Carl Boenish (April 3, 1941 – July 7, 1984) considered the father of modern BASE jumping, was a freefall cinematographer, who in 1978 filmed the first jumps from El Capitan using ram-air parachutes. These jumps were repeated, not as a publicity exercise or as a movie stunt, but as a true, recurring recreational activity. This approach defined modern BASE jumping. These were the jumps that popularized BASE jumping more widely among parachutists, likely because Boenish filmed them and presented the footage exceptionally well. Boenish also published BASE Magazine to promote safety in this new sport.
Boenish's cinematography work included the 1969 John Frankenheimer parachuting film classic The Gypsy Moths, starring Burt Lancaster and Gene Hackman, and a National Geographic Explorer segment on jumps from El Capitan.
Boenish died in a BASE jump off the Troll Wall in Norway.
Famous quotes containing the word carl:
“The millere was a stout carl for the nones;”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?–1400)