BASE jumping is a sport similar to skydiving, but with the particularity that the jump is made from a fixed base with no initial speed to land with the help of a special parachute, different from that used in sports skydiving. Thus, the acronym B.A.S.E. They refer to the four kinds of fixed objects from which you can jump. Building, Antenna, Span, Earth. The birth of modern BASE Jumping was in 1978 through Carl Boenish. The person who can tell us the most about this sport is Richi Navarro, with whom we have done an interview where he tells us all the details about this modality.
Yumping.- Hello Ricardo. Thank you for accepting this interview 8 years later. We remember your origins for readers. When was your passion for jumping born?
Ricardo Navarro.- Since I was very little I dreamed/played with flying like birds, Superman...hahahaha. My older brother did military service in the Paracas (I was about 12 years old...) and I was fascinated by what he explained to me and the photos he showed me. Then my passion for the mountains and the dream of flying merged while climbing... always with the attentive gaze from above into the void and envying the birds...
And.- What advice would you give to those people who want to start BASE jumping?
R.N.- Let them not do it, let them think very carefully... think about your family, partner, friends... it is not a sport as such. There is a lot at stake, everything he gives you can be taken away in tenths of a second. And if they still want to get started, they should do so without haste, with patience, surrounded by good mentors, allowing themselves to be advised with humility by sinegos...
And.- Tell us an anecdote doing BASE jumping...
R.N.- Anecdotes as such I wouldn't know what to tell you... each jump, trip, project is a world, perhaps forgetting the keys to the return car in the car at the start of the route and having to do many extra kilometers to get the car back... it hasn't happened to me once...(laughs)
And.- What has been your best jump?
R.N.- Perhaps where I have enjoyed the most has been in the Italian Dolomites flying with the wingsuit from Mount Civetta, more than 3,000m high, or from Dent de Crolles, Grenoble (France)... they are very nice flights.
And.- Any place you want to jump that you haven't done?
R.N.- I would like to do Angel Falls, Venezuela, 1000m of waterfall in an incredible environment. Already in 2009 I was preparing the project to go but due to lack of budget and time due to the oppositions I was preparing, it remained just that... a project. I don't rule out going soon.
And.- How do you prepare to make a jump?
R.N.- From calling friends, deciding according to the motivation and weather of the place, preparing the equipment for the specific jump, meeting with friends at the planned place and day... and as preparation Before the moment of jumping each one has their own customs, it is true that we agree on the equipment checks but once one is already equipped and ready to jump the "rituals" are personal. I usually visualize the jump, practice corrections for any malfunctions that may occur... take a deep breath and enjoy...
And.- How would you define yourself?
R.N.- We should ask this to the people around me, but I would define myself as a person calm, patient, friend of my friends, I like to overcome my own challenges... but I could summarize it with a phrase that I have engraved in ink on my foot. "Live
like you will die today" Live as if you died today... Enjoy life that is two days
And.- What do your family and friends think about you practicing this sport?
R.N.- They are already used to it, at first with fear but they know that it really makes me happy and they accept it. I am very lucky to have a great little BASE jumping family
And.- What is the last thing you think before jumping?
R.N.- I wouldn't know what to answer... just before maybe nothing, I think I remain in a state of maximum sensory openness to be able to enjoy and process everything that I am going to perceive in a few moments
And.- Do you remember what your first jump was like?
R.N.- Yes, it was from a bridge in France... a real explosion of happiness.
And.- How did you get started in this sport?
R.N.- Like most jumpers, I started in sport skydiving and shortly after in BASE Jumping, learning from colleagues who had started before me.
And.- Who encouraged you to start?
R.N.- There is no who but rather a what... but a trigger was a scene from the movie Maximum Risk where two young people jumped from Yosemite... I wanted to go down a mountain like that, too. ...hahahaha
And.- How did you come up with the idea of doing the double jump from a two-seater paraglider suspended from a balloon?
R.N.- The truth is that, together with my little sister Ceci, we were only the parachutists in that project. It was an idea from my friend Miguel Monllau from Als Nuvols. He along with Alberto Martín, both professional paragliding/paramotor pilots, created such madness with the help of Angel Aguirre from globus Kontiki
And.- What are your goals for the next few years?
R.N.- At a sporting level I do things as I go, depending on motivation or strengths...(laughs)
And.- What is the next leap you are thinking about making?
R.N.- Well, it depends on the weather, I jump here or there... there isn't one in calm, patient, friend of my friends, I like to overcome my own challenges... but I could summarize it with a phrase that I have engraved in ink on my foot. "Live
like you will die today" Live as if you died today... Enjoy life that is two days
And.- What do your family and friends think about you practicing this sport?
R.N.- They are already used to it, at first with fear but they know that it really makes me happy and they accept it. I am very lucky to have a great little BASE jumping family
And.- What is the last thing you think before jumping?
R.N.- I wouldn't know what to answer... just before maybe nothing, I think I remain in a state of maximum sensory openness to be able to enjoy and process everything that I am going to perceive in a few moments
And.- Do you remember what your first jump was like?
R.N.- Yes, it was from a bridge in France... a real explosion of happiness.
And.- How did you get started in this sport?
R.N.- Like most jumpers, I started in sport skydiving and shortly after in BASE Jumping, learning from colleagues who had started before me.
And.- Who encouraged you to start?
R.N.- There is no who but rather a what... but a trigger was a scene from the movie Maximum Risk where two young people jumped from Yosemite... I wanted to go down a mountain like that, too. ...hahahaha
And.- How did you come up with the idea of doing the double jump from a two-seater paraglider suspended from a balloon?
R.N.- The truth is that, together with my little sister Ceci, we were only the parachutists in that project. It was an idea from my friend Miguel Monllau from Als Nuvols. He along with Alberto Martín, both professional paragliding/paramotor pilots, created such madness with the help of Angel Aguirre from globus Kontiki
And.- What are your goals for the next few years?
R.N.- At a sporting level I do things as I go, depending on motivation or strengths...(laughs)
And.- What is the next leap you are thinking about making?
R.N.- Well, it depends on the weather, I jump here or there... there isn't one in
