NickDG

After she mentioned God for the third time she lost me. Personally, I think if there is a God he'd get a kick out of BASE jumping. "Look at that, the thing I made them the most afraid of they went and turned into a sport." On another issue and with Sangiro's rules aside, if we watch what we say here we might as well shut it down. In a time when free speech is threatened from all sides the internet is almost the last bastion of it. Considering what a reporter or a passerby gets from what's written here it is just an example of two people who don’t understand an open society, the person who writes we must be careful doesn’t get it, and the person reading who gives it more weight than it deserves doesn't get it either. I try to judge what I read here by what is being said and not by who says it. Sometimes someone with one jump, or none, will say something that makes sense and I learn from it, sometimes someone with thousands of jumps can show the depth of how much they don’t get it at all. The fact a reporter quotes what's written here without checking into it, or even understanding it, is just an example of how low that profession has sunk. And once we sink to a level where we make allowances for that is the day the battle for truth is completely lost . . . We all go off half cocked sometimes (I know I have) but suffering that is better than the other way. We just have to have faith that in the end, amid the tasteless, the ridiculous, and the juvenile, the truth will always win out in the long run. That position calls for thinking more of your fellow man and his intelligence and realizing it's the lesser so that usually makes the most noise. Not showing ourselves warts and all is like the old Soviet Union withholding how many Cosmonauts they lost or how often their airline Aeroflot had major fatal accidents. What good did that do? If it's to save face it always fails as the truth never remains buried for long. I think the biggest thing I dislike here is people who can't just make their point and then move along. Kind of like I just did . . . NickD

Galloping Gertie . . . http://www.ketchum.org/bridgecollapse.html NickD

In this photo by Karl Eakins there is a modification on this passenger harness to keep this paralyzed jumper's legs together in drogue fall. While this may not be a crotch strap for the reasons we are discussing it does give the idea of how it could work. The crotch strap could be set loose enough so that under canopy the leg straps are still taking the load and the crotch strap would just prevent backing out of the harness. BTW, on the RWS site in the tandem passenger harness section at http://www.relativeworkshop.com/tech_ssh.html it does say the following with the last line being the operative one: "The Horizontal Back Strap must be positioned low and securely tightened. Don't forget to snug up the diagonals. After preliminary adjustment, step back and look at your student from every angle. Make sure there are no "gaps" that anyone could squeeze out of, especially in the back." NickD

Yes, there will be a plaque at the skate park saying the contribution is from, "The Bridge Day BASE Jumpers." As Jason aptly stated the skateboarders of today are the BASE jumpers of tomorrow. If anyone would like to add to the total, or make donation in their own names, here is the contact information and where you can send it: Councilwoman Brooke Stone 317 W. Maple Ave. Fayetteville, WV 25840 Again, I want to thank Russel and Jason and all who donated. This was a Bridge Day I'll never forget . . . BTW, regardless of what the plaque says, I realize some that didn't or couldn't make it to Bridge Day themselves, still donated to help me get there. Without getting too gushy about it, I want you all to know how very cool I thought that was . . . NickD

Well, I suppose it's better than nothing. My first tower jump instruction consisted of directions to the tower . . . NickD

>>Instruction started on the ground, covering all aspects of what to expect, how to handle the exit, what mental state to try and get into, and what to do if the shit hits the fan. Training and discussion continued all the way to the top of the object.

Getting grounded at the world freefall convention used to be a impracticality . . . . It's become a new thing now. Better? Roger is rolling in his grave . . . NickD

I'm not so sure they know about it. But, it's cool. They admitted to being pretty clueless about BASE jumping and whatever questions they have will be the one's most skydivers have, so I might be able to to do some good . . . NickD

I've climbed a lot radio towers, but this may be the scariest one yet . . . http://www.skydiveradio.com/upcoming.htm NickD

What you really need is the right roommate . . . I can live small! NickD

It's a marketing thing. I liked it better when "Skydive" wasn't part of the name, I just think it added more character when it was just Lake Elsinore, Perris, Lodi, Taft, and Cal City rather than "Skydive [enter town here]." I remember how upset I was at Jim Wallace (who I respect more than almost anyone in the sport) first advertised Lake Elsinore as the Jim Wallace Skydiving School. When I mentioned to him while he did indeed own the place he was only a steward of a long tradition like the others before him, he gave it a consideration and then I got the stink eye, and that was that . . . NickD

Okay, I'm not discounting how hard this was on all of you and I know it's not always easy to know what to do . . . NickD BASE 194

Look, you seem to realize what the right thing to do was. The fact you didn't, and there were so many of you, just makes me sick. You knew what the right thing to do was, and you didn't do it. You can justify it all you want but this is something you are going to carry with you all your life. The only good thing is none of you will ever act that way again. A hard way to learn a tough lesson, I'll admit, but the more you try to say "it wasn't my fault," the worse you look. Get in your car and go home or get out there and look for him, there was no third way . . . NickD BASE 194

>>At a dropzone in the Southeastern US, a tandem passenger falls out of his harniss and to his demise (for whatever reason).

Rock on Brother . . . NickD

Oh, and after being grounded for thirty days, I didn't go somehwere else, I showed up every day and just sat their and smiled . . . NickD

Thank Goodness! I've always had great respect for your experience and opinions, Tom. I've been reading your stuff for years and I've never read anything you've said that I didn’t agree with . . . >>Once for winning a naked low pull contest.

Yes, I agree, the pendulum has now swung too much the other way. My generation rebelled against those past attitudes and I'll admit we now carry and baby some jumpers way too much. Someday, I hope we can manage to find a middle ground . . . NickD

I probably would have but the value of music is what it means to you. Instead Madison Avenue is trying to get into your brain and direct what you should think. Doesn't that just bug the shit out of you? We've all, and you will too SudsyFist, experience a day the music dies. For me it was the first time I saw a Cadillac automobile commercial that used Led Zeppelin as a soundtrack. That was the day my world turned completely upside down . . . I think no matter what generation you're in, the most important thing is, don't let them work you. NickD

I hate music videos. Music should be listened to, not watched . . . "We can dance when we want to," was/is very cool! NickD

Only once for a bandit night skydive, the other times they didn't catch me . . . NickD

Right now (Wednesday morning) CNN is reporting a large rescue effort for a woman stuck on a cliff (a non-jumping event) in Hartford, CT. No one is saying this woman needs a new hobby or should learn a lesson. Is the difference between smart and stupid merely one of legality? Tell that to Rosa Parks or Jan (the BASE one) Davis . . . NickD

Don't complain too much. Breaking into the skydiving community is easier now than it was thirty years ago. In those days walking up to a "local" and introducing yourself would get you a curt, "So what?" If they even said anything to you at all. In those days (right or wrong) you earned your way in and sometimes it took years. There was no way you could buy your way in and no way were you thought of as a "customer." I'm glad those days are over, I mean the humiliation some endured was sometimes too much and they'd quit the sport over it, and I'm sure this was just as intended. Hack it or pack it was the order of the day. I recall back in 1978 I'd already been in the sport for three years and I'm still considered a "turkey" who couldn't fly worth a damn. And I really couldn't as no one would jump with me, except others who were just as bad as I, or if I scraped up an extra seven dollars and paid for some "skygod's" slot. The worst was one day I begged (and I really mean begged) Tom Start (a local big gun) to jump with me and afterward I got this; "You suck. Go over the hill to Perris and come back when you can fly, and maybe, just maybe then you can get on the hot loads." The drive over the hill to Perris was the saddest day of my life, but I wasn't going to let them break me and I decided to be upbeat and do whatever it took to become a good skydiver. I parked in the Perris parking lot for the first time, grabbed my gear, and tried to look confident. I walked up to the first person I saw and it was Alan Richter sitting on a picnic table. I stood up straight, looked him right in the eye, and stuck out my hand. "Hi, my name is Nick." I said. "So what?" He said. Man, that was a long summer . . . NickD

If allowed to name my own poison . . . Nicked – (The other "is" too hard to say, even for me). 1. Standing on a low bridge assuming the wind is the same on the bottom as it is on the top. 2. Being too lazy to walk the landing area and completely disregarding the topography. 3. Winding up in the rocks with two broken legs. NickD

That video rocked. Now, just how far is it from the top of El Cap to the nearest park boundary? NickD