We left cold rainy Wollongong on 21 August 2008 with plans for Tonsai for jumping and climbing, then on to KL for the International BASE event of the KL Tower.
Our plane was delayed leaving Sydney, and it made us miss our overnight train to Krabi. After sitting around in a smelly hostel in KL for a night, we decided to pursue our first building jump (legally).
We ventured to Penang, Malaysia; found ourselves some other crazy BASE jumpers congregated at a 650ft round building named Komtar. We were treated like rock stars, staying in the beautiful Shangrila 5 star luxury resort overlooking our first building. The next day we were escorted by police and locals in great style to the Komtar. 5 awesome jumps later, we were spent. Mega thermals, tight landing areas and swarms of photos and autographs signed, the day was amazing with no injuries and one hell of an after party!!
We met a Norwegian (Martin) and a Frenchie (Stephane), both top blokes, and decided to persue Thailand for two days of the most beautiful place in the world. Tonsai with its amazing locals, and kick ass 450ft cliff, which just so happens to be right over the top of a bar with ice cold Singha beer waiting after landing.
Back to KL, this time staying somewhere a lot nicer, with only one thing on our minds. It was still 2 days till the event started, so we relaxed for the afternoon, planning on doing the tourist thing the following day.
It didn’t turn out that way! Dan was playing with his cameras, getting time-lapse of the Tower, I was considering a cold beer (it was 5 o’clock somewhere in the world) when suddenly we were kidnapped by the organizers of the event, taken in style to our hotel to collect our rigs, and 30 minutes later, found ourselves standing on top of the 980ft KL tower, ready for the test jumps with the Malaysian guys! Josie was first off for the event, followed by Dan and Stephane and the fun had started. We were allowed to jump until 12noon, when the tower would be closed again until the official start of the event.
For the 3 day event, we made some really fun jumps and met some great people. We both did our first gainers, linked 2-ways and unorthodox exits, which you’d never get to try anywhere but Kuala Lumpur.The KL Tower is a very forgiving object, and we recommend it to any jumper that is passionate about progressing in this sport.
On the final day of the KL event, we were invited to represent New Zealand and jump off the helipad of the beautiful Shark Fin Building (Telecom Tower). This was the first time this building has been jumped legally on the tour. A heart-stopping exit, tight landing area and hundreds of onlookers (Independence Day Ceremony) made this a very memorable jump.
Back to the KL Tower, for the afternoon, to get our last few jumps of the event in before the farwell ceremony, attended by the BASE jump loving King of Malaysia. He thanked us for jumping off his buildings, and expressed some exciting plans for the future.
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank
Deepseed for making it all possible, and we’re looking forward to many more adventures in the near future!!
www.9livesbase.com
A fantastic location, excellent organisation, good (enough) weather, fast planes, the worlds best canopy pilots and a record breaking competition. That pretty much sums it up.
