Editing BASE jumping (section)

== History ==
=== Precursors ===
[[Fausto Veranzio]] is widely believed to have been the first person to build and test a parachute,<ref> Francis Trevelyan Miller, [https://books.google.com/books?id=MdDNAAAAMAAJ The world in the air: the story of flying in pictures], G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1930, pages 101–106</ref> by jumping from [[St Mark's Campanile]] in [[Venice]] in 1617 when he was more than 65 years old.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=TM2EAAAAIAAJ ''He's in the paratroops now''], Alfred Day Rathbone, R.M. McBride & Company, 1943, University of California.</ref> However these and other sporadic incidents were one-time experiments, not the actual systematic pursuit of a new form of parachuting.

=== Birth of B.A.S.E. jumping ===
There are precursors to the sport dating back hundreds of years.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dewey |first=Caitlin |date=March 25, 2014 |title=The Freedom Tower skydivers weren't the first: Here's the insane, morbid history of urban BASE-jumping |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2014/03/25/the-freedom-tower-skydivers-werent-the-first-heres-the-insane-morbid-history-of-urban-base-jumping/ |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> In 1966 [[Michael Pelkey]] and [[Brian Schubert]] jumped from [[El Capitan]] in [[Yosemite National Park]].<ref name="johnnyutah_com">{{cite web|title=Mike Pelkey – A BASE Pioneer| url=http://www.johnnyutah.com/mikepelkey.html|publisher=Paradigm Adventures, Inc.|access-date=26 March 2012}}</ref> The acronym B.A.S.E. (now more commonly BASE) was later coined by filmmaker [[Carl Boenish]], his wife Jean Boenish, Phil Smith and Phil Mayfield.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Rosenblatt|first=Roger|title=The Whole World Is Jumpable| magazine=Time| date=July 1999|volume=154|issue=3|page=94|issn=0040-781X}}</ref> Carl Boenish was an important catalyst behind modern BASE jumping and in 1978 he filmed jumps from El Capitan made using ram-air parachutes and the [[tracking (skydiving)|freefall tracking technique]].<ref>{{cite magazine| last=McCallum| first=Jack|title=Who Needs An Airplane?|date=August 26, 1985|magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]]| volume=63| issue=9}}</ref> While BASE jumps had been made prior to that time, the El Capitan activity was the effective birth of what is now called BASE jumping.

After 1978 the filmed jumps from El Capitan were repeated, not as an actual publicity exercise or as a movie stunt but as a true recreational activity. It was this that popularized BASE jumping more widely among parachutists.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-05-04 |title=About BASE |url=https://www.blincmagazine.com/forum/wiki_index.php?title=About_BASE |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=BLiNC Magazine |language=en}}</ref> Carl Boenish continued to publish films and informational magazines on BASE jumping until his death in 1984 after a BASE jump off the [[Troll Wall]]. By this time the concept had spread among skydivers worldwide, with hundreds of participants making fixed-object jumps.

During the early eighties nearly all BASE jumps were made using standard skydiving equipment, including two parachutes (main and reserve), and deployment components. Later on, specialized equipment and techniques were developed specifically for the unique needs of BASE jumping.

Nowadays, recognizing the sport's growing appeal and the potential for high-impact marketing, companies such as Red Bull <ref>{{Cite web |title=BASE Jumping |url=https://www.redbull.com/us-en/tags/base-jumping |access-date=2024-04-05 |website=Red Bull |language=en}}</ref> have stepped in to sponsor athletes, further elevating the sport's profile.

=== BASE numbers ===
BASE numbers are awarded to those who have made at least one jump from each of the four categories (buildings, antennae, spans and earth). When Phil Smith and Phil Mayfield jumped together from a Houston skyscraper on 18 January 1981, they became the first to attain the exclusive BASE numbers (BASE #1 and #2, respectively), having already jumped from an antenna, [[span (engineering)|spans]], and earthen objects. Jean and Carl Boenish qualified for BASE numbers 3 and 4 soon after. A separate "award" was soon enacted for Night BASE jumping when Mayfield completed each category at night, becoming Night BASE #1, with Smith qualifying a few weeks later.

[[File:04KJER0243.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|Jumpers from a cliff wearing tracking suits]]

Upon completing a jump from all of the four object categories, a jumper may choose to apply for a "BASE number", awarded sequentially.<ref name="numbers">{{cite web|url=http://www.basenumbers.org/ |title=Base Numbers |publisher=Base Numbers |access-date=2010-05-18| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100511195457/http://www.basenumbers.org/| archive-date= 11 May 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> The 1000th application for a BASE number was filed in March 2005 and BASE #1000 was awarded to Matt "Harley" Moilanen of Grand Rapids, Michigan. {{As of|2017|05}}, over 2,000 BASE numbers have been issued.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.basenumbers.org/ |title=BASENumbers.org |publisher=BASENumbers.org |access-date=2017-05-19}}</ref>