NickDG

Mike, Yes, ram air (square) canopies then and now are basically the same. However, you may want to wait until you see the landing area in person before deciding on landing there or in the water. A new saying we have is, "You dry faster than you heal." But, Johnny can help guide you through that decision. I will say the landing area at Bridge Day isn't the meadow at El Cap It's small and surrounded by tall trees. But, all the details can be worked out. You are going to be surrounded by some of the best BASE jumpers in the world, and they'll all want to help. The local media at Bridge Day always finds some angle on the event to key off from. Sometimes it's the weather; sometimes it's a jumper wedding on the bridge, things like that. This time we should make every effort to make sure the angle is you two guys . . . I can see it now, "Closing a Circle . . ." NickD

Very cool, Johnny . . . ! NickD

There hasn't been a case (as far as I know) of a mini riser failing for quite some time. The last time was many years ago at Elsinore, maybe ten years ago. The newer ones are reinforced and seem to be alright. The Integrity types are even better. (The ones without the grommet in the bottom of the riser). However, comfort level counts for a lot, so if it's important to you there are Type 8 risers with small rings that you, or a rigger, can install on the canopy . . . As for the RSL thing, even without weight issues that's a decision you have to make for yourself. Bill Booth of the RWS in on this board. PM him with your particulars and he should be able to better answer your questions. NickD

Boy, I smell a plan coming together . . . Of course, Jason Bell has total say on who gets the first off slot, but I'm sure we could get some gear together for you to use. Tina mentioned you stopped jumping sometime after El Cap, so am I correct in guessing you've never jumped a square parachute? Rounds are fine at Bridge Day, but instead of something military we now have smaller rounds designed especially for BASE jumping. I have a pretty good "in" with one of the manufacturers so maybe I can help with that. However, please don’t get the idea there is any pressure on you to make a jump. Just having you two there would be more than enough for us. However, if you really do want to jump I'm sure Johnny Utah, or Tom Aiello, would gladly have you in the courses they provide for first timers at Bridge Day. You know, LOL, just as a refresher sort of thing. There are crackerjack boat crews at Bridge Day, so you can land in the river and they'll have you in the boat before your hair gets wet. Now, this is getting exciting . . . NickD

Thanks, Mike, that's all great stuff. Please consider, along with Brian and Tina too, coming to Bridge Day this year. We need to stand you two up in front of hundreds of BASE jumpers and get you the cheers, tears, and applause you both deserve. And I know you'll get a real kick out of what's happening in the sport nowadays. You can go here http://www.bridgeday.info/ for the details . . . I'm not sure if you know, but before Carl Boenish organized the 1978 loads from El Cap it was you two that gave him the idea. He was a young jumper at Elsinore in 1966 with about a hundred jumps when he heard about your jumps. It was something that stuck in his mind and all that he did later, naming the sport "BASE" and coming up with the BASE award, is all due to what you two did. So, please consider coming to Bridge Day as I know about 400 jumpers that would love to shake your hand. PS, bring some good pens. You're going to be signing a lot of logbooks . . . NickD

Hi Mike, I left you a note over on the BASEboard. It's great to see you here. How about setting the record straight and giving us the whole story? All I know is what Carl Boenish said and info from the newspaper clippings a BASE-friendly Park Ranger sent me many years ago. We'd love to hear how you came up with the idea, I mean we want details . . . NickD

I've seen more than my share of irresponsible journalism, but this takes the cake. I guess it never occurred to them we are better now at not getting caught. And does anyone see this as a challenge . . . NickD BASE 194 http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=111205

There are a couple of good stories there. Rick was a stuntman, but not a parachutist when he came up with that stunt. He went to a drop zone figuring he'd make one jump from an airplane to learn skydiving before trying the ski jump. I think it was Antioch or Lodi he went to and when he explained why he wanted to jump the DZO explained the facts of life to him. Rick soon realized the DZO was right and he made over sixty jumps prior to the stunt. He did the stunt at least twice. Once (I think) from El Cap, and again in the Baffin Islands. On the morning of one of the attempts a small dog that was otherwise very friendly and belonged to one of the crew wouldn't come anywhere near Rick and it freaked him out. He'd heard that dogs can sense death and Rick spent more than few minutes chasing that dog around . . . There's a good recap of Rick's jumps in the Howard Gregory book, "The Falcon's Disciples." NickD

>>I played the gimp card last year and they let me through. Only 10 minutes early though.

The Kap-3 (the Russian AOD) was purely mechanical. You'd wind it up with something that looked like a skate key (LOL, if anyone remembers what a skate key is) and just before exit turn it on and it would begin a countdown. I believe these were used mostly on mains . . . NickD

My humble entry . . . NickD

No! Stop! Whistling in an aircraft is bad luck. There are many ATC recordings where someone whistling in the cockpit immediately precedes whatever bad thing happened. I even yelled at a guy for whistling whilst we were standing on a building getting ready to jump. Tempt fate - - - not me, Baby . . . NickD

http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=5&sid=215610 NickD BASE 194

Hello Sam, That's all cool with me . . . NickD

Hold on, Brother, It's not the "Golden Age" just yet. There are too many of us that recall the bad times of the good old days. The deaths, the injuries, the fines and the jail time. Since I've lived in both times I think you are being a bit premature in divvying up these eras. I think in 500 years the first 100 years of BASE would qualify, but we are still way closer to the beginning of the sport than to the middle. I guess it easy to think of BASE jumpers in the 80s as running around like the Keystone Cops in a one reeler, bumping into each other, falling down, and just once in a while getting it right. But, not that much has changed. Technically throw out the pin rigs, the tailgates, the dedicated canopies, and the wing suits, and a kid on his first BASE jump then and now is practically the same. He stands there with a big pair of balls and not much else. One thing has certainly changed. Jumpers in 1980's were a more independent lot by far. The way different crews went about their BASE jumping was sometimes startling different from one another. The sport was pure and new, I mean it was more exciting as we were learning as we went along. A frequent saying back then was, "Oh man, don't do that," as we slowly learned from the mistakes of others. But here's the rub, we still are learning. It's just easy nowadays for a new BASE jumper to believe it's all been done, and to become proficient all they need do is catch up. I know its progress, but I smile sometimes when I see posts asking, "I'm thinking of BASE jumping, so what should I do?" Twenty five years ago there was no such thing. You'd simply picked your object, set up your gear the best way you knew how, and then just went for it. Even if you messed up no one in the BASE community would say much as we were all more or less on equal footing. Everybody was just guessing. There are a few people by the mid-80s going around telling people, "This is how you do it," and it started a lot of fires as most thinking jumpers realized we weren't anywhere near having it down that pat. It was mostly ego and false bravado on their parts. And I'm not so sure we have it down even yet. The so called "Golden Age" has taught us what "not" to do much more than what "to" do. And that learning curve is no where close to being over. Mentors should always begin their classes with, "okay, here’s what we think," and not, "here's what we know." If you don't the more astute in your class will see the fraud . . . NickD

>>#82 is not deceased! Thats me, #81!

>>A free shirt wasn't enough. He had to send me Outrage too and it's a blast.

Hi, I've been keeping an un-official list for years and here's what it shows. PM me for specifics . . . #79 S.M. #80 S.A. #81 B.M. #82 J.S. (Deceased) #83 N.M. NickD

I have the same problem when looking over stories, events, and even people I want to put in my book. I re-read the pieces and think, gee, I can't say that, and oh boy, I really can't say this. Maybe it just still too soon . . . There are many in the newest generation of BASE that doesn't seem to regard security the same way old-schoolers do. But, when I look through the parts I've written already I can't help but feel a twinge of something akin to betrayal if I put them out in book form. One good thing is it solves my problem of coming up with a title. I can call it, "Spilling the Beans . . ." NickD

Wasn't it Nigel who did "Tall Stories"? Sorry, I'm having a brain fade this morning . . . It's an audio tape made at an early Bridge Day made up of interviews with some of the sport's big names. I've had a copy for many years and the last time I wanted to listen to it I had to go out and find a cassette tape player, LOL. There's one interview with Phil Smith where Nigel (yes, I'm sure it was Nigel) asks Phil what he thinks of all the young jumpers coming up. At the time Phil had the most BASE jumps of anyone around at three hundred or so. But Ritchie and Mark are hot on his heels and Nigel says, "I have this mental picture of the old man, Phil Smith, pushing himself up another building in the middle of the night, because he's got to get another one in to stay on top." (This is funny now as Phil was probably 35-years old at the time and "was" an old man compared to the rest of us.) "No," Phil says, "those guys are doing three to my one and they are going pass me up real soon." He then goes on to say it's never been about the numbers for him and talks about some other very interesting things. Maybe Nigel will make the tape available again. It's a real piece of BASE history. And wasn't it the same Bridge Day where Phil later whistled in with a bad slider hang up, I think he was jumping a Cruislite and trying out a new slider. JD was walking around on the bridge saying, "Could it be true, the living legend is dead . . ." In those days we relied heavily on Black Death humor to cover up the fact we didn’t know what we were doing. NickD

The last time the slider question came up someone mentioned Greg is now doing a 20 year prison stretch. Does anyone know for sure if it's the same Greg Yarbenet? Say it ain't so . . . http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04124/310265.stm NickD BASE 194

Buy a heap and sleep in the Perris or Elsinore parking for two years. You'll get what you want, but with 25 G's you'll eat better than most . . . NickD

I met Phil Smith, BASE number one, for the first time a year later at Bridge Day in 1985. I wanted to tell him . . . well, I meant to say what an inspiration he was to me, but I just stood there and stammered like a school kid. He said, "Yeah, Nick, I've heard of you, how are you?" I was walking on air for the next week . . . Phil's a stand up guy and a gentleman. I don’t think we could have "picked" anyone better to lead off . . . NickD

Okay, but even as I know Tom, and realize he's one of the best of his generation, I will always have a soft spot for those who walk around like they are going to step on a land mine. In a way it shows the proper amount of real paranoia these crazy days demand. Too many of us are acting like everything is alright, too many of us are ready to just listen and go along, and too many of us don't speak up, just because it's easier. BTW, I'm not sure the above has anything to do with BASE jumping . . . NickD

Oh yes Curly, he was something . . . and so was son Dave. What a DZ . . . ! NickD