With Government Shut Down, BASE Jumpers Fly Through Yosemite
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This week, amid a federal government shutdown that reduced park staffing, climber Charles Winstead (@bigwalltrailrunner) captured a video showing several BASE jumpers launching off El Capitan and soaring toward the valley floor. The footage went viral, as did speculation that diminished enforcement presence in Yosemite created an opening for rogue jumpers to bypass park rules.
Though Yosemite allows hang gliding by permit, BASE jumping is specifically prohibited under park (and NPS) regulation. Violations can carry fines of up to $5,000 and jail time of up to six months. During shutdowns, however, enforcement is much less likely.
BASE Jumping’s National Park Ban
“BASE” stands for Building, Antenna, Span (bridge), and Earth (cliff). The sport’s modern roots trace back to Yosemite itself, where early pioneers leapt from El Cap in the late 1970s. But after a string of injuries, fatalities, and failed experiments with permit systems, the NPS banned the practice outright.
Advocacy groups like BASE Access continue to push for limited, permitted jumping, arguing it could be managed safely, much like climbing or hang gliding. But the agency’s own 2024 guidance reaffirmed its position: BASE jumping is considered a “delivery of a person by airborne means” and therefore prohibited without a specific authorization, which no park currently grants.
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The risk is real. More than 480 BASE fatalities have been logged worldwide since 1981. We report on them with discomforting regularity.
Yosemite as a Symbol
Yosemite remains both a birthplace and battleground for BASE access. The same cliffs that launched the sport are now off-limits, and enforcement has become part of the park’s identity. Still, the comments on these videos hint at a simmering tension between rule-bound stewardship and the urge to fly free.
As of this week, the NPS hasn’t said whether anyone from the video has been identified or cited. When the government reopens and rangers return, Yosemite will likely resume its normal patrols, along with the age-old cat-and-mouse between jumpers chasing flight and rangers trying to keep things under control.
