Treejumps

WOW. I see you have made a couple hundred skydives and 30+ base jumps in the last couple weeks. Thats pretty impressive. With all of those jumps I would think that you would have met the locals around FL. What were all of the those jumps off of, if you don't know where anything, or anybody, is at?

Definitely the best BASE video of the last year. Actual originality. Way to go Lika and all the crazy Russians!

Hey whats up Mark? As someone who flies a VX 120 at 2.5 I can tell you that it is not unusual to do a 270 from 500', although I probably do a faster 270 than most. I noticed a many years ago that my large VX did not seem to have the huge long dives that smaller ones exhibit. As canopies increase in size the amount of lift generated does not increase in a linear fashion, it increases more. How much? I can't say but it is a fairly well known fact that several canopy designers have mentioned. I can tell you for sure that I have done long carving 360's from no more that 700', and that I have been low (maybe 400') and still whipped 270's (front risers of course) and still land on rears. I used to wonder about all these guys saying that they start their turns at 800', 900' 1000' and thought they must not know where they start their turn, or that it just sounds cooler to say "I start my turn at 3500'" than "I do my typical turns at around 500 to 600'". I think it all comes down to turn style and the size and type of canopy you fly. There is no questions though, I can do a 270 under my VX at 500' and have no issues coming in on rears and getting a big swoop. Also no question, from 700' and I'll be high. Cya

Instead of tying a loop you should bribe your local rigger (sewing machine addict) with beer and have him (or her) sew a small piece of 1/2" sqr weave to your bridle. When not in use you would not even notice, but it would be much better than tying a loop in your bridle. Very small and neat, but will do the job well. A small loop 1' from the end of the bridle would also probably be better than tying off with the end (it would get your PC away from the structure and tie off point). Mostly, just buy some beer!

I heard an interesting piece on NPR about the housing development that is planned for the property that borders the park in the gorge. Anyone who frequents the area knows that a housing development is in the works, and of course, the NPS oppse it. According to Chief Ranger, Calvin Hytes (sp) the NPS feels strongly that even though the property is all privately owned, because some of the house may be seen from within the park, the development should be altered so that no homes could be built within a line of site from anywhere within the park. The locals are mostly supportive of the developement because the area suffers economically, and has much higher unemployment than other parts of WV. I'll bet if Calvin owned the land and it was his millions at stake he would feel differently. So much for private land rights.

You drink and BASE jump? WOW! Thats not cool. You will die in another 1200 or 1300 jumps if you keep that up . Next thing you know people will be partying and jumping all over the world. Then what will we do. Bad Yuri, bad. Seriously, though, slider up at the Perrine is awesome. Soft openinngs and short canopy rides. What else could you want?

Hey Jimmy, I see you've freed up some time to post more of your sharp witted banter. Can we assume that means that there is a young homeless girl wondering around Lodi now?

Tim has it right, but I would add that if one is going to perform aerials, it is a good idea to learn how to pitch out of the aerial because you will eventually need to for one reason or another. This is especially true on shorter objects, including perrine to preserve altitude. Pitching a pc upside down with your legs hanging out all over is a bad idea for obvious reasons. A good gainer, double, etc at perrine will almost always pitch out of the tuck (there is seldom time there to stop the rotation and continue much freefall), then open up imediately to slow/stop the rotation, the end result being a jumper in a nice position for opening. Pitch too early and risk entanglement, too late and you overotate prior to opening. For sure if you do enough flips, eventually you will bounce your pc off your foot or lower leg (especially if you stay up all night ). It would, however be wise for novice jumpers and burgeoning young aerialists to start with the right ideas. Get your pc and bridle clear before you stick limbs in the way.

Listen to Sam, That double came really close to being a bridle wrap around your leg. You can't open up like that before or during your pitch, and especially don't throw your legs out violently. Its fine to pitch out of a rotation, lots of people do and on some stuff it is a necessity. However you need to time your pitch so that its pitch, bridle extension, then open up and prepare for opening. Yes, I realize that entire sequence happens in .1 of a second. Thats why you have to take your time and get used to it, and not try to do everything you've seen on a video all in one weekend. Had that pc gone through your legs, you would have still likely opened, but it would have been at 4 seconds on your side. OUCH! Take the time to dial in the basics, all that playing around will be there in a while....and you will too. cya

More good points Chuck. I still doubt the competitive performance edge of any given canopy. In the end it is all about dialing in any of the excellent wings available (JVX included), and practice, pracatice, practice. A good example is Tagle switching from VX to Velo, and within months he was winning everything. Why? Because he is a damn good pilot, period. Jeffro won on a Xaos 27, which is substantially the same as a VX or JVX; 27 xbraced cells with skinny lines. Jeffro is just a kick ass canopy pilot. At the highest levels of performance pilot skill is the true competitive edge. Everyone loves the wing that carries them.

so are you saying that the people that have had a chance to perfect their skills over the last 6 years on the velocity were now caught by people that have been flying the JVX not even a full year? that's pretty interesting if you think about it. Good point!

He goes by Lumpy on here.

Yo Chuck, "The best competitors are going to do well no matter what is over their head." My point exactly. I see lots of folks chasing gear to get better results, but pilot skill is always going to make a far bigger difference than little gear tweaks.

Thanks for the report, it is very interesting for those looking for new competition canopies. So you are saying that the 6 year old 21 cell Velocity design and the latest and greatest 27 cell pure swoop machine have more or less equal performance. Very interesting. Who was flying the Velo? I understand that Jeffro won overall, what was he flying? Cya

These days I go stowed on everything, with the caveat that I don't really jump anything under 400'. I don't think I am adding avoidable risk. There are a few objects around 300' that I have plans for, and I will go hh on them, not to avoid burbles, but just to open higher. That is the way of team old and brittle.

Me too.

Hello, I have to admit that since I started going stowed about 7 years ago, I've only done a few handhelds. I've been meaning to get current on handheld and plan to that in the near future. That being said, if you are going hh, even on difficult access objects it is very easy to do climb out, or half way out of an A, and then pull you pc out of the pouch. The trick is to stow the pc in a way that you can grab the pc and bridle together and pull them out as a pre prepped unit, allowing the bridle to pay out to arms length. Everyone has their own hh style, but the way I stow a pc for hh makes it possible to pull it out and go without having to redress the whole thing and to do it in a matter of a few seconds. YMMV

Hey there, I build base rigs with tuck tab riser covers and have tried many different types and thickness of material. The easiest to work with and best combination of stiffness and flexibility is .040 thick Lexan. Lexan is the brand name of polycarbonate, and a plastics distributor should carry it in stock. You can cut it with good scissors and sew through it with any commerical machine. Cya

I think that this kind of post jump analysis is critical in not repeating these kind of outcomes. Furthermore, these kinds of jumps have proliferated in the last year, two at tops, and very few people have been doing them. They are HIGHLY experimental and EXTREMELY risky propositions. I hope that anyone consiering anything other than a solo jump of any kind will take this post jump anaylsis and apply it to what they are considering. Your life depends on it. Thank you for posting this as I believe it will definitely help prevent future problems. The quote below is as honest and forthright as anything posted to this forum after an incident. "In the end, I discourage anyone to repeat such jump despite the experience level and/or previous successful attempts." I hope your advice is heeded. Cya

Hey Matt, Good to see you again mate. I get worried when Ray starts to sound like the most sensible (if not gramatically challeneged) guy on here, but that is the most honest, accurate assesment of the state of the sport I've heard articulated. Unfortunately the ball is rolling and picking up speed and last weekend was a harbinger of things to come. Will it ever stop? Yo, I don't know. Cya

Adam F. said a long time ago that a good base jumper was a thinking base jumper, and that each jumper should continually strive to learn and critically evaluate thmselves. There were so many injuries and issues last weekend in TF that we should learn from and make changes in our behavior as a community. I'll start. Since my first trip to TF 5 or 6 years ago I've always enjoyed doing slider up jumps there. Confortable openings while doing aerials and short canopy rides are something I really enjoy and I have done quite a few. I had 2 far from graceful landings that had I been slider down would not have been an issue. One was in high winds were I was blown past the beach during opening and could not make the planned left hook turn to the beach resulting in a opposite direction hook that I just got back under for a crosswinder in 20+ winds. Bruised but not broken I continued to jump. On another jump I was further over the water and had just enough time (5 sec canopy ride) to hook it back toward the beach, were I found a nice 4" diameter tree fallen over that I did not avoid. Again, bruised but not broken. That was the 2nd log I encountered on the beach trail, the 1st I avoided, and then moved it into the trees (an 8" diameter x 4' long log). So going forward I will avoid slider up in any high winds at Perrine. Its only 486', and after lots of jumping there over the years I was complacent. It is an easy BASE jump, but there are plenty of ways to get hurt there, and complacency invites injury. Large groups and boogie weekends invite complacency. It is still a base jump and this past weekends performance proves that. What else did we learn?

I was in the LZ when the jump in question took place. I did not see the freefall, but looked up when I heard the opening. It had sounded fairly low, and it was by slider down standards. I can't pronounce his name (Finnish), but he told me he had done a floater, and had been deep due to not so great stability. He had a good chance to take the beach or water, but under pressure he headed more or less straight forward and landed in the bolder field by the trail head and smacked a giant boulder. It looked and sounded like a bone snapping. He had a nasty gash to his hand and his nose was bloody, but no bones sticking out. Further inspection reveled a large bruise on his right hip. From his condition I guessed no break, but it turned out to be a chipped/cracked pelvis. Winds were probably 5 to 10 tail wind. I did not find out the jump was from the far side until later, and I'm not sure it makes a difference. The same jump and from the normal side would have had similar if not worse results. That was one tough Finn given the impact and blood all over his gear. Cya

My thoughts on the velcro vs pin and the barrel roll are that the issue should never come into play. Nick is saying that it is better to have an open container and your canopy being extracted underneath you, so long as you remain stable. I disagree. In this case there were only two things that could have stopped the chain of events. 1. Release the PCs as soon as there is tension on the bridles (when you are under the jumpers you are supposed to PCA). I would rather get hit in the face with my PC than my out of sequnece deploying canopy. 2. Hold onto the PCs for dear life, and I mean don't release the PC's until they are literally pulled from your hand. This could have tensioned the lines and would have given a better chance at full or at least partial deployment and inflation. I know that this was an accident, and that no one wanted anyone to get hurt. However, there is a point at which giddyness to perform unusual and highly technical jumps in unsuitable conditions becomes foolish and reckless. These very unusal waterfall jumps requires dead on timing and precision. Doing them with friends you have made tons of jumps with and with whom you all know each others exit counts and exit styles is still dangerous. Performing these jumps with people you hardly know and with whom you have minimal experience with seems exceptionally risky. As with any jump, if you don't have a plan for every possible outcome, when the shit goes down you may not react in a way that will improve the situation, and may make it worse. I have no experience with these types of jumps. I have been invited on them, but they seem too risky for me, something about bridles all over and other people holding my PC just isn't right. If I did, I probably would have said something before the exit, and in retrospect I wish I had courage to say that the whole thing seemed fucked from the line up with the tailwind. One last thing. As far as I am concerned, Jason saved his own life. Not just in the fact that he had a spine protector, but Jason knew that he was going in and that he had no options to prvent it. From watching his entire streamer and impact, he prepared for the impact and had his legs tightly together and his arms locked in preparation for the PLF of his life. My hat is off to someone with the ability keep his wits about him in the most dire of situations. I look forward to seeing the Cooper's again and wish Jason the speediest of recovery. Cya

I was at the exit and assisted in handling PCs for the jumpers in the waterfall. Tom's description of the jump is dead on. THe jump seemed disorganized and poorly planned. After the hanging canopy fully inflated it was apparent that conditions were not appropriate for the jump. THe count was rushed and the exit very uneven. THe rollover jumper amped the exit and launched straight out in an failed attempt to clear the canopy (his head went through it). The streamer never expanded even a little, with a serious bridle wrap induced by pulling the canopy out under thejumper and releasing his pc into it. I would estimate that Jason impacted less than 5 feet from shore, probably 3'. From watching it live I would have guessed a fatality. It is a miracle that he lived, and we are thankful that he dikd survice. Be careful with jumps were your pc is held by another. They truly hold your life in their hand. Cy

We get in tonight around 10. Most of the MD/DC base crew will be in town tomorrow. Cya