PoeticDelirium

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    BASE Jumping

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  1. I don't mean to be a prick by saying it this way, but... If you had to go to court, you could either spend $1500 an hour to hire the best law firm in town, or you could probably get legal aid for free. Who's more likely to win your case? Every penny that I spent on my base FJC was well worth it, and I would have spent twice as much. The training has already saved my life.
  2. I fractured my heel about a year ago on a base jump. I made sure to do everything the doctor said and more. I didn't put an ounce of pressure on it for about six weeks, and even then only started putting slight pressure on it very slowly to build up over time. I took every opportunity to stay off my feet
  3. I'd love to hear a recap of the discussion on how you chose who got to go first!
  4. Just wanted to clarify that link that you posted. The Red Bull stuff that's being talked about here was from a different expedition. It was done by these guys: http://www.redbullairforce.com Their footage is un-freaking-real! Paradise! I've spoken with a couple of guys who were on that trip, and the stories are quite amazing. The link that you posted, http://www.polarsafari.com/baffinbase/index.htm, is for an entirely different expedition, that just happens to be going to the exact same place. I'm just posting this to make sure that proper credit is given for the video footage discussed. Cause it is pretty awesome.
  5. Just wanted to clarify that link that you posted. The footage that's being talked about here was from a different expedition. It was done by these guys here: http://www.redbullairforce.com Their footage is un-freaking-real! Paradise! I've spoken with a couple of guys who were on that trip, and the stories are quite amazing. The link that you posted, http://www.polarsafari.com/baffinbase/index.htm, is for an entirely different expedition, that just happens to be going to the exact same place. I'm just posting this to make sure that proper credit is given for the video footage discussed. Cause it is pretty awesome.
  6. Faber, I think you and I would get along very well! We have a 750 footer nearby that I have only jumped from either the platform at 260 feet or the platform at 180 feet. Maybe one day I'll jump from the top!
  7. You could always buy one of these things: www.aerophile.com Carries you and 29 of your closest friends. Last I checked they went for about $1.2 million US, but I know a guy who has one sitting around un-used that you could probably get for half that.
  8. Well, I'm not sure if this is my most surreal, but it is the story of an image that will forever be ingrained in my mind. It is the story of my first ever jump from a construction crane. I remember a couple of years ago hearing about a new condo project that had been approved for our fair city. 33 stories of luxury condominiums - first thought, that's gotta be high enough! And it just happens to be about a 3 minute walk from where I work. I remember seeing the billboard go up with the rendering of what it would look like. And I remember sitting around for months - and months - waiting for the sales to go briskly enough to start the building process. And I remember the excitement the day they broke ground - all those people there, with all that equipment, and their dreams and visions of what this building would be. And there's little old me walking by, with my own dreams and visions of what this would be to me. As time goes on, they put in the foundation, and the first few floors. Then one day, I get a phone call from a fellow jumper. "Guess what I am watching right now - they are putting up the crane!" It wasn't very tall at first - at least not into my comfort zone of altitude. (I'm sure there's an Aussie somewhere that would have jumped it!). But that's okay, because eventually it will be tall enough for me. Again, time goes on, and the building rises. It seems to be growing quickly, and soon the construction crane gets raised. Higher, but still a ways to go yet. Another few weeks, and it gets raised again. Now I'll bet it's high enough. Now it's time for me to seriously consider this thing. I've done dozens of walks around the site. I know it quite well by now - it's been over a year since I first stood at this spot and looked up at nothing, wondering where my exit point will be! But now there is a structure. Now I must contemplate how to get in, and how to get up there. I think about it as the weeks go by. I plan to go one night, but none of the friends I jump with want to go with me. I wait, and delay, sometimes for one reason, sometimes for another. A great weather night, and friends from work convince me to go out drinking. Another great weather night, and I can't arrange ground crew. It keeps getting put off. Then one day as I drive in to work, I notice it - from much further away this time. Wow - they've raised the crane again. Probably another 50 to 60 feet of altitude. A gift - maybe this is why my previous plans were thwarted. Now, I can wait no longer. The decision is made - first good weather night, I am going. I didn't have to wait long. The night comes - winds at 4 knots in the perfect direction. Full moon, clear skies. I call up the two guys that I normally jump with. One is exhausted from working constant overtime shifts. As he lives a half hour away, he didn't even want to make the drive. The other says it's not for him. For his own reasons, he doesn't think he wants to jump this crane. That's personal, that's his choice. But he says if I'm going, he'll definitely ground crew for me. So I guess it's just me and the crane. We meet at my work place and head out for a drive by. Then it's off for a quick bite to eat, to talk about the plan, and to wait. It's still too early in the evening. Once we are done, we drive by again to have a look. Then it's back to my workplace to get my gear. We head back to the crane, park the car, and start to walk. We get to my nice secluded point of entry, under the fence, scramble up the little hill, and I'm in. Now where's that stairwell? Some 30 or so floors later, I am out on the roof. Damn, what a view. I can see the lights of downtown just a short distance away. I can see airplanes coming in to land at the airport on the other side of the city. I go to the edge, and survey my landing areas from above. I should be able to make the park. It'll be a tight approach, but at least I'll be landing outside the construction site, and don't have to worry about fences. If not, well, I land inside and there's one spot I can get under the fence if I have to. Then my ground crew radios up - "We've got a situation down here, stand by" One minute, Two minutes, three minutes, five minutes, ten minutes. Finally I can't stand the silence. "What's going on down there?" Well, it turns out that the security guard shift change happened to be right then, and the new guys decided to sit there with the door of the security shack open. Well, they might hear, but probably won't see, so I think I'm still a go. I climb back down a couple of floors to where I can cross over to the crane. I gear up and get ready to go. Another ground crew hold. One of the two guys in the security shack came out, and started to walk over to the building I am now in. After it seems like an eternity, my ground crew spots him on the third floor - putting up some drywall. It's after midnight! And the guy is putting up drywall. Oh well, I'm still a go. I walk over to the short catwalk which will take me from the relative darkness inside the building to the blinding light of the spotlights on the crane. You see, at the top of the vertical section of the crane, directly below the boom, are four massively huge spotlights. The kind of super heated lights that you could fry up a chicken on. It's nice - because they will light up my landing area very well. Add this to the full moon, and I've got great visibility. The only problem is, they will also light up me as I climb the last 80 feet or so of the crane until I can get out onto the boom. I've got no choice but to climb fast. So over I go. Out of the building and onto the crane. The crane that I had envisioned over a year ago. The crane that I have watched grow from nothingness into this beautiful object that I am about to hurl myself off. On this night, it is my crane. I climb as fast as I can (which isn't all that fast) I get right to the top, just below the boom. I am finally out of the light from the spotlights. But now I am below a grate which is locked. I can't get out to the boom. And I can't bypass the lock. I could climb out and around the gear and motor section of the crane, but after contemplating that for a little while, I decide that will terrify me too much! So here, in my tiny little section of no more than 10 feet of darkness, I try and come up with a different plan. So I wait, and I think. About 20 feet below me, there is a very small catwalk on the side of the crane. It's got a nice railing - I can go from there. But two things wrong with that plan. First, I'll be exposed in the light of the spotlights, and second, about 30 feet in front of me will be the chain and hook that the crane uses to lift all the equipment to the top of the building. It is hanging about 20 feet lower than the catwalk. 30 feet out, 20 feet down, and pretty much right in front of where I would be jumping. Right in front of my face. Scary. I won't hit it, but what if my pilot chute toss catches it? Probably not, it's got to be too far out, but it is so huge up close that it's a bit scary. Well, if I go off a bit to the right, and I pitch further to the right, there's no way I'll snag it. Just hold a good solid 1 and a half second delay, and I'll be good. All it is going to do is add a gnarly visual to my freefall. So it's settled. I climb down to the catwalk, get out on it, right into the spotlights. Now I'm totally exposed and visible. And immediately my ground crew comes on the radio and tells me to freeze - the second security guard who was still in the little security shack has just come out. As soon as I had just stepped into the light! So I freeze - totally motionless. I watch as the guard walks around a bit, goes over to his car, walks around a bit more, then stops. Is he looking up? I swear that if he looks up he'll see me. I'm directly below a couple of huge spotlights that are so bright they can give you a sunburn. Then he starts walking towards the building. Crap! Once he's inside, I call my ground crew. They lost sight of him when he entered the building, but don't think that he saw me. We're not sure, but I'm not turning back now. Even if I was seen, the quickest way of escape now lay in front of me, not behind. So I pull out my pilot chute, get it all ready to go in hand. Moving as quickly and quietly as possible. Once I'm ready, I hop up onto the railing. I check with my ground crew, and they say that they have spotted the security guard. He's on the third floor, talking to the guy who's working on the drywall. Now's my time. Finally. Everything leading up to this has been scary. It's been over an hour since I got out of the car. But now I'm in my happy place. I take a look around at the scenery one last time, then survey my landing area one last time, and go over then jump in my head one last time. I start to count: 5 - 'am I ready?' - 4 - 'yeah I'm ready' - 3 - I feel the legs tense up - 2 - I start to lean - 1 - I start to push - See ya. And that's when those spotlights, which had been both a blessing and my nemesis up until now, truly came into play . . . My feet were barely off the steel. Once I felt I had a good head-high, chest-to-the-horizon launch, I took the opportunity to look straight down. You see, I like to get a bit of ground rush sensation every now and then. But what I saw was not what I expected. What I saw is an image I will never forget. There on the ground below me, in perfect clarity, plain as day, was a shadow. A shadow of a person. The shadow of me. It had to be 70 or 80 feet from head to toe. It was immense! I was so close to those spotlights, and they lit up the ground so well, that they cast a massive silhouette of my body in freefall. I couldn't believe it! The next few moments went by like snapshots, or stop motion film. I watched as that shadow was in freefall. I watched as that shadow tossed its pilot chute. I saw the silhouette of the pilot chute inflate and go to bridle stretch. Then I felt the pins pop and the weight of the canopy lift off my back. In perfect sync, I saw a canopy coming off the back of that silhouette. By this time, I was falling with a bit of speed, and I could see the shadow getting smaller and smaller as I fell away from the spotlights. I watched as the shadow's canopy got closer to line stretch. And I felt the smile come across my face. And I heard my brain say "Dude - that was a cool two way!" Then opening shock sat me upright, and I could see it no longer. I couldn't take the time to look for my new friend under canopy. I had other pressing matters to attend to. I tried to set up for the park, but would have to sink it in too steep. So I chose to set it down back inside the construction compound. I landed nice and soft. Stuffed my gear in the stash bag real quick. I started to take one step towards the hole in the fence I could slip under. Then I took one last look towards the building - no security guard rushing out towards me. I don't think they had a clue. Then one last look up - at the building I was in, at the crane I was just on, at the full moon behind it and the one little wisp of a cloud. And at the exit point I had shared with myself! Then off to the fence, underneath, into the car and we're gone. Looking back at the jump, all the waiting, from first hearing about it, to watching it be built, to the extended process of getting in, and up to the exit point, all the hassle with the security - it took a lot to do that jump. And in the end, it was all worth it for just that one moment - a moment I will remember forever, a moment that blew my mind - the moment I looked down and saw my 80 foot tall shadow in freefall. Every day since then, I have remembered that image. I have thought about that shadow. And probably will for many months to come. For me, that visual was pretty surreal.
  9. "I can't believe it - you've actually found a practical use for trigonometry!" - (paraphrased from Bart Simpson) It depends on the object as well. For an initial impression, I find aeronautical charts an invaluable source for info on A's. And there are a couple of good website databases that come in handy to get a quick idea for B's. But in the end, I usually get on top with my altimeter watch.
  10. I personally only start considering it from 300 ft and above. I figure that for a lot of people, it is a comfort factor that is based on what you jump regularly. Around here, all we got is A's in the range of 250 to 400 ft. So for us, 400 ft is considered 'high'
  11. Hey SkyFlyer, Here's a copy of my response to a similar question asked on BLiNC: ------------------------------- To answer your question, and for anyone else who would like to know... The expedition is being run by a company called Polar Safari (http://www.polarsafari.com), a division of SkyCorp (http://www.skycorp.ca). They have been organizing high end Canadian Arctic expeditions for the last 5 years and are very experienced in taking people to remote environments. Feel free to check out the websites for more info. As for the base jumping side of things, this is what the adventure tourism industry would call a “self-guided” trip. The Polar Safari Team are not base jumpers themselves. The goal of the Polar Safari Baffin Base Expedition is to provide experienced base jumpers with absolutely everything that they need to get themselves to the various different exit points on Baffin Island. This includes looking after all the transportation, all accommodations, all camping and expedition supplies, tents, sleeping bags, cooking supplies and nice hot meals, Inuit guides, radios, satellite weather reports, rescue and evac procedures if need be, and even most arctic clothing. You will be taken up to Sam Ford Fjord and looked after while you are there. You will be given complete details on numerous jumpable cliffs, some that have been jumped previously, and some that are waiting for someone to be the first to step off. There will even be a helicopter to take you to the top of the cliffs. All you will need to do is choose your exit point and step off. The organizers are prepared to deal with inexperience on arctic expeditions, but they are not guiding people on the specific sport of base jumping. Polar Safari’s expertise lies in organizing and financing the expedition. As for my personal involvement, I’m a base jumper who happens to work part-time for the parent company, SkyCorp. I’ve given advice on some of the details of the trip, and am helping to get the word out. And I also happen to be the first person registered to go! Any other questions, feel free to ask! ------------------------------ If you want more info on the Polar Safari company, feel free to email them at [email protected] Jonathan
  12. ManBird, I apologize for the soiling! Tell you what, send me the receipt for the dry cleaning bill, and I'll see if we can get that taken off the expedition price for ya!
  13. Hey Troy, I hear ya, it's a bit pricey, but Baffin is a pretty expensive place to get to. If one were to try and organize to go on their own, they'd be looking at more than the $5500 range just to get there, let alone equipment, supplies, Inuit Guides (who aren't cheap) It would push $8000 US going solo. And then you gotta hike to the top. The beauty of this expedition is the helicopter. Gotta love rides to the top of 4000 foot sheer walls. Where else are you gonna have the chance to jump 10 different big walls in 10 days without having to hike them all!
  14. Hey Jason, Absolutely, I completely agree. As I said, I "HOPE" we never need to see either of them.
  15. I hope you are not planning on needing one!