TomAiello

I grew up in Atascadero, but, alas, never skydived at Paso. I learned to skydive much later, when I was living in Davis, and the Paso airplane crash happened just as I was learning to skydive. Would you like this thread moved to the History forum? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Did it today with PerFlare. I'll see if I can firewire his helmet cam video over beer tonight. It actually worked amazingly well. I even managed not to totally destroy his PC (which I thought I had, judging by the popping sound it made coming out of my hand). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Dude, you've got to try that off a bridge. It's pretty much the scariest thing I've ever experienced. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

BASE Jumping? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Note to Sangiro: Although that might have been meant as a wise crack, I think that somehow creating a search functionality that could be extended to search both sites would be really cool--especially for BASE jumpers or BASE-curious climbers. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Does rc.com have a bablefish type translator? Ok, nobody else is doing this, so I'll try to help. 5.9, 5.12A = It's a rating for a level of difficulty. 5.9, in particular, is beginner level/not very difficult. It progresses with the numbers after the decimal. (very easy 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, 5.10.5.11. 5.12+ (more difficult) 5.12 is for someone quite advanced. You also have letters after numbers, like 5.12A, once again to show the level of difficulty. flashed = to lead a climb without falling and without previous attempts Ripoff = the name of a climb (Climbs have names and ratings.) soloed = free climbed by oneself with no rope To add to that: Steck-Salathé is probably the hardest 5.9 route on the planet. It's old school 5.9--meaning that it was rated 5.9 when there were no harder grades. It's also very long, and very scary (especially the "narrows" which is a very frightening bit of offwidth-chimney climbing). I climbed it back when I could lead 11's, and it pretty much rocked my world. Side note: Steck-Salathé is named after the two first ascensionists (i.e. first people to climb it). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

What's a tarpit? Sounds interesting. Is that down there below the dungeon? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

95% of the folks I've seen soloing are the quiet, introverted, "just doing it for myself" type. I remember once at Owens, meeting this guy who described himself as a "solid 5.9 climber". After he flashed Ripoff (if I recall, it's 12.a), I asked his wife what the heck the deal was with him being a "solid 5.9". She laughed and explained that he decided he was comfortable on 5.9--after he soloed Steck-Salathé. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

1 meter is pretty good for practice. Way better than nothing, certainly. Have you looked for trampoline training? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

In addition to a home made bumper sticker reading "Got Pro?" my truck used to sport a license plate frame reading "Aid climbers hang by their nuts." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I highly recommend doing your first 100 or so aerials from a trampoline or diving board. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I hear this a lot. Can someone please explain it to me? I've climbed with 3 different Visions, quite a bit. I've _never_ had one of them come open, or start to come open, or even slightly worry me about it coming open. How are people seeing the velcro rigs come open during climbs? What's causing it? Thanks for any help! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Every climber has to have a rack. Instead of searching for the term "Boobies" try searching RC.com for "rack"... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It's an automatically locking belay device. It's also french language slang for a good luck charm (I'm not sure it's actually french, I think it might be creole or something). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've got an extra one you can borrow, if you bring me with you. "I dunno, officer, I just slipped off..." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Would you believe me if I told you that's the climber's term for "whuffo"? Let me think of some other good definitions... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Believe it or not, I have an old hook that is called a "skyhook." Got some beaks and RURPS, too. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Don't worry. Several of the people posting on that thread were pretty clueless too. I particularly laughed over: a) The poster mocking the person who asked him if he used hooks, and b) The poster who couldn't believe that anyone would think you could start out with trad climbing. I started with trad climbing, and I've got several hooks on my rack. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I was there a couple weeks ago. When was the last time you were here? Plus, 2 of the pies were ice cream pies. They'd melt before I got them to Byron. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Someone had that shirt at the Byron Boogie and I wanted it! You can buy them here. I saw an advertisement for someone selling those shirts a while back, that featured people doing various things while wearing them. One of the photos was a BASE jumper just after exit. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Definitely get the Chevy. Those Fords just suck. Seriously, can you tell us what factors have narrowed your decision to these two suits? That'll help narrow things down as to which of the remaining two candidates is going to work best for you. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

This past weekend I made 3 pies for the jumpers in town. Where were you? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

SLC maybe? You're starting to look at some serious driving time, though. Maybe packing into that van ain't such a bad option. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It's called "Community" and it's way down at the bottom. edit to add link. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'll try to put some video online. My camera jammed (just as I was trying to film Chad doing his "Police Chute Assist" jump) so I'm having trouble with video stuff right now. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com