NickDG

CRW is a pretty cool little airport. They graded flat the top of a West Virginia hill in order to build it. But there isn't a bar there, per say. There's a "lounge" though, Tudor's Biscuit World & Family Restaurant . . . http://www.yeagerairport.com/Facilities.html The nice waitresses there will bring you bottles of beer in their apron pockets, like the ketchup . . . Your chances of meeting up with someone on their way to the Bridge aren't as good on Wednesday as it would be the next day and so on. But, I took a cab to the bridge one year. Including the two stops at liquor stores I paid 50 bucks and the cabbie spent the night and partied with us at the Holiday Inn. The last time I saw him at midnight he was still shuttling jumpers to the beer store and back. Saturday, he took the whole day off and brought his entire family, including both grandparents; up to the bridge in his cab . . . the kids loved it . . . NickD

Finally, here's where the "athlete" thing comes in . . . NickD

I'd guess it won't matter how he does it. The current 24 hour (BASE) record isn't insurmountable. There's been 24 jumpers all at once. There's been all four BASE categories made in 24 hours. There's even been screw BASE, along with state and country BASE, all made in 24 hours, and while no one has done BASE arrest (all four objects) in 24 hours . . . the most jumps by a single person in a single day is easily within reach of any serious attempt. It will just matter how far out of reach he wants to set the bar. If I was Miles' coach I'd tell him to coast and do fifty. Then Joe Blow will come along next month with a homegrown effort and do 60. Then Miles can return to do seventy. That way the media coverage can continue for years before we get to the helicopter part and start blowing off 500 at a time . . . NickD

I'll bet he does 2 per hour and ends up with 50 or better . . . or maybe he'll do five hundred! NickD

Not in a welfare sense but society "should" take up the more legitimate liabilities of its most fringe cases. The guy soloing his small sailboat around the world, the climber topping out three times in a week, and the BASE jumpers pushing it hard in inaccessible places, all deserve an occasional rescue. In a free world that also means saving the refugees from the "jackass" cult, but that's part of the package. To say no to one shaky endeavor is to say no to them all. And, humankind is richer for having madmen . . . NickD

'Stupid' BASE-jumper first to leap into court By Matthew Benns and Eamonn Duff September 11, 2005 The Sun-Herald http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/stupid-basejumper-first-to-leap-into-court/2005/09/10/1125772734229.html?oneclick=true A rookie BASE-jumper rescued for the second time in four months will be the first person charged in NSW over the controversial activity. Ben Gibson, 26, was rescued from a rock ledge after his parachute jump from a cliff top at Pierces Pass near Bilpin in the Blue Mountains went wrong last weekend. It was the second time in four months that the Westpac Rescue Helicopter has rescued Gibson from a failed BASE-jump. His actions have infuriated emergency services, who are looking to hand him the bill for their expensive callouts, and fellow BASE-jumpers who believe Gibson's actions are tarnishing their sport. A Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service spokesman said: "BASE-jumping is a very dangerous sport and this accident quite clearly highlights that. "There are many sports where people put their lives at risk but there aren't too many that put the lives of others at risk when something goes horribly wrong, as is the case with BASE-jumping." Penrith Volunteer Rescue Association squad captain John Buchtmann said: "It's pure and utter stupidity. The consequences are astronomical when things go wrong - someone else has to risk their lives to go and rescue them." Rescuers had to abseil 170 metres down the cliff face to secure Gibson to a stretcher before the helicopter crew could winch him to safety and fly him to Nepean Hospital for treatment. On May 21, the same helicopter crew rescued Gibson after another abortive BASE-jump at Blackheath, in the Blue Mountains. Ambulance specialist casualty access team manager Keith Williams said: "It was one of the more technical rescues we have done and highly dangerous for the rescuer." Paramedic Paul Kernick, who abseiled down to Gibson last weekend, said: "It was pretty daunting to look over the edge of something that high, no matter who you are. It makes you think twice about what you have to do." Mr Kernick and a police officer abseiled down to the parachutist, who was clinging to a bush to prevent himself from slipping off the metre-wide ledge and plunging another 100 metres to the ground. "He was quite grateful that we were there. He had a lot of pain from the position he was in," said Mr Kernick. "He had a broken ankle and broken ribs from an earlier accident." The emergency call from Gibson's brother on the cliff top was placed at 7.50am and he was not finally winched free until 2.30pm. An ambulance spokesman said: "It is too early to provide a cost for the rescue, however, the BASE-jumper will receive a bill from the Ambulance Service of NSW for our response to the rescue." It costs $3500 an hour to keep the Westpac Helicopter in the air and the operation took more than six hours. Assistant Police Commissioner Denis Clifford estimated the total cost as running into "tens of thousands of dollars". He said: "We're very keen to talk to him and we'll be looking at some offences under the National Parks and Wildlife Regulations, which carry about a $3000 fine." A police spokeswoman added that Gibson would face charges for both of the BASE-jumps, which are banned in national parks. It is understood he will be the first person to be charged in NSW. Gibson was discharged from hospital on Wednesday. When asked how he was feeling he said: "I'm OK, thanks for your concern." But he refused to talk about the charges. "I have no comment to make on the matter, please don't call me again," he said. Peter Fielding, considered to be the godfather of Australian BASE-jumping, said Gibson had "jumped his final jump". He said Gibson was trained by Jason Fitz-Herbert, who died in October 2004 doing a memorial jump on the way to the funeral of BASE-jumper Roland Simpson.

I'm pretty sure I've never heard of a 21-way off any other bridge . . . NickD

What's Carey jumping now? A one cell . . . NickD

>>it's a sad day for me.

Carl Boenish predicted in the late 70's, that soon, N.Y.C. would cordon off the streets around the World Trade Center one day per month so we could all jump . . . he also thought the BASE numbers would reach 1000 in ten years. He was fifteen years off the mark, and that other thing didn't come to pass either. I think the future is now. The trespassing thing will never go away completely in the USA, but we can say BASE is already accepted on the wholesale level. It's used in ads, and to make action packed movie scenes while journalists have taken to using the acronym BASE as an adjective to describe dangerous sports like when they say, "Similar to BASE jumping, Enter-Sport-Here, can be a killer." The table is set for a commercial BASE jumping center somewhere, a tower or bridge, or who knows maybe even a cliff or building, dedicated to BASE with a juice bar and everything. The squabbles we have are normal and nothing new . . . but the future of BASE jumping resides in the same place as always. Right in our laps . . . NickD

>>They are having a good time

They must catch you with your leg straps on. It's why B-12s (the real buckle) are better for BASE, especially if you need to blend in or flee. B-12s also solve the problem of being in a tree, and also getting dragged, if you're quick enough to dodge the chest strap. B-12s are the only way out of your gear if your gear is hard wired. NickD

LOL, De-Ported . . . NickD BASE 194

He's here, he's pBASEtobe . . . and it's Russel, with one "L" NickD

I knew Russel was tough the day he came to our house for dinner. We have a very uphill driveway and he called to say he was here. I went out expecting to go down the hill and get him. I opened the door and there he was . . . NickD

I was going to say something funny like "well you've got three months," but this isn't funny at all, and to my ear very un-Oz like . . . I can only add the whole world is getting sappy. NickD

First laugh out loud today, thanks Abbie . . . NickD

I was wondering this too when I was advising someone else recently. I would imagine being registered for Bridge Day would be one of the things required to sit the course. But, maybe people with an interest, but not yet ready for BASE, should be included too. I can see the problem if said interested person goes back home and kills themselves. Boy, BASE jumping is just one sticky wicket after another . . . NickD

I'd say in the final analysis one guy is pushing BASE and the other is leeching it, I really thought about it long and hard and that's all I wound up with . . . NickD

I was gearing up for Nate, Jimbo and Pizza would call fo a whole other thing . . . NickD

Okay, Nate, I understand your point of view. I know what being young and in the military is about. I'm not knocking you personally. I'm just down the street from you (if you are at the sub base in Pt. Loma) so come around for a beer . . . NickD

I'm always disappointed when the world calls us on our brains. I get over it as we are a young country and we have much to learn. But, I'm even more disappointed when so many us can't see the truth of it . . . if it walks like a duck, and it talks like a duck . . . Three quarters of my own boot camp platoon was wasted in a jungle in the wrong country and for the wrong reason. I'm not anti-war so much as I'm anti-bush. I understand the beef the Arab world has with us, and a fist fight isn't going to solve it. We need statesman more than buffoons . . . It's in the record that 3,415 of Texas's servicemen died in Southeast Asia, and more than a few were born the same year as Bush . . . so, if your stream of consciousness started in the 1980s, please think about the price already paid and for what . . . ? NickD BASE 194

>>Sports N' Spokes is another magazine that would probably love to run a story about Russel.

>>I can't belive this! This is is a discrace!

There's several in my area. Bring a BASE rig . . . The first parachute jumps ever made were from fixed objects and so will be, the last ones . . . NickD