CanuckInUSA

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Everything posted by CanuckInUSA

  1. 10-20 rows up, center ice. Those are my dream seats. And I came real close to realizing this with my Avs season tickets the last four years as I had the 20 rows from the ice seats just inside one of the blue lines. But the NHL ultimately priced me out of their market and I gave up my seats just in time for the strike (not that jumping didn't have any influence on my finances). I hope to see hockey again this year (on TV). But not much has changed between the two sides. So we'll see. It's only a game. I'd rather jump or go ground launching. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  2. Welcome to Canada eh!!! Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  3. Someone sent this to me and I thought I'd share it. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  4. Yes Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  5. No ... except that you missed some fun/scary BASE jumps at the Turkey boogie in Moab this last long weekend. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  6. Two of the incidents (pc in tow and line twists) happened to DZ.com regulars. So I thought they would do a better job telling us in their own words what happened than to get my view. As for the wall strike, I saw it happen, but I don't know the details of what caused the wall strike. The fellow who hit the wall suffered a leg injury, but he got very very lucky. He landed in a part of the tallis void of many big bolders. It could have, should have been much worse. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  7. Yes indeed, the Turkey boogie was a great time this year despite the less than perfect weather. I made five jumps in total (including one off of a new exit point) and got to witness some scary stuff (a cliff strike, a pilot chute in tow and a nasty line twist jump off of a forward flip) to serve as a reminder that this is not a safe sport. I'm definitely looking forward to my next Moab trip. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  8. 0:5:0 No humps 5 BASE jumps at the Turkey boogie in Moab Utah. No beer owed. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  9. From what we have seen so far, yes. It launches easier than a skydiving canopy and it glides better. My understanding is ... NO!!! Because it is designed to inflate faster in the Ground Launching environment (with the different fabric), it would be foolish and very painful to try to jump these canopies (even clear and pulls) from aircraft. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  10. These canopies resemble skydiving canopies, not paragliders. In fact to the untrained eye, you couldn't tell the difference. But they are made from a different stronger, more expensive fabric than ZP and F-111, they have a hybrid nose (open on the center cells, closed on the end cells) and are cross-braced throughout to add rigidity to the entire canopy. But most of the ones which we will be buying once they are released to the public are larger than your typical high performance skydiving canopy. In fact I will be buying likely the 150 to start with and I jump a 119 skydiving canopy. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  11. No ... a TN-1 Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  12. It was given a different name because it is a different sport. Yes there are similarities, but it is still very different (especially the gear, but also launching, flying and landing). It's like comparing skydiving and BASE. I'm a skier and I see Ground Launching as a possible extension of that sport as well when you're flying down a mountainside. It's only a few notches turned higher in the adrenaline rush realm. Ground Launching Rocks!!! Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  13. I will once you get a hold of them. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  14. I lost my job last Wednesday while waiting at the airport for a flight to CA (the company eliminated myself and another developer). But I was away from computers until today so I didn't say anything sooner. I don't need a lot of "vibe" responses ... they are appreciated, but not necessary. A boss from my not too distant past did contact me about a possible opportunity with him at his new company. So we'll see what comes of this. I have savings and can weather numerous months of unemployment (I am not eligible for unemployment insurance in the states). But my skydiving will obviously need to be cut back until I find a new job. Until then, it's time to spend my days getting into shape and scouting out some new Ground Launching sites in CO and WY. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  15. We had guys launching Velocity and Xaos canopies this weekend. But they were larger than what they normally jump. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  16. I'm not about to do this any time soon, but look for some of us to Ground Launch off of some of these objects once more experience is gained. Buildings - absolutely doable Antennas - not practical in most cases Spans - doable with some challenges Earth - absolutely doable Once again I'm talking about lauching off of these objects in the future once some essential skills are mastered. So please keep the "you're a dead man" flames to a minimum. You won't be seeing me launch from Moab this coming weekend. But Jim and I did talk about how it could be done. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  17. Can't see that working and ground Launching is obviously not BASE jumping. But they have the potential to both be back-country parachuting activities and thus the reason why I brought it up to begin with. There is going to be a Ground Launching boogie (with a blade running competition) out at the Ground Launch Center in CA next summer and there is talk of lauching tandems with passengers attached wearing a BASE rig, cutting away at 300-400 feet and doing their thing. It should be a good time. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  18. First off I am no Ground Launching expert. So any thing I say here is based on the experience I gained this last weekend at the Ground Launching Camp and may not be 100% correct. Anyway, you're a fairly small guy, so launching a Sabre 107 in wind might be doable. But I'd be willing to bet that launching your 107 in low winds would be difficult (not even factoring in your circumstances that the rest of us are not in). So you're likely better off with a larger wing (open nose for light winds, closed nose for stronger winds). But if you're already doing some paragliding, then you've got an idea as to what's going on with Ground Launching. However, there is one thing to keep in mind. Yes we can Ground Launch using most skydiving gear, but it is not ideal and there are specialized canopies (in proto-type right now, soon to be released) which kick absolute ass when it comes to Ground Launching. They are not cheap (they use a different material than ZP and/or F-111), but they are worth their weight in gold in the Ground Launching environment. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  19. Preferably the best way to launch is to launch with some sort of breeze (8-10 mph is probably optimal). You start by reverse launching the canopy, kite it for however long you want to, turn around and run down the hill (your launch will depend on the wind, wing type and loading, nose type, slope angle, etc, etc, etc). But if there is no wind or very light winds, then you will need to forward launch your canopy. And of course in your situation, hmmm ... we could build you a little ski jump contraption. But it's probably not a good idea. Unfortunately my camera malfunctioned on this trip and I did not get video. But here is a short video of some Ground Launching at the GLC in CA. Of course this sport is still in it's infancy and the potential for it is still not 100% known. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  20. I put about 225 jumps on a Crossfire2 139 loaded between 1.4 and 1.5 and had no issues whatsoever with it's performance. Yes the optimal performance may be in the 1.8 range, but you shouldn't be on this wing if you can't jump it at a lower wing loading. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  21. First off the guy who trained me this last weekend (Jim Slaton) was adamant about us finding sites on BLM land (which we were jumping). So he is sensitive to the issue of jumping illegal sites as the rest of us are. Now if a bunch of skydivers (without the knowledge of BASE ethics) start running around ground launching in National Parks and getting caught, well we'll need to inform them of thinking about building some of their own ethics. But to tell you the truth I don't think that there are that many ground launchers around (the sport is still in it's infancy). As to what we were doing, yes there are some similarities with paragliding (we are launching ourselves into the sky with a canopy over our heads), but we are not paragliders. You'll be able to use many skydiving canopies, but specialized canopies (different fabric, different noses and bracing) are in the works and their performance in this environment over a normal canopy are well worth the extra cost. I don't believe launching BASE canopies will give us the performance needed what with BASE canopies being huge and having a different design not condusive to gliding great distances. But who knows. Now that I have some knowledge about the sport, I will try kiting and launching my BASE canopy off of a Level I slope one day and see what happens. I just started this thread because of the similarities between back-country Ground Launching and back-country BASE jumping (including wingsuit BASE jumps). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  22. Hey Mar ... I just got my first taste of Ground Launching at a 4-day camp in CA with Jim Slaton. It absolutely rocked my world!!! I'm going to be looking to open some sites here in CO and WY soon. Which means you won't see me at the local DZ when I'm off researching these new sites. But then again, I wasn't expecting to see you at the local DZ anyway because I knew you wouldn't be there. Must talk later ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  23. I just came off of a four day Ground Launching camp with Jim Slaton (which was totally awesome ... Ground Launching absolutely rocks!!!). I'm not saying that you can't find a site where you can launch, end up being high enough and have a decent enough landing area to do a high performance landings. Shit that is my goal to find such a site. But I'd be willing to guess that they are few are far between. We did some cool shit this weekend once we proved ourselves on the training hills (including some blade running). But one must factor in many things before one makes a ground launch. And doing front riser approaches just isn't the norm (even for pioneers like Jim). Ground Launching is more about the rears than it is the fronts. Think of Ground Launching as launching yourself from some moutain exit point and flying close to the ground, down the slope(s), possibly blade running if you've got something to use as gates. Or doing ridge soaring and seeing how long you can stay a float. Ground Launching rocks!!! Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  24. I just wanted to tell all my BASE brothers and sisters what a great time Ground Launching can be (if respected just as BASE needs to be). I spent the last four days at Jim Slaton's Ground Launching Camp in CA and wow!!! What fun!!! Even though I've yet to do a wingsuit BASE jump, I would like to compare the two as somewhat similar. We launched ourselves off of mountain ridges 1000 feet AGL high and flew over other ridges on our way towards landing in definitely a back country environment. Can you picture the potential here once the proper experience is gain? Launching yourself off of a mountain and flying down it to the base. Next up ... Turkey Boogie in Moab!!! Whos' coming? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over
  25. Hell yah I'll buy it. I was told by a bad ass world class canopy pilot teaching me Ground Launching this weekend out in the southern Sierra mountains of CA that Jimmy recently took first place in the ... now where did that take place? FLY BOYZ film festival and that he thought that what he saw was pretty bad ass. If one bad ass likes another bad asses work, it's got to be good. Ground Launching rocks ... that's all I've got to say. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over