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I think part of the reason base jumping is banned in Yosemite has to do with the spectacle of it. The National Park system was founded with a mission to preserv

I think part of the reason base jumping is banned in Yosemite has to do with the spectacle of it. The National Park system was founded with a mission to preserve the serenity of our land, and to give its visitors an opportunity to experience solitude. But Yosemite Village is a lot like a city today. Unless you get more than a day's hike away from the valley floor, there's no hope of finding solitude or serenity. The Merced, with all its plastic rafts and floaties, looks more like a waterpark than a river. And the campgrounds have more RVs than tents, jammed so close together you can't breathe. When a guy in a wingsuit is whipping through the valley at 100mph, whooping and hollering, it really is incongruous with the park's mission. As is drone flying, mountain biking, snowmobiling, graffiti-art, and lots of other things that disturb nature. What would John Muir have thought about BASE jumping? My feeling is that the restriction should be lifted, probably because it's doing more harm than good, but I think both sides of the argument are convincing, and it's unfair to point the finger at the NPS without trying to honestly understand their motivations. There are a lot of news headlines that read something like, "Rules to Blame in Yosemite Accident", and then leave out the relevant counterpoints.

cossatot 11y ago
I'm pretty sure Muir would have been a BASE jumper. Ever read that part in The Mountains of California where he climbed 100 feet up and then strapped himself to the top of a Doug fir in a huge storm just to experience the storm's fury in the canopy? He was an adventurer, and didn't view the wilderness solely as a source of tranquility on nice summer evenings.
- carsonbaker 11y ago
  Wow, I didn't know that in particular. I hiked the John Muir Trail last summer and often looked into the distance at some crazy steep peak and wondered how the hell John Muir nabbed the first ascent with nothing more than a knapsack and a pair of old boots. Maybe he would have been a BASE jumper. I don't know. What's clear is he loved nature more than anything, and I don't think he'd be too happy at the sight of Curry Village today.
robotresearcher 11y ago
> I think part of the reason base jumping is banned in Yosemite has to do with the spectacle of it. From the fine article: " “The reason we would like to discourage it is not so much because of the danger of it, but the spectacle of it,” O’Neal said during an interview at the park’s Emergency Operations Centre."
- carsonbaker 11y ago
  Yes, very sorry. "Some charlatan has stolen a Ziggy and passed it off as his own!"
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
cromulent 11y ago
As the article points out, there are many illegal jumps made there and people don't even notice. The very scale of the cliffs means that you probably wouldn't notice unless the open parachute passed through your field of vision.
- hueving 11y ago
  And you don't think making it legal would drastically increase the number of jumpers?
  - cromulent 11y ago
    Yes I do. I think a permit system would be needed. Controlled areas such as Kjerag in Norway and Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland have shown that it can work.
davidw 11y ago
> mountain biking A heavy, shod horse tromping around and pooping all over the place is going to do far more trail damage than mountain bikes.
- maaku 11y ago
  The damage is to the serenity enjoyed by the people hiking or horseback riding, not the trail itself.
  - davidw 11y ago
    That's just everyone's preferences rather than anything objective then. Perhaps those horseback riders damage the serenity of the mountain bike riders or the hikers by crapping all over the trail. Well, their horses, I mean. Also, remember that horses are not an indigenous species in recorded history in North America.
    - homunculus 11y ago
      It's also good to remember that deer, bear, and untold numbers of other species crap all over the trail also. That hasn't ever been an impediment to my backpacking.
    - mc32 11y ago
      People aren't indigenous to the americas either, having introduced ourselves but a dozen or two thousand years ago. I don't think one should consider nativity very much when deciding if something is good or not in a given context. More what the impact is, irrespective of nativity. Never the less, bikes are even less native than horses... At least horses are organic.
      - baddox 11y ago
        Also, there was a point where the Earth existed but humans didn't exist. So yes, appeals to nature are always weak.
  - stickfigure 11y ago
baddox 11y ago
That actually sounds like the beginnings of an argument for why it makes sense to officially ban BASE jumping, but to not enforce it very strongly especially when it's done in remote areas.
- heynk 11y ago
  It seems like that's how the park service in Yosemite has been acting for a few years. Jumpers only jump during dusk and dawn when people aren't around, and the Rangers don't particularly go after them.
sf_basejumper 11y ago
There are only 300-400 active wingsuit base jumpers in the world. You cannot see or hear them until their parachutes open. Canopy rides typically last 20-30s or less. There are less than 2000 base jumpers total recorded in history. When I land in the park and walk out, I sometimes ask people if they have seen anything funny just to get an idea for what my exposure is. Everyone is oblivious to anything having happened. edit: here is an example of how much base jumpers care about the environment and preserving it http://www.kmvt.com/news/latest/Perrine-Bridge-Canyon-Clean-Up-Scheduled-For-Next-Month-257892121.html http://www.kmvt.com/news/latest/Perrine-Bridge-Canyon-Clean-... Chuma has been leading these clean ups for the past few years along with many other local jumpers.
WildUtah 11y ago
"What would John Muir have thought about BASE jumping?" I've read John Muir's books about Yosemite. I remember they way he climbed up the unstable ice cone that forms in the winter around Horsetail fall just to stick his own head into the vortex. I remember all the unclimbed and unclimbable-looking rock faces he scrambled up without modern protection. If John Muir knew about BASE jumping and wingsuits, he would have thought, "I need to do that right now today!" But he would also know that it isn't compatible with what's left of the wilderness experience in Yosemite.

cossatot 11y ago

I'm pretty sure Muir would have been a BASE jumper. Ever read that part in The Mountains of California where he climbed 100 feet up and then strapped himself to the top of a Doug fir in a huge storm just to experience the storm's fury in the canopy? He was an adventurer, and didn't view the wilderness solely as a source of tranquility on nice summer evenings.

carsonbaker 11y ago
Wow, I didn't know that in particular. I hiked the John Muir Trail last summer and often looked into the distance at some crazy steep peak and wondered how the hell John Muir nabbed the first ascent with nothing more than a knapsack and a pair of old boots. Maybe he would have been a BASE jumper. I don't know. What's clear is he loved nature more than anything, and I don't think he'd be too happy at the sight of Curry Village today.

robotresearcher 11y ago

> I think part of the reason base jumping is banned in Yosemite has to do with the spectacle of it. From the fine article: " “The reason we would like to discourage it is not so much because of the danger of it, but the spectacle of it,” O’Neal said during an interview at the park’s Emergency Operations Centre."

carsonbaker 11y ago
Yes, very sorry. "Some charlatan has stolen a Ziggy and passed it off as his own!"

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

cromulent 11y ago

As the article points out, there are many illegal jumps made there and people don't even notice. The very scale of the cliffs means that you probably wouldn't notice unless the open parachute passed through your field of vision.

hueving 11y ago
And you don't think making it legal would drastically increase the number of jumpers?
- cromulent 11y ago
  Yes I do. I think a permit system would be needed. Controlled areas such as Kjerag in Norway and Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland have shown that it can work.

davidw 11y ago

> mountain biking A heavy, shod horse tromping around and pooping all over the place is going to do far more trail damage than mountain bikes.

maaku 11y ago
The damage is to the serenity enjoyed by the people hiking or horseback riding, not the trail itself.
- davidw 11y ago
  That's just everyone's preferences rather than anything objective then. Perhaps those horseback riders damage the serenity of the mountain bike riders or the hikers by crapping all over the trail. Well, their horses, I mean. Also, remember that horses are not an indigenous species in recorded history in North America.
  - homunculus 11y ago
    It's also good to remember that deer, bear, and untold numbers of other species crap all over the trail also. That hasn't ever been an impediment to my backpacking.
  - mc32 11y ago
    People aren't indigenous to the americas either, having introduced ourselves but a dozen or two thousand years ago. I don't think one should consider nativity very much when deciding if something is good or not in a given context. More what the impact is, irrespective of nativity. Never the less, bikes are even less native than horses... At least horses are organic.
    - baddox 11y ago
      Also, there was a point where the Earth existed but humans didn't exist. So yes, appeals to nature are always weak.
- stickfigure 11y ago

baddox 11y ago

That actually sounds like the beginnings of an argument for why it makes sense to officially ban BASE jumping, but to not enforce it very strongly especially when it's done in remote areas.

heynk 11y ago
It seems like that's how the park service in Yosemite has been acting for a few years. Jumpers only jump during dusk and dawn when people aren't around, and the Rangers don't particularly go after them.

sf_basejumper 11y ago

There are only 300-400 active wingsuit base jumpers in the world. You cannot see or hear them until their parachutes open. Canopy rides typically last 20-30s or less. There are less than 2000 base jumpers total recorded in history. When I land in the park and walk out, I sometimes ask people if they have seen anything funny just to get an idea for what my exposure is. Everyone is oblivious to anything having happened. edit: here is an example of how much base jumpers care about the environment and preserving it http://www.kmvt.com/news/latest/Perrine-Bridge-Canyon-Clean-Up-Scheduled-For-Next-Month-257892121.html http://www.kmvt.com/news/latest/Perrine-Bridge-Canyon-Clean-... Chuma has been leading these clean ups for the past few years along with many other local jumpers.

WildUtah 11y ago

"What would John Muir have thought about BASE jumping?" I've read John Muir's books about Yosemite. I remember they way he climbed up the unstable ice cone that forms in the winter around Horsetail fall just to stick his own head into the vortex. I remember all the unclimbed and unclimbable-looking rock faces he scrambled up without modern protection. If John Muir knew about BASE jumping and wingsuits, he would have thought, "I need to do that right now today!" But he would also know that it isn't compatible with what's left of the wilderness experience in Yosemite.