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 1981, Phil Smith of Houston, Texas, was awarded BASE-1. In March 2005 the 1000th application for a BASE number had been filed.

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 Mount Asgard jump featured in the pre-credits sequence to The Spy Who Loved Me, 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 the James Bond jumps, 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, though it is still widely seen as a daredevil stunt rather than a sport. Even though 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". Through the availability of specialised equipment and wider knowledge of techniques, it is safer today than in the early days, though the occasional fatalities and injuries occur. Some deaths through ground impact in freefall or object strike do occur, but most incidents are due to hazardous landing sites or other problems which develop after the parachute has opened. Because of the covert nature of much of BASE jumping, no reliable figures are available to assess the statistical risks of the activity.

The Guinness Book of Records first listed a BASE jumping record with Carl Boenish's 1984 leap from Trollveggen (Troll Wall) in Norway. It was described as the highest BASE jump.^[ (The jump was made two days before Boenish's death at the same site.) This record category is still in the Guinness book and is currently held by Nic Feteris and Glenn Singleman with a jump from the 19,000 ft Trango cliff in Pakistan. However, Singleman and partner Heather Swan claimed a new record for highest starting elevation on 23 May 2006 by jumping from Meru Peak in northern India at an elevation of 6,604 metres (21,667 ft).

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 seem 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 1300 ft Petronas Towers building in Malaysia, judged on landing accuracy. While BASE jumping is a long way from being an Olympic sport, an increasing number of BASE devotees take their sport seriously as a skilled athletic pursuit. It is moving steadily towards the crossover point at which it will be taken seriously by everyone, as a minority, but genuine, sport.

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.

Via: WIkipedia
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