In reply to cragtyke:
Wow. Someone here must know how high you have to be for a modern base rig to be able to deploy fully, but I can't believe 30 or 35 mtrs gives you ANY margin at all. :-o
I read this brilliant book back in the 90s about base jumping called Ground Rush I think. You used to see it kicking around in bargain book shops for 50p, but then they went out of print and at one point were being sold secondhand for like 100 times that - of course I lent my copy to someone and never got it back. Anyway, it starts with them jumping Cheddar Gorge and I think two out of the three eff it up and crash into the other side. The author, who is the base beginner, jumps last thinking he couldn't run round quick enough to get to them and help (pre-mobile days) and makes it down ok, but it was sickening to read. Presumably the canopies have developed quite a lot since then, but still - jumping Goddard's seems utterly mad!
edit: just looked the book up - get a new copy for just 452 quid!!! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Groundrush-Simon-Jakeman/dp/0099232618/
Post edited at 23:02