WATCH: Intense Twin Falls Video Proves that BASE Jumpers are a Different Breed
My daughter recently went for her first skydive. She had an 18th birthday present challenge from her cousin. They drove to Salt Lake City and jumped from a plane at 12,000 feet. She came back exuberant and sparkling. Did this crush her fear of heights? Sometimes one jump out of a plane is enough, sometimes tackling fears leads to a new petrifying your parent pursuit. Will she become an extreme skydiver?
People who catch the bug don’t stick with skydiving tandem. It’s a gateway adrenaline provider that leads to other activities. I’ve seen movies with people in wingsuits flying through an open window of a skyscraper and out the other side. That’s totally the next step, right? Or, should I be worried she will become one of the extremists in some weird space suit jumping from higher and higher altitudes?
What if she goes the other way? What about - dramatic pause - BASE jumping? I think BASE jumpers are awesome, but it takes a certain kind of crazy for this to be the way to get the adrenaline into the system. There are plenty of other ways to get it going; public speaking, bull riding, or maybe alligator wrestling.
These daredevils take it beyond my personal comfort level. Jumping from a plane and parachute down, okay. Do it from a structure seconds before the ground catches up to you, not so much. Then, to take it to the point of timing multiple people to jump simultaneously? I’m pretty liberal with my endorphins, but everyone has a limit.
These are the kind of people who don’t just do it to post a video. They would be doing this without an audience. They aren’t trying to prove they are cool. They ARE cool and trying to entice you into the club. Not peer pressure, an invitation.