klapaucius

Seriously, The choice is yours not ours The object will be there tomorrow, though. Half-seriously, If you pick (not buy!) her some flowers (dry bouquet in November is OK) from the top or bottom, jump, be late and excuse yourself that these flowers were special because it took a BASE jump to get them...you will see quickly where you stand.

Depending on its size it would be a student cat or high performance cat at between 1 to 2 lb/sq.ft. BTW Animal cruelty in California is a B class misdemeanor, just like the famous jump in a famous valley. Includes cat and chute confiscation

Not when it comes to the fines and charges but if they find out you are an "alien" (you gotta love that term) they could contact HLS (the new name of INS) and you might risk deportation... It's my understanding that a foreign jumper used this strategy to go back home when he ran out of dough. He jumped a very high profile object, got caught, and they bought him a plane ticket to home (the deportation). I think Tom knows the story in details. Deportation will essentially prevent one from ever entering the US again. So the visitors must be extra careful!

Is there any difference in how a non-US resident is treated?

A few pics from the bottom.

That is a shame. A recurrence of an old illness should not cause such a financial hardship. There is something wrong with the health care (insurance) system, as it applies to normal people. You may be screwed because you have the same illness twice. You may be screwed because your bones gave way on a BASE jump. Everywhere but in the US, you'd be covered...

"No one can live your life except you, No one can live my life except me. You are responsible, I am responsible. But what is our life? What is our death? We usually think of our life as fifty, sixty years, maybe the most around one hundred years. I once read that there are about thirty three hundred people who are more than one hundred years olf, the oldest being 112 years. (What are people doing living such long lives?). Dogen Zenji said that living a long life without awareness is almost a crime. On the contrary, he emphasized that that even if you live one day with a clear understanding of what life is , the value of that one day is equal to many, many years of living without awareness" - Taizan Maezumi

Commercial bungee operation, 200ft over water, juice bar in the background.

Here is an issue. One day before BD they get pissed of by four people who stretch it too much. Can't do that. Must stop jumping outside of the window. It's sort of like self-regulation, ethics or just preventing site-burning. 3. If a government agency or part of it can be recognized internally, they may engage in a discretionary activity. It's like brownie points, but can be used as ammunition when applying for promotion or budget increases.

The media say that there is push for a large land development in the area of the Gorge. Apparently the developers want to build 2500 homes in the vicinity and it must be a dividing issue in the community. It must be a headache for the park too. Jason may be caught in a difficult situation, where jumping relies on support or at least positive attitudes from many sides, who often have opposite interests themselves (NPS, BDC, city, sponsors, public, media), so he can't "take sides": gain support of one and alienate the other. It must be quite a mess.

also sounds like bureacrats protecting their budgets. the current administration is not known for flooding the NPS with money. I can easily see some higher up stating "either start recoverying costs, or make cuts elsewhere." the big question is why they need 5 rangers. You hit the nail in the head. More rangers, because the department has to show that it is doing more than last year. Any government department must do more (=more activities involving more staff) than it used to do in the past, just to justify its existence.

In Canada, I recall, search and rescue is not charged to the rescued. Authorities will deliver you to the nearest "sensible place" - usually emergency, and then it's your (insurance's) problem. It applies to both citizens and visitors.

The messages, quotes and replies became so convoluted, that I'll put my comments on a fresh page, because it's too difficult to trace it all. Here it is. The paper talks about BD ca 1998. That was different compared to now? Scientific terms are scientific terms and usually mean the same to a community. Edgework is a term and people use it. At least two authors had significant 'edgework' experiences, their scientific viewpoint is most likely "mediated" with previous experiences...Quoting from the essay: "Building on our previous ethnographic work on voluntary risk taking, illicit adrenalin rush experiences, and related subjects (for example, Milovanovic, 1988; Lyng, 1990; Ferrell, 1996), and on our previous experiential involvement with skydiving and BASE-jumping activities, we attended the Bridge Day event in 1997 and 1998" A long sentence follows "Attempting to immerse ourselves in the event, and thus to develop a situated ethnography of the event and its participants, we collected documents; attended training sessions, orientation seminars, informal gatherings, awards ceremonies, parties, and other events; tape recorded, photographed, and participated in events and interactions at the bridge jump area, the landing area, and elsewhere on Bridge Day; and conducted numerous on-location interviews with BASE jumpers, event organizers, media personnel, and other participants". The essays in these interdisciplinary fields almost never reach a firm conclusion. What we are doing in this forum now is what they were doing to BD in their essay, to a certain extent. One of the purposes of authors writing has been achieved: Further discussion on the subject (no firm conclusions though..). All of this started with an innocent post from NickDG. Mediation affects the sport. Why is the number of jumpers growing exponentially? (we start using their term - "mediation" ). I did not reach any conclusions either...

The authors seem to be on your side: Jeff Ferrell: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312233353/qid=1123703546/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-7271703-5286417?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 Dragan Milanovic - cover is a MUST see: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1881798488/qid=1123703806/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-7271703-5286417?v=glance&s=books

yes, we have seen better written papers..

As a former scientist I have to defend this fraction of humankind... Argument about tax dollars is below the belt, one may point to waste of tax dollars to teach people how to use math to sell video games of doubtful societal usefulness . My former field was even more difficult to defend... Well, etnography is quite more descriptive than geometric algebra and research is much more about discussion of ideas rather than pushing the frontier of proveable knowledge. I agree with you on readability; Still, use of terminology helps as in every science (e.g "unitary transormation" in Jaap's world), to tighten the definition and save bandwidth. The gist of the essay, as I get it, is that the BD is a "happening", similar in some aspects to busker festivals, in some aspects to graffitti painting. ("nexus between licit and illicit activities") Both activities exist in the context of the observation (mediation) and the performance blends with observation. The segment about jumpers asked to smile to the camera to the left is an example. The cameramen affect the jump and the public viewing of the event affects it too. The event is then different than jumping alone at night, where there less effort to ttempt to "elongate and expand the meaning of an ephemeral event". Heck, even if the video is widely seen and succesfully distributed, it will portray BASE as "a form that finds a nexus between licit and illicit activities". BD media coverage shows (at least according to the authors) the event as the real deal - the event beeing the whole thing, not just jump. It's like in golf. Raised hands or wave to the crowd, shown on TV are parts of the game. Game is not only hitting the ball and talking about it in the club (that;s like jumping and talking afterwards) but also giving interviews and signing endorsement contracts. By "constructing a multi-faceted audience for a seemingly secretive endeavor", BD changes the former into the latter. And the latter, now the whole deal, will "ultimately, render BASE jumping indistinguishable from the mediated representation of it". Jumping "indistinguishable from the mediated representation" also implies more legitimacy to the sport. This leads straight into the legal/illegal discussions, though. Although it might be a difficult and sometimes exasperating read, it is an interesting viewpoint, IMHO, on the BD event. Will you see the dynamics of the event differently after reading the paper?. Will your jump be different? Even asking those questions makes one look at the event differently. I'll look at it differently, when I am standing at the railing in two months and look at you guys doing all your stuff. Reading it was quite educational.

Does it mean that ultimately the media will portray the real thing, not it's (media's) idea what BASE might be? In a sense a good thing, showing the sport not as a "secretive endeavour". If this is a secretive illicit fraternity, copyright should not be an issue. May I get a copy, too, please? (my University card expired a while ago...) The authors seem to be established researchers, authors of books etc, not just students looking for a research subject, so let's take them seriously. They may want to see how BASE fits with other extreme and semi-illicit behaviours. I do not think BASE fraternity is a model, it's rather an application/exemplification of the model. Now a translation from scientific vocabulary to plain English. "BASE jumpers thrive on sneaking onto an antenna at night with best buddies, get the satisfaction and thrill of not getting caught, get a thrill from the jump, and film their activities. Later they talk with friends about the jumps, establish status hierarchies, post movies on the net. Media report with it's own bias, but the increase in the coverage and commercialization of jumper activities may lead to accurate portrayal of the sport in the long run."

I am a non-jumper but work for the government. You can not say that government especially law enforcement harassed you. You are immediately cooked in their and public eyes. See yourself pulled over by the cop on a highway and you tell him that he is harassing you. Also, an average person in America believes that cops are there to protect them and do not harass anybody just catch the bad guys. A possible 'communications' strategy (I put myself in the seat of a government enforcer - I actually participate in enforcing some laws ) could be: Our National Parks are a treasure for all of us, source relaxation, contact with great outdoor etc. Millions of people live in these parks best experiences of their lives. We, BASE jumpers, as all outdoorsmen want to experience our great sport the same way as rock climbers, whitewater kayakers etc. do. We are responsible as a group, with ethics and good practices. We thread lightly etc... Say NOTHING about two things. Past conflicts and Europe. When asked about the past conflicts have a good script ready: early years, pioneers, maybe even daredevils etc. Now BASE is a mature sport with this and that Do not say anything about Europe because in America nobody gives a darn about Europe except French wine and foie gras for the rich and big walls for this forum

From another thread: Utah Board of Parks and Recreation Meeting: July 8th, 2005 The two approaches seem to be a bit incompatible

Set-up a profile in a PC flight simulator??? Also, for sale: http://www.coinopexpress.com/news/122.html

Think about this one for genetics... I was adopted at 3 and never knew anything about my biological parents until almost 20. All I ever wanted to do growing up was be a pilot, and in my teens, I also developed a facination with skydiving. Neither of my adopted parents had ever exposed me to either activity, but as soon as I went away to college, I immediately started flying, and later, skydiving. I am now an ex-fighter pilot who has started basejumping in the last 2 years. Heres the kicker... you can imagine my surprise when I find out years after I started flying that my biological father was an Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam, as well as an accomplished skydiver on an RW team. Additionally, my biological mom turned out to have about 17 jumps to her credit. Now how is it possible for a kid separated from his family at 1 y/o, put in a foster home 'til 3 y/o, who then received zero exposure to his dreams, ends up being driven to follow in the exact footsteps of his biological parents? Along with finding out about my father (who was by then deceased), I was fortunate enough to acquire his jump wings from his skydiving days back in the '70s. My first solo after AFF was with his jumpwings pinned to my rig. Genetics... mysterious and powerful. I am not negating here the hereditary predispositions, but don't underestimate power of the unconscious. We are "sponges" all our lives and internalize our environment and very much more so at age of 1. The fact that you did not understand what skydiving was at age of one, does not mean you couldn't internalize the idea from your parents. Sounds silly, but the whole concept of psychotherapy is based on that.

Behaviour is a combination of many phenomena, but it doesn't mean that each of the parts doesn't contribute to the whole. Nobody's saying that when you're drunk you're at the mercy of the alcohol in your blood stream. But it would be foolish to argue that blood alcohol has no impact on behaviour. Maybe you can elaborate on the major flaws. I am very much interested in exploring this question, and it's really frustrating when someone offers an opinion, but won't deign to offer an explanation as well. Michael There is something in the four papers I listed above: there are some common personality traits among the experienced participants. In reductionist simplicity, the four papers present experienced skydivers as "cool, calm, and collected" who (partially by the virtue of their "coolness, calmness, and collectedness" ) may need a bigger kick to bring a broad smile on their face. It is all obviously related to serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisol, just to name a few hormones involved, but the details ARE murky. Interestingly, cortisol levels were lower than reference before the jump, even though they usually go up under stress. Unfortunately, testosterone levels remain low...

Abstracts of a few medical papers about psychological and physiological aspects of skydiving http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15446632&query_hl=3 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=14738370&query_hl=3 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12827126&query_hl=3 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10378229&query_hl=3

Is there any way to view this site in english? Can I just find a flight to switzerland and figure out the trains when I get there? ~J Von means From

There seem to be differences in American and European (particularly Norwegian and Swiss) attitudes to public and private property. I had a chance to live in all three countries and think that I could see many. We are much more protective of our property (no tresspassing!) and it may translate into the attitudes of regulators of public lands. A park is "ranger's land", same way as a farm is "farmer's land". Norway and Switzerland are quite unique in their societal attitudes, I think. Norway has a law (Nordmen, please clarify if I mis-state the truth) that allows access to private property, without permission, as long as it is done in a non-intrusive way. You can even camp on someone's land, 500 meters away from the dwelling. Whole outdoor culture is build around that. This attitude translates to the use of public lands. It helps that Norway is quite an empty land, too. Situation in Switzerland is similar. (Again, the Swiss, please correct me) Outdoor is in the national blood; A hiker or skier can go across someone's pasturage or field, as long as one does not scare the cows, smother high grass etc..). A paraglider can take off from someone's field, land on someone's field (leave a bottle of red behind...). These attitudes make the whole society better "self-regulating" and at the end people are more free to pursue their activities. Also, more people in these countries engage in "extreme" outdoor activities, so there is more acceptance for one that is even more "extreme". It'll be always tougher to gain acceptance/tolerance here.