See full World Class Performer article

In the area of BASE Jumping you often hear people say “lets go do something stupid” or “it’ll be fine, the parachute is made to open.” The truth is that we put a lot of thought, calculation, and preparation into BASE jumping.

There is a lot of training that a person has to do in order to stay on the safe side of things. A lot of it comes down to making wise decisions and thinking about the group as a whole rather than thinking with the ego and being selfish.

Often times you will hear people say that it is easy. That can be true, until something goes wrong. When something goes wrong or a person has an issue while base jumping, there isn’t much time to think. There is only time to do.

These skills have to be deeply embedded into a person so they can act in a time of need. Anyone can go huck themselves off of something and if everything goes perfectly then it might be ok. Sometimes things don’t go according to plan so the jumper needs to have the experience to turn things back to their favor.

The standard is for a person to have at least 200 skydives before they go take a BASE Jump course. Most of us think that a bit more is necessary, but that is the minimum. It is wise then to take a reputable class rather than trying to learn from a friend that probably won’t get to all the important skills and information.