SIBU: Poor visibility due to the haze did not stop the 13 jumpers from jumping at the three-day Sibu International Base Jump.
The event started yesterday with the Dayak miring ceremony, a tradition used to pray for the safety and wellbeing.
The Air Pollutant Index (API) reading as at 2pm yesterday was 202 (unhealthy) for this town. The visibility was less than 2km.
The 13 jumpers, who come from Australia, USA, Poland, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and New Zealand, did speak of health risk posed by the haze.
An Australian-born jumper, Mathew Ross, 37, when met yesterday said the haze was affecting him “a little bit” but insisted he had no problem with visibility.
“As we are here already, we don’t want the haze to stop us from carrying out the activity. Visibility is ok, though not at its best. I hope that the situation will improve in the next few days,” he added.
Mathew, who is from Perth, said he was not putting on a face mask because it would only block his view.
“Base jumpers like me are already wearing goggles. If I put on a face mask, my view will be blocked by it,” he explained.
Mathew, who started doing Base Jump four years ago and has achieved 760 jumps so far, aimed to do 30 to 40 jumps here depending on the weather.
Another jumper, Maksim Kuzin, 30, from St Petersburg, Russia, said before registering for the jump, he had already anticipated that the weather would not be kind to them.
“I know what to expect before coming here. They (hot weather and haze) are not a problem for me as I have been doing Base Jumps in other countries with similar weather like yours,” he added.
Maksim, who came here with his girlfriend, Nadezhda Kiseleva, 29, said the smoke from the haze was also not a problem for him as excitement from the jump took centre stage for him.
He took up the activity two years ago.
“I tried out sky diving from a plane first before venturing into Base Jump. My most memorable jump thus far was from a mountain in Switzerland as the place offers magnificent scenery,” he said.
Maksim plans to do up to 10 jumps per day here.
