Blog

Learning to BASE Jump

• November 2013
• Fly Training

I get a lot of emails from people asking me how to start base jumping: so here are some answers to a few of the most asked questions about learning to base jump.

My company Moab B.A.S.E Adventures trains new base jumpers, as well as guiding experienced jumpers in Moab. The First Jump Course takes place at the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls Idaho.

The FJC is for experienced skydivers with 200-1000 skydives. Skydiving experience is a prerequisite for taking the FJC, and there are no exceptions.

Base jumping is mainly about decision making, and understanding what questions you need to ask yourself before making a jump. The act of throwing yourself off a cliff and landing a parachute on the ground is essentially quite simple. More complicated is understanding the environment, the equipment, conditions and everything that could/can/will happen when mixing all the above together while falling through the air–as well as understanding your parachute and how to manage it in the base environment.

I teach women’s only First Jump Courses too.

The First Jump Course teaches skydivers the basics of how to jump off fixed objects, starting from PCA to free fall assist, and going through handheld and stowed jumps, with emphasis on canopy drills and contingency planning. You’ll also learn efficient packing, basic rigging essentials, big picture thinking and safety habits. The goal is to train you to make the best decisions possible and to analyze your jumps intelligently and thoroughly.

After completing an FJC, you’ll be ready to continue jumping spans and also antennae on your own and you’ll most likely be planning to start jumping cliffs.

To take the First Cliff Course in Moab, we require a minimum prerequisite of 50 base jumps. Something unique at Moab B.A.S.E Adventures is the option of taking your First Jump Course with the First Cliff Course extension, so you can train with us all the way from your first bridge jump to your first cliff jumps in Moab. As with everything, we believe in keeping things small and focused, so courses are limited to 3 students max.

With the FJC/FCC extension, all the bridge training is specifically directed toward learning to jump cliffs, and you can come directly to Moab for the cliff course after completing a list of specific training jumps at the Perrine.

The FCC is an opportunity to be mentored through your first cliff jumps, and to learn how to analyze sites, wind conditions and equipment on your own for subterminal jumps. The most important thing in base is to learn how to gather information and use it to make your own decisions.

If you’re still curious and have more questions, check out Moab Base Adventures.