TomAiello 26 #1 August 16, 2002 Check it out: http://www.blincmagazine.com/forum/board/4167.html Anyone got the Pic? I'll try to lay my hands on the magazine today, and maybe post a scan.-- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pop 0 #2 August 16, 2002 Wow, of all the magazines Billvon in National Geographic. Congrats!!!! I wanna see the pic.7 ounce wonders, music and dogs that are not into beer Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,086 #3 August 16, 2002 Almost forgot about that one - it was 3-4 years ago. Got a call out of the blue from NG - "can we use some stuff out of your FAQ for the caption for this picture?" I told them sure. It was odd, because I'd been dealing with them a lot on a separate issue (a friend of mine was climbing K2 and I was funnelling the pictures back to NG via satellite) and it took me a second to figure out what they were talking about. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pop 0 #4 August 16, 2002 Do you have a copy of it?7 ounce wonders, music and dogs that are not into beer Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,086 #5 August 16, 2002 >Do you have a copy of it? Yep, but it's not digital and I don't have a scanner here. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jfields 0 #6 August 16, 2002 That is great! Anyone that gets the magazine able to throw a scan of the pertinent pages online? Bill, I assume you'll be owing beer for your first centerfold, even if it is in National Geographic. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pop 0 #7 August 16, 2002 is this the one bill?7 ounce wonders, music and dogs that are not into beer Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflir29 0 #8 August 16, 2002 Whew!!! I'm glad this didn't include any African Pancake boobies..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,086 #9 August 16, 2002 Yep, the caption reads: On Bridge Day each October, you can walk across the New River Gorge Bridge - or jump off. Hundreds of parachutists make the 876 foot leap on the one day it's legal. How much freefall time is safe? "You'll hit the water about nine seconds after you jump," advises Bridge Day enthusiast Bill Von Novak. "It's a good idea to open your chute before that happens." (Note that the original text in the FAQ was 'deploy before that happens' but they changed it to be more understandable.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhino 0 #10 August 16, 2002 lol, That must have been a blast!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scoby 0 #11 August 16, 2002 Out of curiosity, how much skydiving experience should one have before attempting bridge day? I know I won't have it by this year, but I'd love to do it in a year or two. 200 jumps? More? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflir29 0 #12 August 16, 2002 Quotehow much skydiving experience should one have before attempting bridge day Umm...thats like asking how many times you should play baseball before trying out for the British National Cricket team. Two totally differen't things!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scoby 0 #13 August 16, 2002 Well, not really. I assume one should have a certain amount of skydiving experience before one should take up BASE jumping. I can't imagine too many people go right to BASE... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pop 0 #14 August 16, 2002 Quotehow much skydiving experience should one have before attempting bridge day read tom's article on base jumping on the home page of DZ.com7 ounce wonders, music and dogs that are not into beer Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VivaHeadDown 0 #15 August 16, 2002 Most BASE companies recognize 150 jumps as the industry standard. See for yourself on their web sites. Don't Confuse Me With My Own Words Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhillyKev 0 #16 August 16, 2002 Read Tom's article on the home page about getting into BASE. I haven't done BASE and have limited skydiving experience myself. But from what he wrote and from talking to BASE jumpers, standard skydiving really doesn't prepare you. Unless you're jumping similar equipment to what you'd use for BASE in terms of canopy type, etc. and doing lots of accuracy practice. I don't think your standard freefall followed by 1000' setup, left handed pattern to landing would prepare you all that much. Feel free to correct my complete guess, Tom, but is that about right? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,086 #17 August 16, 2002 >Out of curiosity, how much skydiving experience should one have > before attempting bridge day? 100-200 jumps is a good rule of thumb, but it's really all about skills. You need three skydiving skills to be able to safely start BASE jumping: 1. Packing. BASE packing ranges from somewhat different to completely different from skydiving pack jobs, but some basic principles apply to both. 2. Accuracy. Ability to land on a small target under a big canopy is critical for BASE, since the landing areas are often awful (Bridge Day does _not_ have a great landing area, though it's better than some.) 3. Stable exits. You must be able to exit in a stable position. Helicopter hover or balloon exits are an excellent way to practice for this. The idea is to exit head high and remain head high for 3-4 seconds until the increase in airspeed natually turns you face to earth. Once you've mastered these three, you are in a good position to start learning how to BASE jump. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
