Zennie

Gratz Jason & Jennifer! Mallory is adorable! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Yes, a little respect and common courtesy goes a long way. The HI during BD is the exception, not the norm. Let's all try to be more concientious when we stay at, and pack in, hotels. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

While they're at it they should install a metal plate for upcoming butt-slide landings. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Not much going on by College Station, but shoot me a PM and I'll fill you in on other areas. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Dang Russel, I thought all you had was a tweaked knee. No slider down for you!!!! Seriously though, I hope you heal quickly. Don't get discouraged, you're blazing a trail no one else has. And of course our A is always here for ya! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I did Jaap's gear check for that jump. His bridle was routed fine from the pouch to the pin flaps. There weren't any snag points in the setup that I could discern and the pin tension was fine (and primed 1/2-way). I do recall noticing something that I asked Jaap about... mainly because I've seen others do it a similar way and it always gives me (personally) the heebie jeebies). He had his PC stuffed fairly deeply into the pouch with maybe the cap + an inch & a half, 2 inches of PC protruding. Personally, I would have pulled a bit more out to make sure I could get a good firm grip on the PC, but I asked him if he liked it that way and he said yes. Vertigo pouches are a bit on the snug side so I'm wondering if perhaps the snugness of the pouch, plus the small amount of PC protruding may have resulted in an incomplete PC extraction. That said, I still swear I saw a PC come out when he pitched and then disappear again. No PC inflation though, that I'm positive of (at least not till it finally caught at about 100-110 feet or so). If only I hadn't botched that triple and turned off my camera in disgust. If you like I'll do your gear check for you next jump Chris. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

You guys kill me. You and all the other great people I've met are the reason I BASE jump as well. I mean, who else can come up with the Fscked up stories we do? And they're all TRUE! (and don't worry Abbie, the film will never make the internet... probably ) One of my personal favorite moments was during the second party. I had had music withdrawls for days and bought an iPod. The mental image of me and Jaap sitting side by side, one ear plug each, totally jamming out to tunes is unforgettable. Yes too many pricless moments on this trip. Looking forward to memorial day weekend.

0 for 4 on that count. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm guessing if you and brit filmed each other's throwouts there wouldn't be that much difference. I don't think she's advocating a huge windup and follow-through... yeah that would result in some funky body positions. But like her I throw it out with quite a bit of authority. But more in a quick snapping motion. I've gotten to where I can do it pretty quickly without a huge amount of arm motion or body english. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'll second that. I've taken tramp training at a local gymnasium and he learned a TON about how the body moves in the subterminal environment. It will also considerably heighten your awareness in pretty much every orientation. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I checked for that for several minutes, playing with the edge points in the centerline and trying to get it to snag. I couldn't, so I'm fairly confident that that wasn't the culprit. Still I agree that until the PC itself can be 100% ruled out as the culprit, it should be grounded. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Raises hand... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Absolutely we all make our own decisions. The trick is to make an informed decision. In the end, yes it is each jumper's choice to go or not go. As a mentor, one of your responsibilities is to teach the student all of the different things to take into consideration on a particular object. My personal feeling is that, as a mentor, the other person is in a somewhat unfamiliar situation and relying upon you (at least to some extent) to properly assess it, take everything into consideration and pass that information on to him or her. An inexperienced jumper is, by definition, someone who has a limited ability to properly assess a given situation. If I make a poor assessment (or no assessment at all) and someone else relies upon that and gets hurt or killed, then I personally would feel beyond terrible. So, yes the inexperienced jumper chose to jump, but did he/she choose wisely? That's where the experienced mentor becomes important. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Well, a BASE canopy has quite a few differences from your typical skydiving canopy (low aspect ratio, F-111, Dacron lines, etc). The better analogy is that a skydiving container is just a container. You can freepack (i.e. no bag) a BASE canopy with a BASE packjob into a sufficiently large skydiving container. If you use a 9' bridle & a BASE PC you pretty much have a "legal" BASE setup at that point. I wouldn't smoke it down to 300 at terminal like I would with a fully dedicated BASE system. But I wouldn't be uncomfortable pulling at 500 or so. Of course, pretty much the rest of the dropzone WOULD probably be uncomfortable seeing something like that. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Because people suck. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Wellll... it's not like you were totally mentor-less. Yes I was personally reluctant to teach because, at the time I didn't feel qualified as a teacher with the low number of BASE jumps that I had. It had nothing to do with you, your readiness or capability. Same with Douggie. I personally think that teaching someone how to BASE jump is a HUGE responsibility. You are literally taking someone's life in your hands. I could not live with myself had I taken in someone before I felt competent as an instructor. I know I definitely could not have lived with myself if you or Douggie had gotten hurt or worse. Apparently that attitude no longer exists in the BASE world. Now, if I've hucked myself off something, I'm a BASE jumper and qualified to teach others (no I'm not directing that at you Brit). - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I never had to fight my way in. Of course, I had 450 skydives, read everything I could find on BASE jumping & contacted a local jumper who mentored me. Maybe that had something to do with it... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Damn Russel, I could have told you that ages ago. With my luck I might as well join a monestary, but I'd probably get kicked out within the first hour. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Eh, "Burning Man" has become too commercial. I want to go to something a little more underground, un-hyped & less overrun by yuppies. Therefore I am going to "Freezing Guy", which is "somewhere in Antarctica" during the same time frame. I hear some of the igloo raves get totally out of hand. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Yep yep. For example, I'll bet he doesn't remember us throwing darts at his butt or making him run around the block in his underwear singing "I'm A Little Teapot". - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm going to hit 40 on the 17th. Can't say I'm particularly thrilled about it, but there's no magical dividing line that forces you to stop living or doing the things you enjoy. I BASE jump a fair amount. Don't skydive much, but when I do I pretty much exclusively freefly and swoop my FX (when I'm current). I'm certified to scuba dive, but the diving isn't so hot where I live so I haven't done it in a few years. I'd like to start doing some more rock climbing & camping/hiking as well. The hardest part about getting older is that you have to work harder to stay in good shape to do these sorts of things. You can't drink a zillion beers, eat like a horse and still stay in good shape like you could when you were 25. I don't plan on slowing down any. I do plan on stepping up at bit more with exercise and eating better to sustain the momentum.

Don't see what the big deal is. Sounds like one of my normal days as well. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

To you and me this makes perfect sense. But many cheaters don't WANT to end the first relationship. The first relationship still has some perks that they're used to and would love to keep. Before I go on an extended rant, suffice it to say people like that just want to have their cake and eat it too. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

The absolute best one I've heard so far is about some guy who found out that his fiancee was cheating on him with his best-man-to-be. He set up cameras and managed to get video of them in flagrante delicto the week before the wedding. After the wedding, during the reception, he had envelopes taped to the bottom of everybody's chair. At the appropriate time, he had everybody reach under their seats, open the envelope and pull out the enclosed photograph. I REALLY hope he had the wedding photographer snapping pics like crazy at that moment. Needless to say he had the marriage annulled immediately thereafter. Can you tell I have this thing about cheaters? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I can't tell you the amount of vicarious glee this brings me. I worship this guy. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon