BASE jumping
BASE is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antennas (referring to radio masts), spans (bridges) and earth (cliffs).
[1][2] Participants jump from a fixed object such as a cliff and after an optional freefall delay deploy a parachute to slow their descent and land.
BASE jumping is significantly more hazardous than other forms of parachuting and is widely considered to be one of the most dangerous extreme sports.
[3] Fausto Veranzio is widely believed to have been the first person to build and test a parachute,[4] by jumping from St Mark's Campanile in Venice in 1617 when he was more than 65 years old.
After 1978 the filmed jumps from El Capitan were repeated, not as an actual publicity exercise or as a movie stunt but as a true recreational activity.
During the early eighties nearly all BASE jumps were made using standard skydiving equipment, including two parachutes (main and reserve), and deployment components.
Upon completing a jump from all of the four object categories, a jumper may choose to apply for a "BASE number", awarded sequentially.
[13] In the early days of BASE jumping, people used modified skydiving gear, such as by removing the deployment bag and slider, stowing the lines in a tail pocket, and fitting a large pilot chute.
This simplicity contributes to the safety and reliability of BASE jumping gear by eliminating many malfunctions that can occur with more complicated skydiving equipment.
[16] When jumping from high mountains, BASE jumpers will often use special clothing to improve control and flight characteristics in the air.
Wingsuit flying has become a popular form of BASE jumping in recent years, that allows jumpers to glide over long horizontal distances.
Tracking suits inflate like wingsuits to give additional lift to jumpers, but maintain separation of arms and legs to allow for greater mobility and safety.
Base jumpers have been known to jump from objects as low as 30 metres (100 ft), which leaves little to no canopy time and requires an immediate flare to land safely.
On May 23, 2006, Australians Glenn Singleman and Heather Swan made a BASE jump from an altitude of 6,604 metres (21,667 ft) off Meru Peak in Northern India.
On May 5, 2013, Russian Valery Rozov jumped off Changtse (the northern peak of the Mount Everest massif) from a height of 7,220 metres (23,690 ft).
Using a specially-developed wingsuit, he glided down to the Rongbuk glacier more than 1,000 meters below, setting a new world record for highest altitude base jump.
Recent years have seen a formal competition held at the 452 metres (1,483 ft) high Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, judged on landing accuracy.
[40] A BASE jump from a 148 metres (486 ft) object is only about 5.6 seconds from the ground if the jumper remains in free fall.
Many BASE jumps, particularly in the UK are made from around 45 metres (150 ft) due to the number of low cliffs at this height.
BASE jumping frequently occurs in mountainous terrain, often having much smaller areas in which to land in comparison to a typical skydiving dropzone.
The Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho, is an example of a man-made structure in the United States where BASE jumping is allowed year-round without a permit.
[50] BASE jumping is one of the most dangerous recreational activities in the world, with a fatality and injury rate 43 times higher than that of parachuting from a plane.
