RandyPacheco

Members
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Gear

  • Main Canopy Size
    129
  • Main Canopy Other
    Ace 280
  • Reserve Canopy Size
    126
  • AAD
    Cypres

Jump Profile

  • Home DZ
    Pacific
  • License
    D
  • License Number
    9089
  • Licensing Organization
    RPSIJPS
  • Number of Jumps
    14000
  • Years in Sport
    38
  • First Choice Discipline
    Formation Skydiving
  • Second Choice Discipline
    BASE Jumping
  • Freefall Photographer
    No

Ratings and Rigging

  • IAD
    Jumpmaster
  • AFF
    Instructor
  • Tandem
    Jumpmaster
  • USPA Coach
    Yes
  • Pro Rating
    Yes
  • Wingsuit Instructor
    No

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  1. The Cave has been a personal obsession of mine since1994 when I started base-jumping. A friend of mine, Alistair B, had the original idea to jump the cave after he static line jumped a tall building with a Para Commander in 1986. He thought the cave could be jumped with a round parachute. A Texas Caving Team successfully repelled and jugged out of the cave. Shortly after that they gave Alistair the information and schematic of the cave. After several years of looking for sponsors and pitching the idea for the project, he gave me the file and schematic of the cave. Mark L a friend of mine and I were planning an expedition to the cave when BJ in a televised stunt, jumped the cave from a helicopter. Shortly after that Patrick D and Mark H were the first to base-jump the cave in a sponsored expedition by Sector Watch Co. This didn’t discourage us on our quest to jump that formidable beast. From the first time I visited the cave I knew it was a magic and fragile place. The black & white “Swift” swallows and the florescent green parrots that live in and around the top edge of the cave were a special sight to see. I felt that making a base jump there was a special thing and a site not to be abused. I knew even if we took all the precautions to respect the environment and the birds we were still disturbing the natural habitat of the cave. The formula of environment, economy, and the fun factor comes into play. I had, and still do have mixed feelings about jumping the cave. I’m not the type of person that would shoot and kill a wild animal, but I do fly fish and abalone dive, so that makes me a hypocrite. I feel lucky to have made over 25 jumps into that magical place. With over 300 base jumps I still rank the cave at number 1. I’m posting this to give a little history of jumping the cave and because I hope the Mexican government will grant limited access to the cave with hard guidelines to respect the environment, the local people and customs. That might be like herding cats, I still remember the spray painted rocks “Why fall Rock Calls That’s All” on the top of a famous cliff and the jumpers that cut the chain on a gate to a fire road to drive a flat bed truck with a load of jumpers to save the three mile hike to the trial head. That type of behavior has already started at the cave. On a base trip to the cave in 99 on my rappel to the cave floor to mark out the landing area with temporary caution tape, there was a 50 ft. area that was cleared out with rocks forming the words “Spiders From Mars” in big letters. I heard a story from a local in the town of Aquismon that a drunk base jumper was riding round the town square on the hood of a car naked. It gave me that sinking feeling that our time there would be short lived. Cavers have a saying, “Take only pictures Leave only foot prints” I hope we will regain permission to jump the cave again, but I think it’s going to be like getting permission to jump in National Parks in the US. Blue Skies Randy Pacheco
  2. No ankle braces, but good ankle high day-hiker type boots. Blue Skies Randy Pacheco
  3. Pccoder: I landed downwind on an up hill, crushing the top of my Talus bone. Randy Blue Skies Randy Pacheco
  4. Serious ankle injuries: There might be hope. After four years of severe arthritic ankle joint pain from a jumping accident I had a Total Ankle Replacement. The TAR technology has been slow to come around. Out of eleven different TAR’s I thought the Buechel-Pappas Total Ankle Prosthesis was the best. I’m six months post-op now and walking with little pain and improving every day and I’m back jumping. Please feel free to contact me if you would like more information or go to http://www.anklejoint.com/ and do some research. Blue Skies Randy Pacheco