Flight into danger

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Towering 700 metres over an inlet of the Pacific Ocean just south of Squamish, the Stawamus Chief is one of the most impressive landmarks along the Sea to Sky Highway.

A mecca for rock climbers, the steep granite cliffs also make the Chief, as it is known locally, an attractive spot for the practitioners of BASE jumping, the adrenalin-charged sport that entails leaping from mountains, bridges, buildings and antennas with a parachute.

For years, the little-practised sport has largely flown under the radar at the mountain.

That changed in the past month, thanks to two high-profile rescues off the face of the Chief. In one case, a jumper was blown back into the cliff and perched on a ledge, his leg broken, until rescue crews could get to him; on another occasion, a man was guided down the side of the mountain by rock climbers after his parachute malfunctioned.

The incidents have prompted the B.C. government to look at regulating the sport on the Chief.

BASE devotees, however, say the mountain is actually one of the safest places to jump, thanks to a tall cliff that affords jumpers more time to deploy a parachute and a smooth rock wall that makes it less likely those who are blown back against the mountain will get hurt. It's also close to a highway, allowing rescuers to reach anyone who gets in trouble.

Far from the cliché of fly-by-night thrill-seekers, jumpers who use the Chief say they are regular people who just want to practise their sport safely and in the open.

"All I want is to be respected the same way an athlete in another sport is. I get full enjoyment if I do it legally," said Randy Schultz, who has made close to 100 jumps from the Chief. A former professional snowboarder, the 33-year-old works as a contractor in Kamloops and visits Squamish on days off.

He compares BASE to rock climbing: While climbers rely on ropes to keep them from plunging to their deaths, jumpers use parachutes. He says BASE jumpers already self-regulate - other jumpers wouldn't sell him the necessary equipment or train him until they were convinced he had the necessary experience skydiving.

"The lack of regulation, believe it or not, makes the community tighter," said Kane Gray, a Squamish resident who works as a skydiving instructor. "There's a lot more freedom in BASE."

BASE jumping is banned in Ontario's provincial parks and in two national parks: Auyuittuq on Baffin Island and Bruce Peninsula Park in Ontario. It is legal everywhere else, mainly because it is such a rare activity that most governments haven't thought to regulate it.

Greg Gardiner, the mayor of Squamish, said he didn't realize the Chief was regularly used by BASE jumpers until the recent rescues. He said he's concerned that while some jumpers have the training to perform the sport safely, inexperienced people could follow their lead, and rescuing them puts a burden on the town's resources.

"The goal is that people are participating in recreational activities that are safe," he said. "We do worry about the image of the community."

Environment Minister Barry Penner said his staff will look at a range of possible regulations on the Chief, including posting signs to warn jumpers of the dangers to an outright ban on jumping from the mountain. He concedes there has to be a balance between safety and freedom.

"People are entitled to undertake a certain amount of risk in provincial parks," he said. "People are allowed to undertake dangerous acts."

BASE jumpers point to an alternative model, that of Twin Falls, Idaho. The town of 40,000 welcomes BASE jumpers who come to the area to leap off the nearby Perrine Bridge.

"The BASE jumpers are some of the nicest travellers I've ever met," said Shawn Barigar, president of the chamber of commerce, which runs a visitors' centre near the bridge. "They're happy to have a place that embraces their sport."

He said hundreds of them visit Twin Falls every year, pumping tourist dollars into the local economy. While some BASE jumpers have died under the bridge in the past, he dismisses the notion the sport is more dangerous than others.

"When a skier is killed on a mountain, you don't hear people saying, 'Let's ban skiing;' when someone drowns while whitewater rafting, no one says, 'Let's ban whitewater rafting,' " he said. "There are lots of sports that are risky."