From climbing up mountains to jumping off them
The idea of this is to make some points about doing a ski BASE, as with many BASE jumping practices there are many ways to do it. All with the pros and cons. I will mention these different methods, and mention the way I do it and why. At the end of the day it all comes down to risk assessment and what makes more sense to you.
DAY 1
We drove for 5 hours over rough tracks, through rivers and over makeshift bridges. Heading deeper into the valleys of the Tien Shan mountains. Each valley led to another, branching off again and again until finally a wide river stood between us and our base camp. We had driven hundreds of kilometres but as the crow flies we were only 50km from our hostel.
Three years ago, a single picture took me halfway around the world. It was a picture of the cliffs surrounding Lake Michaelson on Mount Kenya. A lone figure stood on the edge of the cliff, looking down to the dark inky lake. Aptly named ‘The Temple’, these towering yellow cliffs became my fixation, and I wanted to make the pilgrimage there. I managed to BASE jump from the same spot in the photo. After the jump I looked further up the mountain to the great peaks of Batian and Nelion. This would be my new goal. Two years later i returned. The goal was to be the first person to wingsuit in Kenya; but the experience soon became about much more than just the jump. I got to know my team, explore the grand massif, and learn about the community and my own limits.
The southern gully of Point John is equal in quality and aesthetics to any mountaineering route in my more local playground of Mont Blanc. The fact that it is in equatorial Africa, looking down onto a glacier just adds to this spectacular route.
A powerful easterly wind rips up the great sand dune. It takes with it the desert heat and animates the sand into a frenzy, blasting my face. I have travelled with my wife halfway around the world in search of flight and by chance have met up with our African friends.
Autumn is a strange time of the year for me. Motivation for wingsuit and BASE jumping is low. It’s the end of the jumping season and wet valleys create low lying clouds. Damp fields and cold morning temperatures disparage me from committing to long hikes for the jumps. The higher mountains are also in between seasons. Gondolas are closed and the snow isn’t quite there for complete ski descents. Alpine ice is not yet formed.Â
It’s fair to say lock down has effected us all. The most important lesson I learnt while serving in the Royal Marines is to adapt, improvise and overcome. My international travel plans and work had been cancelled for the year. I was fortunate to be stuck in Switzerland with it’s lax lock down rules. It was time to focus on the climbs and flights I had my eye on for years but had been too distracted before.
There has been lots of questions about my wingsuit BASE jump from Lord Berkeley’s seat. I thought I would try and answer some of the technical questions in this article.
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I drove into Chamonix past the familiar branded roundabout. Two alpinists had their heads down, fully kitted up and clearly just finished some adventure. I secretly wished I was them, having just finished their objective; worn out but content. When they freshen up with a burger in their stomachs they will revel in what they have just achieved. But for now they walked slumped, tired and hungry with a heavy pack digging into their shoulders. In 48 hours I would still be on the mountain wishing I was back down in the valley .
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Tonsai is a paradise. Even with the whole world crumbling around us. Anxiety had hit the climbers in Tonsai. Last minute flights were booked in fear of being locked out of their own country. Apart from the wifi connection updating us with the progress of the virus, we were isolated. Disconnected from the world. Instead we spent our time focusing on the moves on a route or meticulously packing our parachutes.
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