B ASE “W
ell that sucked massively ...... Should’ve gone right...!”
Hans is looking somewhat peeved as he talks into the camera. It was a ‘simple’ binary decision that would have saved him a whole lot of grief, had he chosen the alternative.
He grins. But a moment earlier the
camera captures a howl of anguish and agony before one hears his voice: “ok, let’s keep it cool”. We see a tangle of lines, some rocks, the camera askew as he is lying on the ground facing up to the sky. His leg is shattered.
Hans addresses the camera as he weighs up what just went wrong, contemplating his shattered leg and the agonising crawl out to come Hans was attempting to establish a new BASE jumping exit in the hinterland of North Wales, in the vicinity of the country’s most spectacular waterfall. It is an idyllic landscape, but to him a place where he will have to face his demons in the aftermath of his experience. The jump proved to be technical, with a low cliff (some 30-40m above the tree-line), a narrow corridor flying fast through the forest canopy, then a tight turn to double back and approach a small clearing before a rocky wall. He missed it by about a foot. Literally – as that was what connected with the jagged slate outcrop. It’s hard to watch, particularly with the blood curdling scream that follows. Nevertheless, his training, skills, experience, and resolve kicked
in. He pulled himself together. He made plans and got to action. It was early morning, there was no phone signal. He had broken some of his own hard and fast rules. Don’t jump alone. Make sure there’s a line of communication should anything go wrong. Sometimes we make risky decisions in the moment, balanced with judgement. They don’t always pay off. Suffice to say, he gathered his kit together. He splinted the deformed leg. He began to crawl. He had to get moving as shock was setting in. It took Hans the best part of an hour and a half to cover approximately 300m to get to his car. Climbing over a fence. Past the barbed wire. He got stuck UNDER a gate for 10 minutes. Comical under different circumstances. He cried for help but there was no one to hear. Focused on getting
to a hospital, he drove himself for 40 minutes, with several excruciating gear changes along country lanes (it was his left leg on the clutch). He collapsed at the hospital entrance, finally able to ‘relax’. Hans is part of a team of BASE jumpers and extreme sports aficionados at the sharp end of this risky sport (Mountain Man BASE). I have come to know Hans as a good friend since also myself being a member of the team, photographing and documenting the team’s pioneering efforts. But I am also an Adventure Psychologist and neuroscientist, studying what makes the brains of such individuals ‘tick’. Being part of a community such as this is a goldmine for conducting research into how people perform under extreme stress. Valuable insights are gleaned into how the brain functions in such circumstances – insights that I believe can benefit the population beyond extreme contexts with respect to improving mental performance and a capacity to manage stress in daily life.
There is something about the mindset behind BASE jumping, often called the most extreme of extreme sports, that sets the individual apart: in terms of overcoming the most primal of fears about falling to one’s demise from great heights.
“SOMETIMES WE MAKE RISKY DECISIONS IN THE MOMENT, BALANCED WITH JUDGEMENT. THEY DON’T ALWAYS PAY OFF.”
42 | CLIMB. WALK. JOIN.
R Canopy safely deployed,
Hans can now focus on finding a more accommodating landing zone.
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