Free BASE Training: Spring Deathcamp, May 19-25, 2007

[TomAiello 25]

The Snake River BASE Academy will host Spring Death Camp 2007 from May 19-25, 2006, in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Death Camp is offered twice each year, at Memorial Day (the 3rd week of May) and Labor Day (the first week of September). Death Camp is free, and admission is highly competitive. Typically, we receive approximately 30 applications for 5 places. Admission is offered based on evaluation of student applications, reference checks, student preparation and class composition.

Death Camp is the most comprehensive introduction to BASE available today. The course will focus on basic BASE skills, with an additional emphasis on the history and ethics of BASE, and the teamwork necessary to many BASE jumps. In addition to standard First Jump training, the course will cover appropriate brake settings, advanced packing techniques, object avoidance techniques, object evaluation, and landing skills. Time and jumper aptitude permitting, we will also cover unpacked jumps, particularly as used for emergency situations, and multi-way jumps.

The Death Camp curriculum assumes that students begin with no previous BASE jumps. However, applications will be accepted from anyone having fewer than 20 BASE jumps.

To Apply for Death Camp, please provide the following information, or submit the answers to these questions via email to [email protected] or submit the answers to these questions via mail to us at Post Office Box 2493, Twin Falls, Idaho, 83303, USA. Please do not send private messages via the forums. All answers are optional, but providing more information will improve your chances of admission.

(1) Name:
(2) Age:
(3) Place of Residence:
(4) Number of Skydives:
(5) Primary Skydiving Disciplines:
(6) Home Dropzone:

(7) Number of Skydives:

(a) Number of CRW jumps:
(b) Number of Accuracy jumps:
(c) Number of Demo jumps:

(8) Any rigging certifications:
(9) Other relevant experience (paragliding, climbing, rescue, etc):

(10) Name and telephone number of any BASE jumpers who know you:
(11) Name and telephone number of a BASE jumper who has agreed to mentor you:
(12) Name and telephone number of any instructors from other related disciplines who know you:
(13) Name and telephone number of your home dropzone S&TA, Chief Instructor, or both:

(14) Mailing Address:
(15) Telephone Number (mobile preferred):

(16) Emergency Contact Name:
(17) Emergency Contact Telephone (mobile preferred):
(18) Emergency Contact Address:
(19) Emergency Contact's relation to you:

(20) Are you married?
(21) Do you have childred?
(22) Have you discussed BASE jumping with your family?

(23) Explain why you want to BASE jump:
(24) Tell us something about yourself that is unrelated to parachuting:


Admissions decisions will be made with many criteria, but be aware that a recommendation from a BASE mentor whose judgment I trust will be weighed heavily in favor of applicants able to provide it.

More information, including a course syllabus, can be obtained by emailing [email protected]. Course application and syllabus can also be found at SnakeRiverBASE.com.

Admissions decisions will be made beginning February 1, 2007, and continue until all spots are filled. Applications completed before February 1st will receive priority consideration.

As before, students will be asked to make a $100 charity donation as part of their participation in the course.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[Calvin19 0]

Quote

we will also cover unpacked jumps, particularly as used for emergency situations

I searched for this, but i could not find anything else on emergency situations that would call for an unpacked jump. I can see how it would be useful on an A. maybe. but thats it.

what does this mean?

[Calvin19 0]

possibly a dislocated shoulder on an A, or a E, to avoid downclimb. ???

[TomAiello 25]

Read through the List for Terry Forrestall. Now imagine if he knew how to do a simple unpacked jump.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[Calvin19 0]

Quote

#50 Terry Forrestal, June 10, 2000
Age: 52
Cliff Jump
Lysbotn, Norway
Cliff Strike and Impact
This is Terry's 8th BASE jump. A videotape shows him having trouble with directional control and tracking. He deploys with a 180 whereupon he hits the wall very hard. Terry comes to rest on a narrow ledge and later probably sees a rescue helicopter approach and then turn back because of fog developing in the immediate area. The full extent of Terry's injuries are unknown at this time but speculation suggests both his legs are broken. At this point, but unknown to Terry, a foot launched rescue effort is advancing on his position. When they arrived, 10 hours later, Terry is gone from the ledge. No one knows if Terry tried to self rescue himself by jumping from the ledge using his reserve canopy (this is done with success by another jumper several years earlier) or if sometime during the night he simply fell. Friends say he probably thought rescue was not in the immediate future. And the 52 year old former SAS is the type to take matters into his own hands. Terry is also a movie actor and stuntman. Some of the movies Terry worked on are Moonraker, Octopussy, A View To A Kill, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Titanic where he played the doomed ship's chief engineer. The following is 2005 information: There is a short film, now making the rounds called "Last Stunt" concerning Terry's accident that was made in 2002. The film is touring with the Banf Film festival and was recently screened in California. Here's the text of the promo from the film. "British stuntman Terry Forrestal arrives in Kjerag in Lysefjorden, one of Norway's greatest fjords. He is going to relax - away from his hectic film work - by BASE jumping from the top of the 1000-metre-high mountain. But one of the jumps goes wrong and a difficult rescue begins." In the film, "Terry's sister accuses Norway of bad rescue planning and of running "death" tourism. This is the story of Terry's last stunt," the promo concludes.

a rollover would be nice for that. but still... its longshot.... i understand now.

[Tyrion 0]

Quote

Quote

we will also cover unpacked jumps, particularly as used for emergency situations

I searched for this, but i could not find anything else on emergency situations that would call for an unpacked jump.

I know of an Aussie jumper who McConkey'd his way to freedom after getting stuck on a wall.

[jonege 0]

If both of his legs were broken, wouldn't it have been pretty difficult to pull off an unpacked jump? It sounds like he tried that anyway and just didn't make it.

[HydroGuy 0]

Dude, come on. What if you are getting ready to pack on the 69th floor of your hotel and it catches fire? WWTAD? Perfect time for an emergency unpacked jump.

Get in - Get off - Get away....repeat as neccessary

[sabre210 0]

Quote

we will also cover unpacked jumps, particularly as used for emergency situations

Tom, it's your course so you've earned the right to teach them what you believe is appropriate, but I'm sorry, newbie jumpers have such little cause to be taught rollovers, tards etc that the risks far outweigh the benefits in my humble opinion. The 'emergency situation' scenario sounds like a rather lame excuse to teach 'cool' techniques through the backdoor. Firstly, the scenario where a jumper could safely self rescue is extremely rare and perhaps this knowledge will encourage jumpers in peril to attempt it when in fact the safest option by far would be to wait for help. We'll never know, but Terry might still be alive today had he not attempted his own rescue, maybe not. Like i said we'll never know but it is a distinct possibilty.

Secondly, we both know that this knowledge is highly unlikely to be reserved by the newbies for those sole purposes. Given the techniques and knowledge they'll be doing unpacked jumps before they can even do flat and stable and probably off sites which are far from suitable for them before they've amassed the experience to even assess these sites safely.

Unpacked jumps have a time and place in BASE, but that isn't in the classroom for newbies who have yet to jump with even a solid object behind them. Time spent thinking or pondering such jumps would be far better spent on the REAL life saving techniques in BASE.

Like I said, you have earned the right to teach whatever you see fit but I genuinely think this policy is going to come back and haunt you.

With respect

ian

[VincentVL. 0]

I was wondering why your free course is longer and more complete than your paid courses. What's the logic behind this decision?

[TomAiello 25]

There were essentially two reasons why I added unpacked jumps into the optional topics at the end of that course (the second one is the big one):

1) I know of at least one case in which an unpacked jump performed by a jumper after a hangup transformed a potentially life threatening "wait for rescue" into a good story.


2) I've seen well over 50% of my FJC students (various FJC's, not just the Deathcampers) perform their first unpacked jumps within days of the course ending, either without any supervision, or worse, with "instruction" from someone who gave them badly faulty advice. I've had students told "you shouldn't flake or arrange the canopy," "you shouldn't use a tailgate," and, my personal favorite "launch down at the canopy and try to touch it."

I'd rather that I help my students to understand the variables involved in unpacked jumps, so that they don't embark into them a few days later unguided (or misguided). For better or worse, here in Twin Falls, if you stay at the bridge for a few days after a FJC, you will probably see 2 or 3 unpacked jumps for every packed jump you watch (unless it's a big weekend, when the lots of folks come in from out of town and pack).

We have several locals who like to run laps on the bridge with unpacked rigs, cranking out unpacked jumps as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, a couple of them also encourage new jumpers to try those jumps, and often fail to provide (in my opinion) adequate instruction or accurate safety information.

In short, I know they're going to do them in a day or two anyway, so I'd like to cover them in class, before they learn a bunch of bad habits.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[TomAiello 25]

Quote

I was wondering why your free course is longer and more complete than your paid courses. What's the logic behind this decision?

Short answer: Because I want to do it that way.

Long answer? There are several reasons. Look me up and we can have some beer and talk over them.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[Calvin19 0]

Quote

Quote

we will also cover unpacked jumps, particularly as used for emergency situations

Tom, it's your course so you've earned the right to teach them what you believe is appropriate, but I'm sorry, newbie jumpers have such little cause to be taught rollovers, tards etc that the risks far outweigh the benefits in my humble opinion. The 'emergency situation' scenario sounds like a rather lame excuse to teach 'cool' techniques through the backdoor. Firstly, the scenario where a jumper could safely self rescue is extremely rare and perhaps this knowledge will encourage jumpers in peril to attempt it when in fact the safest option by far would be to wait for help. We'll never know, but Terry might still be alive today had he not attempted his own rescue, maybe not. Like i said we'll never know but it is a distinct possibilty.

Secondly, we both know that this knowledge is highly unlikely to be reserved by the newbies for those sole purposes. Given the techniques and knowledge they'll be doing unpacked jumps before they can even do flat and stable and probably off sites which are far from suitable for them before they've amassed the experience to even assess these sites safely.

Unpacked jumps have a time and place in BASE, but that isn't in the classroom for newbies who have yet to jump with even a solid object behind them. Time spent thinking or pondering such jumps would be far better spent on the REAL life saving techniques in BASE.

Like I said, you have earned the right to teach whatever you see fit but I genuinely think this policy is going to come back and haunt you.

With respect

ian

while i agree with your disagreement of toms stated reason for teaching unpacked shit, newbies will be doing unpacked stuff no matter what, and probably pretty quick, sp they might as well know how to do it. i think that is a far better reason to teach them than to say (as you so wonderfuly put it, backdoor excuse) of 'emergency situation'

[wwarped 0]

Tom's first post contains a course description without justification for any particular skill.

Quote

Time and jumper aptitude permitting, we will also cover unpacked jumps, particularly as used for emergency situations, and multi-way jumps.

Tom's stated reason for teaching these skills seems to be in line with your opinion. - you both think they ought to learn in a controlled environment.

Quote

In short, I know they're going to do them in a day or two anyway, so I'd like to cover them in class, before they learn a bunch of bad habits.

Quote

while i agree with your disagreement of toms stated reason for teaching unpacked shit, newbies will be doing unpacked stuff no matter what, and probably pretty quick, sp they might as well know how to do it. i think that is a far better reason to teach them than to say (as you so wonderfuly put it, backdoor excuse) of 'emergency situation'

so are you agreeing or disagreeing with Tom?


-----
understanding and critical thinking enhance a jumper's odds on any particular jump. this forum gives us all a chance to practice both. we all ought to take advantage and develop these skills.

DON'T PANIC
The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

[AdamLanes 1]

What about when the newbies think they're ready for more advanced unpacked jumps like reverse rollovers, floater tards, and kite unders (but not game overs)?

[Calvin19 0]

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What about when the newbies think they're ready for more advanced unpacked jumps like reverse rollovers, floater tards, and kite unders (but not game overs)?

dont forget double game overs. those are fun as hell.

[Calvin19 0]

Quote

Tom's first post contains a course description without justification for any particular skill.

Quote

Time and jumper aptitude permitting, we will also cover unpacked jumps, particularly as used for emergency situations, and multi-way jumps.

Tom's stated reason for teaching these skills seems to be in line with your opinion. - you both think they ought to learn in a controlled environment.

Quote

In short, I know they're going to do them in a day or two anyway, so I'd like to cover them in class, before they learn a bunch of bad habits.

Quote

while i agree with your disagreement of toms stated reason for teaching unpacked shit, newbies will be doing unpacked stuff no matter what, and probably pretty quick, sp they might as well know how to do it. i think that is a far better reason to teach them than to say (as you so wonderfuly put it, backdoor excuse) of 'emergency situation'

so are you agreeing or disagreeing with Tom?


-----
understanding and critical thinking enhance a jumper's odds on any particular jump. this forum gives us all a chance to practice both. we all ought to take advantage and develop these skills.

it seemed that tom was teaching the newbies to rollover so they can escape a no-show rescue. to me, the more important reason that was not stated was that they will be doing them anyway, and they should do them safely. I replied to whoever i replied to's post. i cant remember at the moment as i am in the reply window, and cant go back without loseing what i just wrote. youll get it.

SO... since you obviously care so much about this, i will clarify, cause im bored.

TOM A wrote that he will be teaching newbies to do unpacked jumps because they might need them in an emergency to escape a ledge they crash into, also later stated that he will be teaching them correctly, so they dont wrap themselves. (man, darwin was a good guy and we are cheating him by telling people NOT to jump into a parachute below you)

(dude i replied to [same story^]) wrote that the newbies will be doing rollovers and tards within a day or two of the FJC, and they will probably be able to figure out a rollover on their own. i took this as disagreeing with tom for teaching them to do it before they knew how to BASE the well known way first.

now that i have been through this, i forgot what i was going to write about.
huh. well, i think that tom should teach the kids rollovers, and tards. and explain the uses of both. also explain the variations.

i think that if a kid messes up a rollover, he/she should not be doing one in the first place.

[GreenMachine 0]

[GREEN]I saw a guy (hell maybe it was you), do
a 'Double Game Over' in flip flops without
pads or a helmet from the Perrine

Any newbie who thinks they should do one is an idiot!
It was a damn scary/funny thing to watch, but it made
for great video, thanks

Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

[PerFlare 0]

What's a Game over?

[GreenMachine 0]

DISCLAIMER: This explanation is based on
observation and NOT personal execution.

GAME OVER: The jumper flakes the canopy,
places the lines in the tail pocket, and then
holds the unpacked canopy on their lap. On
exit jumper does a flip & releases the canopy.

DOUBLE GAME OVER: Same thing except
the jumper executes two flips.

Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

[Calvin19 0]

Quote

[GREEN]I saw a guy (hell maybe it was you), do
a 'Double Game Over' in flip flops without
pads or a helmet from the Perrine

Any newbie who thinks they should do one is an idiot!
It was a damn scary/funny thing to watch, but it made
for great video, thanks

hey, that guy is retarded. i recomend none of you nobodies ever jumps with a kid that stupid and reckless.

[norbase 0]

Quote

If both of his legs were broken, wouldn't it have been pretty difficult to pull off an unpacked jump? It sounds like he tried that anyway and just didn't make it.

Exactly!! if he have tried, he probably would fall into his own canopy

[hollyhjb 0]

Quote

2) I've seen well over 50% of my FJC students (various FJC's, not just the Deathcampers) perform their first unpacked jumps within days of the course ending, either without any supervision, or worse, with "instruction" from someone who gave them badly faulty advice. I've had students told "you shouldn't flake or arrange the canopy," "you shouldn't use a tailgate," and, my personal favorite "launch down at the canopy and try to touch it."

In my observations I have seen many experienced jumpers not use a tailgate for unpacked jumps (particularly roll-overs). How is not using one "badly faulty"?

"I reject your reality and substitute my own" ~Adam Savage

[TomAiello 25]

Quote

How is not using one "badly faulty"?

It greatly increases the chance of a malfunction. I have seen 4 untailgated rollovers resulting in line overs. I have seen 0 tailgated rollovers resulting in line overs.

When you are about halfway through the roll, there is a moment when you are on your back, with the lines stretching horizontally toward the canopy. At this point, the wind is essentially blowing straight up the tail of your canopy. I believe some kind of reefing is essential to minimize the chance of line over or tension knots in this situation.

More discussion here. In particular, have a look at Jimmy's post which was copied from BLiNC (the link is dead because of the various reorganizations there) It'd probably be better to revive that thread to discuss this technical point, rather than side track this one.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[460 0]

why is there so much stupid controversy here?

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