321Cya

Core Crew! www.vandrunen.ch

Why don't we invite Marco! As far as I know he is (..or maybe was) BASE jumping! I've seen some videos of him doing so... Best way to find out if it works better than a track, since he's the founder/master of Atmonauti! J. www.vandrunen.ch

Hoi Jaap, We hebben een paar keer over de MSN gechat. Ik woon in Bern, maar ik ken verschillende springers uit Zurich. Wanneer kom je naar Zwitserland? Laat ff weten! Doei, Joris. www.vandrunen.ch

Grip strips... I'll pay for those ! J. PS: That is ofcourse if the beer's on you... www.vandrunen.ch

Cool. Can you PM with the exact location please? Just jumped the 2nd highest building in Switzerland's biggest city for the 2nd time last week. Nice scaffolding had suddenly erected next to the building eventhough it's almost finished... We didn't want to miss that chance... Thanks for the info mate! Joris. www.vandrunen.ch

obviously... www.vandrunen.ch

actually not the first................. True! I think we might not have been the first and it doesn't really matter who was. Anybody who did it and got away with it will be happy to have done it and a have had nice experience, cause it's a damn nice bridge! Space is also right that not 502, but the press releases said he jumped it for the first time. People do see that as 'him' saying it though, which is understandable! Here in Europe the papers are full of pictures of it lately. Also the company that my brother works for was one of the main contracters of this project, so he has lots of pictures and detailed drawings etc. He sent me those and I've been looking at them thoroughly and I actually think that the 'high' railing is less hard to climb over than I initially thought when I saw the mokup of it at the bridge's visitors centre. Might be worth paying that bridge yet another visit... J. www.vandrunen.ch

Love ya too babe... Coming over anytime soon? J. www.vandrunen.ch

Yes, the 2 jumps of the crane are 'O' in my logbook. The 2 others were of the bridge (roaddeck), so 'S'. However, the road wasn't finished at the time (there was a still a gap) This is why I know 502 did it after us, because his video showed a complete roaddeck. It was also springtime when he jumped, while we jumped it at sub zero temperatures last winter.....brrrrr! J. www.vandrunen.ch

What about wingload? (just noticed that nobody has mentioned it so far...) Having worked for one of the major canopy manufacturers and looking at what kind of openings people experience on the same model of canopy (but different wingload), I've noticed that this can strongly vary due to difference in wingloading. Next to that I think that body position, correct pilot chute size for the type of delay and a reasonable packjob have more influence on the heading performance than size of the canopy. my 2 cents... J. www.vandrunen.ch

With pride I say that two jumps of one of the cranes (before the roaddeck was installed) and two jumps of the bridge itself are written in my logbook... And that was before #502 did it!!! J. www.vandrunen.ch

This guy explores buildings in your country as you guys come over to Europe to explore 'our' cliffs!!! It like us saying: ''Leave the European Big Walls to us!'' How would that make you feel...? Peace out! J. www.vandrunen.ch

http://www.groundlaunchsystems.com www.vandrunen.ch

I witnessed John (Jumpshack) and Bill (RWS) having a chat while watching a Skyhook testjump... ...more than interesting! J. www.vandrunen.ch

Gus, I think you're 'on' the mark there. The altitude you loose after the cutaway occurs when the reserve comes out of its freebag. Normally you will start dropping straight after a cutaway and loose much more. Therefore it does look like a static line, or maybe even a direct bag opening. In case of the skyhook you're basically attached to your 'mega' pilot chute, which is your main untill the whole lot is released (read: reserve out of freebag) see picture The altitude lost is just the opening altitude of the reserve and no freefall! The reserve itself is packed in a normal way for skydiving. J. PS: More info here http://www.relativeworkshop.com/pdt_skyhook.html (and you'll see the Sourcerer is even mentioned there!!) www.vandrunen.ch

I'd say that he was yanking your chain (or overselling the product). The only way to get an open canopy under 100 feet is to deploy it slider down (or off). Packing a skydiving reserve slider down is a death sentence in the event of a high speed malfunction. Hey Tom, The statement from RWS is correct. Try to get your hands on the promo video of the system and you'll be surprised what you'll see. When I was doing my rigging course at RWS the Skyhook was in its final stage of development. The guy doing the test jumps was actually my trainer. Smart enough he had me pack some of the reserves used in those test jumps. I've seen some of the jumps carried out and since I was within RWS at the time I know the stated numbers are correct. I currently have a Skyhook in my Vector! cheers, J. www.vandrunen.ch

Have a look at the Russian made Atmosphere. Russian priced and rocksolid (like their Mig, Mir and Vodka )... I love mine! http://www.paraavis.com/en/parachutes/rigs/atmosphere/ Cya, J.

I was jumping when I met my girlfriend and she lived up to the day she had an opportunity to start as well. This opportunity came and she enjoyed it with all her heart. A suggestion made to do a mission over the weekend was always without discussion. She wanted to come as well... Now she broke her back on an unfortunate landing and things have changed. Not that she doesn't want me to jump anymore, en contraire. She simply doesn't want to jump anymore herself for her own reasons even if she would physically be able to. This for sure means that our weekend trips will be filled in with other activities. She has been thinking of other sports to do in the future and climbing was one of them. So maybe this turns out to be not so bad after all... Get well soon baby! www.vandrunen.ch

Hey mate, Her recovery is going remarkably well. She started some jogging today on a running machine. Not bad for a month after the accident.

...in LB? I'll be in CH end of the month/beginning of next month. PM me if you're around and we could meet up for some jumpin'! cheers, J.

Hey Mike, No matter what, they won't take these jumps away from us... Thanks for sharing mate!

Hey guys, Thanks to all for all the PMs and mental support. Daniela is doing great looking at the circumstances, she walked again a little bit today... She needs a 2nd operation on Friday and has to stay a minimum of 2 weeks in the hospital to regain strength etc. Keep sending your good vibes! cheers. www.vandrunen.ch

This morning my girlfriend got badly injured on landing after jumping a bridge in Southern Switzerland. She broke her back and was flown to Bern hospital straight away and has undergone surgery early this evening. Doctors say she'll be fine and will be able to walk again like normal. She'll be out the running for at least 6 months. I hate to be in the UK right now not being able to put my arm around her... Makes me feel helpless! Damn, life sucks sometimes...

I have the same rubber band on my slider, but that serves a different purpose. That's more like a 'slider-up' tailgate. The rubber band on the C-line attachment point is there to keep the slider up while the canopy is lifted from the container until it reaches line stretch. If the slider would come down in this stage you get slider down like openings as Lika was describing. www.vandrunen.ch

Hi Leka, I personally never roll my nose, just fixing the slider up there is enough, even with my vented canopy. I tried it vica versa (rolling the nose, not attaching the slider) and that slammed me every time. Possibly because the slider made its way down the lines before it actually should. Attaching it solved it for me. I also did it both, but without rolling the nose I get better heading control! Joris. www.vandrunen.ch