TVPB

This is potentially going to be a long post, so here goes... Being critical of an organisation without looking at the big picture / all factors, is narrow minded in my view point. When I hear people bitching and moaning about how bad parachuting is (USPA/BPA/APF/etc), I also hear selfishness and "why can't the world revolve around me" instead of those people fitting in with the world to some extent. People complain because they don't get what they want or things don't go their way or they have to consider other people. These are the people that actually contribute to increasing levels of regulation in any activity. My view on the whole organisation thing??? My personal preference is for each individual to be able to do what they want as long as they are considerate of other people, property, and society in general. Morality could be as simple as "as long as you don't adversely affect another life, or damage property, you should be able to do what you want. This is one of the reasons why I BASE jump. But can we realistically do this? NO - because there are too many selfish people out there. Another thing, the BASE commuity is constantly trying to promote self regulation. Look at the names/orgs that support/have suported BASE ethics: Weston, Simpson, Aiello, Helliwell, Shoebotham, Filipino, Malnuit, Douggs, CJAA, ABA, SBA, FBA, NBA, Parker, Di Giovanni, Empinotti, Cunningham, Badenhop, Pecnik, the list is endless. This says something. But the amount of regulation that will be required is in the hands of every jumper past, present, and future. YOU CHOOSE OUR FUTURE. What about organisations? People seem to think that orgs like USPA / APF / BPA are restrictive and counterproductive. I disagree. Let me give you some thoughts and examples. - my personal situation allows me to parachute ANYWHERE in Australia as long as I have the property owners permission. I MEAN ANYWHERE!!! , Water, land, city, country, events, privately, etc. ANYWHERE!!!!!! All I am obligated to do in return is ask for the permission, ensure my licenses and ratings are valid, and to operate within a set of basic guidelines. The rating that allows me to approve these jumps took a few hours of study and to pass an exam. Big deal - so I missed one night of drinking or TV for this exam... Every few years I sit another exam that takes a few hours. The exam checks to see if my knowledge is current and that my practical skills are current. I believe this is a good thing. You only progress if you are tested and keep your skills current. Our FAA (CASA) was toying with the idea of controlling demo's after a few silly accidents. They would have been excessively restrictive. Our org (APF) fought it and we still control our demo's. Thank goodness for the APF. - I can compete with other like minded individuals or attempt records (this is fun and improves my skill levels), go to events/boogies, get information freely, or just hang out with a few mates doing what I love. What effort is required? Stuff all, a few phone calls, an annual membership fee, and maybe a few preparatory jumps. If this is hard to do, then tough biccies. Go do something else. I hear knitting does not require membership and you can do it whenever you want. - I can jump almost whenever I want. My obligations? Membership, currency, and follow a few local rules of etiquette. Big deal.... It aint so hard. - now for some BIG FACTORS. The FAA / CASA, whatever, has allowed a group of parachutists to manage my activity. Wow!!! Thank goodness we don't have a bunch of government beaurocrats who have never seen a parachute administer one of the sports I so dearly love. The management of some of our organisations is inept at times and I disagree with what they do on occasion, but I think the overall job they do is excellent from a parchutists perspective. Overall, they do represent my interests and I have infinitely more faith in them than I do have in my government. Thank heavens we don't have a career focused CEO who is only interested in making a name and money running our activities. You think orgs like USPA and APF are shit, consider yourselves LUCKY that you have people who have loved or still do love the sport running it. They also lobby from a participants perspective (yeah the tandem meat markets have an influence, but they are still parachutists). - someone mentioned that you can bypass USPA and undertake parachuting activities directly through FAA. Yes you can, but you have NO IDEA how much paperwork/applications/satisfying regulations/etc you will have to go through. The orgs handle all the beaurocracy for me. Cool. - etc. There are many other benefits. Are there problems with the USPA/APF/BPA? Of course there are. Are there personal agendas. Hell yes. Do things happen where you just cringe. Shit yes. But you have to look at the big picture. I believe that they are of an overall benefit. That is why I am still a member. And that is why so many other BASE jumpers are still members. To all the cheapskates that believe they should get everything for nothing and their complaint is mainly about the membership fee. DON'T PAY IT. You are the type of person who believes they should get everything for free. They used to have those clubs in former communist countries. You are probably living in a capitalist country, bad luck dude. Pay or don't - your choice. But stop whinging. If you don't like the way the org is being run, get on the committee, lobby, play the politics. If you don't, then their is no point complaining. Alternatively, set up your own organisation. Good Luck with that. - - - - - - - - - - - - - r.e. Ground Launching and BASE - the FAA (CASA or whatever your local organisation is called) could have jurisdiction over both if it desired in some circumstances. The FAA is responsible for air safety and indirectly for security. That means that anything that flies, OR ANYTHING THAT MAY INTERACT WITH ANYTHING THAT FLIES, they can regulate over. r.e WHY IS REGULATION NECESSARY in BASE JUMPING??? I think this can best be answered with a few examples: - think about BASE jumping in that beautiful Swiss valley. What is the right thing to do before you go jumping there?? To contact the local rescue/heli services to inform them of potential jumping activities. You should also check prior to exiting. Why? Not so that they are ready for a rescue (they are always ready), but so that they are aware of and can allow for your presence - this is to reduce the chance of interaction. Guess what fellow BASE jumpers??? THIS IS REGULATION!!!!!! But it has been done in a pro-active and less formal way. There are a number of benefits. You are less likely to be sliced to bits by heli blades. The heli is less likely to be involved in a crash and continue doing the work it is supposed to be doing. The heli people are happier to be around BASE jumpers and work in with their fun. etc. There is also the farmer factor. The Swiss BASE Assoc has asked that certain areas not be used for landings and that jumpers are respectful of crops/livestock/etc. Why? BECAUSE IT'S THEIR FCUKING LAND & LIVELIHOODS and we should all respect it!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS REGULATION!!!!!! Why do we need it? Obviously because we (BASE jumpers) have been adversely affecting someone. Europeans are generally open minded and fun loving people. Somewhere, somtime, BASE jumpers are taking the fun out of their lives by their actions. - The popular Terminal Walls in Italy and Norway.... There are some VERY SIMPLE rules regarding when to jump, what equipment to use, training, experience, etc. THIS IS REGULATION!!!!!!! But guess what???? A minority of DICKHEADS are turning up and circumventing the rules, lying about satisfying the prerequisites, etc. This leads to EXTRA REGULATION. - That ever so popular bridge in the USA. Again some simple rules (REGULATIONS) that are not that hard to follow. In fact, they are easy to follow and allow almost EVERYONE to continue jumping in one form or another. What is the future going to be there??? IT IS UP TO THE ACTIONS OF THE JUMPERS TO DETERMINE OUR FATE AND OUR FUTURE. If people start bouncing left/right/centre and the culture becomes undesirable (loud/obnoxious/out of step with the existing local community) the place will be shut down. How do we maintain our future there? We fit in. We respect the needs and desires of the local people, we treat the place like it is theirs (BECAUSE IT IS THEIRS - WE ARE THE PRIVILEGED GUESTS, NOT THEM), we ensure that our jumps are relatively safe and risk managed (INSTEAD OF BEING DOWNRIGHT DANGEROUS/STUPID LEADING TO ACCIDENTS), etc. - the building jump days in China, Russia, Malaysia, etc. - Various one off demo's and regular events in other places like Hungary, Germany, France, Australia, England, Etc. These all have a basic level of regulation that will remain basic if we ALL do the right thing. If we don't, the level and complexity of the regulation will increase until it reaches a point of saturation - a point where regulation is changed to ELIMINATION (i.e El Cap). As much as I personally hate regulation, the greater the participation rate, the greater the likelihood of attracting idiots and dickheads, and the greater the chance of further regulation. I had similar struggles in my country with BASE. We started from a perspective where people were almost banned from parachuting if they were known to be involved in BASE, to a situation where our organisation accepts it's existance, but does not either promote or administer it as it is out of it's jurisdiction. We also had the org and DZ's on board where they would refer enquiries to our web site or to committee members. I don not beleive we should promote increasing participation rates in BASE jumping. In fact, I believe we should discourage it. If people really want to do it, they will. IMHO - Overall a correct statement. Once you become a more experienced parachutist, your level of knowledge and desire for further knowledge becomes greater. Publications need mass circulation to remain viable. By definition this requires a more general (bigger) audience as opposed to a specific audience. THeir are more beginner jumpers than experienced. Hence, more experienced parachutists switch from publications like parachutist to instructor newsletters, chat forums, technical publications (from manufacturers or other experienced jumpers), etc. Experience people also prefer more timely information and a lower circulation glossy magazine struggles to give that. Their is also sufficient (and timely) information on the internet which makes publishing in Parachutist even less relevant to some extent. But it would be nice to see the occasional BASE article/photo in parachuting magazines. But in the end, they are parachuting magazines. Thank goodness for skydiving magazine and the support of Robin H..... note: FAA - Federal Aviation Administration - USA CASA - Civil Aviation Safety Authority - Australia Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

You were correct - the role was my creation. Its kind of like trying to be a missionary amongst a group of "sinners".. I was just being a smarty pants in my reply. Actually, most of the guys/gals down under are pretty good. Ocassionally we have a few bad apples pass through that spoils the bunch. Our topography does not lend itself to conservatism either. Here's to the future.... Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Yep - the people who truly love this sport have the utmost interest in and respect for the pioneers would love to hear your stories. Regardless of whether they were famous (Boenisch et al) or someone plying their trade quietly in some other corner of the world, the pioneers will always have a special part to play in both our history AND our future. You probably wont get rich from it, but there will be a number of people who will appreciate your endeavours. All the best of luck with it. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

When I saw my name there, I thought for a second I had made the list.. (pause to check my pulse). . . . Phew, still alive and kicking ... Don't scare me like that man!!!! This is where perceptions/interpretations kick in. I am not sure if I should take this post as a compliment or insult. I have been told that I look like Homer (slim, full head of hair, intelligent, etc). But then again, USA border security also think that I look like the 20th terrorist from 9/11. Its great to be famous, even if it does get confusing sometimes. Safety???? Well, at some stage I have been a BASE jumper (allegedly - pls ignore this USA NPS - I am delusional and I would never do anything so silly as BASE), hence I couldn't possibly be into safety.... I definitely have no initiative either!!!!! Can someone tell me what comes after breath in and left foot forward??? Hence, you must have me mistaken for someone else. Perhaps. . . . . . . Tom A???? MMMmmmmmm, double height, big juicy, yummy, glazed, overhung, mountain thing..... OOooohaaahhhhhh. Now, where's the ANY key to submit this post???? Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Now that would be the ultimate "hybrid" skydive. Exit at God's height. I dunno, maybe 30k. Build a 400 way rw formation, get rid of 300 folk, and then build a 100 way vrw formation, and then the fun begins. Deployment mayhem and build the 100 way crw formation. And then have a 100 way formation swoop landing....... One of my all time favourite jumps was a 2 way exiting a porter. We chased the plane as it decended into a cloud. Then we got together and did some vrw (this was about 12 years ago BTW), then we turned some rw points, then we broke off and jubed it, then we deployed and did some crw, including a downplane, and finally landed right next to the hangar. I did this with a guy who now has many thousands of jumps and he still enjoys it as much now as he did then, so the vibe was there as well. Anyway, back to today. . . . . Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

As I said 460 - I have NO sympathy for people with that sort of attitude. They are adults. They have a choice regarding their destiny. If ego affects their decision making, well.............. Ego can affect all of us at times, but when you are just starting out in a new activity with a much greater potential risk like BASE - you have no right to allow ego to make decisions for you. On one hand I am surprised that Stearns would do that, on the other hand, nothing suprises me anymore. Mother nature is a beautiful bitch. Stick with the beautiful.... Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Human nature is ingrained with the "it can't happen to me" philosphy (at least it was until George Bush started lying to us about his business partners in the mid east ). Many people only get the lesson when someone close to them suffers a tragedy of some sorts. I have spent many years trying to convince skydivers that a 3000 ft cliff is not just a skydive. No matter which way you cut it, a BASE jump IS NOT, and NEVER will be a skydive. Any viewpoint other than the FACT that jumping off a cliff is a BASE jump is absolutely, purely, and utterly delusional behaviour/psychology. Avery makes a point in one of the earlier posts to this affect. The sooner skydivers realise this and accept BASE jumping for what it REALLY is, the sooner they will be able to participate in a safer manner, and the better will their skill progression be. How do you convince people?? I have come to the point where I think/do the following: - the person I am talking to IS an adult and is capable of making intelligent decisions based on common sense and fact. If they choose not to, it is a (sub)conscious choice they have made!!!!!!! - I will provide any/all information that I possess, or will direct these people to others with greater expertise/skill/experience than I have. - I will explain to them that there are consequences for their actions and behaviours, both good and bad (i.e. if you backslide at Kjerag, the rock face will scrape parts of your body off you, OR, if you do this right and have the right attitude, this is the likely good outcome, etc...) - then I will offer them further assistance if they are willing to pursue my philosophy of training/jumping. - that is it.... They are adults, they have been offered opinions, options, information, and contacts. It is up to them to do the right thing. If they choose not to??????????????? They are making a very clear statement about how much they care for their own welfare. I will try to focus my energies on people who do care for their own welfare and want whatever assistance I can provide. In a nutshell, I am not going to try to convince people to do the right thing as my time could be better spent on people who have a higher probability of succeeding because they already want to do the right thing. It is the 80 - 20 rule. Don't waste your time on the 20% whose mission in life is to generally be counterproductive. 80% of the population deserves/wants/needs assistance and will be greatful and appreciative of it. It is up to the other 20% to change that ratio. r.e. the experienced skydiver thing. I remember when wingsuits first became popular. There were a number of "very experienced' skydivers/instructors who refused instruction because their definition of experienced was all-encompassing. Reserve rides resulted. And even then they could NOT see the error in their ways. You are only experienced at what you are experienced at. e.g. Generally speaking, the most experienced maths teacher would more than likely have zero poetry teaching experience. Hence, just because they are a very experienced teacher, it does not mean they have any experience in poetry teaching. There is no point in extrapolating or massaging words. Similarly, An experienced skydiving instructor who only ever does tandems, IS NOT AN EXPERIENCED WING SUIT PILOT. In fact, they are a potential student wingsuit pilot at best. IF a person realises this, they have a greater chance for both survival and progression. p.s. the truly gifted and those with the most potential and greatest successes are always students. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Awesome!!!! Congrats to the organisers and participants.. Are you stopping at 85? I want you to leave a bit so I can join in on the 100 way fun.

Using my amazing powers of deduction, does that mean that Tom and Cheri are expecting????? If so, congrats. I can see a thesis/subject matter on antennas and radiation!!!!! I have just heard of another BASEr that is expecting too. Goodness the BASE community is breeding.

Dolomites & Canadian Rockies Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

I have a few thoughts on this: One is to check out all the likely injuries and then work your way back - develope an exercise regime that will prevent/minimise them. See injuries thread. The other is the obvious strength and endurance - your arms need to have a simliar fitness regime to a sports climber or aerial gymnast (check out their training regimes - you'll find heaps os tuff on the net). Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Not much chance of diagnosis or root cause analysis as it was one of those passing by a DZ, just getting a jump in scenario's. All I know is that it was a cypres, the cypres was out of date r.e. final servicing (12 yrs +), it was a clean fire (no equipment around the reserve, no dramatic descent rates, no high impact docks at the time, nothing out of the ordinary, loop cut cleanly), the rig was old/dirty/stained & looked like it had done water jumps (hello swoopers), the casing looked a little "who's your daddy", and the guy knew stuff all about his gear. BTW - it wasn't CRW specific gear. I had to depart so I did not find out much more. I had a gut feeling the guy was just going to throw the thing away as it was past its service date, instead of creating fuss around an out of date AAD incident.... This doesn't help much beyond the fact that I witnessed it from close range. Bottom line, I have always been a believer in the LH as my AAD, especially in CRW. But then again, I have also jumped single parachute systems hundreds and hundreds of times!!!!!!! Some people like double redundancy and to limit the risk as close to zero as possible. Some people like to have one chance and to do it right that time, others, well. . . . Each to their own. I am not against AAD's. I think they serve a useful purpose. I also think that people have a right to use one if they desire. But you can't rely on them. Someone came up with the quote for main AAD's - "I use an AAD. I set it at the start of the day, but then I forget it". AAD's on reserves has complicated things a bit. You can't forget them. You have to have a plan for their use at certain altitudes. Kind of funny isn't it - they supposedly help people who are height unaware, yet you have to have a plan for them at certain altitudes. Go figure. Height awareness becomes all that more important because of the potential (real as it HAS happened), of mains and reserves firing at the same time. I don't know the stats, but I am reasonably confident that they have saved height unaware people many more times than unconscious people. I think they are a good idea for students and tandems in particular (Especially for the passenger of that turkey that was looking at his faulty alti on that clear day and did not notice that it was not moving whilst he was in freefall). But lets look at the reality of AAD's and saving lives. They have saved lives, and they have taken lives. They are more beneficial for people who "really need them", and less so for people who are competant/safe/skilled parachutists. Then there is the innocent victim thing - where someone else causes you to become unconscious during a jump. To be honest, if I was worried about this happening to me (and I have done a lot of World Level close comp CRW exits with other big guys), I would probably stop driving on the roads too. Because there is a greater chance that an incident will take my life there. Is there a chance that I could be involved in a fatal incident where a cypres could have saved my life? Of course. Anything is possible. But I am comfortable with my assessment of the relateive risks of various scenarios and as a result, prefer to go without on CRW jumps. That's just me, and my opinion. If it happens to me, feel free to have a laugh and a beer, just learn something from the experience (beyond I told you so) !!!!!!!!! Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

This may be graphic for some viewers, so please turn away if you get offended by blood and guts and constructive feedback given in a blunt manner!!!!!!!!!!!! Hi Nick I used to think the same r.e. political correctness and not offending anyone r.e. accidents. But then I used to get MANY calls from media after STUPID accidents, I used to get newbie jumpers demanding that their method of progression/learning was correct and mine was too slow, I have had friends of deceased jumpers abuse me for not looking after their mates (even though their mates would not listen to logic or sanity), I have had people say that they can't explain their offheadings and fifth accident in 6 months and that it is just bad luck (on their 40th jump doing aerials on lower objects with no out landing areas, etc), I have been told by "senior/experienced jumpers that I am detrimental to the sport because I tell people the realities of poor risk management and trying too much too soon, . . . . . . In a nutshell, people can't be told nicely that they are being idiots or doign the wrong thing and that they should temper their enthusiasm for rapid advancement with some common sense and logical/sequential skill development. So you have to tell them bluntly!!! Quite frankly, I have seen too many mangled bodies, too many burned sites, increased security, and too many penalty increases due to idiotic behaviour that some parts of the BASE community want to put down to just bad lack. BULLSHIT - people have to occassionally accept that a certain percentage of incidents and accidents are due to poor management and a total disregard for safety, common sense, and lack of respect for the sport. Any professional person / organisation knows that accident investigations generally lead to information/systems/procedures/equipment that can help protect the lives of future participants in the sport. I fully accept that individuals may want to remain anonymous or private and to a certain extent I accept that as their right. We (including me), have done this in the past, and it is NOT productive.. Withholding information or chastising others for trying to advance our sport, share information, and basically save the lives of other BASE jumpers, is not fair. Not getting the facts of an incident fully correct may not be the ideal situation. But even a discussion of possibilities promotes advancement/progression, etc. I support Nick's past practice of printing incident reports. I also believe that we should protect the rights of the individual in terms of anonymity, embarrasment, etc. But sharing the information is more important. How to share? Incident reports to registered emails? People can access a database by secure logon? We could also have a tips and tricks site - if people have an incident, they could add learnings to a site dedicated to knowledge and skills (a site without gossip and stories), perhaps Jaap's BASE Wiki could deal with this. Conclusion: the first step to overcoming a problem is to recognise that the problem exists. Whilst most real BASE jumpers are open minded and honest enough to fit into this category, we do have some jumpers that operate under the philosophy that "it's not my fault and it wont happen to me"!!!! Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

I take your point r.e. the fabric above your head. Something is always better than nothing. And something more is better than something less. However . . . . I have seen one fire in a CRW formation and this formation was flying well, hence it did not have a high descent rate compared to the rate required to activate an AAD. And I was about to dock onto it!!!!!! Would I want one in a big way? Well, lets just say that people generally tend to form opinions on what they know, what they have seen, or what they have been told/heard/learned. I know that AAD's can fire in formations (I have seen it), and that is probably a greater risk to me than the unconscious scenario. Yep, that is because were referring to the unconscious state. Its hard to do anything then. If I am conscious, I can make the decision to get more fabric out (and I would). Probably not and I would not count on it - but I have seen someone spiral in pretty fast and survive. They happened to have landed in mud/water. But that is just pure luck. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Where is it? I can't see it!!!! Oh, that was really bad. Sorry Nick, I'll just go away. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Yeah - I kinda agree. I think AAD's are great for bigger freefall stuff at busier drop zones and boogies, but I hate the idea in CRW. I think you are right Wendy, the only time you will need one in CRW is if you are knocked out and you have got nothing substantial out. Exit is one obvious point. But there is also the possibility of being in a very high speed wrap and being unconscious. If you are knocked out by a severe dock. More often than not you will have a canopy above your head (or spiralling). I am not sure if I would want a reserve to fire into this arrangement when I am unconscious (if I was going fast enough for it to fire). Your damned if you do, and your damned if you don't. Spiralling in or potential main/reserve entanglement. We had to wear a cypres at the World Meet in France in 2003. Our whole team borrowed them (thanks to the wonderful Freefall Factory in Melbourne and other supporters). I am not sure, but I may have inadvertantly and accidently , not deliberately, but mistakenly, forgotten to turn the bloody thing on EVERY now and EVERY again. I can't remember though as I am senile and I deny EVERYTHING, and this is not me posting under my name.... AAD in a big way??????????????????????? I vote NO. But it is up to the big bosses and the jump location. I would trust Chris and co to make the right decision, they know there stuff and I am sure they have the political clout to get the DZ to agree to their wishes. Anyway, at least you get to decide what you do, cypres on big way, no cypres on big way. I am jealous. But save me a slot on the 100 way. I am coming one way or another!!!! Good luck to you all. Hope you guys & gals get it. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Maybe his people want the experiment to work, and not have a one off worldwide media hit as a result of a failed experiment. BTW - I think I have the answer, and I'm pretty sure I could do it with the cost of a few jump tickets. I'm even willing to pay for them. Just sign the release form here, and here, and there, and here, and on the next page, and there, and. . . . and please sign the waiver here, there, and everywhere. Oh, and by the way, I'm doing video!!!!!!!! . . . . Oh splat, I was wrong by 6 feet. . . . . Next!!!!!!!!! Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

I've had a quick look through Google Earth. This is what I've found. You have to download the software and install it to use it. I suggest broadband as dial up can be a pain in the bottom if you are looking at lots of different areas. If you are looking at one area it actually stores this info for you so you should get the detail quickly after you have used it for the first time. They use satellite imagery and topographic elevations to develop the 3 dimensional images you see on the software. This means that when you try to get the side on views for many areas, the view is actually calculated from 2 dimensional data. i.e. if there is an elevation difference between two points, they will just stretch the 2-D satellite photo to fit into the 3-D image. This is why some places will appear stretched - and those pesky overhung cliffs you are looking for may be hidden (make sure you do a drop test before you jump off something that Googe Earth recommends ). You will also see that remote areas are less detailed than many city areas. The USA seems to be more detailed than most other parts of the world - as far as I know, it is a USA company developing Google Earth technology, so naturally they will provide better local info. I have also heard that there are a number of cities where they actually have 3-D data so that you can see an accurate side on picture of various buildings, etc. Should make it easier for some of those foreign pilots . I checked out a property I own in Souther Europe tonight - you could actually see the plants in the garden and the type of car that was parked in the driveway. I am going to chase up the tennants about that!!!!!! Makes you wonder how good the military tech is r.e. spy satellites etc. Don't look up when you go jumping, someone might take a picture of you on the exit point!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, where is my copy of Fahrenheit 9/11?????? Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

I'm sorry. I didn't realise it was against the law to reply to or answer specific parts of internet posts without answering the original question of the post. The above tells me that the decision to fly between the wires was made AFTER deployment and in response to the off heading. Hence my post is totally relevant in that heading correction is the KEY, MOST IMPORTANT, MAJOR factor in the above scenario. If the heading is controlled, then you will not be flying between the wires and the issue becomes less relevant. Now, if you intentionally decided to fly between the wires prior to exiting, then it is a different story. That requires good flying skills. If you are intending to "fly the wires", you should have lots of vertical space between the wires or the angle of the wires should be close to your glide ratio. Can I suggest some CRW training to teach a bit of canopy relative skills? Anyway, have fun, don't mess up. Now, to your original question...... Accurate statistics would be hard to come by. I think there are several reasons for wire strikes: - off headings - not seeing the wires clearly in flight and hitting them (especially in conditions such as complete darkness or if you have the sun in your eyes) - not even recognising the wire hazard in the first place (I have actually heard of a jump where a person clipped a wire - when quizzed on landing, he didn't even realise there was one there!!! There have also beed cases where beginners have jumped four wire towers but believed that every tower is a three wire tower - hence they have not allowed for the fact that there is only 90 degrees of clearance instead of 120 degrees). - intentional fly throughs but poorly estimating the flight path and/or clearance of the canopy between the wires. - and one of the biggest reasons? . . . not understanding wind direction. strength, and affect on canopy flight causing a parachutist to back into support wires or the tower itself. This includes jumping in the into wind sector, and on bigger towers where there was inadequate separation from the object in freefall and being pushed into the wires due to a strong crosswind component. Dangerous? YES. They are things you can hit. Anything you can hit is no good in BASE jumping. It should be part of your risk management, pre-jump planning, or whatever you want to call it, to allow for things you can hit. And parachutes don't like it when you disturb there ability to maintain pressurisation (i.e. your alter their airfoil characteristics and fluid flow around them). The risk factor increases if: - you can't see them - you don't know they are there, or how many, or how far apart - your heading control is poor (slow, ineffective) - your ability to read, and allow for various wind conditions is insufficient - etc. Anyway, fab777, I am not directing this at you personally, its just potential learning information. And I am more than happy to be corrected if my opinions above are incorrect. Just give me the facts and data. All the best. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Its a wonderful effort neverthless - and the picture looks awesome. Well done to the guys.... Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

What year???? There have been several ice climbs/jumps done in Italy and Switz. There have also been numerous ice traverses and mountaineering/climbing + jumps done in various places including Norway and the Euro Alps. Just because people have never heard of something, they think they are the first. A good example is the thread on jumping the Eiger. Then there is that Felix guy...... Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Your question is almost like saying/asking - "I have had a few building strikes, should I consider buildings dangerous"? Reality is, if you keep flying through the wires and you are not intentionally going there, eventually you'll fire the bullet. Worry about your heading control first and the fact that you are unintentionally going there. r.e. your question about obscurity. If you cannot see where you are going, you do have greater chance of being an incident statistic. Think about normal night jumping safety. You will need this and more on your antenna BASE jumps. One thing I do is make sure I know where the wires are, then I choose fixed features/locations/objects either in the distance or on the ground to give me a clearer picture of where the wires are. When I jump, my job is to do EVERYTHING in my power to avoid the wires. ABSOLUTELY YES. They are a fixed object!!!!!!! Parachutists and the object they leap off DO NOT mix. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

I use hands & other body parts. I think God (or your parents) stocks them. Most of us are given a set at birth. Its almost like our creator was thinking of packing when he/she came up with the hands idea!!!!! They are ALWAYS available (unless you cut them off and leave them at home). They are next to impossible to leave in your pack job. You don't have to worry about tearing the fabric/lines of your gear from sharp edges. They are multifaceted. Once you finish your pack job, you can use them to open/deploy it. And then you can even control your canopy with them. The act as beer holders and you can squeeze your partners bottom with them.

Cheeky!!!!! BTW - it's FSFC, not FJC!!! This is often a problem with people who are in it only for a few hundred jumps or a few years. In the early parts of a skydiving career, you are generally controlled/confined by operational regulations. Rules that are designed to keep you safe and develop your skills in a logical / sequential manner. It is a fact that many BASE jumpers do not have the psychology or patience to wait for more freedom which is attained via time/experience in the sport. Hence one ofothe reasons for giving up. Can skydiving be fun? Well here are some scenario's of the things I have experienced in skydiving: - about 35 cutaways - being involved in a wrap/formation collapse involving about 20 other canopies - display jumps into ancient temples, exotic beaches, vast cities, my home, etc. - taking people for their first skydiving experience and probably the most exciting thing they've done in their lives. You are actually in physical contact and feeling their excitement. - turning up to the DZ with home made wingsuit and woomera (hand deployed reserve) before anyone had even heard of Birdman. - representing my country. - travelling the world. - smashing the nose of my canopy through 3 other canopies and then slamming my canopy onto another parachutist all in the space of about 4 seconds. - Sometimes getting the experience above wrong. - Jumping into remote areas for BASE jumps. - Cross country flights above awesome landscapes (mountains, forests, seas, etc) - Flying co-pilot in everything from Cessna's to Hercules aircraft. - Aerobatics in planes. - Freefalling with descending planes. - Learning skills that I use in BASE jumping...... - etc And these are all relatively conservative things. If you really let your imagination run. . . . . . . I would tend to agree that turning up to a DZ every weekend, seeing the same faces, turning 8 points on a 4 way RW dive or 2 way freefly, and then repeating this again, and again, and again, can be boring for many people (especially BASE jumpers or individualists), but the mere fact that someone is doing this is showing that they are limiting their minds to what parachuting society expects from them. I am fortunate that my DZ is about 4 minutes away from my house, 50m off the beach, 300m from the centre of a large regional city, and not that far from a bunch of climbing and lower BASE sites. I hear ya brother. That is one of my reasons. In the end, each to their own...

e.g's Sue R from LA has kids. Seven from Down Under has a boy. etc. They are both awesome people. But mothers are probably as rare as hens teeth in the BASE world. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.