On the face of it, base jumping is a very scary activity to most people.
It’s the sort of thing that is reserved for the most extreme thrill seekers, looking to sate an appetite for adrenaline that most of us don’t have.
But is base jumping actually all that dangerous?
Let’s find out.
Yes, base jumping is extremely dangerous. The fatality rate is a staggering 43 times higher than normal skydiving. Around 400 people have died in base jumping accidents since 1981. There’s no getting around it: base jumping is one of the most dangerous things you can do.
So, the short answer is yes, base jumping is very dangerous.
There’s a very high statistical chance that you will suffer injury or even death during base jumping.
While this doesn’t mean you should discount the possibility of trying it, it’s also really important to be aware of what you’re getting into.
Let’s find out more.
Can base jumping be done safely?
Yes, base jumping can be done safely.
Many people engage in base jumping regularly and have been doing so for a long time without any accident or injury.
It is not a guarantee that doing base jumping will end badly, obviously—otherwise no one would do it!
But it takes a lot of training and preparation to do base jumping safely.
Like any extreme sport, there are a great many inherent risks that cannot be eliminated entirely through experience or training, though.
Even the most experienced base jumper can suffer injury.
Ultimately, though, base jumping can be done safely.
This starts with having the correct licenses and permits and knowing where you can legally do it.
Base jumping is almost always illegal if you haven’t obtained permission from local authorities to do it.
With good reason, too.
The authorities want to make base jumping as safe as possible, so they regulate where you can do it.
If you’ve never skydived or base jumped before, then you have a lot to learn.
You can’t really base jumping without some experience of skydiving.
So, it’s going to take a lot of time to get to the point where you can safely base jump.
So, yes, base jumping can be done safely, but this is still a relative term.
Base jumping is dangerous, no matter how well experienced you are.
Something can always go wrong—so how often, exactly, does it go wrong?
How many deaths are caused by base jumping?
Base jumping was first pioneered as a sport in the early 1980s.
Since then, many thousands of jumps have taken place.
Of all the jumps that have occurred since the earliest jumps, 412 of them have ended in the death of the jumper.
Most of those deaths were of experienced jumpers who knew what they were doing.
This rate of death means that base jumpers are an enormous 43 times more likely to die than skydivers.
Even though a lot more people engage in skydiving, more people still die base jumping.
Given that these were mostly experienced jumpers, it just goes to show that the activity is inherently dangerous.
Even with all the experience, it’s always entirely possible for things to go seriously wrong.
This is not to put you off base jumping, but it’s really important that you understand what you’re getting into.
It’s not to be undertaken lightly, and even though you’re most likely there for a thrill, it’s vitally important that you observe every safety detail to the letter when you are base jumping.
Is base jumping more dangerous than wingsuit flying?
It’s worth pointing out that base jumping very often involves wingsuit flying.
Many of the cases of base jumping with wingsuits—as many as 40 in 20 years—end in death.
Wingsuiting very often is just base jumping.
That said, in a general sense, base jumping is still statistically more dangerous than wingsuit flying.
You are more likely to injure yourself, but only by a relatively small amount.
Both are extremely dangerous and extremely deadly.
But, as I said, it’s important to remember these activities usually go hand in hand.
Wingsuit flying usually requires an environment similar to what you would use for base jumping.
What is the life expectancy of a base jumper?
People get into base jumping at all sorts of different ages.
It’s not really a job, in that sense, so we can’t necessarily say what their life expectancy is.
However, we can look at the average length of the base-jumping career of most people.
This tends to be around six years, on average.
After this time, many stop either because of death, serious injury, or an acceptance that the risk is too great.
So, you might say the life expectancy of a base jumper is around six years before they pack it in.
That’s a pretty short time, given that many skydivers can spend their entire adult life jumping out of planes.
Base jumping usually doesn’t last so long as, eventually, you’re almost statistically guaranteed to have an injury.
There’s no way to engage in base jumping that doesn’t put you at some risk, then, even if it’s only statistical.
Lots of people die while base jumping, whether they are doing it legally or illegally.
It is, by its nature, a very dangerous activity.
This is the appeal, or part of it—it’s for thrill seekers, and there wouldn’t be thrill involved if there weren’t also a little danger.
