Finding things to do while Bitcoin is slowly making its way back to $20k...what better than a base jump.
You can see this Antenna for miles before getting to it, its a beast!
It takes around 25-30mins to climb, and you will get arm pump. You can do it quicker, but the climb is tight and your stash bag keeps getting caught on stuff, so it makes it a little awkward.
This photo doesn't do it justice, I really should take a photo from 20 miles away so you can really see it stand out, its massive.
The jump is always done "out of hours" haha, as we don't want to upset anyone, or draw any unwanted attention from the road.
This transmitter gets base jumped a lot, and has done for many years, so kudos to all the local base jumpers here for keeping this object jump-able and not burning it.
There are some similar objects that you can dayblaze (usually where farmers have given permission), but this is definately not one of them.
This is what the next 30mins look like. The ladder is exposed in some places and is vertical all the way up, but for the most part you do have cable management behind you as a nice false sense of security for if you fall haha. Honestly, it probably wouldnt do a lot if you fell, but it helps with my mental state when climbing.
The worst part of any base jump for me is climbing vertical ladders, I hate it. I try to do it regularly enough so it doesn't consume me, but I don't like it, I am convinced thats where an accident will happen, not on the actual jump!
Ok so we are at the top and ready to jump!
As there are a few of us on this base jump, I have chosen to keep the other base jumper's faces out of it for their privacy.
This particular rail is higher than the usual rails you find at the top of transmitters, so I find it a little bit awkward to get on to when jumping a handheld configuration. Choosing to jumped stowed will make the climb over the rail easier.
We tend to wait up the top until just before darkness. The photos will look bright as I have lightened them in photoshop.
You know you are high up when you have a red light next to you for aircraft hehe, love it.
3, 2, 1 see ya!
I took a 2 second delay before throwing my pilot chute, as I wanted to make the most of the height.
The best part about this base jump is watching the lights whizz past, its amazing!
Boom, parachute opens, and I am on heading, phew!
Straight on the toggles quickly as we did have a crosswind from left to right and there are guy ropes either side of us, but there is enough time to get unstowed and turn towards the LZ. You wouldn't want to take too long though or you will end up in the trees, especially with a crosswind like this. I don't make a habit of jumping in crosswinds, but with the height of this Antenna and the freefall delay I am taking, I felt it would be ok.
Making my way to the landing area.
Being mindful of the metal death spike fence to my left.
Touch down. This LZ only has one out, and thats really only possible if you took a PCA or used a static line. You definitely want to be comfortable with your deep brake settings and be able sink your canopy in.
Sweet jump, yeeeeeeeeeeeeew! Any Basic Attention Token / Brave Browser fans out there?
NB: This photo in reality is near black, my iphone 11 has an night mode to create light in low light. I did it so you can see the antenna, its is clearly not daytime, just look at the photo before opening, you can see its dark.
I only mention this as I have had a snide comment in the past where another basejumper thought I was dayblazing an object, when I wasn't.
Thanks for reading!
I AM NOT A BASE JUMPING INSTRUCTOR. IT IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. DO NOT GO AND ATTEMPT TO JUMP OFF A TRANSMITTER, LET ALONE CLIMB ONE BECAUSE YOU SAW MY POST.
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