base428

DONATIONS AS OF OCT. 8 Russel Metlitzky - $30 Jason Bell - $50 Rl - $75 Avery Badenhop - $50 Jaap Suter - $50 Anonymous - $20.20 Truckerbase - $20 Anonymous - $30 bob.dino - $20 Anonymous - $50 Nick Rugai - $20 Mike Bartlett - $20 wwarped - $20 Anonymous - $20 Anonymous - $20 980 - $40 A**hole Numero Uno - $29.66 Sky Beck - $30 Kate Cooper - $50 Ivan Betts - $20 marg/nerdgirl - $20 Anonymous - $25 Anonymous - $20 In Memory of Jeff Taylor - $20 Collin Scott - $20 Jamie Serchia - $20 Blair700 - $20 Michael Greer - $10 Abbie Mashaal - $20 TOTAL = $839.86 OK, we've got his beer covered so far. Now we need money for airfare..... (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

If you must do Paypal, send them to "jbell(at)vertical-visions(dot)com". Please note whether or not you want your name to be made public. I will post all authorized names and donations on my webstore or in this thread in order to keep everything accounted for. Cya (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

I'll throw in $50, a free jump slot (due to a cancellation), and I have one Holiday Inn hotel room that can be transferred to him if needed (we could pay for the room with donations). If he arrives on Thursday night or Friday, then he can ride on our shuttles for free (return trip also). I'm also willing to collect and tally donations if needed. I could either take paypal, credit cards on my webstore, or cash donations when you pick up your ID badges. Cya at the bridge Nick. Try to fly in Wed/Thurs!!! (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Jaap, I know someone who is looking to share a ride Tues night or Wed morning. I'll give you his info tonight. Anyone else needing a ride then, email me and I'll try to assist. Otherwise, stick out yer thumb and hitchike. Some redneck will gladly let you ride in the back of his 79' Ford pickup. A taxi would be VERY expensive. Cya (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

That's a tough and sensitive subject to discuss online or in person. I know many jumpers have attempted to address it with their fellow jumpers (just in case). Personally, I wouldn't want my friends to hang around and get busted if it were me. Just find a payphone and report it. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Give them a call and find out.....304-574-3443 (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Not to deviate, but the Holiday Inn Oak Hill has free internet this year (unencrypted 802.11b/g). I thought you techies might want to bring your laptops. Maybe I'll set up a webcam at the Holiday Inn and we can geek the camera all day? (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Sunny, 65°/43°, 10% chance of rain. But, I don't believe in 10-day forecasts. Here's the link: Fayetteville weather (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

I took these pics on Wednesday, October 5th after sunset. The New River is like a pond with very little water flow and record low water levels. It has only rained once or twice in the area over the last month. However, it is currently raining. October 5, 2005 Landing Zone Pics Low water levels exposed additional suitable landing areas, but there are also several minefields of beachball size boulders. Low water levels will surely claim more ankles and legs on Bridge Day, as jumpers often think the shoreline is completely safe and smooth. ALL JUMPERS SHOULD TRAVEL TO AND WALK THE ENTIRE LZ BEFORE THE EVENT. PLEASE HELP RELOCATE ANY ROCKS THAT MAY CONTRIBUTE TO INJURIES. In case you haven't been to Bridge Day, do not worry about the LZ. Many first timers are capable of landing dry and they do so with ease. Most experienced jumpers will tell you that putting your canopy down on flat ground at Bridge Day is quite easy. If you hang out over the river and then take an approach towards the main LZ that is perpendicular to the river, you'll be fine. Cya in a week!!!!!! (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

390 out of 450 showed up last year, so there are always people who can't attend.... (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

TV = $1500-2000 per minute. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Several jumpers stationed overseas and a few other jumpers can't make it to Bridge Day this year, so I offered to help them unload their jump slots. So, if you registered for Bridge Day 2002-2004, then shoot me your email (click on "base428" at left) and I'll hook you up with the sellers. We don't offer refunds because back in 2002, we were swamped with a ton of last minute requests that consumed a lot of time and money. Now, we help sellers hook up with buyers - avoiding any messy paperwork, credits, and new charges. More info on switching slots is HERE. Cya all in a few weeks. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Both Jeb and I put in separate bids at different times for a portion of the 90 acres. Both were not accepted. I feel we were pawns used to sell the entire 90 acres. They wanted people to bid on it to develop a price for the entire tract. They eventually sold all 90 acres for $250,000. I am now negotiating with the new landowner and things are looking pretty good for next year. This is the biggest line of BS that I have ever heard. The NPS routinely waives the insurance and they even remind me to submit my waiver request each year. We have ALWAYS waived the insurance. This is Calvin's way of attacking us. Also, Calvin likes to say that he "went to bat for us back in 2002 with the 10-year policy waiver." If he didn't get the policy waiver, the locals would have showed up with pitchforks and torches. The year was 1993 and I waited all day to jump. The bungee guys were dropping 7 people in a homemade steel basket and their preparation halted jumping for over an hour. Jumpers were very upset. One bungee jumper injured his spleen when the basket shifted prior to release. You could hear his screams for about 100 yds at least. Needless to say, bungee at Bridge Day probably won't ever happen again. Yes. Just this year, rappellers were forced to pay the same $10 per participant fee that jumpers pay. This payment goes to the local Chamber of Commerce. I heard through the grapevine that they were thinking of raising it to $20, but the rappelling organizer and I both agreed to quit if that happens. I heard yesterday that the local businesses are very worried about the NPS shakedown. I think my people have opened their eyes to what is really going on and also to the fact that they need us to be there every year. Here in WV, the NPS insurance requirement has been major front page news. It was in all the newspapers, TV, radio, etc. I think we got their attention..... (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Anyone entering New Orleans should be required to bring in a bucket of dirt. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

In reading recent newspaper articles, Superintendent Calvin Hite is now acting like he's making a special exception in waiving the insurance requirement. Insurance has NEVER been required and even the NPS failed in the past to find an insurer - facts that Mr. Hite is conveniently forgetting. Here is a copy of my letter to Congressman Rahall's Project Director, Kelly Dyke: ------ Ms. Dyke, Thank you for your assistance with Bridge Day 2005. I am in the process of developing a detailed report on what transpired recently between the NPS and Bridge Day 2005 BASE Jumping Organizers. This report will be available online by Friday afternoon. I will forward the URL to you at that time. However, I wanted to address several NPS inaccuracies: 1) Bridge Day jumping began in 1980, but the NPS didn't purchase the jumper landing zone until the mid-1980's. Since that time, the NPS has required a Special Use Permit for jumpers to land. But the NPS requirement for liability insurance has been waived every year for the last two decades (except for 2002 when energy drink giant Go Fast Sports didn't request a waiver and their standard company insurance policy was used). Past and current Bridge Day BASE Jumping Organizers have attempted to obtain liability insurance to protect spectators in the landing zone. With no one willing to insure the event, it was deemed uninsurable. According to Chief Ranger Gary Hartley, the NPS doubted the fact that liability insurance was unobtainable and they spent 30 days trying to find their own policy. They failed as well. I was offended by Calvin Hite's letter dated 22 September 2005 in which he wrote, "Even though we believed your past claims that insurance was not available, our own research has found that other BASE jumping organizations and events are requiring and acquiring liability insurance". Calvin Hite believed our claims because, in the past, the NPS failed as well to find liability insurance coverage. It was only through recent (September 2005) research that the NPS apparently found someone willing to insure the event. When I contacted Sarah Fuller with Bloss & Dilliard, whom the NPS reports as an entity willing to insure the Bridge Day landing zone, I was informed that Bloss & Dilliard does not provide insurance coverage to individuals or companies. They are merely a broker. At this time, we are still investigating NPS claims that insurance for Bridge Day is actually obtainable. The Royal Gorge event, cited in Calvin Hite's September 15th letter as an insurable BASE jumping event, is different because it does not occur inside a national park and no spectators are present in the landing zone. Insurability of one parachuting event does not guarantee insurability of another parachuting event. In my experience, insurance companies typically require permit details, contracts, jumper waivers, landing zone diagrams, and other details of an event before they can truthfully determine whether insurance is available. I'm curious if Mr. Hite provided this information to Bloss & Dilliard prior to making the statement that Bridge Day is insurable. 2) In the same letter, Calvin Hite wrote, "This is your third year as the Bridge Day BASE organizer, and this is your third request for an insurance waiver". My response to this is that every organizer, past and present, has routinely waived the insurance requirement (with the exception of Go Fast Sports in 2002). In 2003 and 2004, the NPS did not hesitate to ask me if I would like to request an insurance waiver. Liability insurance was never discussed or required because the event was uninsurable at that time. Our reasons for not obtaining liability insurance may not satisfy the NPS this year. But the following items do offer a considerable amount of liability protection that has proven to suffice in past years: -Jumpers are waivered against causing property damage or spectator injury in the landing zone -Jumpers are also video waivered (they speak into a video camera) against causing property damage or spectator injury in the landing zone -NPS and Vertical Visions post "Enter at your own risk" type signs near landing zone. -Spectator viewing areas are roped off and located away from the landing zone. -My exit staff of 75 people help to remove jumpers, spectators, and media from the landing zone. -We are only concerned with spectator injury or property damage. Jumper injuries are not an issue with the three levels of waivers that are required (written, video, badge). As I stated at the Bridge Day Commission meeting yesterday: -I am not against having liability insurance for the landing zone if it is obtainable and at a reasonable cost. -However, I am against the 11th hour NPS requirement for liability insurance when it has not been required in the past and my May 2005 requests for NPS permit costs/requirements were delayed for four months. Perhaps in the future, the best course of action would be for the Bridge Day Commission to handle landing zone permits and insurance. After all, it is their event. If jumpers must absorb the high costs of liability insurance, I am concerned that many will opt to skip Bridge Day and instead jump at other events. The 3-day long "Go Fast Games" at the Royal Gorge Bridge or the legal-everyday Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho are more attractive than the small six-hour window granted at Bridge Day. I'll forward more information to you shortly. Thank you. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Hmm.....it was only five weeks ago that the ABP was offering to help fight the fee increase. Reference your August 17th Post. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Bridge Day sets a major precedent for BASE jumping in National Parks, as Gardner has noted. What happens at Bridge Day, including the details of a Special Use Permit, is very critical to any future access to other National Parks. Unfortunately, the only way we are currently permitted to jump is through a Special Use Permit. With that being said, I feel it is my duty to keep the Special Use Permit requirements, conditions, and fees to a minimum. 1) If the NPS requires five rangers here at New River, what will they require at other parks? 2) If the NPS is able to import rangers from Yosemite just for Bridge Day, and then bill us thousands of dollars for travel expenses after the event, then what will they do at other parks? 3) If the NPS is able to impose $1,000,000 liability policies on us, which have been waived for decades, then what will they require of us at other parks where crowds cannot be controlled as easily? Is it possible that the increased permit fees, travel expense reimbursements, and costly liability insurance could also be used against us if any parks were opened for jumping? The NPS could say "yes" to jumping in certain parks, but it would be too costly for anyone but the rich. It's easier to do a triple gainer from a 180' bridge than to obtain a $1,000,000 liability insurance policy for BASE jumping... (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Yep. Problems started back in 1966 when the first known BASE jump was made in a National Park. It's been painful ever since.....maybe someone else can elaborate. EDIT: Tom, that link you provided about 4 posts up is somewhat slanted towards the NPS and it contains a few inaccuracies. Several months ago, the webmaster agreed to update it with a better representation of our sport. I have yet to provide the update to him. If anyone is interested in helping me clean it up, please contact me. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Not exactly. NPS has still threatened to arrest us if we land in the river. They say they share jurisdiction with the State of WV. If you ended up a bit short and missed the private property, NPS would pull you from the river and cuff you. I basically told the NPS that they would be very STUPID to enforce this. Can you imagine the safety hazard this would put on the event? Talk about having blood on your hands. I would also attempt to get authorization to land in the river from the State of WV so that NPS couldn't touch us. On another note, NPS has always threatened our water rescue crew with arrest if they help pull any bandit jumpers from the river. If someone jumped 10 seconds past the 3pm limit and our water rescue saved their lives, NPS would arrest all of them. When this was brought up at the BDC meeting yesterday, Gary Hartley denied my claims. BUT THEN, Tom Dragan, who operates the water rescue, emerged from the back of the crowd and told Hartley that he has personally heard this numerous times from the rangers own mouths. Hartley still danced around the main subject at hand, which is the SAFETY of any and all jumpers, regardless of whether it's a bandit jump. Hartley admitted no fault and offered no explanation for the threats of arrest. It's very disturbing to know that the NPS would risk the safety of a jumper by threatening our water rescue personnel. This closely resembles their actions with Frank Gambalie. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

I definately see support from the federal level, at least at Bridge Day. This is evidenced by Congressman Rahall ordering the NPS to stop their 4th quarter tactics to disrupt BASE jumping at Bridge Day. There was some discussion at the BDC meeting yesterday about approaching the state and/or federal gov't for support on issues that may reappear next year (insurance, increased fees, bus problems, etc). I also wanted to say that I'm not totally against the insurance requirement in the LZ. Normal NPS Special Use Permits, according to the rangers, are required to have insurance. But I am against throwing the requirement in our laps with only a few weeks left. I'm also against JUMPERS having to absorb the costs of this event. After all, the Bridge Day Commission and local Chamber of Commerce host the event and maybe they should also assume the responsibility to provide us with a landing area. The people at the Chamber are absolutely wonderful to work with, but it shouldn't be OUR responsibility to find a place to host their event and we shouldn't have to fight the NPS each year. And what if the Dept of Highways wanted $10,000 from us to put up our exit point next year? That stuff should not be our responsibility. Gotta go....the AP just called and they are doing a story. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

I just got word that WV Congressman Rahall got involved and issued the order to the NPS to drop the insurance requirement this year. So all is well again. I'm guessing that I won't be getting a Christmas card from the NPS this year..... Today's Newspaper Story (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

I'm pretty worn out from my full day in Fayetteville today, so perhaps I'll elaborate in a later post. -Today's Bridge Day Commission meeting had the largest attendance out of any meeting I've been to in the last four years. Three TV stations, 1 radio station, several newspaper reporters, and approximately 10-15 local business owners showed up TO SUPPORT US. -NPS refused to lower Special Use Permit fees and refused to remove clause allowing them to charge us for all travel expenses if they decide to import some rangers from Yosemite to handle the event. -If you haven't already heard, NPS requested $1,000,000 liability insurance from us last week - a mere 3.5 weeks before the event. This was based on the fact that Royal Gorge was somehow able to obtain insurance for the Go Fast Games. Preliminary verbal quotes are between $10,000-25,000. Possibly due to media pressure, NPS agreed to waive insurance requirement over the phone to me yesterday. However, they offered no official position on this at today's meeting. More than likely, insurance will be a requirement next year and it could force jump ticket prices to skyrocket. We have multiple plans in place to prevent this from occuring. The bottom line is that WE WILL JUMP no matter what. NPS will have blood on their hands if they do not work with us on these discriminatory, last minute tactics to price BASE out of Bridge Day. Word on the street is that the insurance requirement will be waived this year. I'm actively working with a private landowner to have a new, larger, safer LZ for Bridge Day 2006. No worries folks. Controversy sometimes makes things exciting. Cya in 3 weeks. PS. NPS rangers need to UNDERSTAND that Jon Dragan owned the BD landing zone until the mid-1980's. We didn't have to put up with the NPS until they essentially forced Jon Dragan to sell it to them. Letters to/from NPS and Vertical Visions (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Hmmm, one of those cropped pics sure looks a lot like a copyrighted photo that I own. http://www.bridgeday.info/photos/bday2003/BD03_0480.html One or two others appear to be from Leisure Sports Photo - the photographers in the crane basket. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

I'll donate $50 for every line-over he has. All kidding aside, I'm going to give them a call and donate. PS. I did a live radio show in Charleston, WV today for Bridge Day and I mentioned Miles attempt to set the BASE jump 24 hour record. Even the rednecks here in the hills are excited about it. Good luck dude. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Kudos to you for asking first. Some people are not as wise as you, and they don't blink an eye when stealing your stuff. In the last 2 weeks, I had: 1) A photograph used w/o permission for a similar parachuting event. 2) Video segments I own were shown on various websites with new watermarked logos in the lower corner. So, since you asked first, you have my permission to use any pics on my websites in a non-commercial manner. Just let me know which ones you use and be sure to include a (c)Vertical-Visions.com on the photo (if it doesn't already exist). Send me a link to your site if you use any. Cya. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.