NickDG

>>Where the hell do you land in downtown NYC during rush hour without the chance of hurting a bystander?

Just to avoid confusion Tom means the other Nick. I was in the "I love Tom Aiello Camp" before there was one . . . NickD

Another "first" set by Russel . . . The first BASE jumper to hit the NRGB in freefall, and now - the first BASE jumper that ever missed a body of water the size of Rhode Island . . . Congrats Brother, two down, two to go . . .! NickD

>>Nick Geavani (sorry for the spelling)

You’re way too late to quit over that . . . The original (sham by the NPS) legal program of 1981 for jumping at El Cap required a “D” license. And although they didn’t collect dues, the World BASE Association of the mid-80s tried to be the USBA, and probably would have sold memberships eventually. Thankfully they became an organization looking for a reason to exist and never finding it . . . Freedom, once organized, is freedom no more . . . NickD

Stop doing tandems . . . I'm not being flippent - If you want to learn to skydive then go skydive with experienced AFF Instructors who can solve most of your issues before they happen. You'll still have some difficulty, of course, but at least it will be a related to what you are trying to achieve. NickD

>>WHY THEN does he make such programs? It's either for the attention or the moolah or both.

So the Discovery Channel has disassociated themselves with Jeb. What a laugh that is from a bunch of corporate goons who'll put anything on the air as long as it sells more Mountain Dew and pimple cream to children. One day I was standing in Jeb's Malibu garage and he had a brand new Harley V-Rod sitting there. When I asked how he liked it, he said he didn't know. While he'd owned it for a few weeks, he'd never actually gotten around to riding it. Jeb dosen't live in the same world most of us do . . . Jeb didn't like the Discovery Channel gig. He certainly doesn't need the money, and the work involved kept him from traveling the world and BASE jumping, like we all wish we could. In a time when most people will sell their souls, or make complete asses of themselves, to be on television - Jeb just shot them all the middle finger. And I think that is very cool . . . NickD

Just in case Teresa needs help looking for her car keys . . . I'll arrive at TWF about noon on the 25th. NickD

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7466666104246770991&q=jetpack&pl=true NickD

Mike M. and Alistair B. were the first two to BASE jump the ESB in the late 1980s. I also know at least one other jumper who did it successfully and without being busted. He took advantage of the fact the observation deck is open until midnight and he took the last elevator up at 11:15 PM. He later told me he went up prepared to jump five times before the wind conditions and a small number of people on that last elevator load made it possible. NickD

Oh, and on the fact there were no reported fatalities between Robert Morris Jr., #23 in 1990 and Jonathan Bowlin, #25 in1993. There was indeed one and that’s Darren Newton, #24, but I don’t know when it happened exactly except it’s in that range somewhere. But, I think I have a reason why we did so well during those years. This is the period where BASE jumping finally started separating itself from skydiving. A time when BASE gear came into it’s own, and people really began to realize BASE had it’s own rules and it’s own pitfalls. Another thing is it was the heyday of the BASE magazine. I was publishing the Fixed Object Journal, Phil Smith was still doing BASEline magazine, there was the Rock Hopper, and several other publications. In a sense, even with the internet nowadays, I think we communicated better in those days, and more of us were on the same page so to speak. Today the signal to noise ratio keeps many from hearing the truth of it . . . or has them chasing falsehoods. In any case, I think we had a better chance of getting through a fatality free year back then. Today, that doesn’t even seem remotely possible. And that’s sad. We are so much better and so much worse all at the same time . . . NickD

Yes it is still, unfortunately, very much a work in progress. When I initially started it and after the first 30 or so fatalities I thought the BASE community small enough that it would be impossible to miss any of them. But I didn’t know about the very first fatality listed until the late 90s or so, and that one I just happened upon because it was reported in an old 1981 issue of PARACHUTIST. There wasn’t much of a BASE community back then and it was only considered a parachute stunt gone bad. Over the years I still get an occasional report I have to insert, and not just add to the end, because it was hushed up at first. Number 15 is that way, and on others like #26 which I put on the list back in ‘93, I didn’t know her name until 2004. These seem to be due to legal reasons and sometimes because many skydiving associations around the world would ban a jumper for life after any involvement in BASE back in the old days. Also remember, unlike today, when for better or worse the authorities now recognize BASE as a sport, sometimes any connection to a BASE fatality could be very serious and sometimes brought with it a charge of manslaughter. Given the above, together with human nature being what it is, I’ll never say the list is complete, and I’m sure there are, at least a few, fatalities we don’t know about. The list gets more complete and accurate over time and after another thirty years or so it will be there to provide a good snapshot of what we all went through when there is no one left who remembers. And that was the point of the list in the first place. I never meant it to become a teaching tool, although I’m happy that Mentors make their students study it, and experienced jumpers often tell me how much they learn from it. Shepherding this list is the hardest thing I’ve done in my entire parachuting career. At first it was difficult because most on the list were real friends and not just people I vaguely knew. Nowadays, when it’s someone I don’t personally know, it’s still sad, as now I will never know them . . . I haven’t as yet added the latest two fatalities which brings us to number 97 in total. I had communicated with Stephen just days before he died in LB, and we laughed and shared some stories as he was ordering gear from us. I’ve since been in contact with his widow several times and it’s just heart breaking stuff . . . Also over the years, every once in a while someone will attack the list as being something that puts BASE in a bad light. Fair enough I suppose when read by an outsider, or a reporter, without the context to understand it. But I believe it really shows our true character, it shows we respect our pioneers, both old and new, and it shows we recognize the significance of what we are doing. On a lighter note I also hear from people outside the BASE community who also get it. Hollywood types write to ask about buying the rights to the list. One felt there’s potential for a project because, and these were his words, “by the time I finished reading it I was sweating buckets, man, there is drama there. . .” Don’t worry though; I’d never sell out my sisters and brothers that way. What will probably happen in the end, after all the writing I’ve done on BASE jumping, after all the people I’ve helped over the years, and even after my BASE book gets published, all I’ll ever be remembered for is that damn list . . . NickD

While SKYDIVING did mention the bit about height over water being hard to judge there's another issue to ponder if you try the same thing. There was a jumper in So Cal who went into the ocean on a demo after a bad spot some years ago and he also cutaway at a reasonable height above the water. The bottom of the reserve pack tray hit the water and then slammed into the back of his head hard enough it snapped his spine as neatly as a hangman's gallows . . . NickD

Yikes . . . NickD BASE 194

Since I've been working at Apex BASE almost six months now I can compare it to the early 90s when I worked here doing the same thing but we were called Basic Research. Sure, I know we are drawing in new BASE jumpers much earlier in their skydiving careers. But, frankly, I’m pretty astounded at the lack of gear knowledge so many prospective BASE jumpers now display. It wasn’t that prevalent before. There’s always been a certain amount of hand holding in this sport, but back in the day a customer would call me and tell me what they wanted; now they ask me what they should get. There is confusion in even the little things like the difference between 0-3 and ZP fabric. “Oh yeah I get now, 0-3 is that stuff reserves are built from.” That's a real sea change in BASE jumping. For instance this direct bag thing. Okay, yes, they are somewhat out of favor nowadays, but some of the “wisdom” this fellow with his new direct bag is getting is really out there. One guy wrote him privately to say, "That's not a direct bag, it's a POD." And up-board there’s someone saying direct bags make for slow deployments like it's a fact of life. In this time when many jumpers are so gear/rigging handicapped we probably should embrace the simplicity of things like direct bags. While some here act like they wouldn’t touch one with a ten foot pole the fact is direct bag deployments are tried and proven. In fact the major argument against them became not about reliability but more about the increased “freefall” time one could get off a low object by using static line or even PCA. There’s been just one direct bag fatality (the holder dropped the bag) and it amazes me that when static line came into favor (two things imported by the Brits, the Beatles and static line BASE, and they should have quit after the Beatles) direct bag fell from favor but look at how many static line failures have since occurred. Aside from the fact you need an assistant everyone is forgetting Mark’s idea for the direct bag was just a better and safer way of static lining very low stuff. Then a funny thing happened. Almost every BASE jumper who started in the mid-80s started on direct bag. It became the “tool” for teaching new BASE jumpers. “You can blow your launch, you can flail like your at an ethic funeral, you can even cover your eyes and scream like a baby, but I’ve got your bag, man, and everything’s gonna be cool.” In fact none of us thought twice about putting a first time BASE jumper off a tower with a direct bag simply because direct bag was so reliable it negated the other factors. We would never put someone off a solid object for the first time any other way. I’ll caveat the above by also saying the average new BASE jumper in the mid-1980s was more experienced, gear-wise, air-wise, and canopy control-wise than today’s new BASE jumper. That fact alone means mentors need to be a step above where they were twenty years ago. I know most of the professional and established first BASE courses are doing a great job, but I do worry more about the part-timers who maybe shouldn’t be a mentors at all. But that’s the price we’ve always paid for our freedom. There is one thing that hasn’t changed and it's still good advice for all beginners – it’s not the drop zone, so be careful who you hang with. Oh, wait a minute there’s the phone . . . “Apex BASE, this is Nick.” “Hey man, I need some of that breakable shoelace stuff cause I found this building and I want to static line it. Where do I tie it to?” Gee, it’s going to be a long day . . . NickD

Jerm's doing rigging and manufacturing work for us here at Apex BASE in Perris . . . NickD

Hey You . . . I'm sending good thoughts your way . . . NickD

Yes, it's down. Jimmy administers the website from our Apex Moab shop, and he and Marta are out of town doing a BASE course, so it might be down for the weekend. If anyone needs anything I’m still here for a few hours (it’s Friday) and you can call me at (951) 940 1324. Over the weekend you can leave a phone message or email to: perris@apexbase.com NickD

Agreed, but I'm not jumping it . . . NickD

Here's one we are finishing up for a customer . . . NickD

Hi All, I've added two names to the Fatality List The latest one, Paul, and another that occurred back in 1987, and which has just come to light. The ‘87 incident is now #15 and Paul, the latest entry, is #94 . . . NickD BASE 194

Let's be a little careful here. In the old days we all had our BASE accidents in relative obscurity and criticism, in general, was held in check or at least, didn’t raise itself to present levels. Of course it’s a different sport nowadays, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that because BASE knowledge is light years ahead of what it was that these accidents are always preventable. In a way Eric, or any newer jumper, will always have the same problems we’ve all had at that stage. Sure, you can study the fatality list, you can hang around and listen to others, you can even follow all the good advice about training and gear, but the first few times you’re up there, with your mind buzzing, the anxiety pulling you to pieces, when you can’t hardly speak for lack of spit, is when all that good preparation and intentions can evaporate into the atmosphere. And then it’s just you and that thing you’re standing on. BASE jumpers fresh from the skydiving side of things have no experience with that kind of freedom and responsibility. And not all people react to it the same way. It’s a thousand times easier to follow someone else out of an Otter than it is to convince yourself to step off a tower all alone. The insidious part is not many of us were natural BASE jumpers right off the bat, and the struggle to just step off is so tough all that book and classroom knowledge can sometimes mean little without the practical experience that makes it crystal clear. Sometimes I don’t know what’s worse, just winging it on instinct and guts, or having your head filled with knowledge that means little because you haven’t experienced the reality of BASE. I know we are on the right track, with the BASE training now available, but we are nowhere close to being all the way there. The biggest mistake we can make right now is muzzling our young and making them afraid to expose their mistakes. There is no magic formula for BASE jumping and we are getting awfully close to a time when some of us can sound like the skydivers of old ripping up BASE jumpers. With five BASE jumps or a thousand BASE jumps we are all more alike than we are different. The possibility of plaster, or worse than that, is always just one jump away for all. And with our most experienced brothers and sisters still under 2000 BASE jumps we risk losing sight of the fact that in no way do we have it knocked, in no way do any of us have all the answers, and in some cases some of us aren’t even asking the right questions. Eric, like anyone else who dons a BASE rig, is my brother. And like any brother who is younger I may know more about things simply because I’ve been around longer. But not that much more . . . NickD

>>I'll wait for Nick to hop in here, but Carl Boenish's teenaged neighbor did over 100 BASE jumps before jumping out of a plane, and they weren't all bridges. That would be in -- what -- '81?

The last time this came up Marah asked that her Uncle Mike's videos not be put online. She's also working on a film that will iinclude all that stuff . . . NickD