BASE Jumping — Building, Antenna, Span, Earth

BASE jumping is the hair-raising pastime of leaping off tall, fixed objects instead of out of planes, for example. It's a great name because it works as-is and is also an acronym—which I didn't realise for years. BASE stands for the types of fixed objects BASE jumpers might throw themselves off: Buildings, Antennas (like radio or communication towers), Spans (i.e. bridges), and Earth (like a cliff or natural formation).

The term BASE jumping was coined by filmmaker Carl Boenish , who famously jumped off El Capitan, among other dramatic locations. It remains one of the most dangerous sporting activities, and tragically, Carl died on a jump in Norway.

People even BASE jump into caves. Perhaps you remember the spectacular opening sequence from the BBC Planet Earth Caves episode .

Bungee jumping isn't technically BASE jumping. BASE jumping involves a parachute, whereas bungee jumping uses the trademark stretchy cord and involves bouncing around before being pulled back up.

BASE jumping is an acronym like laser or radar, where the letters form a word you say as a whole. If we said B–A–S–E jumping (saying the letters individually), it would instead be an initialism.

BASE jumping is often carried out illegally, such as by trespassing on private buildings to jump off from them. Just to be clear—I'm not recommending you try it out =)

Related Ideas to BASE Jumping

BASE Jumping is a good opportunity to share some of my favourite sketches to think about:

• The Fun Scale
• Flow
• Optimism Bias
• Acronyms and Initialisms
• Know your flying fabrics
• Nine-Enders
• What drives us?
• Core components of risk
• Microlives and micromorts