LouYoung

It depends on who gets you in the U.S. I got my gear back in two days. Now, like someone else said, once you get one conviction on your record, it's really difficult to keep the others from sticking and the penalties from being worse. The best way to not get a speeding ticket? Don't get the first one. If your record is clean, you're more likely to get a warning or get the ticket dismissed/dropped. With that said, if I get nabbed for another trespass anytime in the near future, it's gonna hurt.

The arresting officers in my case were pretty easy going, too. (They didn't even show up for the court date.) They just wanted to give us a ticket and let us go, but the Leuitenant that showed up made sure they booked us. Overnights in County Jail suck ass.

I'm all over it, too. 2025 is too long to wait. An anniversary of the first jump/bust seems appropriate, but it's probably better to go the sneak attack route and have jumpers in the air before they even know there's a protest going on. Get 100-200 jumpers that each pitch 100 bucks into a legal fund, plus they each bring 2 "millers" to hang out in the landing area as decoys and we've got something... probably just an extra conviction for "unlawful gathering" or something else equally anti-Freedom, but it's something.

Check this old thread. I was surprised to find out what the weight rating is for mini-risers. I'm surprised they would even ship a 260 with mini's. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1041580#1041580

I sprained my ankle while wearing Hanwags and I'm thinking it would have been broken if I wasn't wearing them (jump 6 I think, fast downwinder into a load of bushes). 6 hours and 6 beers later I couldn't walk on it at all. 36 hours after I was jumping with one of those Swede-O ankle supports inside my Hanwags. Worked really well.

Search google.com for swede-o ankle protection and you'll come up with a bunch of stuff. Lou

Congrats Katie! I gotta get off my ass and off a B. Grr.

Oh sure, bring actual documented definitions into it. Lou

I'm no physics expert either, didn't even graduate high school. But here's one to wrap your head around.... Drag IS lift.

In the US it depends on what State you're in. In my State, the law differs depending on private or commercial, giving the edge to the commercial property owner. Trespass is:

Airplanes?

I think they're trying to quiz you on the height of the bridge and they're using the term "base jumper" to make it XXXTREME! To the max out, dude!

Ah, good! I knew you were smarter than that! 'cept when it comes to folding pilot chutes! *dig!* Lou

Jaap, Check out http://www.cafepress.com. They'll handle the sales side of your shirts and make them as they're ordered. No ironing involved, and a better quality product than iron on. (I'm making an assumption that you may be slaving away over an ironing board making these things yourself.) Lou

It might be easier to "hear" the glide angle by playing a tone where the pitch gets higher as the glide angle increases. That way you don't have to hear and understand actual words, you just listen for a tone. Kind of like how analog gauges work better in a race car. The driver just needs to check and make sure the needle is pointing straight up rather than trying to read and comprehend a digital readout. Lou

Sloppy Joes and jail are two things I don't want to see in the same sentence! Being is jail is disgusting enough, I don't need any more DNA on me!

Yes! I've been meaning to find a backcountry first responder course in my area. I've done some looking, but the courses I've found are 3 and 4 week long intensive training for people who want some sort of fancy "backcountry guide rating." I just want to learn what I need to know to keep my friend alive long enough for real help to get there, or set a bone so that we can drag his ass out to civilization. Most basic first responder courses are geared for stabilizing someone in a car accident, but I don't know how much that would apply to what we do. Advice? Lou

Can't wait to read THAT entry in your log book!

Anyone going to be available during the day on Wed, May 25th? I'm going to be there for about 9 hours before I drive to TF for the weekend. Wondering if there's any day-time jumps available (probably over by all those ski areas?) that I could hit to pass the time. Shoot me a PM! Thanks! Lou

Or you just go to your local drug store and buy a pair of glasses right off the rack. Presbyopia prescriptions aren't very complicated.

Point taken.

And they were for the drilling of rocks and placement of bolts there? Not to bag on climbers, because I think we all do what we do for fun and that's okay, but I always wondered how climbers felt about the "Leave No Trace" ethic when they toss their trash off of walls and drill into rocks to place permanent bolts. I feel guilty about just leaving a tailgate rubberband on each jump. Lou

It's true. I've made many cliff jumps into Lake Powell without a parachute. I was standing atop a 90 footer once and the lake patrol boat came out and parked to watch me. I don't know why, but I yelled down to ask them if they'd arrest me if I jumped. It's not like I could think of any reason it should be illegal, but I inherently distrust authority figures, so I figured they were waiting for me to do something wrong. They replied that there's no rule against it, but that jumping off the cliff would be stupid and they advised against it. I jumped, landed, climbed back up and jumped again. They motored off without another word. What would have happened if I took a bed sheet up there with me?

Remember that in this is 2005. Computer-type jobs are the new burger flippers. Every kid out of high school gets a job doing something with computers. I'm just glad I got in when it was new so I'm not making the burger flipping wages.

My parents are the same, they seem to be proud of anything I do, and my mother is fine with it because she knows that I take care to learn as much as possible with regards to what I do. Example: She used to come out to watch me race cars. She's seen me race so many times, including spinning out and all that's involved in racing, that she doesn't get scared anymore. When I started BASE, she understood that it was what I wanted to do, and had a sort of faith in me that I'd do what was necessary to keep myself as safe as possible. She has seen me BASE once, and thinks it's the coolest thing ever. I've explained to her what could happen, I've explained black death, but she's still positive that I'll keep myself safe. I'm glad she doesn't worry. But in the back of my mind, I'm SURE she doesn't understand the risk. And to me, as long as she understands that I'm doing what I have chosen, and understands that no one else is responsible for me, I'm fine with her not understanding the risk. She believes in me, and knows that no one but me is responsible, and as far as I'm concerned, that's perfect. Lou