tfelber

Hey that's a good idea... Jimmy, if a bunch of us come to Moab over the Thanksgiving weekend and bring a Turkey and some beer, can we hang out over at your place on Thanksgiving? Maybe we could have a pot luck or something...

AND... for the record... I wasn't bagging on Robin, I was just amused with Nick's letter. I know it sounded like I was agreeing with Nick's statement, atleast from Robin's point of view, but I was just ROTFLOLBTWRFF or something like that... Sorry for my poor sense of humor, but I still think it was funny...

I'd tend to agree. I've been jumping off cliffs into water since I was quite young, highest so far 110ft. Been bruised up a few times, nothing serious, but the feeling I would get is very similar to the feeling I get at any exit point. The thoughts I have are also very similar. I never really had thoughts about dieing from a jump until I started BASE jumping though. I have had similar thoughts about other events in my life...something along the lines of "in a split second I'll be committed and there's no turning back" I never thought about skydiving when I was young and I didn't give BASE jumping any consideration until the first Moab Boogie. So it's not that I was born to be a BASE jumper, but BASE jumping definitely presents me with the chance to commit to something and deal with the results of that decision... Being so afraid I'm shaking definitely brings a smile to my face!

Good one Nick...

That's a very good point. I recently jumped a TV tower in the middle of nowhere and the tower technician/engineer showed up mid-day on a Sunday and busted us inside the perimeter. He called the police and left (the cops probably told him to leave and let them handle it). Well we decided to get down and out. This guy was blocking the road with his truck and said he knew we were BASE jumpers and started going into a rant about how dangerous it was, and how people get hung up on the guy wires, and he knows we've been jumping it, blah, blah, blah... When he asked for our info (so he could charge us) I drove around his truck and left. Somehow we missed the police and got away unscathed. This was shortly after the Agnos mishap and I can't help but wonder if the media coverage of that incident had this guy checking the A at different times as a heightened security measure.

Hi I'm Tony and I ain't ascared of nuthin...ok, ok almost nuthin...

Yuri's post is a perfect example of Tom's statement about comparative appraisal... Not bashing Yuri or Jimmy and Marta's course. (Apex is comprised of some of the best informed talent out there!) But for laughs here goes... ----------------------------------------- Yo! I took FJC with TomA and can wholeheartedly recommend it. He is totally sweet. You'll have the best time of your life with him. For me, he is my BASE parent. And I am his BASE kid. The course is short (mid-Friday through mid-Sunday), but intensive and you'll do ~5 jumps total on Saturday & Sunday (enough to feel exhausted). 1st jump PCA, the rest - handheld, 1 & 2s delays (no slider). He'll teach you everything to enable you progress further by yourself and with the help of others. I recommend staying a few additional days after the course to jump more by yourself, so you can jump stowed when you feel comfortable, etc. You can rent??? equipment from them if you don't have your own. After a couple of days of instruction the itch and the Great Unknown of jumping without supervision will be taking over you, so you won't regret that the course if over anyway. Feel free to PM if you have any specific questions. Tony P.S. Did I say that TomA is totally sweet??? ----------------------------------------- Sorry Yuri, but most comments will be similar unless the person really had a bad time or bad experience. Apex and Tom would be my suggestions, but they are people I know and I spoke with them when I started thinking about BASE. In talking with Tom, Todd, Karen, Jimmy, and Marta I developed an appreciation of their judgement and trust of their opinions and suggestions. I can't comment on other programs because I haven't tried other programs.

Here you go...

Watch it Brian Idaho or I'll change my name to Tony Arizona... BTW, I can go longer than two seconds if I want, I think???

It was exited at about 1100, 1200, and 1400 feet do to elevator issues during the filming of this movie, or so I heard.

Fairly decent representation...

Congatulations Tom and Cheri! And good job avoiding the Abbie/Collin curse...

When your leaving the edge, preparing for the worst, but hoping everything turns out the sudden smack of a canopy opening above your head is a good feeling, something I don't complain about!!!

I think that is a good number, but you really don't know if they're telling you the truth or have the knowledge to make the jump until you talk to them. I don't want to encourage regulation, but I do know there are some people jumping some stuff that they probably shouldn't be. One such jumper after going off Toomy told me that it wasn't a very bright idea and they didn't plan on doing it again until they get some more experience. Another thing that sometimes gets overlooked is the cleanup... Who would have gotten the canopy off of MG if not Jimmy. I'm sure Jimmy felt some motivation to get it down since it was his boogie, but what if it happened to someone on an off weekend venturing out with there friends?

Good article and good photos. Those shorts are sure cute too. Some really good press...

Those are some very good points, Clint. Now for $200 bucks, how many jumps do I need to have? Because that's what's really important. How many jumps must a person have before you feel comfortable taking them around Moab, for free or otherwise?

I don't think greater jump numbers are going to decrease the incidents or near incidents in BASE jumping. How many of these recent cliffs strikes were by jumpers with over 100 jumps? over 50? I think education is the only mechanism that will have a direct impact. Someone who has been taught and understands the inherent danger of jumping off a rock is much more prepared mentally to deal with the issue if and when it is staring them in the face. I'm one of the low jump number people who fall into your discussion. I currently have 24 jumps(6 S's, 14 E's, 3 A's, and an O). Of the objects I've jumped I've only been off 4 more than once. Almost every jump has been a new object, and I'm still scared every time. That fear makes me more cautious and instills a desire to be better prepared. As someone else mentioned, I don't think jump numbers are the best measure. I think there needs to be conversations between the people considering the jump and the people with more experience on the object. If the person still wants to jump they're going to jump, but at least the conversation was had. And it probably made a difference. That may be part of the problem, people don't feel the conversation will make a difference. New jumpers don't just come to Moab, find an exit point, and jump. They talk to people about where the exit points are, how to access them, how high they are, etc. So there is an opportunity to have these conversations. Telling someone "You don't have 50 jumps, you can't jump here!" isn't going to work anyway. After all this is still a very renegade sport!

I went through some rather intense personal training and found I constantly had this question about myself; "Am I doing this right?" In retrospect it was easy to see the way my life has gone with this question constantly on my mind, professionally and recreationally. BASE jumping definately answers that question each and every time! One of the other reasons I like to jump is for the personal challenge, experience, and the extreme sense of success. So in regards to the low jumps, it's about knowing I can do it and then doing it. The week after my FJC where I did six progressive jumps from the bridge, which thanks to Tom's training method were not nearly as frightening as they could be, I came back to SoCal and jumped a 170' cliff over hard ground. It absolutely scared the @#$% out of me. It took me 20 minutes to get off that rock and the feeling when that canopy opened was complete relief. I had another rig packed and decided to do it again thinking it would be a lot easier the next time. But there something about knowing one step and a few seconds are all that seperate you from the end of your life that has you examine yourself in a different way. It took me 20 minutes to get off the second attempt also. I was going SL, but one of the guys with me was going HH! Maybe we should find out why he was doing it also.

The jumps I went on with you, Clint, during TB were all high value jumps. WS-looking over the river and landing on the pavement next to a wall, JL - A quick go&throw and then a minute and a half canopy ride trying to make it all the way back to my truck, and SS - Nice, high, overhung and a decent canopy ride. I really liked Toomie, especially being last one off in the dark, and ML is cool and easy, but I think my favorite so far would be WS

Good job Jimmy. Sounds like you had some fun!

Sorry about that Lee, i needed the $5...

Ok, I'm in you bunch of monkeys. I better get paid for taking Shrek out...

My thoughts were maybe he didn't even realize he was that close to the wall or flying towards it. From the video, he was turning CCW on opening and his momentum appeared to carry him at least a full 360 from heading. I could imagine someone realizing they were not headed at a wall (which he wasn't immediately), starting to deal with the line twists (which might appear to be the most immediate issue), and not realizing they were turning into the object. The turn was quite gradual as DaveO mentioned. Marty had time to deal with the issue. I guess we'll have to wait for feedback from Marty before we will really know. I was on the truck coming up from the bottom when we saw the rescue crew on the talus. I'm amazed his injuries were not worse and that the rescue crew were able to get him down without increasing his state of injury. Kudo's to Jimmy and the rest for their efforts. It's nice to know we have friends like that. Maggot would have been hard-pressed to survive the situation he was in without the fast actions of all involved in his rescue.

Congrats Tom and Cheri. Rebecca and I are having a boy (just found out the sex Friday) in April. Tyler, our four year old that was with us at TF, is very happy to be having a little brother. When are you due?

I've got a couple hundred jumps on my Nitro now and you can ask anybody I know what I think of it! Every time I get to the ground I let everyone know what a great canopy it is. I downsized faster than most people consider wise, but from the first time I jumped the Nitro (See earlier post above) I knew the step down was not an issue. I kept my 165 thinking I could always jump it if I became uncurrent or something, but that hasn't been an issue. I'm loading it about 1.7 and it flies great. New it packed easily due to the type of fabric used and the opening are as soft as landing in butter. I've gotten to the point I don't even need to look up during opening. It feels exactly the same every time. Looking up you see the canopy begin to inflate and the slider come down in a smooth, easy motion. My 165 would often push the bumpers down on my risers. On the Nitro I use Beezy's custom soft links and the slider never comes down hard enough to slide down the risers. I consistently open low and often get some worried looks, but I have a lot of confidence in the Nitro. I don't get weird off-headings, inconsistent opening speeds, or any other oddities that concern me. The only complaint, if you could call it that, I have is the HMA lines tangle easily with the slider stowes, and the toggles gathering up the canopy on the ground. The lines are so small that continuity checks require a little help, but I wouldn't change them. Unless to go to the newer UV treated black lines.