Zennie

This is awesome news!!!! Keeping my fingers crossed that more movement and feeling come back as time progresses. Is he in a regular room yet or still in ICU? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

What's kind of funny is that Singleman, the climber had a better exit than Nic. But the main reason for the insane tumble-fall was that neither had considered one very important factor... the air is EXTREMELY thin at that altitude. They no real air to work with even as they gained airspeed. I haven't seen Marta's BASE Climb 2. Did she also jump Trango? (I'm not too concerned with site-naming in this particular instance because it requires an incredibly technical climb to get to and, probably more relevant, given the currentl political climate, I doubt many of us will be travelling to Pakistan any time soon ). - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Cookie anyone? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm a smartass... does that count? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I think I probably said "it" sometime before age 2. That's generally one of the first words a person learns. Well, since I was unable to talk at the time I was feeling the "it" I would eventually refer to, I definitely didn't just blurt "it" out at the time that I first felt it. I'd say there was probably a good 1-1/2 year stretch between when I first felt the the thing that I would eventually refer to as "it". Depends on who wanted "it". If I wanted "it" it was probably returned to me. If I had "it" (like, for example, a rogue cookie or a Fisher Price car) I'd either return "it", hide "it" or go running off with "it" depending on the situation. No, I think I said "Ma ma" first. I don't know, you'll have to ask them. I'm sure I felt quite a sense of accomplishment at adding yet another new word to my vocabulary. On an unrelated note, apparently when I was first learning to talk I would pronounce "tr" as "f". So everytime we went by a fire station my parents would point to one of the fire trucks as ask me what that was. Glad to know I was cheap entertainment in even my early years. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Hey Conway, I'm guessing he's going to be in post-op ICU for a bit, but as soon as he gets into a regular room, can you post an address that we can all sends flowers/balloons/etc to? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Your parenthetical is the kicker in what we're talking about. The chances of being on a "normal" BASE jump and having sufficient altitude to cutaway to a reserve (even with a Sorcerer rig) is more or less nonexistent. Having a second canopy is more or less pointless. It's all about comfort levels and how much trust you place in your gear. I'd personally be completely comfortable taking a BASE rig out on skydives (heck, my exit platform is just moving, rather than stationary). I wouldn't freefly in it, but I'd be perfectly comfortable with jumping with only one parachute. I trust my gear to that extent. What about lineovers or other mals? Well, the same risk exists in BASE. If I'm willing to accept that risk when I'm as close to the ground/object/hazards as I am on a BASE jump, then I'm willing to accept that risk on a skydive. And maybe that's the bottom line really. If you aren't comfortable with a single parachute system, then you shouldn't be BASE jumping. On the flip side, if you ARE comfortable with a single parachute system, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to take it out on a skydive. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Eh you all can have your crushes... I own her soul. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

The highest BASE jump ever made was by Nic Feteris & Glenn Singleman off of the 6237-foot Great Trango Tower in Pakistan. Interesting that your dream was in the same place. You can see the jump in "BASE Climb". It's pretty scary footage actually. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

190 jumps, 28 objects. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Yeah, let me go get you a copy of that memo. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'd add... 3. MUCH safer landing area. The "easy" ground landing area is pretty much a wide-open meadow. You can land along the riverside path as well but the meadow is a pretty easy one with very few hazards. And the water is pretty much cake... very slow current and usually Don is around to fish folks out. The NRGB landing area is very rocky, tight and in some parts on an incline. A good friend of mine pulverized (literally) his heel on his second-ever BASE jump at BD. Took him over a year of surgeries to get fixed up. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Did you get the memo? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Oh... ummmm... I'm working on that. I'll get back to ya. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Gang, I can attest to the fact that she doesn't have a soul. Know why? Cuz I bought it. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

Ohhh don't worry, the post gophers around here will start popping their heads up soon enough. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

They really are two different animals. The more you do it, the more different you realize they are. And yeah low, dead-air freefall is addictive as all hell. Read Tom Aiello's "Getting Into BASE" article in the BASE forum. That provides a really good overview of the sport. Just a couple random thoughts though: BASE jumpers are gearheads. We're pretty much our own rigger by necessity. We're constantly having to change setups to adapt to various situations. If you browse the BASE forum even a small bit you'll see we are always talking about gear. We jump large, F-111 canopies. So the performance characteristics are more akin to large CRW or accuracy canopies than "regular" skydiving canopies. Because we deal with dead air flight, the body control skills are completely different... at least until you gain some airspeed. Having diving or gymnastics experience is really valuable because they deal with dead air body control and awareness. Get really good at tracking. It's what we use to provide some cushion between ourselves and the enemy... the object. Finally, as neato as it looks on video and as much fun as BD is... BASE is DANGEROUS AS HELL. Anyone who tells you any differently is a liar or a fool (or both). Expect to get busted or busted up. I've been busted once (as in 'go to jail' busted) and messed up my knees and ankles a few times. Most folks come out of the sport with at least a broken bone or three. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I still get creeped out about heights. Especially if I don't have a rig on. So now I don't have a fear of falling per se. I have a fear of falling before I'm ready to fall. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

And of course, we even have a BASE jumping song of sorts from the Offspring... "Look at me I'm falling off a cliff now... I can still hear my mommy yelling 'No no no'" - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm not a spinal cord injury expert (where's pBASEtobe when ya need him ), but I understand that it's not uncommon right after a spinal injury to have swelling which creates the symptoms of paralysis, but once the swelling goes away, the feeling and control comes back. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Do you know if it was C4-6 or T4-6? If he's moving his shoulders that's definitely a good sign. Hopefully only the vertabrae itself was fractured but the spinal cord is still OK. Keeping my fingers crossed. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Sending out good vibes. Heal fast Ellie! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

John LeBlanc weighed in on a previous post regarding PD reserve canopies vs BASE canopies. Oops... Tom already linked to it. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

What about the report of the fumbled pitch? Was that also the case or was it strictly a low pull issue? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I was browsing around Wikipedia as I sometimes do and decided to do a search on BASE jumping. This may be one of the best "external" discussions of BASE jumping that I've seen. Enjoy! Anyone know who contributed to that entry? Whoever it is did an excellent job. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon