Base jumper Karl Hayden sustained minor injuries after his canopy malfunctioned as he leapt off Table Mountain on Friday. Rescue workers spent several hours combing the mountainside before airlifting Hayden to safety, the Cape Times reported. Hayden was lucky; despite multiple fractures — wrist, rib, femur and pelvis — the Capetonian managed to avoid a spinal injury, the daily reported.

"I gathered my thoughts, took a deep breath and did 3 neat steps before launching into the abyss" Read a base jumper's perspective

Base jumping is an aerial extreme sport whereby participants leap off fixed objects such as buildings or cliff faces. It's riskier than skydiving as jumping from a lower height means you have less time open your parachute.

While it's easy to think of base jumpers as lunatics who throw themselves off the nearest cliff face for fun, most enthusiasts are experienced skydivers who are aware of the risks, says avid base jumper Jeremy Samson.

"Because it's a high profile sport people get up in arms about it and want to ban it," he commented.

A dangerous tourist attraction

Table Mountain is a beautiful yet fairly dangerous base-jumping area, Samson explained.

"Lots of tourists come to jump off Table Mountain because of the thrill of it being a danger zone. The mountain area is really tight, meaning that you have more chance of hitting the cliff face," he said.

"The mountain isn't really that high so you've got six seconds until impact and three seconds to pull your chute."

So why do it? Samson explains that much of the sport's attraction lies in its inherent danger. Enthusiasts also relish the freedom that comes from freefalling.

"Extreme sports are always going to be around"

Wayne Smith, deputy director of Metro Medical Services, agrees that although there are risks involved, extreme sports will continue despite any attempt at regulating the activity.

"Extreme sports are always going to be around. Extreme sports are risky but society needs to give people who enjoy those types of activities the necessary space to do so," said Smith.

He estimated that rescue workers deal with an average of five extreme sport-related incidents every year.

It's comforting to know that a rescue service is available, but there is a cost attached. The use of a helicopter for a search and rescue mission could reach R50 000, paid for by the taxpayer. While many rescue workers are volunteers, others are employed by the city and are paid for their services.

Mountain rescue worker Roy White says he has no problem in helping those who put themselves in harm's way.

"It's part of my job. Most of us are quite happy to help them. Where do you draw the line from an accident to an attempted suicide? Everyone who uses the mountain faces a certain amount of risk."

Samson says that rescue workers cannot decide whom they can and can't rescue. "How do you go about deciding who should be rescued and who shouldn't? Whenever there's an accident on the N1 people suddenly want to close down the road. You can't simply ban the sport," argues Samson.

So how can tragic accidents be avoided?

In order to lessen the likelihood of types of incidents occurring shouldn't we have some form of regulation?

One suggestion is to regulate extreme activities through the formation of societies and contact groups. "It helps the rescue process tremendously if we know who to contact and which area they're jumping from," Smith said. "Banning the sport will make things even worse because they will go ahead and do it anyway and that will make things even worse for rescue services."

Rescue officials want the sport to be regulated and controlled in order to streamline the entire rescue process. But many base jumpers don't want to lose the thrill of freedom and agree that many will probably end up circumventing the system entirely.

Samson says that most extreme sports enthusiasts don't want to conform to a system of regulation.

"You lose your freedom when you conform to regulations. If we have a system in place, eventually anybody wanting to travel on rough terrain will have to fill out a form. How are they going to monitor that kind of system?" Samson asked.

It seems rescue workers and extreme sports enthusiasts reach a stalemate when it comes to regulating the sport. But perhaps the last word belongs to basic common sense.

"We can't regulate the sport but we could advise them to leave contact details with someone. It all comes to down educating people about good mountain use," said White.