TomAiello
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Everything posted by TomAiello
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You know what's wild? The profile of the Blade in those pics (kind of hard to tell, but still) looks a lot like the profile of the WS-Xtreme. Are you sure Moe didn't build a wingsuit, too? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Cooler would be a transparent canopy. "The very latest in BASE stealthiness, Apex's new Invisible Rock Dragon..." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Yeah I got a chuckle out of that myself. Gives me a mental image of us having ziplock baggies pulling garbage bags out of a burlap sack. Well, it could have read "...yanks a larger one from the jumpers sack..." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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How long was the canopy ride? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I can't think of a lot of reasons to have this setup. What advantages do you see for BASE? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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A smiley does not make a personal attack less insulting. Consider this your only warning. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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This is not true. Not being a jumper would make it more likely that someone would have a skewed view of BASE. Their views would be more formed by what they saw on TV or in videos, and less by what's really going on in the BASE world. I see this from new jumpers all the time. "But person XXX must be the best jumper on earth--I see him in all the videos." It's a bit like saying "but my friend brought home a video of his tandem jump--they must have thought he was a great skydiver." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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How are you defining "top BASE jumpers/photographers" and "passion in life is BASE?" It seems like you are assuming that the people who want to be on TV, do stunts for Red Bull, and sell photos to magazines are the "top" because they do this. This is not the case. Ever see Dwain Weston do an ad for Nike? So, you're saying he wasn't a "top BASE athlete"? What about Jamie Boutwell abandoning everything in his life to move cross country so he could jump every day? His passion in life isn't BASE? You are presuming your definition, I think. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I'm a Red Cross certified CPR and 1st Aid instructor. I coud also teach lifeguard training, for those really rough water landings. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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A jumper has successfully used "hey, my parachute was stolen from the dropzone yesterday...oh my gosh, they used it in a BASE jump?!" to get confiscated gear back. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Send him to America. We can fatten anyone up. That's why we're the fattest people on earth. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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The Alliance of Backcountry Parachutists is Here!
TomAiello replied to TheAlliance's topic in Archive
Hang gliding is allowed by permit. There are heavy restrictions as to launch time, launch site and flight duration. When the hang gliders asked for permits to launch paragliders (the two types of wings intermix heavily in organization, site use and participation), the Park Service denied the request because it might open the door to BASE jumpers. I think climbing is a better model to follow than hang gliding. The rules and restrictions on climbers are very limited, and I think, a more desirable scenario for us. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com -
I wonder if the zip tie might have a sharpish edge? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I have used it on around 10 slider up jumps. I'll do some more. I'm not sure about punching the toggle through the slider. I was more thinking that it might work well in conjunction with WLO's. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Photos of the ring-release riser system are here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Come on, Tree, that's a cheap shot. I realize that Jimmy sort of started it, but I think Jaap has a point that a certain amount of calming down would be good for the discussion. Let's not let this degenerate into name calling. For the record, I thought Radix was an excellent video. I showed it in my First Jump Course, and will likely continue to do so. Even if I don't have time to show the whole thing, Johnny Starter will definitely get fairly high billing. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I'm really not trying to be confrontational here, and I am actually interested in discussing this. Please try to understand my thoughts and questions in that spirit. I apologize then. I think I read something into what you said that wasn't there. I saw this sentence: As drawing a dividing line. Do you see an increase in the first group (people who know what BASE is) as a positive or a negative? Can you explain why you feel whichever way you do? I think it was almost exactly seven years ago that I was a non-jumper customer coming to that DZ and asking about BASE... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I think that the divide is this: Those who see themselves as "professionals" feel that they have to make money in the sport, and so they have to commercialize it to whatever extent. Those who make their money in other ways (the folks Jimmy refers to as "hobbyists") view BASE as a much larger, and potentially more spiritual, experience. To them, commercialization of any extent smacks of prostituting the experience for short term gain. I think that each of these groups probably sees themselves as the "real" BASE jumpers, and the others as "not committed" enough, or some such. The first group is thinking "if you really cared about BASE as much as I do, you'd quit your day job and jump all the time." The second group is thinking "if you really cared about BASE as much as I do, you'd do whatever it took--even getting a job--to maintain the spirituality of the experience." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Not all courses cost 1200 bucks.
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Presumably, if you were jumping over water, you could remove thos extra handles/cables before the jump. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Check out this one too. Joseph Smith and Brigham Young made Mohammed look like a saint. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I have done this numerous times, both practice and "live" on BASE canopies. No problems at all. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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No. That would be a fourth one. The one I was talking about was in Italy. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Even thought they get tax and other advantages as a not-for-profit organization? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I've only ever done an "emergency" cutaway on my BASE rig while it was under tension. Twice in trees (I was hanging from the harness), and once in swift water. Especially in the water situation, I was very pleased to have the ability to cut away quickly and easily. In one of the tree cut-aways I was facing lights and sirens, so I was pretty happy to be able to get out of the tree, but it wasn't life threatening. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com