BASE jumping is a sport similar to skydiving, but with the particularity that the jump is made from a fixed object with no initial velocity, landing with the help of a special parachute different from those used in sport skydiving. Thus, the acronym B.A.S.E. refers to the four types of fixed objects one can jump from: Building, Antenna, Span (bridge), and Earth (cliffs). Modern BASE jumping was born in 1978 through Carl Boenish. The person who can tell us most about this sport is Richi Navarro, whom we've interviewed to get all the details about this discipline.
Yumping.- Hello Ricardo. Thank you for accepting this interview eight years later. Let's remind our readers of your origins - when did your passion for jumping begin?
Ricardo Navarro.- Since I was very young I dreamed/played at flying like birds, Superman...hahahaha. My older brother did military service with the paratroopers (I would have been about 12...) and I was fascinated by his stories and the photos he showed me. Later my passion for mountains and the dream of flying merged through climbing... always looking attentively from above at the void and envying the birds...
Y.- What advice would you give to people wanting to start BASE jumping?
R.N.- Don't do it, think very carefully... think about your family, partner, friends... it's not really a sport as such. There's too much at stake - everything it gives you can be taken away in fractions of a second. And if they still want to start, they should do it without rushing, with patience, surrounded by good mentors, letting themselves be advised with humility and no ego...
Y.- Tell us an interesting story from your BASE jumping experiences...
R.N.- I wouldn't know what to tell you as an anecdote... every jump, trip, project is a world of its own. Maybe forgetting the car keys in the starting vehicle and having to do many extra kilometres to recover it... and it hasn't just happened once...(laughs)
Y.- What's been your best jump?
R.N.- Where I've enjoyed most was probably in the Italian Dolomites flying with a wingsuit from Monte Civetta at over 3,000m altitude or from Dent de Crolles, Grenoble (France)... they're beautiful flights.
Y.- Is there anywhere you'd like to jump that you haven't yet?
R.N.- I'd like to do Angel Falls in Venezuela - 1000m waterfall in an incredible setting. Back in 2009 I was preparing the project to go but due to lack of budget and time because of exams I was preparing for, it remained just that... a project. I wouldn't rule out going soon.
Y.- How do you prepare for a jump?
R.N.- From calling friends, deciding the location based on motivation and weather, preparing the specific jump equipment, meeting friends at the planned location and day... and as preparation before the jump moment everyone has their own routines. We do coincide in equipment checks, but once someone is equipped and ready to jump the "rituals" are personal. I usually visualise the jump, practice corrections for potential malfunctions... take deep breaths and enjoy...
Y.- How would you describe yourself?
R.N.- You should ask people around me, but I'd describe myself as a calm, patient person, a friend to my friends, I like overcoming my own challenges... but I could sum it up with a phrase I have tattooed on my foot. "Live like you will die today"... Enjoy life - it only lasts two days.
Y.- What do your family and friends think about you practising this sport?
R.N.- They're used to it now - at first with fear but they know it truly makes me happy and accept it. I'm very lucky to have a small but great BASE jumping family.
Y.- What's the last thing you think before jumping?
R.N.- I wouldn't know what to answer... right before maybe nothing, I think I enter a state of maximum sensory openness to enjoy and process everything I'm about to experience in the next moments.
Y.- Do you remember your first jump?
R.N.- Yes, it was from a bridge in France... an absolute explosion of happiness.
Y.- How did you get into this sport?
R.N.- Like most jumpers, I started with sport skydiving and soon after in BASE jumping, learning from friends who had started before me.
Y.- Who inspired you to start?
R.N.- There's no who but rather a what... but one trigger was a scene from the movie Point Break where two young men jumped in Yosemite... I wanted to come down a mountain that way too...hahahaha
Y.- How did you come up with the idea of doing a double jump from a tandem paraglider suspended from a balloon?
R.N.- Actually, together with my little sister Ceci, we were just the skydivers in that project. It was an idea from my friend Miguel Monllau from Als Nuvols. He together with Alberto Martín, both professional paragliding/paramotoring pilots, conceived this madness with help from Angel Aguirre from globus Kontiki.
Y.- What are your goals for the coming years?
R.N.- Sport-wise I'm taking things as they come, depending on motivation or sudden ideas...(laughs)
Y.- What's the next jump you're thinking of doing?
R.N.- Well depending on weather I jump here or there... nothing specific. Whatever comes up or is suggested, depending on how things go...(laughs)
Y.- We wish you the best of luck. Thank you very much for your kindness.
R.N.- My pleasure. Until next time.
