base428

Just click on the BASE428 link to the left. My email addy is in there. I just hate having to check my own email AND dz.com email. I have my own webhosting company now and having to check separate email accounts isn't productive. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Here is a link with more details on the current record Miles, let me know if I can help in any way (cash or prize donations to your charity, etc.). Cya. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

My prediction: 39 jumps and some serious bruising of the inner thighs. Good luck Miles. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

This is from the Jumper Requirements page where you bought your jump pass: Jumpers are required to bring a 2x2 photo (head shot) to the onsite Bridge Day registration. This photo will be used to make your ID badge, as required by the State of West Virginia. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

No switching of groups is permitted, unless you want to jump with a later group. It just gets way too complicated to be constantly switching jumpers around everyday. Plus, your badge color dictates your jump order and we've already started making badges. If you wanna jump early, ride out on the boom truck with us at 6:30am. More info on this at BD. Cya. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Yep, we've already submitted the info for background checks. That means the buyer must have attended BD 2002, 2003, or 2004. More info on switching passes is HERE (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

If you need a sealed bite switch, it doesn't get much easier/cheaper than this: Sealed Pendant Switches with Cable (#6944K11) Combination switch and cable assemblies are sealed in a molded-neoprene enclosure to protect the switch from chemical fumes, water, and dirt (unless noted). Permanently wired and molded to cable, unless noted. Contacts are momentary, except where noted. There was a guy about 8-9 years ago who basically resold these as skydiving bite switches. Or, for the best switch available, go here for ideas. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

As Rhonda mentioned, that video was from Bridge Day 1995/Extremes and I currently own the sole copyright. Ya gotta love how easy it is for people to copy your videos without permission and put them all over the internet. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Who wants to do a 22-way at Bridge Day? As a member of the former 19-way record bridge jump, it's a sad day for me. Of course, the NPS, with their vast knowlege of parachutes and base jumping, has determined that a 15-way is the most that can safely be done from a bridge nearly twice as tall as the Perrine. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

I just got my HDR-HC1 yesterday and played with it most of the evening. After shooting five minutes of random footage and playing it back on my 50" HD LCD TV, I was very pleased with the quality. I was not "blown away" by the quality - probably because I'm used to watching HD on TV everyday. I can definately see how most people would have to pick their jaw up off the ground after viewing the footage on a good HD TV. The quality is FAR beyond your normal miniDV camera. The camera is MUCH smaller than I originally thought. I was used to 3CCD's and a ton of manual controls, so switching to a CMOS 1CCD bottom loading camera is a stretch for me. I guess I'll have to sacrifice a few features in order to take advantage of the great quality. As noted in the online reviews, the zooming function is hard to control and slow zooming is nearly impossible. The dust covers for the iLink, Component and RCA out jacks are very easy to work and should last awhile. I think this camera will work fairly well in skydiving and base jumping, as long as the bottom loading feature doesn't drive you insane. I had no problems hooking it up to my 1080i 50" HD TV via the component cables and I'm really looking forward to trying it out at Bridge Day and the Moab Turkey Boogie. Of course, capturing the smile on my 4 month old daughter's face is reason enough for the purchase. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

I've also got some Columbia jackets and Keen shoes to give to the winners. I have not even contacted the base gear manufacturers for prizes yet, but I'm sure they'll donate some cool stuff as well. Cya. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Taste of Bridge Day reception: Bridge Day T-shirts, prime rib buffet, and deluxe continental breakfast along with Friday and Saturday night motel rooms. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

I just got off the phone with the Quality Inn's General Manager. I had to remind him about our agreement that he would also offer $150 per night rooms in addition to the $350 weekend package option. Apparently, he urged his employees to only offer the package deal. Now that I've freshened his memory, they are offering the $150 per night "bargain" and anyone who was forced to buy the package can change their option. Sorry for the troubles everyone. It sounds like the Quality Inn was trying to capitalize on the event, but I'll give 'em the benefit and say that they just "forgot". Cya. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

I'm still trying to get ahold of the Quality Inn right now. Go ahead and buy their package now, but I'll be sure to sort this out and try to get back the $150 per night option that I have in writing. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

As mentioned in the other thread: Do NOT feel like you have to purchase that $350 package deal. It's $150 a night Friday and Saturday if you don't want the package deal. At least that's what I have in writing. So if they are forcing you to buy the package, they are INCORRECT. I just left an angry message with the manager at Quality Inn about this. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Another tip for you all: Get your name on the Holiday Inn waiting list. We only have 100 of their 119 rooms because approximately 15 of them are held for the government. Apparently, the Holiday Inn has a contract with the gov't to provide lodging for people going into basic training. Sometimes they use a lot of rooms and most of the time they don't use any at all. Either way, the Holiday Inn must hold those 15 rooms until they are released by the gov't. At the last 3 Bridge Day's, all 15 rooms were later released to jumpers shortly before Bridge Day. So put your name on the list. There WILL be rooms opening up. Sorry that you all have to redial for so long just to get a room. I don't know any better way to make it fair for everyone. It would be easy to go to a lottery method or other unfair methods, but my goal is to make it fair and equal for everyone. At a minimum, I'm going to see if they will move the call time from 7:00AM to 2:00PM. If anyone has a better idea on how to hand out hotel rooms fairly, please email me or post here. Thanks. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Do NOT feel like you have to purchase that $350 package deal. It's $150 a night Friday and Saturday if you don't want the package deal. At least that's what I have in writing. So if they are forcing you to buy the package, they are INCORRECT. I just left an angry message with the manager at Quality Inn about this. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

From the Bridge Day website: Holiday Inn ------------- October 13: Rooms are $80.00 + tax per night based on single or double occupancy, available as needed. Third and fourth person charges of $10.00 per night, per person plus tax will apply. October 14-15: Rooms are $132.00 + tax per night based on single to quad occupancy. There is a two-night minimum for Friday and Saturday (no Saturday checkouts will be permitted). October 16: Rooms are $80.00 + tax per night based on single or double occupancy, available as needed. Third and fourth person charges of $10.00 per night, per person plus tax will apply. Quality Inn -------------- October 13: Rooms are $64.00 + tax. October 14-15: Rooms are $150.00 + tax. There is a two-night minimum for these two days. Another option is a special package for $350.00 + tax that gives you motel rooms for both nights (based on double occupancy), Taste of Bridge Day reception, Bridge Day T-shirts, prime rib buffet, and deluxe continental breakfast. October 16: Rooms are $64.00 + tax. If anyone still thinks it's cheap to live in WV, they just bumped the hotel tax up to 11% (approx.). and they are proposing to raise it to 15% soon. Last week, I drove from WV to NYC and the highest gas price along the way was in my hometown (Bridgeport, WV). Time to get out my bicycle. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Yep, it's -5 rather than +5. Nice catch, thanks. Original post was updated. Cya. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Actually, I'd like to think that I'm a "parachute is half open" kinda guy (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Yeah, but it's 12 noon in London. Russel, I agree that 7am is too early and I'm going to push both hotels to change it to 2pm next year. Sorry bro. Get to bed early tonight. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

Just a quick reminder to registered Bridge Day jumpers that hotel rooms at the Holiday Inn and Quality Inn are up for grabs tomorrow morning (September 1st) at 07:00 AM Eastern Standard Time (-5:00 GMT). Rooms are first-come, first-served and they normally sell out in 1-2 hours (the Holiday Inn always sells out first, since that's where all the action is). If you are registered to jump, you can call either hotel and attempt to secure a room. We've got 100 rooms at the Holiday Inn and 60 at the Quality Inn, so you've got a pretty good chance of not having to sleep in your car. Don't call before 7:00am and don't call if you aren't a registered jumper. One room per registered jumper, please. Happy dialing......cya. Holiday Inn 304-465-0571 Quality Inn 304-574-3443 http://www.bridgeday.info/lodging.php (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

No worries, I would never use the "p" word on a T-shirt anyway. I'm just looking for one cool NPS acronym to put on a T-shirt for a side project. And I think you'd find many members of the Bridge Day Commission that are not fond of the NPS. Regardless, thanks for the tips. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

I'm putting the finishing touches on a cool new T-shirt for Bridge Day and I need your help. I've got about 20+ alternate acronyms for "BASE", but I need a few more for "NPS". Here are a few for "BASE": -Best Adrenaline Sport Ever -Bodies Are Shattered Eventually Here is one for "NPS": -No Parachutes Sucka! If anyone can add to the NPS acronyms, please post it here or email me. Many thanks. (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.

During the last four years that I've been involved with organizing Bridge Day, I tried to be as nice as possible to the NPS. I went out of my way to meet as many rangers as possible at Bridge Day and introduce myself. If the NPS asked for information on what's going on the the BASE world, I gave it to them (filtered, if needed). I let them know about some of our new events at the Royal Gorge and how I wanted to expand Bridge Day. I even loaned the NPS one of my rigs so that they could have our Governor wear it at a BD2002 press conference. I went out of my way to be polite, courteous, and friendly. What did we get for all this? 1) Additional rules in our Special Use Permit 2) Rangers dressed as fisherman hiding under another local 700' bridge the day before Bridge Day - and then arresting four jumpers after they landed. 3) Rangers arresting jumpers off-season on the catwalk BEFORE they jumped and charging them with aerial delivery. 4) Raising our Special Use Permit fees 5) This one is my favorite: Rangers responsible for handing out frequency lists at BD last year forgot to give the live TV broadcast frequencies to the FBI, resulting in at least 3 wireless cameras failing due to overlapping channels. The more I think about this one, the more I believe it wasn't an accident. And would you believe that I was even hassled this past weekend by a ranger in the Bridge Day LZ. I had a "BASE Jumping Is Not a Crime" sticker on my car and was parked on private property - only a few feet from the NPS LZ. The ranger chased us off, thinking we were in the park, and stated that the area was for commercial traffic only until 6pm. ...and the list continues to grow. So, I've tried being nice for years. Heck, many of us have tried being nice for decades. The rangers have kept us down too long. Maybe it's time we get back on our feet and take off the gloves? (c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted.