TomAiello

I actually have a 48 that has a tear in the mesh on the bottom from catching on the object during a static line. I don't use it for freefall, but I keep it around for static lines. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Isn't virtually every sport at risk of more legislation? It's the American way, and it seems to have spread to much of the world. Don't more rules always make everything better? Honestly, I think that most discussions of this are oversimplifications. The simple fact is that we don't live in a vacuum. If everyone here decided that putting videos up on the internet was undesirable, and stopped doing it, videos would still be going up, and there would still be people publicizing themselves. The real question isn't "what do you want the world to look like?" but rather, "what will you do under the existing circumstances to nudge the world in the direction you'd like?" -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

My advice is to skip Balmer's and stay at either the Valley hostel or the Horner. Balmer's is overloaded with American college kids backpacking through Europe, and unless that's your crowd, it's not nearly as nice a place to stay as either of the others. Plus, from Balmer's (which is in Interlaken) you have to ride the train up to the Valley, where either of the others is right there in the middle of the cliffs. I've stayed in all three (Balmer's, Valley hostel, Horner). I personally prefer the Horner, but I'd take either of the smaller places in preference to Balmer's. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Um, because he's you? Nick, you have your own forum now. Why don't you go play there? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

All, I have cleaned a lot of pointless banter out of this thread. Although I realize that everyone likes to post useless things from time to time, I'd like to keep those posts out of the serious threads discussing technical points or asking for real advice. Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I don't think you can really compare. The number of jumps is different at each, as is the level of supervision. At Bridge Day, there's a staff of experienced jumpers, an organizational system requiring a certain minimum standard of gear and experience, and on site medical assistance. Simply comparing total fatalities (especially without reference to total number of jumps) isn't a good way to judge the relative safety of a site. You'd have to compare fatalities per jump, but also injuries per jump. Then you'd have to make some kind of value judgment about what types of injuries (and how many) were "equivalent" to a fatality in evaluating the overall "safeness" of the site. When a jumper permanently loses both legs, is that "worth" half a fatality? A quarter? Personally, I think that's a pointless exercise in semantics, and one that will never see agreements, much less become productive. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

That made me laugh out loud. Are you familiar with Mike's history? He and Jeb have very different jumping stories, but I'm not going to even try to speculate as to which is "more". Mike deserves tremendous respect. When was the last time that you opened not just an object, but an entire possibility? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Go here. Corky is a very experienced BASE jumper and an excellent instructor. If you're a Taft jumper, you probably know him already. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Yes. It essentially d-bags the second canopy off the first set of risers. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

There is no doubt that there is much room for improvement in all FJC's. I don't think anyone has a perfect program, and there is definitely healthy debate about what belongs in the curriculum and what doesn't, and how much information a student can absorb and retain. That said, in my last two courses, the students have made between 15 and 20 jumps. Here are some of the jumps that I include in my course: PCA Handheld Stowed Slider up Static line (demonstration of 3 different methods, practice of at least one) There's also, of course, a fairly significant amount of theoretical material (object evaluation, deep brake setting, wind effects, ethics, etc), and I also try very hard to connect my students to jumpers who are local to them for when they return home. While I cannot guarantee that I can find good guidance for everyone when they return home, I can say that I do my best to help with that, and that I've had significant success helping my students get involved with local crews who were unwilling to guide them before their FJC. I'm also proud to say that I've convinced several prospective students to reconsider enrolling in an FJC, and helped them meet local jumpers who could guide their skydiving progressions to better prepare them for BASE before they started. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Perhaps what I said didn't come across how I intended it. I believe that Bridge Day is significantly different--and more--than BASE jumping. It has a culture and spirit of it's own, that are very different from the culture and spirit of BASE jumping generally. The old skydiving rigs is one of the things that makes Bridge Day distinct from BASE more generally, and lends a richness to the experience that differentiates it from other experiences, even those available through BASE jumping at other times and places. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Two things: 1) I'm absolutely certain that's not what I said. In fact, I recall quite clearly saying "I'm teaching a lot, probably more than I want to." That's very different from your recollection, so we're just going to have to agree to disagree, I guess. 2) I don't really see how the number of students I'm teaching is relevant to my views about the growth of the sport, except perhaps to emphasize that even though I am able to teach many people, I am not pleased with the overall rapid growth rate. That's an incredibly cheap shot, and a poor attempt to paint me as solely teaching for the money. My first jump courses cost about two thirds of the figure you quote ($850, on average), and I teach a significant number of students at no charge. When was the last time that you spent several hundred dollars of your own money creating and distributing course materials, then spent a week of your time teaching a group of students who you aren't charging? The fact that I would prefer that the sport not grow, or at least grow slower, does not mean that I am not realistic about what is happening. Given the explosive rate of growth, I do as much as I can to help people enter the sport as safely as possible, with as much help and guidance as possible. Can you say the same? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

JP, while I agree with many of your points, I think you are presenting them in an unnecessarily inflammatory manner, and I'd take issue with your characterization ("retarded") of the practice of allowing first timers at Bridge Day. Bridge Day is not BASE jumping--it's Bridge Day. Having first time jumpers at Bridge Day is a time honored tradition, and one that is part and parcel of the Bridge Day experience. Honestly, I think the culture of the event would be totally different without them, and I don't think I'd like that cultural change. That said, I agree with your points as to why a first jump in Twin Falls is safer and easier than Bridge Day. In addition, Twin allows time for a longer training progression, making a new jumper safer and better prepared should they choose to continue in the sport once they return home. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Things that grow out of control either kill themselves, or are killed by others, though. What advantages do you see to current jumpers from increasing the number of jumpers in the sport, the number of jumps done per year, or the exposure of the sport in the eye of the general public? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Lever Action Shotgun. For those like Tyrion, from the gunless parts of the world, windy days in Twin Falls offers a tour of Sportsman's Warehouse, just a few steps from the bridge, where you can see hundreds of firearms. Tyrion, you can tell the difference between rifles and shotguns in casual conversation because shotguns are generally described as "gauge" (which refers to the diameter of the barrel), like a "12 gauge shotgun," whereas rifles are generally designated in inches or millimeters (like Lee's .50 or .45 caliber, which indicates a barrel measuring .5 or .45 inches in diameter). If you want an incredibly detailed lecture on firearms, firearms terminology, or especially firearm politics, try PMing JohnRich. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

No. And you'd think someone like me, who makes money teaching First Jump Courses, would be the most likely to think the other way. What are the advantages to us if more people participate, or if there is more visibility? The only ones I can see are: 1) More money goes into gear advancement with competition growing; and, maybe, 2) More jumpers have more lobbying power to open and maintain access to legal sites. Honestly, I think that number 2 is a pipe dream. I doubt that we will ever have sufficient numbers/money/lobby to really play that card with land managers. What are the disadvantages? 1) More traffic on illegal sites means more heat. 2) More traffic on legal sites means more access issues, and more likelihood they'll get shut down. 3) More publicity means more people participating with less and less preparation. When every kid with an X-box wants to BASE jump, a fair number of them are going to find a way to do so. This reduces the average skill level in the sport, increases the number of jumps, increases the traffic on objects, and increases the number of incidents, all of which lead to problems with site access (legal or not). 4) More publicity increases your chances of getting busted on any particular run-in with law enforcement. Gone are the days of "wow, that's pretty cool, and I don't even know if there's a law about that anyway," and here are the days of "this city has an ordinance forbidding aerial delivery." Honestly, I wish we had less people than we do now, and that people getting into the sport were proceeding with more caution. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The difference is the speed of the wind relative to the jumper. On a skydive, the jumper has generally accelerated to terminal velocity, so the only important wind is the relative wind, which pretty much blows straight up (also consider that the jumper is moving at the same rate as the wind at altitude, since he has already been accelerated to it's rate during the skydive). On a short delay BASE jump, you may not yet have accelerated to the speed of the wind, nor is there always sufficient relative wind to overcome the absolute wind. The absolute wind is very important to our deployments and openings, where it is basically ignored in skydiving. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

"Yegor Drozdov of Revere, Mass." It's already been posted in this thread, and reported in the Associated Press story linked in this thread. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Next time he tells that story, ask him if the slider on the reserve was up or down. If he says "down," then ask him why he took a slider down reserve on a terminal jump. If he says "up," ask him how he got a slider up canopy to land him when he deployed it from 170', then copy whatever he says and start making canopies, because you're going to make a fortune. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm talking about facing into the wind. My reasoning is that a strong tailwind can blow the PC under your arm after you pitch (I've seen this happen on several occasions, once from the first person point of view). Turning the tailwind into a headwind blows the PC back away from you (and away from any potential entanglement with you). The same reasoning applies to a right-to-left crosswind (assuming standard right handed BOC) versus a left-to-right crosswind. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

ScaryPerry used a skyhook to do an intentional cutaway at Bridge Day, I think it was 2 years ago. Sure, it would work. But would you pack the reserve slider up or down? And how much complexity do you want to add to your BASE system? There are reasons that the Sorcerer was never adopted as the BASE standard. Given that a BASE specific two canopy system never really took off, why would you want to adapt a skydiving system? Try turning the question on it's head: Why do you want a reserve on a BASE jump? Can you think of a whole lot of BASE accidents that would have been helped by a reserve deployment? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Yawn. You've got a wide slection of places to make these posts. One was pointed out at the top of this thread, but there's also this one, and of course the old standby. My personal favorite is here. But there are many others, too. This one prides itself on "not being DeeZed" and this one has an entire unmoderated forum for folks who want to throw flames back and forth. Go forth now, to the promised lands, and swear much unto each other, with mighty profanity and many personal attacks. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

More Press. Just FYI, I got a call from a local talk radio station that is discussing this on their program tomorrow. Their news director told me he was following this thread. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It's noticeable, that's for sure. If you want to get a real feeling for it, why not borrow a ZP topskin canopy and just do the comparison? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It was pretty much a tailwind all day. The flags on Blue Lakes were all pegged straight out. I don't think the conditions were decently landable. I do think that the exit and deployment would have been quite doable if you did a full floater, but I don't think a forward facing exit in these conditions would be a very good idea. I don't think anyone knows what sort of exit was performed by this jumper. The real problem with the conditions yesterday was the massive turbulence. We had gusts rising and falling 15 mph from the average in a matter of seconds. It was not a good day to be flying a parachute, but since our best information is that this was a closed container at impact, that makes pretty much no difference to the outcome in this case. Let me repeat that my speculation about bridle entanglement was just that--speculation. Hence my use of the words "speculation" and "conjecture" in that paragraph of my original post. Absent someone coming forward with video or photographs of the accident, which seems exceedingly unlikely at this point, we will never know exactly what happened. Bridle wrap, late pull, container lock, pilot chute constriction...the list of potential malfunctions that conform to the established fact pattern is quite long. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com