On your blog, in the book excerpt “Running Around”, you write “…and above all, climbing has shown me the existence of forces beyond the seen world.”

Selfishly, i would love to hear from you specifically what you mean by this. Do you have an example(s)?

Quickly I will share my experience. Hopefully it will show you that I am not a kook or a deity worshipper. Just a normal (I think) guy with a desire to learn about the spiritual from people who have had life-affirming experiences.

I was on a river trip on the Colorado River south of Moab. Stopped at Big Bottom, which is the largest river bottom between Moab and the confluence with the Green River. This is a known ancient native-american habitation site. Early in the morning, alone, after ferrying across in my sea-kayak, I walked the path from the river up to dwellings and pictographs. There are hand outlines chalked onto the wall — two sets, an adults and a childs. I respectfully approached, placed my right hand lightly over the adults (illegally), and then felt a shock originate in my hand and spread through my body. Then the words “an adult and a child, this is the meaning of life, an adult and a child”, came to me as if someone was immediately behind me and speaking firmly into my ear. I remember slowly turning around to see if anyone was there. No-one was.

Thats my little experience….., if you have one to share about your “forces beyond the seen world”, I would love to hear it.

Sincerely, Steve

PS “wonderings.org”, if you would like a bit more of the story and a photo.

Dear Steve,
Thanks for writing, and sharing that story. I think this kind of experience is if not common, certainly normal. I have heard many stories of people being alone and hearing a distinct voice. Most people say it’s only happened to them once. I have never heard a voice in that way. But I notice that connection seems to happen a lot, especially if I’m able to take notice.

My connections seem to be more related to people and animals, most frequently just the simplest experience of thinking of someone just before they call, and often feeling some kind of pain or ailment that an animal close to me turns out to be experiencing. I might describe that as more empathic than anything, and it’s probably just a result of paying attention.

When I talked in my book about feeling the existence of forces beyond the seen, it’s because I feel a sense of a powerful spiritual energy, all the time in the natural world. Thinking about it, I first learned about this through the wind in Patagonia. When I first started going there, I was totally overwhelmed by the wind, and I found it scary, maddening and negative. I was always mad at it, scared of it and fighting it.

It took me a long time to learn that fighting the wind is about the stupidest thing a person can do. Basically, it’s just a big waste of energy, and the fighting itself is a big part of the danger. Once I finally understood that, the wind became really different for me. I won’t say it’s not frightening, but I no longer felt that same panic-inducing terror. I learned to stay calm, and endure the wind with patience and what I would call a lack of emotion, rather than allowing it to goad me into a weaker state. Eventually, I came to see that external negativity as well as strong internal emotions are very similar to wind, and this taught me a lot about how to deal with them. The lesson there is not that the big universe is using the wind to teach me a lesson, but rather that the big universe is so wild, powerful and indifferent to me that I need to learn how to flow within it. Then I can be a part of that wild energy, instead of the tiny ant trying to struggle against it Or at least that’s what it seems like right now.

Thanks again Steve!
Steph

I am also into climbing, but nowhere near your level. I have not even tried free soloing. I am also into skydiving and skiing, the latter being the only sport I can actually conquer my limits at for fear does not hold me back. On everything else, fear holds me back and prevents me from enjoying what I’m doing. Hence I feel inspired by you as you do things I am yet unable to do for fear of falling.

Some of the photos I have found of you online are amazing, it looks beautiful how you climb.

Just felt I had to tell you this as I found your e-mail address on your website.

Blue Skies,
Isabel xx

Thank you, Isabel, for writing to me! Some people think skiing is pretty scary
xxSteph

I work at The Ahwahnee (ugh!) in the winter as a concierge-been doing that for 3 years now and Vogelsang in the summer so I’m pretty knowledgeable about the park and have spent a lot of time exploring the backcountry etc. I’m heading off to New Zealand in a week for about a month but I’m hoping when I get back the weather will open up the chance to get some climbing in. (fingers crossed! As I write we went from 60’s this week, beautiful! Tonight it’s rainy and cold and snow on the way tomorrow, SO over the winter!)

I’d appreciate any guidance you can give me,

Sarah Butler
I’m also on FB.

Hi Sarah,
You must be in New Zealand, and I hope it’s great!
I am not planning to be in the Valley this summer, but I wonder if anyone else is, that you could hook up with….
Ladies?
Send me an email so I can connect you, or leave a comment, or look for Sarah on facebook, if you want some girltime in the valley this season!
xxSteph

We had a great response for the February donations to support Layton Kor. We are at our last month of this fundraiser. Thanks so much to everyone, for donating and sustaining this support to Layton Kor since September. It has really helped. So now there is only one more month left to join the raffle, add your name to the list for the climbing days, and get one more chance at a gear stash.

On April 1, we are going to do the big raffle drawing, for climbing days with me, Tommy Caldwell, Jimmie Dunn, Eric Horst and Conrad Anker, and the final gear raffle as well.

So this month is a big one, the grand finale of this fundraiser, and you won’t want to miss out!

This month’s winner is Marc Ubaldi, from New Jersey! Congratulations Marc! You won a whole bunch of gear!

Marc wins a Marmot Zonda 2P Tent, 9.8 Mammut 60 meter Tusk rope, Therm-a-Rest ProLite Plus (either men’s or women’s), Metolius six-pack of FS mini carabiners, Metolius Comp chalkbag and Element Key Lock Carabiner, 4 boxes any Clif product, 1 prAna outfit (top and bottom, your choice), 1 pair Five Ten shoes (your choice), prAna yoga mat, Sender Films DVD (your choice), and a 3-pack of Backcountry.com Stainless Steel coffee tumblers. Thanks for your donation Marc, and congratulations

Please come to laytonkorclimbing.com, make a donation, and enter to win in the grand finale of this fundraiser.
Thanks!!

I have just finished reading your book and i feel all nostalgic so i just wanted
to send you a small e-mail to say thank you, your book was a good read…

I used to live in Banff, Alberta, for a few years, where i climbed (ice and
rock) a lot more than i ever did. It is a part of my life i have decide to put
aside to go to university, but who knows, the mountains might pull me back again
some day.

Your book made me want to go outside and do things, even just going out for a
run.

I have a book recommendation for you now, even if i am not vegan (yet), i really
enjoy this cooking book: “Eat, Drink and be Vegan”, it’s by Dreena Burton. You
will find it on Amazon.com…

Thanks again for your great stories and be safe out there,

Helene.

Thanks for the book suggestion Helene!
xxSteph

There are three days left to donate and be entered in the February gear raffle.

I’ll pull a name on Sunday, and that person will win: a Marmot Zonda 2P Tent, 9.8 Mammut 60 meter Tusk rope, Therm-a-Rest ProLite Plus (either men’s or women’s), Metolius six-pack of FS mini carabiners, Metolius Comp chalkbag and Element Key Lock Carabiner, 4 boxes any Clif product, 1 prAna outfit (top and bottom, your choice), 1 pair Five Ten shoes (your choice), prAna yoga mat, Sender Films DVD (your choice), and a 3-pack of Backcountry.com Stainless Steel coffee tumblers. It will all be sent directly to you from these great companies who have donated to support Layton and this effort.

You can also add your name to the raffle list for climbing days with me, Tommy Caldwell, Jimmie Dunn, Eric Horst and Conrad Anker.

We have enough donations, thanks to all the companies who have participated by donating gear, to do one more gear raffle for March, making a grand total of 6 huge gear giveaways throughout this raffle. Thank you again!!

And then, we will finally announce the winners of the climbing days, from all the people who have donated and requested a climbing day, since September!

Please don’t miss this weekend’s chance to enter the February giveaway and a chance to climb with one of our 5 pros, and remember, we have one last pile of gear to raffle off in March…

A few answers would please me and to have another friend on this planet is also fine,
Regards to you, bernie from belgium

Dear Bernie,
Thanks for writing! I see you are very interested in base! I can’t tell you how to compare the athleticism of cliff diving with base jumping. Base jumping can be relatively non-athletic, or it can be very technical, depending on what you want to do and to what degree. This is what I have seen with almost every sport.

Yes, there are a lot of technical things to learn and know about the gear. Gear is very specific, and needs to be adjusted and varied for all the different types of base jumping. The biggest differences come based on the height of the object being jumped, because the timing is so different. Off a low object, you only free fall for 1-3 seconds, and you never reach terminal speed. So you need a bigger pilot chute to pull out your canopy. You also need the canopy to come out faster, before the ground comes up. On a tall object, you will reach terminal speed, so your pilot chute can be smaller, and the parachute needs to come out more slowly so it doesn’t slam you with too much force. There are also variations for mid-height jumps and wingsuit use, in what gear you will use and how you will pack. These things have all been discovered through trail and error by jumpers who are of a pioneering mindset.

Personally, I dislike going handheld, because I find it unaesthetic. Currently, I prefer to exit even from low cliffs with my arms back at my sides, rather than waving above my head (though arms-up for sub-terminal jumps is how I was originally trained to jump from low cliffs, and what I always used to do in the past). I find this feels more aesthetic and more practical, because then my arms are already back where the pilot chute is. Also, this does not require me to change the body position I use for low cliffs to medium cliffs to high cliffs. I feel most comfortable in a wingsuit body position, with arms back, so I like to have this body position even without a suit on. I don’t like going handheld, because I find it kind of clutzy (this is just my personal feeling) to have a big wad of pilot chute in my hand, with the bridle hanging out, and having my arm up. I prefer to have everything tidy and stowed away when I jump off the edge, and to have my arms back for a more aesthetic body position in the air. But that’s just me.

I know many highly skilled base jumpers who sometimes prefer to go handheld, because they like the feeling of pure timing control and also relaxation of only having to release the pilot chute from their hand. So it’s very personal, as to what one prefers.

You’re right, missing the pilot chute would be very bad, and for that reason people are taught to jump handheld at first when they start jumping low cliffs, so they don’t have to trust themselves to not miss the pilot chute. Obviously you would never go handheld from a terminal cliff.

There are a lot more base jumpers in the States than there used to be, that’s for sure. Obviously, Europe is a real mecca for terminal base jumping since it does not have the illegality issues we are burdened with here, having our best tall cliffs in National Parks.

For your question of whether you need natural skill to base jump: I think the ability to practice any sport comes from discipline and desire, and base jumping is no different.
Take care!
Steph

Anyway, I am now interested in base jumping. I dont have a lot of cash and I dont want to go out and jump next week. I just want to learn from people who are great and soon understand how the system works. Where do you think the best place to do this is? (I am moving to UT in a few weeks… I am stoked ) Unlike climbing, I am unfamiliar with how to go about learning all of this info. Thanks for having a cool blog where you can be reached.
Jason Flaster

Steph,
I have never had any skydive lessons or anything but base jumping is something that iv always wanted to do. what is the best way to get into it? how much £££ would i be looking at spending?
Chris

Hey There!
Im a young guy from Kentucky, looking to find the next big adventure in my life! I’ve been wanting to sky-dive for the longest time, just dont know where to start.

There are a few small companies close to Kentucky, but im looking for something somewhere else. I understand it requires alot of training to become a base-jumper, but i need to know exactly what that consists of. Just seeing if u had any info for me! Thanks Alot!!
Wade

Hey Steph,
Thank you for responding to my email a while back in regards to training during time off from climbing. I’ve fortunately been able to climb a lot recently but plan on using your tips once trail season starts up this summer.
I have another question for you not related to climbing but to skydiving/BASE jumping. My boyfriend is an avid skydiver and has been trying to convince me to get my AFF for a while now. I’ve done a few tandems and enjoyed them but I am reluctant to start jumping because of the financial and time commitments it entails. I was curious as to how you first got into skydiving and how you progressed into BASE jumping and wingsuit flying. How has the sport continued to inspire you and what advice would you give someone like me considering entering the sport? Also, do you find many parallels between climbing and jumping?
Thanks,
Adra

Dear Steph,
My name is nate, I’m 26, and I’ve had a rather crazy life. However it seems that the things I love to do and the things that I long to do are always just outside my grasp. I love to climb, and got started in Hawaii, but I live in Mississippi now and have no where to climb, and little spare time to do so. I want to sky dive badly, but the cost keeps me on the ground. I dream of one day being able to climb whenever I want, and to BASE jump into free air… with no worries. I must confess that I stumbled on to your email through the website high infatuation while searching information on BASE jumping, but I feel like we have spoken. I read an article of yours… it was a few years ago, possibly in Alpinist, or maybe Rock and Ice, where you spoke of free climbing in Rifle I believe? I may be mixed a bit on the details, but I loved the article, and it inspired me to find the confidence you have in yourself. I can’t say I’m there yet, but I am in no hurry to live really. I have seen a lot for my years, and I can say I am lucky to be alive. I have survived a few vehicle accidents that some of my friends did not. I also was an infantry marine during the assault on fallujah in iraq. Oh well. I already feel like I’m blowing smoke up your backside so here’s to climbing and here’s to jumping, and thank you steph davis for writing your article that I was so happy to read, and have been overjoyed to reread and recommend to climbing friends. I hope you live a long and happy life doing the things I wish I could be doing. You are in a sense a model for what I would like to be in my future. Thank you again for the inspiration… and sorry again for hitting the tab button and sending this ridiculous email.. my girlfriend warns me about the tab button and I laugh… she’s laughing now.. ha.. Salut!
Nate C.

Hello Steph,
My name is Payal. I am writing because I LOVE to travel but I would like to try my hand at a few more adventures like sky diving, base jumping. I am starting training to start summiting etc… By the time I am 30 I want to base jump in the cave of swallows. I have read that 30 base jumps are recommended before the cave of swallows and between 100-200 sky dives are recommended before base jumping. Is this correct? I don’t make a lot and so I am hoping to ask you for some practical advice on how to go about doing this. I am 28 and I turn 30 in Nov 2011.
Thanks!
Payal

Hi All!
Thanks for writing me! The more letters I get from athletes who want to start base jumping, the more I get literally furious that that the best and safest cliffs in America are illegal for base jumping, due to being inconveniently located in National Parks.

Please, think seriously about the meaning of this restriction of freedom for outdoor enthusiasts. Our generation has to ask why one low-impact user group, causing no one harm, is targeted for persecution and prevented from enjoying public lands which are maintained by our tax dollars.

So in one way, it’s difficult to answer these questions about how to start base jumping, because the correct and safe progression would be to start skydiving, then learn at a bridge, and then eventually to visit Yosemite, and make your first cliff jumps from El Capitan. El Cap is the safest and most appropriate beginner cliff in America. However, the artificial constraints of illegality make the jump more serious, since running from rangers to avoid being charged with a federal offense and having one’s expensive gear stolen by them adds to the danger of the jump. So instead, a new base jumper has to make the difficult decision to start by jumping lower, more dangerous, yet legal cliffs, or travel to Europe, spending lots of money that will go to into Europe’s economy rather than ours. Last time I checked, the US economy should be doing anything possible to direct any dollars, tourist or otherwise, into our own rather than anyone else’s. Aside of all that, if you refer to the NPS mission statement, like me you will be thinking, “Excuse my French, but WHAT THE F$%#, NPS?”

So anyway, let’s back up a little. How to start base jumping. Regardless of this ludicrous situation with our National Parks, base jumping must begin with skydiving. The good news is that skydiving is legal and accepted everywhere, and is in fact, quite mainstream.

Not to mention, awesome! Personally, I love skydiving as much or more than base jumping. I live in Moab, a mecca for legal base jumping, and I will almost always pick skydiving over base jumping when presented with both in a given day here.

Here is what I recommend to anyone interested in base jumping: forget about base jumping. This is about the journey, not the end. Immerse yourself in skydiving, which is awesome in itself. If you could do 1000 skydives, you would probably save yourself some hospital bills when you started base jumping. Most people are not willing to do 1000 skydives before starting to base jump, if base jumping is their desire.

I was one of those people, and I started base jumping when I had done 130 skydives, which is really not enough. Looking back, I might have avoided most of my early base injuries (in the first year of base), and therefore spent less money, had I invested in 1000 skydives proactively, rather than spending that money on medical bills and time-outs through being injured when landing base canopies. I have gotten hurt several times crashing when landing, though I have been fortunate in having minor and fully recoverable injuries. I have seen tons of people with low skills avoiding accidents completely through sheer luck. Sometimes this makes people think it’s okay to count on “getting away with it,” rather than investing the time to build skills through hard work and experience. And weirdly enough, a lot of people do get away with it in base jumping, through sheer inexplicable luck, for a really long time. On the other hand, plenty of people don’t. You can’t know which you will be. The thing about luck, is you can’t predict anything about it. You can be ridiculously lucky, or not. Personally, I think it’s smart to plan for not being lucky by investing in skill. I’d rather gamble on skill and experience than luck, no matter how many other people I see “getting away with it.”

The thing is, the majority of accidents and injuries are going to occur when landing parachutes, particularly for athletes who are familiar with learning how to position their bodies (climbers), since we are naturally more adept at free fall and body positioning due to our experience with climbing. This can keep you from having wall strikes and accidents due to body position. However, landing parachutes, like landing airplanes, is a skill that can only be acquired through experience. Bottom line: when you first start landing parachutes, you will not be good at it. Skydiving gives you an entire flat airport to try to hone these skills, and people still break femurs and pelvises and backs when they mess up their landings. When you move to a base jumping environment, where the landing areas are typically tiny and have obstacles (rocks, trees, contours, etc), you are far more likely to smash yourself. So if you think you might want to start base jumping at some point, skydive as much as you can. If you do 200 skydives, it’s enough to hope you can start base jumping without too much injury. If you do 500, you are a lot smarter and better positioned to start base jumping. If you do 1000 skydives, you’ve landed a parachute 1000 times, and you are even less likely to get hurt when doing accuracy landings in base.

This brings us to the issue of money. Jumping is expensive. Crazy expensive, in fact. Skydiving is blatantly and horrifyingly expensive for climbers who can hardly bear to spend money for ramen noodles, campsites and gas. When you start skydiving and hemorrhaging money, base jumping starts to seem like it would be cheaper, since you hike for your jump instead of paying for a plane ride. Theoretically, once you buy your gear, base jumping will be “free.” However, again, since the safest beginner cliffs in the US are illegal, due to being in National Parks, you have to travel to Europe to do those tall, beginner base jumps. If you amortize the cost of each jump across your travel to Europe, each base jump costs way more than a skydive, including gear. So don’t be deceived into thinking that base jumping is cheaper than skydiving, and you should therefore rush into base. It’s not. Sure, maybe if the NPS got its head out of its a$$ you could save money when you transition to base jumping after skydiving, possibly. But the gear is expensive, and you have to buy all different gear than your skydiving gear, and unless you are lucky enough to live in Moab (which is not a safe place for beginning base jumpers since the cliffs are low, though they are legal), you are always going to spend money traveling to base jump anyway, even if it’s roadtrips, just as you do with climbing. So again, don’t rush into base jumping! Enjoy and budget for skydiving. The more skill you develop in flying and landing a canopy, the better off you’re going to be if you start thinking about jumping off cliffs.

When I started skydiving, my AFF (the training course of the first 7 jumps) cost about $1500. I bought used gear almost immediately, since it cost about $30 to rent a parachute for each skydive. Being a desperately cheap climber, renting gear almost killed me. My used gear cost $2500, and then I also needed to buy things like a helmet, an altimeter, and make small upgrades to my used gear. That quickly added up to another $300-$500. Once I had my own gear and had passed AFF, I only had to pay for my skydives. Depending on where you jump, a skydive costs about $22-$30 for a jump ticket–for your plane ride up to do a skydive. A good friend gave me an old wingsuit to use, so I saved on that.

I learned to skydive at the Mile Hi dropzone in Longmont, Colorado, because I had good friends who instructed there and was able to stay with other friends in Boulder for the months I spent learning to jump there. For me, it was perfect, though it’s not really a destination DZ where you can camp and hang out. A lot of jumpers seem to like the drop zone in Davis, California, as a place to go through AFF. Eloy, Arizona, is also a huge skydiving destination, and you can even camp there. Zephyr Hills in Florida is another major skydiving destination. Lodi, California, is cheaper than any place in the country ($15 a skydive), but I would very much not recommend learning to jump there, as it’s pretty much every man for himself and you have to be thinking more about survival than learning when you jump there. It’s a great place to rack up cheap jumps, once you have some experience and can look out for yourself. Now that I live in Moab, aside of Skydive Moab, which is a pretty small yet wonderful Cessna operation, I absolutely love jumping in Tooele, near Salt Lake City. It is definitely one of my favorite drop zones.

Most people recommend doing at least 200 skydives before you start to think about base jumping. Seriously, 500 would be the best. 100, for an experienced, hardcore athlete of a different discipline, is the bare minimum, and is still not really enough.

To start base jumping, the best thing to do is to sign up for a first base jump course with Apex Base. They take you to a bridge in Idaho, and teach you how to pack a base canopy and how to safely jump from a bridge. Those courses cost between $1200-$1500. Base gear costs about $2000 or more for a rig, and then you need a helmet and body armor.

You should also buy a SPOT device and the helicopter insurance, and also make sure your health insurance does not have any sneaky exclusions (I used to have Blue Cross Blue Shield of Utah, and unfortunately mine did–they excluded anything involving parachutes and non-commercial aircraft. Now I have Altius).

The Cave of the Swallows in Mexico is currently closed to base jumping, because hundreds of swallows make their home inside the cave, and go flying en masse in and out of the opening of the cave at certain hours of the day, and so they should not be disturbed. This is a very reasonable closure which should be respected.

I hope this information helps. I hope also that it inspires people to think hard about tax dollars and the rights of outdoors people to recreate on public lands in America’s National Parks, and possibly to even take action against the unjustified discrimination against base jumping in these areas.
Good luck!
xxSteph

Dear Sharon,
Thanks for writing me! Please tell your brother I really appreciate his service, and I hope he stays safe over there and comes home very soon. I would be honored to send him a poster. Just send me another email with your address, and I will get it to you right away so you can add it to the next care package for him
Also, the song on the Crack House video is Postales, by Federico Aubele. It is a great track, and is from a CD called the Putamayo Groove.
Best to you both,
xxSteph

This is from the NPR news blog:

“Beginning Tomorrow, Guns Allowed In National Parks, Wildlife Refuges
2:29 pm February 19, 2010
By David Gura

Beginning tomorrow, people will be able to carry loaded handguns, rifles and shotguns in national parks and wildlife refuges, as long as the state in which the park is located allows guns, NPR correspondent Ted Robbins reports.
The controversial rule change was part of a bill which congress passed in May. The rule’s passage was a bitter defeat for gun-control advocates, and for others who worry that loaded guns will bring about more violence in now-peaceful places.
Rules about using guns, however, will not change, Robbins says. It still will be illegal to hunt in parks and refuges, and it still will be illegal to discharge firearms there.
A spokesman for the National Park Service says guns will be allowed in all but 20 or so parks. Guns will also be allowed in 551 national wildlife refuges.”

Ok. I have some questions.

Base jumping is illegal in National Parks. It’s a federal offense. Base jumpers hike, carrying a small backpack with a parachute inside, to the top of cliffs. Then we jump off the cliffs, land on the ground, and hike away.

A base jumper creates half of the impact on a foot-trail as a normal hiker, because we only hike one way.

Unlike climbers, who are generally considered standard low-impact National Park cliff users, we leave absolutely nothing on the cliffs, no bolts, no chalk, no anchors, no slings, no webbing, no food scraps, no broken rocks that were loose and fell off. In fact, we don’t even touch them once our feet leave the edge.

A base jumper leaves no trace in the air either.

If a base jumper has an accident, he or she is about 20 times easier and cheaper to locate and scoop up than a climber, skier or hiker, because he’s usually right there at the bottom of the cliff within sight of a road. Generally base jumpers jump in small groups, and for the most part, even manage their own rescues very efficiently when necessary. Moreover, almost every base jumper I know has helicopter and evac insurance, unlike almost every hiker, skier and climber I know. I never had heli insurance until I started jumping, but I do now.

So here are my questions.
Why does one need a loaded firearm in a national park or wildlife refuge?
Why is it illegal to practice a non-impact, human powered activity in the same place?