Soldiers Base Jump for the Poppy

Posted by Jacko | Filed under Jacko Interviews

I’m not a crazy guy. “What do you mean, you’re not crazy, Jacko?” you cry. Yeah, it’s surprising. After all, I studied science at university; I spend my evenings in front of a computer, writing fictional tales about vampires and benefit-fraud; and I was Great Yarmouth’s finest table tennis player, U15 category, in the year of 1995.

Those things may sound like off-the-wall shenanigans to you, but seriously, I’m a meat and potatoes kind of guy. I’m from Norfolk and we don’t like crazy stuff (marrying sisters isn’t crazy, it’s legal). We like a nice quite life, and we believe that B.A.S.E. Jumping is something that can only be enjoyed by the clinically insane (incidentally, these people are not insane; they are possessed by demons, demons possibly from Suffolk).

For those who don’t know what B.A.S.E. jumping is, have a read of this…Go Go Wikipedia

For those who can’t read (my Norfolk brethren)…

I’ll take them at table tennis.

Damn impressive, huh? The lads in the video are part of the Jump4Heroes team and Major Alastair Macartney, Warrant Officer Class One Spencer Hogg and Corporal Deane Smith went on to jump off the bloody Eiger (it’s in the vid, actually). Clint Eastwood could only perform a sanction on the Eiger, these boys jumped off it!

Jump4Heroes aren’t happy at simply jumping off a ridiculously dangerous rock. No, they’ve got something bigger planned. Ruth Powell is the PR consultant behind the boys.  She used to work for Apple Computers, but now she’s a marketing pro who uses all her skills, creativity, expertise and a li’l’ bit of magic and love for a successful, high profile fund-raising campaign for UK charity, Help for Heroes which supports the wounded in current conflicts. So far, she’s helped raise over a million quid!  She volunteers for all this. She’s a bloody good egg.  She took time to tell me what these guys have got planned next.

 

Ruth, great to have you here. Jump4Heroes, are they just a group of mentalists? Can you tell us a bit about them?
I help out on a number of fundraising projects behind Help for Heroes and Jump4Heroes is one of them. They kinda kidnapped me (not in a bad way) and I’ve been involved with some of their daredevil, high visibility activities which raise publicity and awareness for the service charities.

What sort of things have they done?
Well you’ve posted the video of their Norway training and their Eiger jump. They come up with some awesome ideas such as sky diving in a red poppy formation over Tower Bridge for Poppy Day, and calmly stepping off the top of a pod of the London Eye. They’re dedicated professionals, and serving officers too, so every trip is leave. Alastair looks after the other two, who we call the ‘kids.’  Smudge (Dean) is a Para commando and defuses the IEDs [Improvised Explosive Device, or bombs for us civvies] in Afghanistan. I can’t imagine the nerves of steel you’d need for a job that dangerous but he doesn’t tell me much, he just comes back and gets jumping.  Spence is also a top army Nordic skier. He jumped freefall and took their this fantastic picture.

I think they’re more than brave. Their military discipline makes sure they do things absolutely accurately. They’re the ultimate professionals. ‘Adrenaline junkies’ I think young people of today call them.

 
Yes, we do.
They’re determined to get me doing something called a tandem.

 
Oh aye….
Pack it in! I jumped out of a perfectly good plane in Hereford once. A SAS man trained me and shouted VERY LOUDLY and quite rudely for me to get out of the open door so Alistair reckons Ive got it in me but need the real experts to tandem. You’re welcome to join us, Jacko?

 
I’d love to Ruth, but, unfortunately, a freak table tennis accident in my younger days means that won’t be happening, nor will regular intercourse. Tough leagues, back then, man. Tough leagues.
Chicken.

 
Moving on. What have they got planned next? Eiger not big enough?
No it’s not! The boys want a world record. They want to take part in something that can only be called the marathon of B.A.S.E. jumps.  Alastair and Smudge will take part in the record attempt, jumping off the Menara Kuala Lumpur Tower in Malaysia during 28-29 October 2009 (starting about midnight, UK time). It’s the fifth highest communications tower in the World. 

Whoa! The jump will be a cakewalk compared to surviving an attack from that giant nerd and his merciless use of Star Trek facts.

Erm…try this one, my dear:

 

Oh, right. Look at the size of that thing!
The daredevil B.A.S.E. jumpers will leap from 915 feet, with up to 6 seconds in freefall before opening their parachutes and floating down to delicately land in front of the crowds of spectators.

That’s mighty impressive. So what makes this a world record?
The lads will form part of a team of 24 people, each who, over 24 hours, will jump each hour, every hour. They’ll be jumping with the Royal British Legion flag (poppy) and, as this is a world record attempt, it will definitely get lots of publicity.

And damned right it should. That is an amazing feat of endurance. This isn’t the sort of thing people usually do for charity events, is it? Couldn’t they have sat in a bath of beans for a medium-to-long period of time?
These guys don’t make things easy for themselves. They are serving soldiers who are paying tribute and respect to those out there, those fallen and those wounded. Remember

How can people donate money to Help the Heroes and Jump for Heroes?
They can find out more from the websites: http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/ and http://www.jump4heroes.com/ There are links there to all the other activities that are going on and also links for donating money to these fantastic causes.

There you have it folks, and to finish…here’s a salute to the greatest B.A.S.E Jumper in history.



He’s never sat in a bath of beans, either.

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Read more | Comments (3) | October 28th, 2009