Cliff Strikes

[BASE813 0]

I thought I would post this here as this forum is for "newbies / wannabes" looking to get into BASE. I witnessed my first cliff stike a few days ago (i say first as I know I will witness more in my jumping life). As this was a first for me I thought I would share the experience with people wanting to get into BASE to hopefully show it aint all roses.

The sun was dying down and 5 of us were stood on top of a 340ft E - its a gnarly jump with shite landing areas and not much room for error. Only 2 of us had done this object before and due to the lack of light and the horrible landing options 3 people dropped out of jumping. Myself and one other (who had not jumped it before) decided all was good (he had spent alot of time checking out the landing options) - I went first - I waited for the traffic below to become clear - you can see cars approach from both sides and there was a clear spot aws two cars passed below me - I went off looking at the cars driving below me (little did they know whilst driving home from a day out there was someone above them in freefall) - I watched the cliff between my legs (its over hung then under hung) and pitched at around 2 / 3 seconds - on heading - quick 180 and landed at the base of the cliff on the road. All good! - I heard a crack of a canopy and looked up - all i could see is my friend under canopy facing the cliff - he hit in! he backed up but the underhung section then came up and met him - he hit in again - he hung off his rear risers but hit in once again. He then kept on the rear risers and sank in facing the cliff - be banged in right in front of me. Whislt watching this I thought I was watching a friend of mine either getting horribly hurt of perhaps dying. I raced over the small ditch the where he was lying and all i thought was call the ambulance - as i came over the brow I saw him get up and he just said "Im sorry". He was fine apart from a few cuts and bruises.

On top a shake of hands and a "have a good one" - and then I thought that I was watching the last moments of a friends life. I felt an extreme helplessness as i watched him bang down the face of the cliff - its certainly a reality check and although you may think you accept the risks - its not until you witness something fucking horrible does it all hit home - just how close to injury or death we truely are..........

Luckily due to his canopy skills he kept his canopy inflated and managed to minimise the damage to his body - I dread to think what would have happened without that canopy skill or presence of mind - GET MORE CANOPY EXPERIENCE BEFORE YOU BASE!

2 days later I made another jump and the incident did not come into my mind at all. As far as I am concerned "shit happens".

Sorry for the longish post - but I just I know I was very thoughful after this incident - and I hope the "newbie / wannabe" out there truely know what they are getting into - its all well and good to say "yeah I know I could witness a death or serious injury" but the reality I am afraid is more of a headfuck than you could ever imagine.

Im sure more experienced jumpers here can recall incidents that ended a lot worse than my "first" horrible experience. Perhaps they may (or may not) like to share just to bring the reality to people. I know when I was a 150 skydive wonder I thought I knew I was ready - after 500 skydives and 20 months in BASE with a good few jumps / objects under my belt I still got some inner thought after witnessing this.

Anyway I gotta pack after a fucking great jump last night for a nice sunset jump tonight! - sorry to blurt out!!!

Hope you all have a good and safe year!!!

As 689 says "soft walls" people!!!

[Faber 0]

i do rember the tekst you sended me that night. i were about to grab my gear and drive to a nearby A that i intended to jump off solo.I rember that i thourght "fuck,this gonna be a brainfuck"as the landing area to that A,aint paticiluar nice due winds that force me to jump out pretty close to a 4 storry building and all kind of crap on the ground aswell.

I made a cool jump,and landed in a nice narrow place,a perfect jump.. But what a brainfuck to jump just after heard such news

Im happy that he´s okay. Im looking forward to jump the cliff your talking about.

"it still has my name on it"

Stay safe
Stefan Faber

[Basejumperjeff 0]

Sort of similar.
Three of us up top this nice 320' A. The plan was I jump first and the other two were going to do a two way. The winds were very low, lots of snow on the ground and the landing area large and clean.
I jumped first as planned, my third from this object. No problems and alot of fun.
Standing in the landing area, I look up to watch my friends jump. They each were on different sides of the A. Both lauched simultaneously both open almost exactly the same time, cool sound, then one of my friends snags a protuding peice of metal on the A. The canopy turns violently then unsnags itself half inflated. He was then flung into the wires and the canopy delated and started falling below him as he slid down the wire. He then fell off the wire and below his canopy and the canopy half inflated just a second before he hit the ground. This whole event took approximately 4-5 sec.
I stood there amazed at what I had just saw, then ran over to see my friend fearing the worst hoping the best.
He was hurt but alive. The end result was a broken right foot and a badly sprained left foot.
This was my first time witnessing a base accident first hand and it made me realize that nobody is immune to the monster which may come up and bite me someday.

[3ringheathen 0]

We had a similar experience a couple of days ago:

400'+ cliff, several inches of fresh snow covering the exit point, the landing area, and everything in between.

We were stoked because for the first time since the four of us opened the object a few years ago, we were all there as a group again. We'd all jumped it a bunch since, but never as a complete crew.

Anyway, we get to the top, start gearing up, and discussing the exit and whether or not to go stowed or handheld.
I was a bit sketched by the snow and ice at the exit point, so I chose to go handheld. I figured that if I slip on exit, I can pitch immediately. The trade off is that it was sketchier *getting* poised on the exit point with a PC in my right hand.

The next couple of jumpers chose to go stowed. This made it easier to get poised for exit, but could be sketchier if your launch isn't good.
So neither choice was clearly better, they just presented different risks and benefits.

Off I go, clean exit, good jump. 2nd jumper has a good jump, too.
Unfortunately, as he's coming in to land, he's yelling down that there's been a cliff strike.
The 3rd jumper (we'll call him OLSOB), as Murphy's law dictates, was the only one that forgot his protective gear. We scrounged up a pair of kneepads for him, but nothing else.
*No helmet*.
The first base jumper I ever met died from head injuries suffered on a cliff strike.
Jumper #2 lands and tells me that it looked like OLSOB slipped on exit, pitched unstable, had a 180 and struck the cliff immediately. No one could see him after that.

Every one of us both on top and at the bottom thought he was dead or critically injured. 911 was called, jumper #2 and #4 ran up the trail towards the base of the cliff with a firstaid kit and a blanket. I stayed below to guide in the SAR guys.

To make long story a little shorter, it turns out that jumper #3 is One Lucky Son Of a Bitch. He slipped on exit, had a 180 with line twists, and struck the cliff four times. All the while, he's reaching above the twists, pulling on his rear line groups and pushing off of the cliff with his feet. He managed to steer away from the cliff and into a snow drift at the very bottom of the cliff. There are trees pretty much everywhere down there.
Incredible luck, skill, and a refusal to panic or give up allowed my bud to walk away from the accident with nothing more than a sore ass.

Talk about ghost stories

Lessons learned:
1) Always wear a helmet and protective gear. I'm pretty sure that a few sets of body armor are going to be purchased around here pretty quickly.
2) Everyone should have a radio.
If he had been seriously hurt, communicating with us could have saved his life.
Since he somehow managed to land unscathed, knowing that would have saved us the embarassment, possible legal troubles, and bad PR of calling 911.
3) If you're gonna jump in the snow, bring something to prepare the exit point with:
A mini wisk broom, some rock salt, a small propane torch, *something*!
4) Don't panic
5) Practice canopy control and mentally rehearse emergency procedures regularly.
-Josh

If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me*
*Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

[czechbase 0]

I'd be interested to know if the ones who were hitting the cliff were using vented canopies or not?

www.motavi.com

[3ringheathen 0]

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I'd be interested to know if the ones who were hitting the cliff were using vented canopies or not?

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The one I described was a non-vented Fox, which makes it that much more amazing that he wasn't hurt. Another cliff strike at the same object involved a Blackjack, that jumper was adamant that the vents saved him, he was able to rear riser stall away from the cliff and turn around.

Both incidents were almost certainly due to body position on deployment.
-Josh

If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me*
*Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

[BASE813 0]

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I'd be interested to know if the ones who were hitting the cliff were using vented canopies or not?

The incident I spoke about involved an Ace (no vents no valves). As 3rings incidents - the 180 was caused by bad exit and body position.

Not panicking, not giving up, and good fucking skill is what saved my friend from not coming out bad for this incident.


I heard once that there are 2 types of BASE jumpers - ones that have had 180's and ones that will have 180's - just make sure you are confident of your skills before you get into this sport - as facing a large rock is not the time to wish you had!

Be safe all........

[base515 0]

Was it the jumper who went back east over the holidays?

May we live long and die out

[riggerrob 643]

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We had a similar experience a couple of days ago:

400'+ cliff, several inches of fresh snow covering the exit point, the landing area, and everything in between.


3) If you're gonna jump in the snow, bring something to prepare the exit point with:
A mini wisk broom, some rock salt, a small propane torch, *something*!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Has anyone contemplated carpetting the launch point?

[Faber 0]

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Has anyone contemplated carpetting the launch point?

and pillows at the wall just in case you get an 180

Stay safe
Stefan Faber

[BASE813 0]

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Has anyone contemplated carpetting the launch point?

yeah and have perhaps a sofa and chairs whilst you wait for your slot...........


mmmmm........ sounds like another sport to me!.........

[3ringheathen 0]

Has anyone contemplated carpetting the launch point?

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Yeah, we thought about it, but 655 would just munch it.
-Josh

If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me*
*Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

[3ringheathen 0]

It was *a* jumper that went back east.
He who has very little pigment...looks like a ghost.
-Josh

If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me*
*Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

[base515 0]

I thought all you guys from the rainy NW, looked like ghosts. Did he go home to NC? I sent a e-mail but haven't heard back yet. Glad to hear there were no injuries! I love my local A all the more now, cliffs are bad

May we live long and die out

[Geronimo509 0]

Wasn't me and Cliffs are not bad!!! Although like I told you sometimes I really miss our A's
Take care
Gabe
BASE 697

[hookitt 1]

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1) Always wear a helmet and protective gear. I'm pretty sure that a few sets of body armor are going to be purchased around here pretty quickly.

I bet you're right

I'm happy to hear all worked out for all the instances described ... Whew~~!!

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[DaveO 0]

I struck my local "A" a couple of months ago. I had almost sixty jumps off of it and then BAM! Just got beat up a little from the tree landing that followed. My canopy didn't do as well.

"I must say that a 180 after a 1 second delay from a cliff with no overhang is pushing the very limits of one's skills." - Earl Redfern Oct. 22 1999

BASE 772

"When it comes to BASE, I'll never give advice, only my opinion"

[NeilQ 0]

Hey Mac

Did "the jumper" have his customary full Dainese body armour on? Do you think that had a bearing on the outcome too? Maybe cos the cliff is made of cheese may have helped also eh?

Glad to hear it turned out ok

Neil