LouYoung

I know that I didn't feel like a real BASE jumper until the first time I scouted and jumped an object, solo, landing on a tiny sand bar, with very few outs. It was jump 81, two weeks short of my one year BASE anniversary. Then that feeling was reinforced 11 jumps later when I got my last letter. And again, 14 jumps later, successfully jumping a very high bust "O" object and getting away undetected. Before all of that (including getting my first three letters, having a "sort of cliffstrike", doing basic aerials, and getting arrested), I just didn't feel right calling myself a BASE jumper. Aynone who knew me during that time called me one (among other things) because that was my sole focus. But I'd have felt like a poser if I came out said, "Yeah, I'm a BASE jumper!" However, if someone does one tandem and wants to be a skydiver, or jumps NRGB and wants to be called a BASE jumper, so be it. They BASE jumped, so they must be a BASE jumper. But for me, it was different.

I think we already do, Tony! We've seen the video!

I agree. Those are excellent pics of an awesome cliff. Lou PS - Just to make my other post more clear, it wasn't about age. Age isn't a measure of skill or prior training. Besides, some of us (me) can't judge. I almost died the first time I jumped that one.

I cringe everytime I see someone new going out to that cliff. With all the talk going around about how dangerous Moab is, this object is worse than 90 percent of the jumps out there. (Of course, in the olden days, some of the old AZ crew did their first jump from this one. Yikes! Now those guys only come out for the really risky jumps. )

Speak for yourself, slider-whore! I'm going out there this weekend... unless it's raining. Damned AZ weather.

Now we need to define object strike. If your canopy touches the object and you don't, is it a strike? If so, I need to change how I voted. My canopy touched a cliff wall on jump 16, but I didn't, and I flew away from the incident. I've never really considered it a real object strike. Should I? Lou

Does anyone here see a significant difference in Ravens vs. SuperRavens? When I bought my "let's practice BASE skills" skydiving canopy, I was told to get a SuperRaven as it will simulate a BASE canopy better than a Raven. I haven't heard anyone else mention the distinction in any of the latest threads. Lou PS - I ended up grabbing a SuperRaven III for a very reasonable price.

14.071.

Just what we expect from a jumper! Get better Matt!

I'm going to be in Tahoe (Heavenly area) from Feb 17 to Feb 21. Anyone in that area that can show me something good? PM me. Lou

A question for anyone who knows: - How many climbing rangers are on staff in Yosemite in the fall season? A statement for Link: - They're not stunts.

That's a good lead. I've been looking for a Wilderness First Aid class in my area and while the DC Red Cross link provided there doesn't help, it did point me in the right direction to find the Arizona Red Cross website and they're offering the same class this weekend. Nice find! For some reason I never even thought to look at the Red Cross for this sort of thing. I had asked around at my local climbing gyms and outdoor shops but I always get pointed to the 2 and 3 week courses that are geared toward certifying backcountry guides. I'm not looking for something THAT in depth, but I should would like to know what to do to stablize a buddy until we can get him/her to real help or vice versa. Thanks for the lead! Lou

Dude, what about that front flip gone wrong!? You felt that one right away! Then you finished with a nice downwind superman! BTW: How you been, man? Been a long time.

I agree. The main reason I had one stuffed in there was for storage for the climb up. The bastard kept slipping out and actually made the climb scarier than it should have been. Doing that repeatedly will surely stretch out the pouch. Not something I've done more than once or plan on repeating unless there's a really, really good reason. Lou PS - I'm a big fan of the Super Mushroom for nearly all my stowed jumps. It might take longer to pack, but if it helps even a little bit, that time packing is time well spent.

I don't ever think I was specifically told not to stow a 48-inch pilot chute. I just kind of realized it would be a bad idea for a few reasons: 1) Stowed pilot chutes hesitate more often than handheld 2) Larger pilot chutes have a greater tendency to hesitate than smaller pilot chutes 3) If the object is low enough to require a short enough delay to dictate a 48 inch pilot chute, then I should probably go handheld anyway 4) It's virtually impossible to fold my 48-inch ZP pilot chute small enough to get it to go in and STAY in my pilot chute pouch As for the 300 foot A with a sketchy exit point and jumping a FOX VTEC 265, I'd probably go stowed with a 42 inch pilot chute packed with the Super Mushroom technique. (Tested this method from 250 feet, actually.) Given the trees at the bottom and depending on the distance I'd need to clear to make the landing area, I'd rather go handheld with a larger pilot chute if I could figure out how to safely climb to the exit point. I'm still a novice, so there might be better ways. I'd definately get advice and/or see how others are doing it if I'm not going solo. Lou

In that case, put me down for 800.

I know exactly what you're saying. Of course, three of those cliffstrikes were in Moab and I think you saw those three also. The near miss was next (an out of towner who came by to grab a jump). And just like the jump at The Crown, I was left standing on top wondering what happened. I actually mentioned to another local that I needed to start thinking about who I jump with. Then I got hooked up with another out-of-towner by an x-local (you know both of them, BDB who flies helicopters, and TV who climbs). Three others came along with him and one of them had a rather scary cliffstrike but ended up walking away with some blood and a tattered canopy. After the last few incidents, I've been thinking long and hard about having to call 911. One solution is to do nothing but solos from here on out. Ugh. It's a tough thing to deal with for me at this stage. Do I jump alone and accept that risk? Or do I risk watching one of my brothers go in? Lou

#1 - I nearly always wear my seatbelt. #2 - 90 mph really isn't all that fast. #3 - A high performance driver could say the same thing about all the "unknowns" that could happen when you make a BASE jump. You couldn't possibly be able to react fast enough to deal with them. Of course, he wouldn't be very well schooled in BASE jumping. How well schooled are you in high performance driving? Then again, your buddy might not be either. Lou PS - I've seen 4 cliff strikes and 1 very near miss (landing on the talus in some very nasty bushes) in the last 6 weeks. All of them either didn't have enough time to react or reacted improperly to the situation.

At that point, why not just go hand held? How would you do that long of a static line anyway? You'd either have to take the PC off or do something else with it to prevent it from catching air and deploying the canopy before you reached the end of the static line. And still, by the time you reached the end of the static line, you'd have so much speed that I'd be surprised if the shock of pulling the velcro, pins, or even the canopy out of the container didn't prematurely break the break cord. If you've got no PC, that's real bad. If you've got a PC and you held onto it until the end of the static line, you should have gone handheld in the first place. Thoughts? Lou

Dude, that looks like my backyard.

Thanks for clueing me into Google. I was looking more for insight as to whether anyone has seen SixSixOne in LARGE retailers that might have showrooms in most major US cities, since my Google search didn't bring anything like that up. By large I mean Sports Authority, REI, etc. The purpose of my question is to see one in real life to try it on. But thanks anyway.

Does anyone know of any large dealers that carry SixSixOne? Most of the bike shops around here only carry Bell, Giro, and Specialized. I'd like to try on the helmet to see if I like the fit before I'd order one off the internet. Do you know how the SixSixOne sizes fit compared to any of the Bell fullface helmets?

He injured the outside of his left foot pretty good and didn't mention any ankle pain. I looked at the video and a frame of the video shows him impacting the wall with his left foot. It must have stuck on something on the wall because in the video still his left foot was on the wall and his knee was up in his chest as the right leg was hanging completely straight. After landing, he took his boot off and the outside of his foot swelled up pretty quickly. I think he fractured or broke the bone in his foot, but it may have just been badly bruised. It was a very scary strike from my point of view. I couldn't see a thing since I was standing alone at the exit point trying to lean over the edge to see what was going on. I was very relieved to finally see a canopy fly out and make it to the road (and then to see the jumper stand up the landing, indicating that he wasn't missing a leg or anything). The next time I talk to him I'll find out what the official prognosis was (if he ever ended up getting it checked out).

I tried pretty hard to make my 100th naked, but it just didn't come together. I'll try to make it up later. Maybe 110? Lou

It was just a glitch in the Matrix at the time the picture was taken.