RayLosli

This morning I got up at 5:00, thru two Rigs, and my hard gear in the truck. Flew by coffee people and picked up a Canadian immigrant BASE jumper who is trying to scam his way into U.S. Citizenship. Then we hauled ass up north to one of our local, Mountains to bang two jumps out. While stuffing my gear in my stash bag, to do the climb out of the canyon on the second jump It become so clear to me that I was -Wrong ! >The first jump was a fast tail wind. I pitched early to give me a good extra second or two to do a tight flat turn 180 deg. approach. As I was setting up in very deep brakes, there was a strong left side rotor that pushed me hard, but it was no big deal really and I flared it, Planed out the canopy and ran like hell to a stop. All was good except The Canadian/American who was laughing at me. >When we shuffled out to do the second jump the wind had done a complete 180 and we had a steady head wind. The Canadian got the bright idea for a two way. I said what the hell and 1-2-3 lets go. Nice head wind and a on heading opening for both of us. I slammed it into deep brakes to set up on the tight approach, and about 75 feet above the deck, I got a down-push of Air from somwhere in the tight canyon. I instinctively let up on the toggles to let it fly, got the little bit of speed and lift I needed to Plane out and land safely. Nice jumps fun times. It became so clear to me then after that Jump. The Minority obviously is right and the Majority is Wrong The 11 years of Skydiving I did was a total waste of time and energy. The 1000 Skydives I did before my first BASE jump "97... what a joke. >The person who has never made a Skydive exiting that object with no flight time in training. Under Canopy. Has the same chance of a safe landing safely and a easy hike out, to do Another jump, Another day, as the BASE Jumper who has had a several Skydives. Canopy experience means nothing in the big picture. The People who trained me to BASE jump. Why would they Lie to me ? In my opinion they are Dumb Ass's, they were obviously wrong and no nothing of what it take to a safe BASE Jump. I am sorry and I was wrong. Be Safe

As for Tom's statements about doing 200 jumps off a bridge instead of skydives, I disagree on that too. 200 jumps off the bridge at what, 10 seconds per canopy ride? versus jumps from a plane which give you, from 3000' s/l, say 2.5-3 minutes canopy time... Which are you going to learn more about canopy control on? That is a heads-up Statement. If you own a Skydive Rig. Jump it or Free-Pack your BASE rig in a old, Big student container I routinely go on Hop& Pops to ring-out my BASE canopy. Stalls, Rear Riser turns, Stops and spin around moves. Flat turns, in half brakes, and on and on. I can do so many Canopy training drills my arms get tired. Then I can practice Accuracy on landings ( Here Comes The Important Part ) > You can cram more Canopy skills practice into one Hop&Pop than ten BASE jumps. >That practice translates over to, Learned Brain and Muscle. Reaction. ( Spontaneous Action ) Not Thinking about doing it. It just happens. It will Happen with repetitious training. That's what will save your Life. >Skydiving is not Evil. It is a good learning tool. I continually use it to this day. Use it to your advantage. Be Safe ...Ray Losli...

Combining BASE jumping and Swooping to do a Comp.? >You could use two man teams. High performance Swoop jumper + Base jumper. A combination of the Two scores. Swoop / Distance, Accuracy .+ BASE / Heading, Accuracy . > Two fun things, But they are two different disciplines... >Most Base jumpers know swoopers at the DZ and could team up easily. or the other way around. A BASE Comp. with Heading, Accuracy and Swoop ? > The only thing I was thinking about Is- How small of a BASE Canopy I would dare use in order to get a good Swoop score. Big canopy = good landing + more time to deal with problems. A small,fast canopy means a fast good swoop, or it could mean a faster moving BASE problem . >You have: Cessna/DZ Nice cliff with a good landing area. and its Legal... Lot's of Hot #### Swooper's out there. Lot's of good BASE jumpers out there. Everything is there, It sounds like a good idea. The possibilities are endless, but running with the idea seems to be the hard part. Organizing is HARD. and hundreds of hours of work. Make a plan and stick to it. Fun People + Fun Place = Fun Times. Its hard to go wrong. ...Can I help you with anything, let me know. Every little bit helps. ..Ray Losli

>Look at the List; most of the fatalities have come >from folks with lots of skydives. If skydiving made >for safe BASE jumpers, this would not be the case. >I'd gladly start new students in BASE with zero >skydives. In fact, I have. That way, it is not >necessary to un-train the bad habits taught at the >DZ. With a blank slate, it is possible instead to >instill fundamental survival skills from the first >jump forward. ........................................................................... Now this is only my opinion. Backed up by only Common Sence. >Fatalities involving BASE jumpers that have Skydives is Maybe True. Because that is the Normal thing to have before you BASE jump. You should -Not- throw yourself off a fixed object without mechanical Hands-On training on how to fly a Parachute. That does not make sence. But that is just an opinion. I am not sure that is a safe avenue of student training, for a person wanting to learn to BASE jump. If I was given a chance on which way I was going to learn how to BASE jump. My first choice would be either a AFF Level one jump, or a Static Line Jump Class. I would favor the Static Line class 1st, if all I was intending to do is BASE. My second choice. To at least see and maybe do some basic canopy operation. Would be a Tandem Jump. >This is only my opinion but. I think my last choice to learn how to BASE jump would be to jump and hope for the best. With never to have had my hand on the Toggels on a actual flying canopy. Be Safe ...Ray Losli...

Might make a good movie though... Hmmm, who would we put in the starring role? Or the love interest? I would like the role of Me, played by .. Adam Sandler. Hmmm,.. and my love interest by...J-Lo Ya..Ya. O-baby And then our love child born out of wedlock (played by).... Brittney Spears. Conceived on the exit poit of xxxxxxxx (self edit) Fill in exit point of conception with your fovorite object. Then to end our jumping crime spree. with the N.P.S. and tracking dogs, hot on our heals We would Crater-In together, hand in hand, Screeming. The End ...Ray Losli

Slim...About used canopies, do you remember the old used, worn out, Round you owned back in the day. I believe that was the same, Round you jumped off the local Antenna, with a 20 mph. tail wind. One dark and moonless night. That used canopy landed you well. If you remember you did a nice PLF with a few good Tuck and Roll's. That was another well invested $20 for a used canopy. I miss those days. ...Ray...

Slim..... I cant believe you still have that Pegasus ! You jumped the hell out of that thing. If you still own that thing. You still must have that 220 Fury, I sold you for $100 U.S. a few years back ? A most reliable canopy for that Ozzy student, first jump Course. ...Ray Losli...

I whole heartedly agree with you. >Doing a FJC in my opinion is the along with a couple/ three hundred skydives. Hopefully -(I am not saying this is good)- But you have had a couple of high stress situations Skydiving ( i.,e,) Malfunction/ Line over/line twists/ maybe some kind of cutta way situation, To put some kind of test on yourself ASK your SELF before you stat BASE--- How Do I Handel A High Stress, Canopy Situation ??? >It is safe to say that here in the states, the average BASE jump is,- 10 sec.or less - from your feet leaving till they touch the ground. That is no place to brain lock. but this is Where You Will Be Training. >In those Ten Seconds, you have to, Exit object, Pull, Have opening,- All while Maintaining Good Body Positioning,- Assess your Heading and Make you heading correction, Release Toggles, Instinctively go to half breaks, Look and chose the correct landing spot,- All the time sinking it in- using slow flat turns, Flair it and land, (and here is the big one) Land Safely. Then get away. >...Now throw a problem in there...Holy Crap, what do do now. >All a FJC is in my opinion is to show you the bare minimum of the mechanics of BASE. so you can keep yourself alive in the easiest of objects. At the same time making you presentable enough to turn loose on the local jumpers so hopefully you can get Taught and Learn Something and NOT KILL THEM. ( you can kill yourself just don't burn the object.) >...I wish I had taken a formal, first jump course... offered by a manufacturer, or someone with several hundred jumps. BASE is a... ( I can't believe I am saying this) "SPORT". Where you play together. At the same time you are playing, you have to learn to FOLLOW your own Game Plan. ( i,e,) When to jump or when to walk away. It is so easy to follow someone into a jump and get sucked in to something way over your head. > YOU... Don't Have A Choice On This, It will happen to you as a jumper, once or twice. That is fact of life. Then when you get some experience, learn not to DRAG someone with lesser experience into that situation. Hopefully you have the luxury of Training and practicing your body positioning, and canopy mechanics on a forgiving object like a nice -A- or Idaho where the only object to strike is water or another jumper. Hopefully a three thousand foot, shear wall. That would be nice... I am not trying to kill your motivation to learn to BASE. If you want to and think you can handle it THEN DO IT. I am -Happy- I did. Have Fun ..Ray Losli..

THIS IS THE PART PEOPLE DON'T SEEM TO GET: " The more time you have under a parachute, the safer BASE jumper you will be. Why would someone want to start BASE with the minimum amount of experience?" This statement the most, Sane- Strait Up- Undisputibly True- Piece of advice I have read this year so far. ...Ray Losli

Hey.. Man you really made an impression on me when we went to Moab. You are defiantly a solid jumper, with good common sense and fun to hang out with. Dude be careful and will see ya in about six months. ...Ray Losli... PS: Don't get lung shot, I heard that, SS-109 can sting a little. He He