 |
Business | Industries | Finance | Tax |
| Index: > A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
|
|||||
| First Prev [ 1 2 3 ] Next Last |
In the United States, skydiving from an airplane involves regulations set by the FAA, notably the requirement of an airplane jumper to carry two parachutes. Since BASE jumping does not involve an airplane, the FAA has no jurisdiction.
The legal issues that a BASE jumper must consider concern permissions to utilize the object that is being jumped, and the area used for landing. The general reluctance of the owners of jumpable objects to allow their object to be used as a platform leads many BASE jumpers to attempt to jump from them covertly. Notable exceptions are a bridge in Idaho, and, once a year, on the third Saturday in October ('Bridge Day') when jumping is legal from the New River Gorge BridgeThe New River Gorge Bridge is a steel-arch bridge, in West Virginia near Fayetteville, and was for many years, with a length of 3030 feet (924 m) the longest in the world of that type. dagger; Spanning the New River at a height of 876 feet (267 m), making in Fayetteville, West VirginiaWest Virginia is a state of the United States, known as The Mountain State. While many consider it part of the South, many in the state's Northern Panhandle feel a greater affinity for Pittsburgh, while those in the Eastern Panhandle feel a greater affini. The bridge deck is 876 feet (267 m) above the river. A rock dropped from the deck will hit the water in 8.8 seconds. This annual event attracts about 350 BASE jumpers, and nearly 200,000 spectators. If the conditions are good, in the 6 hours that it is legal, there may be over 800 jumps at Bridge Day . For many skydivers who would like to try BASE jumping, this will be the only fixed object from which they ever jump.
Covert BASE jumps are often made from tall buildings and antenna towers. Jumpers who are caught in the act may face charges of trespass or reckless endangerment. BASE jumping itself is not illegal, however there is a unique situation in US National Parks, because the National Park Service has the authority to ban specific activities, and has done so for BASE jumping as a result of jumping activity in Yosemite. In the early days of BASE jumping, the Service ran a permit scheme under which jumpers could get authorisation to jump El Capitan. This scheme ran for 3 months in 1980 and then collapsed amid allegations of abuse by unauthorised jumpers. Since then, the Service has vigorously enforced a ban, charging jumpers with "aerial delivery into a National Park". One jumper was drowned in the Merced river while being chased by Park Rangers intent on arresting him. Despite this, illegal jumps continue in Yosemite at a rate estimated at a few hundred per year, often at night or dawn. El Capitan, Half Dome and Glacier Point are all used as jump sites.
The legal position is better at other sites and in other countries. For example, in Norway's LysefjordLysefjord (or Lysefjorden the suffix "-en" is a form of the definite article in the Norwegian language) is a fjord located in Ryfylke in south-western Norway. The name means the light fjord and is said to be derived from the lightly coloured granite rocks, BASE jumpers are made welcome. Many sites in the European Alps, near Chamonix and on the Eiger, are open to jumpers.
It is not known how many people have tried at least one BASE jump, however, when a jumper completes a jump from each of the four categories of objects, they may choose to apply for a "BASE number". These are awarded sequentially. In 1981Events January-February January Sarawak Chamber found January 1 Greece enters the EEC January 1 Palau becomes self-governing January 4 Sheffield police arrests Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper January 16 Protestant gunmen shoot and wound Bernadette D, Phil Smith of Houston, TexasTexas joined the United States of America as its 28th member state in 1845. It has the postal abbreviation TX . The state name derives from a word in a Caddoan language of the Hasinai, tejas meaning friends or allies Spanish explorers mistakenly applied t, was awarded BASE-1. As of 2004, over 920 BASE numbers have been awarded.
BASE jumping is often featured in action movies, like the 2002 Vin Diesel film xXx where Diesel's character catapults himself off a bridge in an open-topped car, landing safely as the car crashes on the ground. After the 1976 Mt Asgard jump, the James Bond movies continued to feature BASE jumps, including one from the Eiffel Tower in 1985's A View to a Kill, the Rock of Gibraltar in 1987's The Living Daylights, and in Die Another Day, 2002, Pierce Brosnan as James Bond jumps from a melting iceberg. Of these, though, only the Mt Asgard and Eiffel Tower jumps were filmed in reality; the rest were special effects.
The 1990s surge of interest in extreme sports saw many developments in BASE jumping and increasing acceptance of it generally, although it is still widely seen as a daredevil stunt rather than a sport. Although it is a highly skilled activity, the lack of an objective way to measure skill as the basis for records and competitions, hinders acceptance as a true sport; and it remains as dangerous as it looks, prompting some, with typically black humor, to say that BASE stands for "Bones And Shit Everywhere". Although probably safer today than in the early days, through the availability of specialised equipment and wider knowledge of techniques, the occasional fatalities and injuries provide sensational press coverage. Although deaths through ground impact in freefall or object strike do occur, most incidents are due to hazardous landing sites or other problems which develop after the parachute is open. Because of the covert nature of much BASE jumping, no reliable figures are available to assess the statistical risks of BASE jumping.
The Guinness Book of Records first listed a BASE jumping record with Carl Boenish's 1984 leap from Trollveggen in Norway (the jump being made two days before his death at the same site) being described as the highest BASE jump. This record category is still in the Guinness book and is currently held by Nic Feteris and Glenn Singleman with a jump from the 19,000ft Trango cliff in Pakistan, which seems unlikely to be beaten. However, the sheer variety of the nature of the challenge at different jump sites means that direct comparisons of different jumps are often meaningless. As a result, some of the claimed records in the field may be seen as spurious. There is another Guinness entry for "oldest BASE jumper" which is clearly nothing to do with sporting skill. Even more contentious are claims sometimes made (although not recognised by Guinness) for the lowest jump. Given that a static-lined parachute can be made to open in little more than the length of its suspension lines, jumps can actually be performed at practically any altitude right down to the point at which a parachute is not necessary for survival. BASE competitions have been held since the early 1980s, with accurate landings or freefall aerobatics used as the judging criteria. Recent years have seen a formal competition held at the 1300ft Petronas Towers building in Malaysia, judged on landing accuracy, but it is a long way from joining the Olympics.
For now, BASE jumpers are mostly focused on the challenges of public acceptance and understanding of a sport so obviously extreme and so highly dangerous; and on the development of equipment and techniques. Searching for new, and preferably legal, jump sites has also been a fruitful activity for many devotees.
| Politics | Business | Finance |
 |
 |
 |
|