Rauk

That WAS dumb! Yet VERY fun. That belly mount captured some good footage over the weekend. I am getting everything fire wired for me, then mailed, so I don't know how long till I have it, but if you need a copy of the video I am sure I can arrange something. Would love to see some pics though if you get time, that would be awesome (hopefully I'm not flailing in any ). It was great meeting you, and also great having a pro photographer at the exit point . I'll send you an email with my info here soon as well. Adam

I have to say, I don't think there could have been a better ending to my trip then walking out on the bridge to watch, seeing Russel freefall, and then getting handed a water rig. It was great meeting all of you people and I hope to see you all at an exit point soon. BTW, Josh, don't know if you got any pictures of me, I had a green and black tie dye rig, but you might not be able to see it around the pony tail . Adam

Truthfully, I am surprised I went through with that one

I cannot wait, It has been far too long. I will keep the bridge warm for you guys . Welcome home man. BTW, what time is early Thursday? feel free to come kick me off the couch here if I'm not out there yet.

Good news, see you here

I am right there too, sorry we weren't here Steve but I can't complain, we had a lot of fun. The solo jumps still make me think twice and a lot of the time three times. Given I am still quite new myself, but I am VERY used to this bridge lately and even with some of the visitors center people there it makes me wonder if it's a good idea. A lot of the time I make my solo decision by what I am doing (which isn't a good idea either me thinks). I like to at least make someone with a cell phone understand that it is kind of serious (). Anyway, I will be here for Labor Day, hopefully tearing shit up, so I will see you then if nothing else. Soft landings

In my opinion though, depending on what it is you are doing off said span can make it quite a jump as well. At least in my last few weeks, the jumps I have done from the spud have scared me more than many of the other jumps I have done (night or day). At the same time, the night "A" really has a way of puckering me up good. Soft Landings

I didn't know either, but still took a course, payed the money, drove to spudland in November through sleet, snow, and Wyoming wind, not knowing if I would even like it. Something told me I needed to do it, so I did. I guess you have to ask yourself if you really want it, and more importantly WHY you want it, then set your priorities to fit the lifestyle you choose. It isn't about money, in my opinion, it's about what you want, not what it will cost you. In another perspective, say you did ONE jump, say it was free even, but you pigged in on a low turn into a bad landing area and broke some bones, how much do you think that will cost you (not necessarily on the money side of things either)? It's all about what is worth it to you. Soft landings

"I still put rollovers in my log book" That makes me feel better, I'd have a few less jumps if I didn't.

hell, a lot of people don't even consider rollovers a BASE jump. So I don't think the roof would count.

I am not defending JT or his actions.

I met JT at the potato not long ago. He's an alright guy, friendly even. Yeah, he did some things he shouldn't have, and I am sure he knows he pissed a lot of people off. Personally, though, I think it's crap that he's being chased out of town by this angry mob. Anyone ever think of talking to the guy besides Tom? I hate this mob mentality that everybody thinks is going to scare someone into submission. Don't get me wrong, I didn't appreciate his actions, but he'll get his in the end. We have no more right to judge than the people who deem us criminals. Try being a voice of reason rather than a high school bully. I know I would respond a hell of a lot better to someone talking to me about a situation rather than threatening me. Devils advocate I guess. oh yes, and let the flames begin.

Touche. I would be interested in seeing what situations you use different setups (if you don't mind). I have used a 42" for 90% of my jumps, so haven't had a lot of play time with variances. I am also guilty of repacking my rig for nothing other than it sitting for about a month.

That I don't know. I have had a couple of jumps where I ALMOST got injured, but I can't really compare those with an injury. Not even close. I predict that eventually after an injury (at least i hope) I would begin to jump again. I can't say one way or another until that day comes.

I have always (and still am) scared of heights, and every time I am climbing an "A", or standing on the edge of and "E", theres this little voice inside of me telling me to do nothing but turn back. I don't listen real good . My first "E" was the single scariest thing I have ever experienced, and I won't lie, while I was standing up there, I was looking for any excuse to turn back. Hoping the wind would be bad, even comtemplating just walking down for no reason. Something clicked when I was looking at that exit point, something in me said, "Go now". It was almost like another person was in my head, telling me I needed to do this. While I was standing there, I thought, "after this one, I will never jump off another cliff again." Then I trotted off that thing. I got down and had never felt better in my life, someone could have punched me in the throat, and I would have given them a big hug, and thanked them for it. It was absolute magic to me, like for that bit of time, everything made sense. Since that jump, I realized while it scared me the most, the feeling of launching off that rock, that all too solid feeling, disconnecting into such freedom, was like something from my dreams. Thats what keeps me going back for more. The real question is, will you regret jumping in the end? Or will you regret NOT jumping?

Sweat is definitely better than blood. You should however be able to tell if it is slider up or down by your PC size, right? I also have different colored PC's for different sizes so as not to be mistaken if I just glance at it. That little plastic piece on smaller PC's would give it away for me as well .

Congratulations 924

yes, us youngsters will learn, one manuever at a time. Soft landings

I took the Vertigo course, and have nothing but good things to say about it (other than the sleet and rain in November, hehe). Jimmy and Marta are great people, and have A LOT of knowledge. It's also nice knowing you have a resource like that for the rest of your career. Also, I have heard a lot of good things about Johnny Utah's course, courses have been known to last a week (don't think thats standard, but would be awesome if it was) and involve around 20 jumps or so, which is an amazing way to start out, ultra current.

Where would we be without the ballsy people . I kind of look at it like this: People think skydivers are crazy, skydivers think BASE jumpers are crazy, some BASE jumpers think aerials are crazy, etc., etc., etc. I know I have freaked out one or more BASE jumpers with my antics (which were completely reasonable, really), but, different strokes for different folks. Sometimes the envelope just gets bigger. Sometimes peoples comfort zone is so different that a crazy thing to one person is just the next step for someone else. I don't know, more ranting, right? BTW, Canuck, I will be at the potato the entirity of August, so if you get up there, drop me a line. Email's best. Soft landings

I don't think I'm familiar with a WAD. Similar to a TARD? and yes, I think it would be fun too. With the lineover issue, couldn't you somehow incorporate a tailgate device of some kind? I hear of people using tape as makeshift tailgates, maybe something like that might work here? Also, does anyone know how far down aproximately the steel reaches on the potato? Has anyone ever done any measurements (at the apex)?

He did get off cheap! I hadn't really considered that as a factor. Do you know if he had enough tension in the lines, or was it just so squirrely of a canopy? Also, do you know if he was jumping as far at the apex of the span as possible? (I would assume it was)

Correct me if I am wrong, but wouldn't it be a much happier opening if you rolled it over? I know that a lot of people say, "it isn't a BASE jump if it isn't packed", but wouldn't you definitely get the thing off of there with many less problems. Not to mention put you much higher (which would help a lot, say at the potato, depending on glide rates of said canopy). I don't fly small elipticals, but hear a lot about a lot of them being very ground hungry. I would just think that say you had an end cell closed on opening, you are already low, then you have to pump the brakes, get some wicked surge down... could get REAL ugly REAL fast.

Thanks for your info guys .

I recently did my first slider up jump, my previous 95 were slider down, so I haven't had any experience flying my BASE canopy through the rings. I had a HORRIBLY hard landing after what was supposed to be a flat turn. Has anyone noticed a HUGE difference in flight characteristics when going to slider up jumping? Soft landings Rex