” and that’s the sort of man he seems to be… up to any stunt in the book and if it’s the first time it’s been tried – hell yeah, why not!

We’ll end with another visually breathtaking video of Roner, Morrison and Jones doing some seriously extreme skiing on some seriously extreme mountains (NewRISC):

The building had barely been unveiled and two intrepid adventurers have already launched themselves off the top of it!

The Burj Khalifa building in Dubai was unveiled on 4th January as the world’s tallest building at 2,716.5 feet tall. It cost $1.5 billion to build.

By 7th January, and after months of planning,  it had already been conquered.

BASE jumpers Omar Al Hegelan and Nasser Al Neyadi broke the record for the world’s highest BASE jump from a man-made structure, by leaping 2,205 feet …

Both men are expert skydivers and obtained permission from the Dubai authorities to jump from the tower.

Al Hegelan began BASEjumping in 1997 and has made over 15,000 sky dives. He said, “It was amazing, one of the most beautiful sensations I’ve ever experienced.

“We did it legally, we did it safely and we set a new world record.”

Congratulations to both of them!

The word ‘Base’ in BASEjumping refers to the structures jumpers leap from: Building, Span, Antenna, Earth.

Wingsuit flying is something else. That and BASE jumping. They are about as extreme as our extreme sports go…

“The oldest rule in base jumping is to never ask permission just forgiveness!” Shane McConkey

If you are new to the concept, this is a fabulous video brought to us by redbull and dedicated to Shane McConkey who died on 26th March, 2009 whilst skiing and wingsuit flying in the Italian Dolomites. His death was the result of faulty equipment.

This particular video, which brings the sport so much to life, was taken in New Zealand when Shane, Miles Daisher and Chuck Berry explored unchartered terrain in new Zealand – another incredible Red Bull project.

The Department of Conservation in Queenstown, New Zealand, gave the team permission to film in Sinbad Gully.

As Shane says, in his blog, “Chuck has done plenty of recon work in most of Fiordland over the years so he had a very good idea where we needed to look to find big cliffs for us to jump. It would all be completely exploratory base jumping. Most of the Fiordland area has never seen a base jump. The problem is access. The mountains in Fiordland are impressive. They shoot straight up and maintain a steep angle all the way to the top. Normally base jumpers can find a way to hike to a good exit point usually with minimal climbing required. Not here. Just about everything in the area is steep, rugged terrain that would require at the very least a few days of serious climbing and rope work. We had the time and the gear but didn’t have an exact jump that we knew was possible so we decided to hire a helicopter and went big wall hunting the easy way. We flew straight to to one of the gems that Chuck has had circled on his map. The mountain was called Terror Peak and the cliff just below it was perfect. A 3,400 foot jump to the valley floor with a 1,000 foot start and some fun ledges and terrain to buzz with our wingsuits. An easy jump and flight with some great visuals along the way down.”

And the result of it was that fabulous video, and another sensational place for wingsuit flyers and BASEjumpers to practice their terrifying art!

“Miles coined the jump “Terrorflying” even though the jump was anything but that! For a base jumper, pioneering new jump sites, or what we call “Opening a new object” is perhaps the most exciting aspect of the sport. The sport is still quite young and the base world is still being discovered and mapped. To have the opportunity to open up a new site, and a big one, in a stunning place like Fiordland is an amazing experience. It was one I will not soon forget!” said McConkey.

In a sense, wingsuit flying is a cross between skydiving and hang gliding. Like both of these activities, wingsuit flying requires the flyer to either jump out of an aircraft or off a precipice to achieve a high enough altitude. While hang gliders can coast in for a safe landing, wingsuit flyers have to deploy their parachutes and float the rest of the way to the ground – they simply can’t reduce their speed fast enough for a safe landing without the use of a chute.

­But, until the moment they pull their parachute chord, wingsuit flyers can soar horizontally, like a bird, at high speeds and perform aerial acrobatics – all the while descending at a rate much slower than that of a typical skydiver.

It must be an exhilarating sport – albeit a death defying one.

This is the same crew doing mainly BASEjumps from a cliff they later called ‘Sin Good’  as “it was anything but bad”. The video is from shanemcconkey.

You might have noted the Red Bull wingsuits, the Red Bull Chutes etc. So what has Red Bull got to do with all this?

You all know what Red Bull is don’t you? That sexy slender container that contains an energy drink produced and sold by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH and sold in over 130 countries.

However, it also has an aggressive international marketing campaign. The numerous sponsored activities range from extreme sports like windsurfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, wakeboarding, wingsuit flying, BASEjumping, surfing, Formula 1 racing, and breakdancing to art shows, music, and video games.

They play a very active role in extreme sports.

We’ll finish with a longish video, also from redbull, of the boys and Red Bull having a ball in China and BASEjumping a Chinese sinkhole… and anything else that looked interesting along the way. It took months of negotiation to get the government to allow the Red Bull Air Force and friends into their borders for the BASE jumping session at one of China’s natural wonders, and although no professional film crew was allowed to accompany them, each diver operated a personal camera with great success:

This article is dedicated to Shane McConkey. He will be sorely missed.

This is becoming an exhaustive subject! Sorry. But apologies again for some more mis-information…

We recently reported on Dana Kunze’ 172 ft dive as being the highest dive in the world. We thought that was pretty extreme.

We were then corrected and told that it was actually Oliver Favre who held the title with a 177 ft dive. Also extreme.

And then Dana Kunze himself has set the record straight for us….

Yes, it is perfectly correct that Oliver Farve completed a dive of 177 ft. However, he sustained injuries – in fact he broke his back – and the rule of the game is that you are disqualified if you are injured in this sport.

Therefore… it is Dana Kunze who holds the title and achievement of being the World’s Highest Diver.

If you are an avid reader of our Blog (which we sincerely hope you are) you might remember similar rules in another extreme sport we follow with interest – freediving.

Although Sara Campbell completed an incredible 100m constant weight depth dive – the first woman to have attained this remarkable depth, she briefly blacked out as she broke the surface and was therefore disqualified. She completed the competition with a successful 96m dive – still a world record breaker. littlefreediver

There are rules that are put in place to try and protect competitors from doing themselves a damage.

There have been many debates over regulating thrill-seeking ”extreme sports’ – Freediving and High diving, to name but two, have imposed their own strict rules.

Lawmakers in Switzerland have been pushing for laws regulating fate-tempting sports, which often involve inexperienced participants, but passing such laws, whether involving caving, canyoning, paragliding, ice climbing or bungee jumping, has proved difficult in Switzerland, even in the face of several disasters in recent years.

The problem is people do extreme sports because it gives them a feeling of freedom – an escape from the nanny state we all live in. If everything became too regimented one risks pushing these people toward activities that are even less controlled.

You might have heard of the BASEjumping accident at Table Mountain, Cape Town on Friday? It seems that South Africa has a remarkably sympathetic and sensible attitude to extreme sports enthusiasts and this accident has drawn it into focus. Would the rest of the world could listen and learn…

Base jumper Karl Hayden sustained minor injuries after his canopy malfunctioned as he leapt off Table Mountain on Friday. Rescue workers spent several hours combing the mountainside before airlifting Hayden to safety, the Cape Times reported. Hayden was lucky; despite multiple fractures — wrist, rib, femur and pelvis — the Capetonian managed to avoid a spinal injury, the daily reported.

That was the situation.

And the shout that goes out worldwide saying “aren’t people like Karl Hayden wasting rescue services time and money by doing a sport that is inherently dangerous? Why should rescue survices then put themselves in danger by trying to rescue these foolhardy idiots?”

Well, the response in South Africa was calm, measured and sensible. Wayne Smith, deputy director of Metro Medical Services, South Africa, agrees that although there are risks involved, extreme sports will continue despite any attempt at regulating the activity.

“Extreme sports are always going to be around. Extreme sports are risky but society needs to give people who enjoy those types of activities the necessary space to do so,” said Smith.

Mountain rescue worker, Roy White, says he has no problem in helping those who put themselves in harm’s way.

“It’s part of my job. Most of us are quite happy to help them. Where do you draw the line from an accident to an attempted suicide? Everyone who uses the mountain faces a certain amount of risk.”

If regulations were brought in, the feeling is that very quickly most extreme sports enthusiasts would find a way to circumnavigate them. Banning a sport in a certain area would only make things worse because they would go ahead and do it anyway and that would make things even more difficult for rescue services.

It seems rescue workers and extreme sports enthusiasts reach a stalemate when it comes to regulating the sport. But perhaps the last word belongs to basic common sense.

“We can’t regulate the sport but we could advise them to leave contact details with someone. It all comes down to educating people about good mountain use,” said White. And that sort of prosaicness is comforting and oh-so sensible.

Anyway, what has happened to freedom of choice? I am not advocating that you go out there and so something so ludicrously stupid that the result is death. But, if you do an extreme sport, you are obviously aware of the risks, are you not? And having evaluated that and decided to continue, then that, surely, is your choice, is it not? and having taken that decision, you are not likely to be the type of person to squeal if something goes wrong… are you?

If you are aware of the dangers before you begin, you can’t then cry “but nobody told me…”

The problem is that we are being so conditioned by over zealous governments as to ‘what to, how to, when to… do anything’, that if anything goes wrong one instantly hears “it’s not my fault., it must be yours’”. I think for this very reason a chunk of society, in a last ditch attempt of having some control and decision over their own lives, take to an extreme sport where they decide on a sport, learn the art and then make their own decisions and no-one can tell them what to do…

What do you think?