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BASE Jumping: Not Suicide, But Sure Looks Like It
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,196383,00.html ^
| May 22, 2006
Posted on 05/27/2006 8:10:22 PM PDT by strategofr
Several recent incidents, including the April 27 arrest of Jeb Ray Corliss IV, who was caught by police as he prepared to skydive off the Empire State Buildings observation deck during rush hour, have called attention to BASE jumping, a fringe sport thats been around since the early 1980s.
The BASE in BASE jumping is an acronym that stands for the four locations a skydiver must leap from before he can call himself a BASE jumper: Building, Antenna, Span (in other words, a bridge) and Earth (i.e., a cliff).
And the action isn't limited to New York City. On May 10, two men were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after they parachuted off a 300-foot-tall Union Pacific Railroad communications tower in Waterman, Ill.; and on Wednesday, a Belgian BASE jumper successfully jumped off the top of the Eiffel Tower after a Norwegian man died attempting the same stunt a year ago to the day.
But why would anyone in his right mind want to jump off a building?
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Illinois; US: New York
KEYWORDS: base; holdmuhbeer; parachute
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To: strategofr
Some people are just begging to be given Darwin Awards.
2
posted on
05/27/2006 8:14:28 PM PDT
by
Talking_Mouse
(Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just... Thomas Jefferson)
To: strategofr
I think I would feel a lot safer jumping out of an airplane and that isn't exactly safe. They do a lot of skydiving over our little local airport and there seems to be about one splat per year not to mention small plane crashes.
3
posted on
05/27/2006 8:15:20 PM PDT
by
cripplecreek
(Never a minigun handy when you need one.)
To: strategofr
I think Evil Kneival was a BASE jumper before his time.
4
posted on
05/27/2006 8:19:14 PM PDT
by
SamAdams76
(I think Randy Travis must be paying his bills on home computer by now)
To: strategofr
All your BASE jumping are belong to us.
To: strategofr
You don't have to look far on the Internet to find plenty of videos where the base jumpers parachute didn't open in time or didn't open at all.
6
posted on
05/27/2006 8:30:17 PM PDT
by
FreedomCalls
(It's the "Statue of Liberty," not the "Statue of Security.")
To: Charles Henrickson
7
posted on
05/27/2006 8:37:43 PM PDT
by
jdm
To: strategofr
I had a boss back in the eighties who in the midst of his midlife crisis took up all sorts of strange sports - including this. It never got him killed - but it did get him arrested and thrown in a mental hospital for two weeks when he tried to jump off Hoover dam.
8
posted on
05/27/2006 8:41:59 PM PDT
by
Energy Alley
("War on Christians" = just another professional victim group.)
To: Energy Alley
Upstream or downstream side?
9
posted on
05/27/2006 9:12:21 PM PDT
by
TXnMA
(Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! Repeat San Jacinto!!! AND START IN AUSTIN!!!)
To: FreedomCalls
You don't have to look far on the Internet to find plenty of videos where the base jumpers parachute didn't open in time or didn't open at all.
Since modern base jumping began in 1981 there has been 96 fatalities world wide. According to the National Highway Administration statistics, auto street racing accidents have claimed the lives of 345 people since 1990. Looks like base jumping is one of the safer "outlaw" sports.
.
10
posted on
05/27/2006 9:25:30 PM PDT
by
mugs99
(Don't take life too seriously, you won't get out alive.)
To: mugs99
Fall of 98 some base jumpers went off El Capitan in Yosemite to protest the NPS ban. The ban was in place for safety reasons and a women named Jan Davis died. Ironically she died using a borrowed chute because she didn't want to lose her own rig to the Park Police.
11
posted on
05/27/2006 9:58:31 PM PDT
by
USNBandit
(sarcasm engaged at all times)
To: strategofr
I say, "Who they hurting"? besides maybe themselves.
To: mugs99
Since modern base jumping began in 1981 there has been 96 fatalities world wide. According to the National Highway Administration statistics, auto street racing accidents have claimed the lives of 345 people since 1990. Looks like base jumping is one of the safer "outlaw" sports. Geez, doesn't anybody comprehend statistics any more?
How many people base jump? How many people street race? Unless you know those numbers, comparing total fatalities doesn't tell you anything useful.
To: mugs99
Since modern base jumping began in 1981 there has been 96 fatalities world wide. According to the National Highway Administration statistics, auto street racing accidents have claimed the lives of 345 people since 1990. Looks like base jumping is one of the safer "outlaw" sports. What you say is nonsense. How many jumps contributed to 96 deaths and how many races contributed to 345 deaths? If 200 or 300 jumps resulted in 96 deaths and as I suspect from the number of races on city streets on a Saturday night in my neighborhood, something on the order of a few hundred thousands street races contributed to 345 deaths, then base jumping is just what it is portrayed; a very dangerous pastime that should be outlawed.
To: USNBandit
"Fall of 98 some base jumpers went off El Capitan in Yosemite to protest the NPS ban. The ban was in place for safety reasons and a women named Jan Davis died. Ironically she died using a borrowed chute because she didn't want to lose her own rig to the Park Police."
So she thought it was OK to have someone elses' rig confiscated but not her own? Loser.
15
posted on
05/27/2006 10:43:03 PM PDT
by
theymakemesick
(Illegal immigration will break America, I will not vote to prolong the inevitable.)
To: theymakemesick
I was looking at an NTSB sight once and stumbled upon a list of parachuting accidents. It seem borrowed and unfamiliar parachutes were common causal factors in a large percentage of accidents.
I read a report that this woman used a rig that had a leg release, instead of a release on the back like she was used to. That seems like the first thing you would look at when you are going to huck your little pink body off a cliff.
16
posted on
05/27/2006 11:14:45 PM PDT
by
USNBandit
(sarcasm engaged at all times)
To: garylmoore
"I say, "Who they hurting"?
Well, if your chute didn't open coming down from the Empire State building at rush hour you could hurt any number of people.
17
posted on
05/28/2006 1:15:51 AM PDT
by
jocon307
(The Silent Majority - silent no longer)
To: USNBandit; theymakemesick
Jan Davis
1941-1999
Jan Davis' jumps off El Capitan
Yosemite National Park - October 22, 1999
To: strategofr
To paraphrase what they say about skydivers,
"Why would somebody want to jump off a perfectly good building?"
19
posted on
05/28/2006 1:43:12 AM PDT
by
Erasmus
("Peace on you!" -- Imam Ofo)
To: TXnMA
He tried to do it from a boat on the upstream side.
20
posted on
05/28/2006 1:44:56 AM PDT
by
Erasmus
("Peace on you!" -- Imam Ofo)
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