0
norcal21jg

We the People petition to legitimize BASE Jumping as an appropriate national parks activity

Recommended Posts

Quote

Done. That's 892 so far. Long way to go. Email this link to your friends



5,000 signatures is a big threshold for a small community like this. There probably aren't even that many skydivers who follow what goes on here in dropzone.com.

And then there's the whole idea that somehow if you can't get 5,000 people to sign a petition, then the issue must not be important enough to do anything about it...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

Done. That's 892 so far. Long way to go. Email this link to your friends



5,000 signatures is a big threshold for a small community like this. There probably aren't even that many skydivers who follow what goes on here in dropzone.com.

And then there's the whole idea that somehow if you can't get 5,000 people to sign a petition, then the issue must not be important enough to do anything about it...



thanks for your imput negative nancy....but hopefully we can get the word out to as many outlets as possible (dz.com being one) and those people can spread the word. our petition is visible to the public, and they are actively signing as well. the issue is important to us, and the unjust persecution of BASE jumpers in our own national parks will come to an end...we can only hope this provides that, or leads us in the right dirrection.
Step into my (sub)terminal Playground

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Will not sign.

Did you see the feature on BASE jumping in Lauterbrunn/CH? Base jumpers don't even have the decency to not die in front of elementary school children.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,784896,00.html. There is a full-featured video also.

Falls into the same category as homosexuals, queers, lesbians. I have absolutely no problem with it: but not in public view w/ children present!! It is an adult activity.

BASE Jumping in Switzerland
Village Appalled by Thrill Seekers' Deaths


By Lukas Eberle

The Swiss village of Lauterbrunnen is a magnet for thrill seekers looking to take part in the dangerous extreme sport of BASE jumping. In high season, they can be seen plummeting down through the air every minute or so. But a series of deaths has outraged locals.

Before Dominik Loyen, 43, leaps into the abyss, he dons his sunglasses. The German BASE jumper is standing on the edge of an 800 meter-high rock face in the Bernese Highlands of Switzerland. Beneath him lies the village of Lauterbrunnen. The sky is clear and mountain streams twinkle in the distance. Loyen takes two quick steps forward and flings himself over the edge.

He rushes downwards head first, barely missing a rocky outcrop. After 18 seconds in the air, Loyen deploys his parachute around 150 meters above the ground. Shortly afterwards, he lands gently in a valley field.

BASE jumping is a variation of parachuting, giving adrenaline junkies a buzz that lasts just seconds. But BASE jumpers don't dive out of planes. They jump from tall buildings, bridges and cliffs (BASE stands for Buildings, Antennas, Spans and Earth). And anyone who really wants to experience the feeling of flying comes here to Lauterbrunnen.

The village is a mecca for BASE jumpers. Enormous rock walls soar vertically at heights of up to 1,100 meters. Extreme sports fans come from around the world to enjoy the ultimate high, and there were around 15,000 jumps in Lauterbrunnen last year.

A Plague From the Sky

Many locals, however, are not happy about the visitors. Some 28 BASE jumpers have already died in Lauterbrunnen, including a French jumper who fell to his death in June after his parachute failed to open. For the local residents, the BASE jumpers are a plague from the sky.

Dominik Loyen is originally from the town of Viersen in the Lower Rhine region, but has lived in Lauterbrunnen for the past six years. In Germany, he needs a permit for every jump, and the jump points and landing areas must be approved. But in Switzerland, no approval is needed from the authorities. "Everyone is responsible for themselves," he says. "The cliffs belong to everyone." He loves the moment just before the jump. "Every hair is standing on end. The body resists what the head wants. If you manage to keep control in these extreme situations, it gives you a buzz, makes you feel superior, big," says Loyen.

Summer is the high season for BASE jumpers in Lauterbrunnen. In the tourist information office a poster offers them advice: "Respect your limits." Already, early in the morning, the jumpers are marching along to the valley station of the cable car, each equipped with a rucksack, helmet and parachute. A gondola takes them up to the mountain villages of Mürren and Winteregg. After a short walk, they arrive at the jumping spots, known as "exits." They have names like Nose, High Ultimate and Via Ferrata.

Many BASE jumpers wear "wingsuits," full bodysuits with fabric surfaces under the arms and between the legs. This special outfit gives the jumpers momentum in the air. With outstretched arms they swoop down in a nosedive towards the valley floor, resembling a giant bat. The flow of the air creates a noise, a fine swoosh that sounds like a distant jet aircraft.

Everyone in Lauterbrunnen knows this noise. The cliff from which the BASE jumpers leap is immediately adjacent to the village. In good weather, they can see a Batman flying by every minute or so.

'Slammed Against the Rocks'

Right next to the gondola station is the Stechelberg elementary school, from which there is also a good view of the cliff. At the beginning of July, the schoolchildren were celebrating the end of their school year with a theatre performance, followed later by a buffet on the football field. It was a beautiful day with a bright blue sky -- BASE jumping weather. Once again, the sounds of jumpers in the air could be heard -- and then a shrill scream.

"We looked on as a jumper slammed against the rocks a couple of times. At the end, the man was left lying lifelessly in trees on a slope," says Rahel Charrois. The teacher is still shocked by it today.

Charrois says she has never seen a year go by without an accident. In 2009, a class on a bike trip witnessed a BASE jumper fall to his death. The cost of the thrill is simply too much, insists the teacher. "We teach the children that it is important to be careful when crossing the street. How can we explain at the same time that people go BASE jumping?" she asks.

Anger in the village is growing. Farmers have been complaining about the BASE jumpers for some time because they land in their fields. They can't make hay out of the grass that has been trampled flat. "But the worst part is the deaths," says farmer Mathias Feuz.

Sitting on a stool in his barn, he describes how he once made a deal with two BASE jumpers allowing them to land in his fields along with their friends. He had been close to accepting the sport. But then the two suffered a fatal accident. In all Feuz has been forced to watch seven accidents from his yard, and he can no longer stand it. "I don't want any more people to die on my land," he says.

Two Worlds Colliding

In Lauterbrunnen, these two worlds are colliding. The locals in this idyllic Alpine community feel like the residents of a death zone. Meanwhile the BASE jumpers are only interested in their next adrenaline rush. Next week, a BASE jump world cup is set to be contested in the Lauterbrunnen valley.

The jumpers have set up a small camp close to the gondola station, the BASE house. Inside the log cabin with a fireplace, Jonathan, a young American from California, is sitting on a plastic stool. He has bloodshot eyes and a scar on his forehead, having just been released from a hospital after he was caught on a tree during a jump in France. A branch pierced his abdomen and ripped into his bladder. The doctors told him that it would not have happened with an empty bladder. So from now on, he will always urinate before a jump, Jonathan says. He has never even thought about quitting.

'We Would Like to Preserve the Diversity'

The BASE jumpers in Lauterbrunnen take big risks. Anyone who jumps incorrectly, or doesn't judge the wind properly, will probably end up slamming into the cliff -- after which there is no escape. In the past 12 months, six BASE jumpers have fallen to their deaths. But the local authorities do not want to ban the sport -- the region is one of the few in Switzerland which does a better tourist trade in summer than in winter, thanks in part to the BASE jumpers.

Peter Wälchli, the mayor of Lauterbrunnen, sits at his tidy desk in the local government offices, a big man with a round face. "We have everything here for our visitors, apart from the sea. We would like to preserve this diversity and not ban individual sports," says Wälchli.

Then he talks about civil and aviation laws. He knows them well. The same discussion flares up after each fatal accident, and that is when Wälchli says: "The BASE jumpers are acting legally; they are not violating any laws."

Mathias Feuz, the farmer, gets into a rage when he hears his mayor talk like that. Just the other day, an Australian had an accident when his parachute became caught up in the gondola cables. It is just a matter of time before the next tragedy occurs.

"The authorities don't want to ban the jumping because even a dead BASE jumper brings money in," the farmer says angrily. Many in the area would earn some cash in such a case, "the doctor, mountain rescue" and also the hotel and restaurant industry -- "when the relatives travel here," says Feuz.




Quote

Sign the petition to legitimize BASE Jumping as an appropriate national parks activity. If less than half of you sign, it will pass.

Get everybody you know to sign it and their mothers

150 votes needed to get the petition in view of the public, and 5000 for the president to address the issue


It takes less than three minutes! Please sign it!!!

http://wh.gov/g6c
wwws.whitehouse.gov

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote


Falls into the same category as homosexuals, queers, lesbians. I have absolutely no problem with it: but not in public view w/ children present!! It is an adult activity.



Bizarre opportunistic homophobic comment aside, how do you define 'adult activity' in this context? Isn't skydiving an adult activity? Isn't driving a car? People die on the roads every day, often in view of children. Unlike BASE jumpers, those unfortunate drivers often take their children with them.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I signed the petition. That being said and done, I'd like to comment on the long post above...

We were planning a trip to El Cap back in the day. It was closed to us not because of people spattering the rocks with their brains, but, because irresponsible participants couldn't even pick up their own litter.

If we can't control idiots who choose to slam into the swoop ponds at the nationals, hook turn in the traffic pattern, jump a camera with 37 skydives, or downsize to a Katana at 47 jumps, how will we display our "freedom" to base jump?

Stupid is as Stupid does!! We need to earn these privleges by paying it forward. IMHO as always.
Birdshit & Fools Productions

"Son, only two things fall from the sky."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Signed.

I hate the paternalistic attitude of the villagers in article. They're bothered by accidents and risk, so they want to stop other people from exercising their freedom to jump. They really think they have the right?

I hope it doesn't get that bad in America. From what I've heard, Europe is more paternalistic. In Germany for example, it's illegal to land at an airport that isn't open and staffed. If that was the case here, I never could have gotten my license.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Signed.

I hate the paternalistic attitude of the villagers in article. They're bothered by accidents and risk, so they want to stop other people from exercising their freedom to jump. They really think they have the right?

I hope it doesn't get that bad in America. From what I've heard, Europe is more paternalistic. In Germany for example, it's illegal to land at an airport that isn't open and staffed. If that was the case here, I never could have gotten my license.



you got it quite backwards.

Europe is far more open minded about BASE and many other things. The US loves to enact laws to protects people from themselves.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Europe is far more open minded about BASE and many other things. The US loves to enact laws to protects people from themselves.



Really????? Ever see Europe's gun laws? Fact is trying to paint any group or area with a wide paintbrush is oversimplifying and most likely going to be wrong.

The villagers in the article have as much, if not more right, to be upset about the base jumpers than the base jumpers have to jump.

Still, this is about the US national park system allowing things like rock climbing and gliding but not BASE jumping... And that is wrong.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Still, this is about the US national park system allowing things like rock climbing and gliding but not BASE jumping... And that is wrong.



Don't forget.... We once had the privilege and we abused it (at least a few did). "WE" as a group are now being painted with that wide brush. In light of all that is going on in our sport lately, have we really earned the right to have this privilege returned? :)
Birdshit & Fools Productions

"Son, only two things fall from the sky."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Jumpinfool is correct. I volunteer with the park service and they don't care if you die. If they did they would outlaw rock climbing.
You can't base jump in the parks, cause your slobs.
You can't montain bike, motocross, jeep, or snowmobile either. I know of at least one park you can't roller skate in.
Are internet petitions even worth a dam? They weren't. Has something changed? There is no way to verify who signs them, that I know of, so they aren't accepted.
I also believe you are petitioning the wrong person.
Even if the President says its OK, the secretary of the interior has to say its OK. Even if he says its OK. Then the superintendent of of the parks has to say its OK. Even if all those people say its OK the head ranger of each park has the right to accept or reject activities in their park.
In order to get that ranger to let you use the park you're going to have to find someone to watch over the activity. And knowing the gun totters (the in park rangers) they are going to watch you for anything you do that is a problem. Cause getting BASE kicked back out would be a big feather in their cap. Promotion wish.
So, pick out a park. Build a group of volunteers that will be there 24/7. A plan to protect the natural state of the park, including an environmental study. Then bring a petition in writing to that park ranger. Guard that privilege like you child for 5 years or so and then go on to the next park.
U only make 2 jumps: the first one for some weird reason and the last one that you lived through. The rest are just filler.
scr 316

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Signed.

I hate the paternalistic attitude of the villagers in article. They're bothered by accidents and risk, so they want to stop other people from exercising their freedom to jump. They really think they have the right?



Haha. You're a dork. We land on their land.

Oh, and Mpohl, stop being gay and sign the petition.
Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Post hidden due to complete and utter trolling.

As much as I'd love to rage on the poster, that would make them get just what they wanted.

But I'm 99% it's just a troll post, considering the blatant parallels that could be drawn to skydiving in the statements they made.

Now enough troll feeding, more signing...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0