BASEJUMPING - ARCO, ITALY - MAY 2001
written by Heather Singleman

Arco is the quintessential European village. The kind of place you read about in classic romance novels, but never thought really existed. Paradoxically it's also the adventure capital of Italy, attracting climbers, mountain bikers and BASEjumpers from all over Europe.

Unfortunately we didn't have time to really experience the village and its history, we were too busy trying to do as many BASE jumps as possible from Mr Brento, a 1549m cliff just outside the town. We were true to what has become our routine on these trips we BASEjumped (lots), slept (lots) and ate (lots & lots).

Mt Brento is a perfect BASEjumping site. The launch point overhangs the main wall by as much as 70 metres and it is possible to take quite a long delay if you track effectively before the 8 second mark. The landing area is another luxury - a farmer's paddock.

Marta, Glenn and I were there to practice a number of elements of the jump we planned for Pakistan. We needed to test jump our GORETEX mountaineering suits. These had been custom made to our specifications by Mountain Designs Australia. We needed a suit that would function well for both climbing at high altitude and the BASEjump. We were also jumping mountaineering boots, goggles, gloves and climbing harnesses. Jimmy Pouchert, Marta's life and business partner was our cameraman, ground crew and cheer squad.

Jumping with all this gear on is very different from the 'free style' of BASE jumping I'd been doing. I felt a bit like an astronaut, awkward and stiff. I wondered how I could possibly jump with all that stuff on. I was about to find out that it did make quite a difference.

We were also testing and (in my case hopefully perfecting) our camera angles. I don't have very much freefall camera experience and was concerned about how I would go. The camera helmets are very tight, and the mountaineering goggles don't sit very well around the camera mount. Mine sits slightly off centre, so where I was looking was not where the camera was filming. To get around this I had to practice my head position to be sure to get Marta and Glenn in the frame.

To get to the cliff we took a 45 minute drive up an incredible road that rises steeply above the town in radical switch backs. We were driving a Land Rover 'Defender Extreme', which made the job much easier. The view was unparalleled, but I had to resist the temptation to look, because it was a very bad idea to take my eyes off the road, even for a second. It's narrow, but cars, mopeds, mountain bikes, horses, runners and other surprising things still go up and down the hill at a startling pace. I was sure we would collect someone, or something on one of the many blind corners. Luckily we didn't.

Once at the top we walked another hour to get to the launch point. The walk was excellent training for us, it's very steep in sections and gains altitude rapidly. It's worth it when you get to the jump site though - what a magnificent spot - I felt privileged just being there. You can see forever, and there is so much to see. Castles, mountains, a beautiful lake. At first I found the actual launch point a bit intimidating because its quite uneven, and down hill so I was worried about getting my 'running launch' right. Also compared to what I'm used to the landing area looked (and was) a long way away.

My first jump was a relief. I didn't plan to track so I took a relatively short delay, which was still a full 5 seconds longer than any other BASE jump I'd done. I could see the cliff rushing past between my legs and was quite mesmerised by it, so much so that I got a shock when it was time to open. My canopy deployed beautifully (as it always does) and I enjoyed the long ride to the the landing area. It was totally exhilarating. I was so happy to have that first jump done with. Glenn, Marta and Jimmy all had equally good jumps. We celebrated with a beer at the cafe across the road.

We did many jumps, some more eventful than others. We discovered the suit, because it is wind resistant can act like a big wing. It took a bit of getting used to. I had my first 180 degree off-heading opening (opened facing the cliff), with a few line twists thrown in for good measure. It scared me, but I was surprised how calm I was handling it. Marta and I had another very stressful jump where the wind conditions on the ground, differed to those at the top and making the landing area didn't appear to be an option. Marta put down in an area about 3 feet square, in between huge fur trees. With my much bigger canopy I managed to make it back, just clearing the trees that rim the landing area.

Arco was an incredible learning experience for me and after ten days jumping there, I felt I was ready for Pakistan.