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Description
Total nutters these blokes... 114 storeys high just to jump off... And

Subject Foreground: Tim Emmet (Professional BASE Jumper)
Subject Background: Unknown
Location: Thailand

Base jumping is not an extreme sport. It should be categorized, instead, as a 'very extreme sport.' Or maybe as a 'commonly lethal sport.' Unlike skydiving and bungee jumping, it is not uncommon for people to be killed. This is because the thrill of these other sports is actually very well controlled whereas with base jumping it is not.

The ‘base’ in base jumping is an acronym that stands for B-Buildings, A-Aerials, S-Spans, E-Earthen Objects. Base jumpers climb to the top of one of these structures and hurl themselves off the top, hoping that they have enough time for their parachute to deploy and arrest their descent before they hit the ground and that they do not smash into the structure on the way down.

It might surprise you to learn that jumping from a cliff or a very tall building is way more dangerous than skydiving, as the distance to the ground is small in comparison, but it is this close proximity to the ground and of course the structure itself that are the sources of the danger. A gust of wind can and doesslam base jumpers into the side of the mountain or building. If the chute does not work the base jumper doesn't get a second chance with a backup chute.

Base jumping is a fairly recent sport. It started illegally when some people decided to jump from buildings in highly populated cities, not just for the thrill of it but also for the attention they could draw. Often there was a police officer waiting to arrest them if they were still alive after landing. These people took it upon themselves to donate these surprises to the city of their choosing and the fine was to them like paying a skydiving fee.

From these first beginnings, people began finding sites where they could jump from cliffs in areas that would not draw the same attention as the illegal activity occurring in the city did. These natural structures are not found just anywhere. This and the extreme danger are factors which limit the number of people participating in this which is, together with solo climbing, the most extreme of extreme sports. This might be a good thing because the fewer the people doing it the fewer the people who will splatter themselves on the ground below.

Most people’s desire for an adrenaline rush is satisfied by sports such as sky-diving, rockclimbing etc, but for some people it is not. This editor has spent hours trying to work out what it is that causes some people to need more danger to get their adrenaline fix. One theory is that it is a bit like hard drugs, where the unfortunate junkie graduates to the lethal substances as he can’t get his kicks from the softer ones.

This however equates base jumpers with heroin addicts, which is hardly reasonable or flattering. On balance, it seems to me that the solo climbers and base jumpers are so full of life that they cannot believe that their own demise is a distinct possibility.

Description
Total nutters these blokes... 114 storeys high just to jump off... And

Subject Foreground: Tim Emmet (Professional BASE Jumper)
Subject Background: Unknown
Location: Thailand

Base jumping is not an extreme sport. It should be categorized, instead, as a 'very extreme sport.' Or maybe as a 'commonly lethal sport.' Unlike skydiving and bungee jumping, it is not uncommon for people to be killed. This is because the thrill of these other sports is actually very well controlled whereas with base jumping it is not.

The ‘base’ in base jumping is an acronym that stands for B-Buildings, A-Aerials, S-Spans, E-Earthen Objects. Base jumpers climb to the top of one of these structures and hurl themselves off the top, hoping that they have enough time for their parachute to deploy and arrest their descent before they hit the ground and that they do not smash into the structure on the way down.

It might surprise you to learn that jumping from a cliff or a very tall building is way more dangerous than skydiving, as the distance to the ground is small in comparison, but it is this close proximity to the ground and of course the structure itself that are the sources of the danger. A gust of wind can and doesslam base jumpers into the side of the mountain or building. If the chute does not work the base jumper doesn't get a second chance with a backup chute.

Base jumping is a fairly recent sport. It started illegally when some people decided to jump from buildings in highly populated cities, not just for the thrill of it but also for the attention they could draw. Often there was a police officer waiting to arrest them if they were still alive after landing. These people took it upon themselves to donate these surprises to the city of their choosing and the fine was to them like paying a skydiving fee.

From these first beginnings, people began finding sites where they could jump from cliffs in areas that would not draw the same attention as the illegal activity occurring in the city did. These natural structures are not found just anywhere. This and the extreme danger are factors which limit the number of people participating in this which is, together with solo climbing, the most extreme of extreme sports. This might be a good thing because the fewer the people doing it the fewer the people who will splatter themselves on the ground below.

Most people’s desire for an adrenaline rush is satisfied by sports such as sky-diving, rockclimbing etc, but for some people it is not. This editor has spent hours trying to work out what it is that causes some people to need more danger to get their adrenaline fix. One theory is that it is a bit like hard drugs, where the unfortunate junkie graduates to the lethal substances as he can’t get his kicks from the softer ones.

This however equates base jumpers with heroin addicts, which is hardly reasonable or flattering. On balance, it seems to me that the solo climbers and base jumpers are so full of life that they cannot believe that their own demise is a distinct possibility.