MarkSin

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Everything posted by MarkSin

  1. Even though we hadn't spoken to you for years we have great memories of you Tonto. Thanks for the jumps (working and fun) that we had with you. Another truly sad day in our world. Condolences to family and friends. Fly free Bro. Mark & Annette. Mark.
  2. This sucks big time I never had the pleasure to meet Sean personally but I chatted with him many times over MSN. I was so looking forward to finally meeting him and sharing a Kenyan exit point with him. Sincere condolences to his family and friends and the UK BASErs. Mark.
  3. Hi Mac, Yes I am. I guess John showed you some of our stuff when he was last in the UK. Keep in touch, we hope to open up a 1,200ft+ E in early September. Scary shit Mark.
  4. Hey Lika, The couple of us in Kenya would love a couple of copies too. How can we get them? Keep up the great work. Mark Mark.
  5. To add a bit more information. Our cliff is 420 ft and all my BASE jumps have been off this cliff. My canopy opened briskly (as it should) and clean except that it was facing the wrong way. As my canopy opened and I looked up, my risers were crossed because the canopy was facing in the opposite direction to me. I grabbed the right riser first before I swung around to face the cliff. Once I did I grabbed the left riser as well. Here my recollection gets a bit fuzzy. I believe I had both risers pulled down but the right one was pulled down more. The canopy stopped moving forward and was moving backwards slowly in a right turn. Looking at the video I probably had less than 1/2 a second from moment when the canopy was facing enough away from the cliff till I contacted the face. I hit the cliff with the back of the left side of my canopy and IF I had had the presence of mind to let go in that instant then I would have flown away from the face with no problem. I admit I did a couple of things wrong. 1) I didn't stop the canopy first and then turn it. (like Ray has said) 2) I should have let the risers up the instant I was not facing the cliff. All in all it was a sobering experience; and not just for me. I have read all the "what to do if" threads when I can but as we all know, until it happens we don't know how we will react. I'm glad I'm still around to keep learning and I appreciate all your input. I would love to do some experimenting off a nice span but unfortunately there is a gross shortage of them here. If anyone wants to start a "Get the Kenyan crew to potato land" fund then I'm all for it. I'll even donate the first $20. Hope to share an exit point with you all some day. Mark.
  6. We went to our cliff on Saturday. What a day! It started off with us getting up at 4:30 am to be picked up by John at 5:15 am. John had been bitching all week warning us that we'd better be ready on time otherwise he would be pissed off. So............we get a call at 5:30 am from John telling us that he didn't hear his 3 alarms go off and that he had just woken up. So we sit in the dark waiting whilst John runs around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get organised. (John normally needs about an hour to look and feel human in the mornings). Of course as soon as he's ready with the car loaded etc, the car doesn't start. He wakes up his staff and they push him up and down the street trying to start the car to no avail. John throws all his toys and loads all his kit in the Benz (which he really doesn't want to take on the bad roads) and arrives at our place sometime after 6:30 am and we get to travel to our cliff in style. Our first jump goes without a hitch. There are animals everywhere on the climb up. John decides to go stowed for the first time ever; I've got my bullet cam mounted on my waist. The video camera Annette has down the bottom is a borrowed one and she presses the wrong button so we don't get any footage from that one. I get some interesting footage from my bullet cam though. We go to a different place to pack for a change that is closer to our cliff. I normally finish packing at least 15 mins before John but this day he is packing like a demon and finished a couple of minutes after me. I express my amazement and John tells me that it might look alright on the outside it's a complete mess on the inside. This pisses me off again because my pack jobs are always so much neater than Johns but I'm the one that gets off heading openings. This time I'm packed stowed too. It's now 11:30 am and starting to get warmer but unbelievably its still calm. No wind, perfect for BASE jumping. We head on off back up the cliff and gear up. It’s John’s turn to go first so off he goes. He has a slightly off heading opening to the right of about 35 degrees. Next it's my turn, first time stowed so there is a bit more tension than normal. It feels different to stand on the edge of the cliff without a pilot chute in my hand but never mind here goes. I jump and hold it for a second (probably ½ second in real time) and pitch out the pilot chute. It flashes through my mind that I might not have pitched it strongly enough and WHACK the canopy opens; FUCK it's facing the wrong way and the risers are crossed. I've got a 180 off heading opening haven't I! I grab the right rear riser and pull it down to try and turn the canopy back and to the right. It works but I hold it a second too long and I back into the cliff and hit it. I didn't expect the cliff to be so close and it surprised the hell out of me when I hit it. Of course as I hit the cliff I get supported by it a bit and the lines in the canopy go slack and the canopy stops flying. It then gets worse because now I'm sliding down the cliff face with my legs up around my head. Sliding down the cliff also helps because now I've got tension on my lines again and the canopy starts flying again and I fly away from the cliff. When you look at the video of this it is all over in a couple of seconds. You can't even see me sliding down the cliff but at the time it went on for far too long. I whacked the left side of my body a bit and my knee feels a bit funny but other than that I'm okay. On the day I felt a bit more battered and bruised and I had trouble walking up and down stairs. We spent the rest of the day in the pub drinking too much. And can you believe it, the rest of the day was a perfect BASE jumping day, what a waste! 1st stowed jump, 1st 180 and 1st cliff strike. Mark "If you're not living on the edge, you're wasting space"
  7. MarkSin

    Strange packjob

    Can anyone explain how this packjob is packed and why it is packed this way? It's from fastpete's website from the Heli boogie. (Hope you don't mind Pete) http://www.pete.fi/gallery/Heliboogie-2005/20050619_154003 Sorry I don't know how to make it clicky. Mark.
  8. Thanks for all the input. I don't think I "swim" or double throw but I will definately look much closer at my videos. My videos are not with me and I won't get to look at them for another month or so but I won't be jumping before then so hopefully I can learn something by then. I'm going to practice "throwing a baseball" in the meantime. Hopefully I'll get to see you guys at the edge one day. Stay cool. Mark.
  9. Sorry Tom. It's all done by the book and the the bridle definately comes out of the top of my hand. Looking at my video of other jumps I think I throw the pilot chute sideways and slightly forward. On the video there is no noticable delay in pilot chute inflation but it just gives me shakes when I feel that bridle for a split second. Mark.
  10. Sorry it's a blow up of a still picture so no video. Sorry for the quality. Sure I always make sure I tuck the bridle into my top flap and have enough slack. If you look closely at the picture you can see the slack blowing in the breeze. Unfortunately I've never jumped an A or a S. This E is the only object (so far) in this part of the world. Mark.
  11. The same way Adam explains in CR's packing video. S fold the pilot chute and then S fold the bridle. I hold the bridle against my palm with the fabric of the pilot chute covering the bridle. Mark.
  12. I'm a newbie to this sport and I have felt my bridle a few times after throwing my pilot chute. This picture shows the last jump that I felt my bridle. I guess my throwing technic must be wrong. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong?