100 to leap off KL Tower

The Kuala Lumpur Tower International Jump Malaysia (KLTIJM) is back again this year! The internationally-acclaimed sports event will be held at the height of 310m from the ground floor of Menara Kuala Lumpur (KL Tower) from Sept 28 till Oct 2.

KLTIJM, which is an annual event, was first introduced on Oct 3, 1999 in conjunction with the tower’s third anniversary. It is aimed at promoting and boosting the tourism industry as well as to promote Base jump locally and internationally.

Boosting tourism: Representatives of the sponsors for the upcoming Base jumping event. Standing fifth from right is Zuraidah.

Since then, it has become an annual event and has been listed in theMalaysia Book of Records as the first Base jump event in Malaysia. Base, the acronym for Building, Antenna, Span and Earth, is an extreme sport that utilises the parachute to jump off from any chosen object. Base represents the objects which are mainly used as the base jump landing area.

Kuala Lumpur Tower chief executive officer Zuraidah Mohd Said said to-date, some 100 local and international Base jumpers have registered to showcase thrilling acts for the visitors. “This year, Base jump will be held only at KL Tower to give an opportunity for jumpers to do more jumps at their favourite building in the region,” said Zuraidah. Among the 100 jumpers, seven jumpers are Malaysians while others hail from Japan, Australia, New Zealand, France, and Norway to name a few.

The registration fee for each jumper is RM1,250 inclusive of food, drinks and goodie bag. To make it more exciting this year, local and international tourists will experience and learn more about Johor’s culture, arts and food in conjunction with the “Festival Johor 2011-Johor Tour” at the 1Malaysia Cultural Village that is jointly organised with the Johor state government from Sept 26 till Oct 2.

She said the night jump, which was introduced last year, would also be held this year starting from 7pm until 10pm on Sept 30 and Oct 1. “Skill, courage and determination combined with knowledge of object geometry, landing area and weather conditions propelled these daredevils to make repeated jumps from the tower with three-second free falls, leaving audience and spectators breathless,” she added.

The most senior jumper, Jamaludin Ismail, 57, known to all as Pak Din said he would return every year to jump off the KL Tower. “Base jumping is something I picked up from my days as a Commando, I have not been able to shake it off yet. I hope to indulge in this sport until I am 60,” he said.

The sponsors for KLTIJM 2011 are Kuala Lumpur City Council (DBKL), MHE Demag, Atmosphere 360 Revolving Restaurant, Suria Meriang, World of Watches II, Genting Malaysia Bhd, Adabi, F&N, Mcdonald, Telekom Malaysia (TM), Milo and Quantum Maxim SB.

Visitors can come and watch the event at 10am at KL Tower. Tickets cost from RM100 to RM150 in the daytime and from RM150 to RM200 at night.

-thestar online.