Daredevil Jumpers Gather For International B.A.S.E. Jumping Event

Some of the world's best B.A.S.E. jumpers are currently gathered in Malaysia, to participate in the KL Tower International Jump Malaysia 2009 - an annual event that coincides with the country's national day and is held to boost its tourism and highlight the extreme sport of B.A.S.E jumping.

Now in its tenth year, it was first held on October 4th, 1999 when 50 professional jumpers leaped off the 1,381 ft tall Kuala Lumpur Tower. Since then, the event has become increasingly popular and is now held over a three-week period, with many jumping events scheduled off buildings all over the country.

This year, 98 jumpers from all over the world have gathered for the event, which started on October 4th and continues until October 29th. The jumping venues will include the Kuala Lumpur Tower, the 360 ft tall Menara Taming Sari, which houses the country's first revolving restaurant, as well as, the 543 ft tall, Menara Alor Setar, located in the Malaysian state of Kedah . Besides the daytime jumps, organizers hav added a few night jumps to make it even more exciting.

The highlight of the event is expected to be the grand finale on October 28th and 29th, when 24 B.A.S. E. jumpers will jump off the Kuala Lumpur tower continuously, for a period of 24 hours, in an attempt to set a world record.

The extreme sport of B.A.S.E. Jumping, gets its name from the four fixed objects jumpers are allowed to leap off - Building, Antenna, Span (Bridge) and Earth (Cliff). In the late 1980's when the sport first developed, participants jumped using standard skydiving equipment, which included two parachutes - today, jumpers can get specialized equipment that is suitable for the sport, allowing them to leap off even higher B.A.S.E.s

sources:wikipedia.org,malaysiantoday.com