Felix Baumgartner chats with press before fleeing police

[hookitt 0]

Certainly not backing this guy, but how tall is he?

Tree, do photo shoots and physical stature really go hand in hand? I always thought the cameraman took care of camera angles.

Is being taller (I presume that is what you're referring to) the key to being nice?

It sucks that he's caused additional surveillance to otherwise unknown objects.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[Treejumps 0]

I think he is 4'2". Mostly I am making an unscientific correlation between his tiny stature and massive need for attention.

Clearly being taller does not make one nicer . I'm pretty bored with media whores who jump only for the attention. Its no wonder that base has such a bad public image. If the public impression of a base jumper was of the super stealty jumper who is quietly out there making jumps for his or her own pleasure, we would probably have a few more legal objects, or at least a few more legal events in the US.

[Gabo 0]

I have to add that Felix showed very good canopy skills , México City has 7340' of elevation, it was a hot day and he landed on a tiny area. Still I don´t like sites being burned but hey at least in a couple of weeks no one will remember and I´ll do a real bandit jump , je je

Gabo

[460 0]

Hi Gabo,
if it was legal with sanctioning by the local police, how was it burned?
Chris

Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

[460 0]

Quote

It sucks that he's caused additional surveillance to otherwise unknown objects.

Yes, like our local tower here in Houston widely believed to be the best in the world when the elvevator is running that someone we know jumped in the middle of the day.

Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

[freakydiver 0]

That is some funny classic shit right there. Small guy big truck syndrome is quite common in the midwest...

-- (N.DG) "If all else fails – at least try and look under control." --

[base570 1]

Gabriel,
You are taking this quite well, but doesn't it just bite your ass knowing that your own government and the building owners have overlooked you and or your fellow Mexican BASE jumpers and had brought in a foreigner to make the jump? I'm sure they are aware of you since you got busted on the heli deck preparing to jump...(why didn't you just bail on them?)
If you knew that Felix and Red Bull were planning on making the jump how come your sponsor didn't chime in and help you out? I would think that a Mexican Go Fast jumper would have priority over a Austrian Red Bull'er. I would think that the public would have enjoyed that more as well... getting to see a local make it big. Just wondering.

wish you could have made the jump brotherIt would have been sweet!

Jason

[JeNnEjEnN 0]

Quote

Is being taller (I presume that is what you're referring to) the key to being nice?

There may not be a correlation between height & kindness, but science has recently shown another interesting relationship...

BTW -burning objects sux... esp. when they are really nice, and in your neighborhood

Jen
...sorry I'm a geek, what can I say

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/01/24/bat.brains.ap/index.html

When it comes to bats, size matters

"It turns out size does matter," said Syracuse University biologist Scott Pitnick.

For some male bats, sexual prowess comes with a price -- smaller brains.

A research team led by Syracuse University biologist Scott Pitnick found that in bat species where the females are promiscuous, the males boasting the largest testicles also had the smallest brains. Conversely, where the females were faithful, the males had smaller testes and larger brains.

"It turns out size does matter," said Pitnick, whose findings were published in December in "Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Science," an online journal.

The study offers evidence that males -- at least in some species -- make an evolutionary trade-off between intelligence and sexual prowess, said David Hoskens, a biologist at the Center for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter in England and a leading authority on bats' mating behavior.

"Bats invest an enormous amount in testis, and the investment has to come from somewhere. There are no free lunches," said Hoskens, who did not participate in the study.

The relationship between the breeding system and relative brain size has received little investigation, said Pitnick, who teaches evolution and population biology and researches topics such as sexual selection and sexual conflict.

Bats are the second largest group of mammals (behind rodents) with about 1,000 known species. Because of their exceptional navigational and flying abilities, bats have been the subject of countless studies, providing Pitnick and his colleagues -- Kate Jones of Columbia University and Gerald Wilkinson of the University of Maryland -- with a bounty of data without having to slink off into caves.

Pitnick's team looked at 334 species of bats and found a convincing contrast in testes size. In species with monogamous females, males had testes starting at 0.11 percent of their body weight and ranging up to 1.4 percent.

But in species where the females had a large number of mates, Pitnick found testes ranged from 0.6 percent to 8.5 percent of the males' mass (in the Rafinesque's big-eared bat).

"If female bats mate with more than one male, a sperm competition begins," Pitnick said. "The male who ejaculates the greatest number of sperm wins the game, and hence many bats have evolved outrageously big testes."

Promiscuity is known to make a difference in testicle size in some other mammals. For example, chimpanzees are promiscuous and have testicles that are many times larger than those of gorillas, in which a single dominant male has exclusive access to a harem of females.

Large brains, meanwhile, are metabolically costly to develop and maintain.

Pitnick's research suggested that in those bat species with promiscuous females, the male's body used more of its energy to enhance the testes -- giving it the greater adaptive advantage -- and lacked the energy it needed to further develop the brain.

The study found that in more monogamous species, the average male brain size was about 2.6 percent of body weight, while in promiscuous species, the average size dipped to 1.9 percent.

-------------------------------------------
"Scars remind you that the past is real..."

[TVPB 0]

Personally - I've got no major problem with the attention.

Following are some thoughts and not necessarily my opinion.

Why do certain jumpers have better reputations than others, and why are some liked whilst others are disliked? To me it is a combination of the character of the individuals being judged, and the morals/values/ethics of the people making the judgements. Perception is mixed in the process as well.

For example, why does Felix have a poor reputation in the BASE scene?

There could be a host of reasons. Some may include:
- the motivation for the average person to get into BASE jumping may revolve around being anonymous, unregulated, independant, private, free, etc. They may feel that the sport is being pushed into a controlled situation by the attention that it is getting.
- in society, there are extreme introverts, extroverts, and everything in between. Introverts can feel threatened by the behaviour of extroverts.
- many people have had their local objects "burned" due to inconsiderate/selfish behaviour of jumpers who are chasing attention. The cost may be increased security and penalties. They may feel that their rights have been violated.
- some people may be just plain jealous as they have not received the same attention/sponsorship/publicity.
- some people are disappointed that jumpers who are genuinely talented do not receive the focus and rewards that their lessor skilled colleagues are receiving.
- BASE ethics exist. Each of us have a different view or perception on what these ethics should be. Being humans, we sometimes tend to be more critical of others and have higher expectations of them. You know, do as I say, not as I do.
- there are some individuals who isolate themselves from their colleagues. This does create tensions. For instance, Jeb & Iiro may be liked because they actually spend time with other jumpers. They learned their craft from others and openly communicted with them. Whereas Felix does not - he seems to maintain contact with ony a few jumpers. If you look at Miles and Shane - Miles is loud/brash, people are threated by his extroversion. He is controversial to some extent (even if a lot of this controversy is not warranted and is created by other jumpers), Shane has the McKonkey named after him. I think Miles is gaining a bit of respect afte his Most Jumps World Record and the fact that he involved a charity.

There are a million other possibilities.

Basically, if a jumper is sociable, has some degree of skill (which he/she does not overestimate), has achieved some degree of success, is not overly egotistical, has some level of respect for the BASE ethics, does not expose him/herself to excessive risk, respects the sport, etc - then that person is likely to be liked and respected by the majority of the jumping community.

If a person is the opposite to the above, they are more than likely to be disliked.

That is human nature.

Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck

The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

[907 0]

For me it`s clear.
I`m working as a salesrep, thats my living. When the customers says:"Jump",
I ask:"How high should I jump?".
Ok, I`m a prostitute.........

Most of us are jumping for fun, Felix not, it`s his job/Occupation.

In other words, different approach to jumping demands different judgment. (And possible Prostitution....)

”Verden har mange mangler, der mangelen på nytenkning er den største”
Mikael Gorbatsjov

[jupija 0]

i just wonder if he had made canopy special made for this jump...

Gabo hola amigo, did u or Jaime contact Adriana latly, well u will find another building, there is lots of them, was that that Americana building- that look s so apeling, it calls for a jump?

[shaggio 0]

Hey, it was on Sportscenter this morning....number 6 play of the day. They also claimed it was a bandit jump. Of course, if everyone knows who it is and the police really wanted him wouldnt they just go knock on his door?

[base428 1]

Felix,

If it was a legal jump, then why is it being broadcast as a bandit jump with you escaping police in a Hummer?

If the media got the story wrong, what is being done to correct things? Have you or Red Bull issued a press release stating that it was a legal jump?

Congratulations on the jump, but you and Red Bull have some explaining to do regarding the negative press. When we met in 1999, you were a friendly, honest, and caring jumper who went out of his way to show us some local sites. But you appear to be compromising our sport for your own personal gain.

(c)2010 Vertical Visions. No unauthorized duplication permitted. <==For the media only

[BillyVance 34]

I saw the video clip of him making that jump on ESPN's highlight reel this morning. Did a back flip too. Impressive!

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Tenshi 0]

There's a saying in soccer (wow I can't believe I called it soccer... guess we're all living in Amerika): play the ball, not the man.

The press are not morons. They were there and saw the coppers. They chose to make it a bandit story as well. Other news channels who were not there chose not to do any research.

The man wanted to make Basejumping his living and he succeeded. I think that's admirable. You're acting like he killed some children to get where he is.

Also you have to be VERY careful with principles. Personally...I try to steer away from acting (self-)rightious because I know I can't be rightious all the time.

[BMFin 0]

TVPB

Very Good post !!

[Gabo 0]

Hey Jason

Well people ask me if I had burned this building already since I was caught at the helipad before Felix jump . The answer is "NO" the reason is that when I was caught I wasn't equipped yet, I had my rig in the Stashbag and was getting ready but the local authorities never checked my bag, je je and they didn´t press charges for tresspasiing or anything I was just warned and they let me go.
My story was that I was filming for a short movie and I wanted to film from México's highest point and since I have a camera they bought it! HA

It pissed me a little not being part of the jump and I heard that they paid a lot of money to get the B permits and to bribe the police. But the point that pissed me more was that nobody in México knew about Basejumping so it was very easy for me and my friends to do it stealthy, but now more local authorities know and some are pissed saying Felix could have hurt bystanders. So now if we get caught we might be in a little more trouble than before, hopefully not.

Cheers

Gabo

[brits17 0]

I thought the funniest part about this whole ordeal was my grandmother's quote last night when I visited her in the hospital. She said:
I was watching the news today and this guy jumped from a building in Mexico and doesn't even know how to do a flip. If he's going to be on TV, he should at least know what he's doing!

Ain't that the truth.

_______________________
aerialkinetics.com

[dqpacker 7]

Thats funny!

[Zoter 0]

Quote

I was watching the news today and this guy jumped from a building in Mexico and doesn't even know how to do a flip. If he's going to be on TV, he should at least know what he's doing!

Lol......I so wanted to post the same......but not being a BASE jumper ......Its neither polite or respectful to the BASE community or Felix
But seeing as your grandmother brought it up.....well......

[gharendza 0]

Hi,

Hate's a Very Big Word !

I Hate Very Jealous Idiot's !

Thank you,

Gerald Harendza
BASE # 75

[BMFin 0]

IMO mocking someone out of being too short or not being able to make a decent gainer is clearly indicating that these people desire to make someone look really bad in front of others..

In the end one day those people might just find out not many really respect their opinion in anything anymore..


Keep it to the facts please.. Keep your personal relations with Felix Baumgartner out of this.. (if you even have ever met him)

[Zoter 0]

Quote

IMO mocking someone out of being too short or not being able to make a decent gainer is clearly indicating that these people desire to make someone look really bad in front of others..

Not at all, if thats what you read through my post.........but Granny does sum it up best.
For someone to breach the "unwritten rules" in such a public way......they should at least be doing it right ( whatever right may be other than being able to land without injury)
How many non jumping people do you think watched the event or video and thought that although BASE itself is a 'crazy' thing to do.....you must be all 'crazy loons with no control over what you are doing' if this is how the best in the world jump off a building.

Wouldnt you rather the world saw a public BASE jump that made non jumping people think....."wow that guy was totally in control of everything he was doing from exit to landing........these guys have some serious skills.......perhaps we should let them jump off buildings during the day more often, I mean they know exactly what they are doing "

[Hajo 0]

here in germany, we see it a little more complex.
we from the german base association want to open objects by asking the owners and take small steps forward. we had our official bridgeday weekend and some more events with hard work to get it done and permitted.
jumps and media releases like this jump throws us miles back.
in my point of view, there is no doubt about the circumstances.
legal or not is not a question, sorry.
I am convinced, it worked the "usual" way.
like the petronas story, the baffin story that appeard in the german newspapers or "the lowest base", and so on.
but of course, he is not able to sell a story with the title:
"see me jumping from a building with permission and support from the local police."
this will not bring any headlines or minutes of broadcasting.
it is less expensive for his sponsor to pay for the permissions and the support, keep that halfway secret and sell the pictures to the media as a daredevil-stunt-escape-show.
no newspaper will print the truth afterwards and the game for the sponsor is won.
worldwide presence on the screens...
this is, for the sponsor, a very good thing.
for us jumpers here, it is a nightmare.
we are trying hard to convince owners of buildings and other objects, that we know what we are doing.
and that we play that game in a safe way.
with a mediarelease on the tv and even well known newspapers, this can damage our work of years in a minute.
we do not find that funny. if someone does a jump and gets busted, ok. can happen to everyone.
if asked by the media afterwards, ok - do your best.
but informing the media and police in front, ignoring the ethics and not giving a shit about consequences for the community and selling this as a one-man-superhero-story pisses me on.
the explanation, he has to make a living from that does not work for me.
everyone has to sort his way out.
as long as red bull pays all the fines and travelling expenses it is good for him but not for us.
we all have to suffer from that more or less.
If I would decide to shit in someones backyard would be able to sell that to the media - good for me.
how about the owner of a backyard? do you think he sees that as a funny joke?
The point is, I do understand the politics of red bull.
but does the company understand us?

--------------------------------------------------

With sufficient thrust,
pigs just fly well

[avenfoto 0]

Quote

The point is, I do understand the politics of red bull.
but does the company understand us?

...nice