CanuckInUSA

For those of you who know me and know that I left the DZ yesterday (because of the unjumpable weather conditions) to do a little ground launching, I thought I'd pass along a little beta info to you concerning some local ground launching sites based on what I've been able to investigate so far. Unfortunately we here in Colorado live next to the Rocky Mountains and as one of my friends pointed out to me yesterday, there is a reason why they are called the "Rocky" Mountains. 1) The local paraglider site where I went off to is absolutely launchable, but one must do so at their own bodily risk. This site is full of thousands and thousands of bone breaking rocks (some visible in the grass, some not). The paragliders need not worry about these rocks as they are able to fly over them to their intended landing area. But I don't think us ground launchers can over fly this area. So if you must launch at this site, full body armour and good boots seems to be the smart things to wear. By the way, I did numerous practice launches at this site, but refrained from actually launching due to not being outfitted in full body armour and the fact that it was cold (my muscles were cold and I didn't want to pull one doing a zero wind launch). 2) I went to another local fairly high profile site but I will not name it because ... well I don't think the man would like us launching from this site and launching here is similar to doing an illegal BASE jump. Anyway, I found two lines to launch from (I didn't actually launch here I was just investigating the site). But this site while steep enough and definitely looking fun, is also full of rocks and has a bust factor that the local paraglider site does not have. 3) I went to yet another less high profile site. This site is far from perfect. It's really not that steep and because of this it likely requires some wind to launch in. But it has the potential to be a good site to train at and to bring newbies to. It still has rocks on the ground, but it's not nearly as intimidating as the existing paraglider site. Plus there is a short but action packed line I found which I've named "Zig-zag" because if you don't zig at the right spot, followed by zagging at the right spot, you're in for a world of trouble. Anyway, this site is close to where I work and I hope to be hitting it when the winds are right and when I have some extra time at lunch or sometime after work before the sun sets. But I don't think this is the type of site where the launchers can get on their rear risers (it's just not all that steep). 4) I investigated another local site last Friday afternoon at lunch. It's definitely more of a training site than anything (it is bigger than site #3 I just mentioned), but it does have at least three different slopes (maybe four) to possibly launch from depending on the winds. But this site does have certain legal issues associated with it. It is on public land, but there is a sign at the parking area related to paragliders and hangliders which says that people should be using the first paraglider site I refered to instead of here. Now I'd still like to walk the hills of this site to get a feel for the land and rock hazards (I only checked this site out from the hiking trail last Friday), but I'm feeling that this site is safer than the existing paraglider site and I will tell the authorities this if they ever try to stop me while I'm using it. Now there are still many many other potential sites (south and north, not to mention west of Denver/Boulder) which I have yet to check out. But these are the ones I've looked at so far which are in the front range Boulder, CO area. Dang I knew I should have moved to the "Rolling Hills with Sand and Soft Grass" mountains instead of the "Rocky" mountains. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Below is the list of canopies I currently own and jump: 1) Velocity 111 (my new swooping canopy) 2) Crossfire2 119 (my old swooping canopy) 3) Samurai 136 (my Ground Launching canopy) 4) Spectre 150 (my wingsuit rig canopy) 5) Flik 293 (my 1st BASE canopy) 6) Rock Dragon 303 (my new 2nd BASE canopy soon to arrive). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

On a lot of my sub terminal BASE jumps, I like to jump with my chest strap pretty loose for the very same reason. My canopy obviously flies better with the strap loose and it's one less thing to not have to do post opening and it gives myself more time to setup for landing. Same reasoning should apply to skydiving. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Another round of canopy coaching. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Where's Brandy moving? I believe she and Collin will be up in Twin Falls ID this weekend getting some BASE training from Tom. And then I believe next weekend those two will also be in Moab with a bynch of us CO peeps as we tear up the cliffs. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Feb 25th-27th. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You're going to be my date. I'll be in Perris Valley for a weekend at the end of the month for some canopy coaching and while I'm there I plan on dazzling you with my charm, you'll fall for me, come back to CO with me and then attend this reunion with me in May thus making all of my former classmates jealous of not only my hobbies but also of the girl on my arm. Sounds simple enough right? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Of course I only heard about the reunion last night so my travel plans are unknown at this time. But it'll be the 3rd weekend of May. I'll drop you a PM before then though. Oh and one of our classmates "Dave Jackson" is an NHL referee (no shit on the level here). So he better not have an excuse of not showing up to the reunion. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I don't feel this way. Sure some of the people were lame, but many of the people posting on this reunion bullentins board are people I hold good memories about and are people I look forward to seeing. Besides, while I may not be so young in the real world, thanks to things like skydiving and BASE jumping, I'm still very very young in spirit. I need to play my cards right with my jumping escapades (talking too much about it will come off the wrong way, but milk it just enough and you never known what it will bring me). Anyway, I'm looking forward to this weekend in mid to late May. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Well I'm about to date myself here. But I just found out that my high school from English suburban Montreal is having our 25 year anniversary this coming May. Well it'll actually be my 24th year, but their combining the classes of '80, '81 and '82 into one reunion and I think this is a great idea as being a graduate of '81, I was friends with people from both the older and younger grades. It should be fun. The school has a bulletins board up right now and there is a decent number of people who will be there. It should be interesting to find out who's doing what, who married who, who lives where, who's dead and who's in jail. This is a once in a life time opportunity and here's the real catch. Initially I was worried that this reunion might clash with the Memorial Day boogie in Twin Falls ID. But the reunion is the weekend before the bridge boogie. So I'm free to do both. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hey Lew. Maybe I'll see you in Perris Valley at the end of the month (February). I'll be there for a weekend getting some coaching. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I was just checking out the new Icrarus NZ website and I came across a picture of my old Crossfire2 139 in action here. That canopy has seen some interesting days (especially in Perris Valley since I sold it) and now look who's ground launching it. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hey be easy on Light-Foot there. He's had a tough go of it. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'm guessing it's Terrell Owens of the Eagles. You know one of those over paid, spoiled and immature professional athletes who've lost touch with reality. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hooknswoop recently set me up with a similar system (I've yet to jump it though). He's sewn some webbing onto my front riser which makes pulling the slider down over it easy, but it (the slider) won't want to ride back up the risers once it's down. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Sick the fly swatter on the punk!!! Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Low: Being laid up all weekend with flu like symptoms. High: Knowing I'm not missing any jumping due to crappy weather. Low: Missing the friend who started this thread. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You can work on your canopy control every jump you make. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'm under the impression that the Crossfire2 and Katana are the two top HP canopies out there which are not cross-braced. I loved my old Crossfire2. But my new canopy is well ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I have close to 400 jumps on Crossfire2 canopies and as long as you're responsible, smart and don't try to bite off too much when you're learning this canopy, you'll have lots of fun with it. 1) The riser pressure on the Crossfire2 119 will be lighter than on your Sabre2 135 (likely more influenced by the higher wing loading). 2) The Crossfire2 will dive longer than the Sabre2. But it will recover (it's not a cross-braced canopy after all). 3) The bottom end flare will be very powerful on the Crossfire2. 4) The openings should be soft, but get ready for some squirelly openings (the canopy will search for a direction to go when it opens). There's bound to be more, but that's all I have for now. Seek some canopy control training ASAP. At 245 jumps (and you say you're doing HP landings), I have to wonder if you're self taught or if you've had formal training. Play with your canopy up high and figure out your setup altitude (don't forget to include the canopy's recovery arc plain out in the final altitude). My Crossfire2 was in the 500-600 foot setup range. But yours may differ based on the lower wing loading. Finally, remember that while swooping rocks, it is unforgiving of many errors that we make and you have the rest of your life to get better. So don't bite off more than you can chew right now. I'm in the same boat you are in terms of jumping a new canopy. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Yes she does. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

My aren't we an intelligent individual. By the way what is a "regulated dink"? Might I suggest that you go back to school and educate yourself a little before you start showing the rest of us what a real ##### you are. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

As a MHSD jumper, it is my experience/impression that jumping here at 5000' MSL results in fast swoop speeds. But this does not seem to translate into super long swoops due to the thin air and high density altitude conditions (don't get me wrong, I can swoop 200-300 feet who knows maybe even further now that I'm on a new x-braced wing). But I can tell you though that if you do jump here and do swoop at altitude, it is very important to know how to complete your flare. Of course you do jump here in CO, so you should already know this. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Thanks for the stories Chad. You know what you said up here above is one of the deeper feelings we adventure nuts need to fully explorer. What is it that makes us do what we do? Is it that we enjoy the actual act of the dangerous activities we partake in? (I think in most cases the answer is yes) or is it that we enjoy a post-activity enjoyment of what we just did? (once again I think the answer is yes). We're all different and we all look to take different levels of enjoyment out of the things we do. But one still wonders why we (as BASE jumpers and some of us also skydive and even Ground Launch) why we are willing to risk it all for a few moments of pleasure. Then again if the pleasures extend to the post-activity enjoyment, then we can savor the moment even longer (sometimes days, weeks, months and years after the activity was performed). I don't know? I just wonder why the three things I enjoy most in this world (besides making love to a great woman) BASE jumping, Swooping and Ground Launching are all not what you would call "safe" activities. Try convincing a potential whuffo mate that you won't kill yourself this weekend (even though you know there is a chance that it could happen). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

JT does Try not to worry about the things you have no control over