chrismcn7

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070116/NEWS18/70116020/1184/NEWS18 They are selling residential units! World's tallest building still climbing JIM KRANE ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER Posted: 1/16/2007 DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Burj Dubai skyscraper under construction here reached its 100th story on Tuesday, nearly two-thirds of the way in its relentless climb to become the world’s tallest building. With 3,000 laborers adding a new floor nearly every three days, the $1 billion spire is days away from surpassing a neighboring skyscraper that is currently the tallest in the Middle East, Dubai-based developer Emaar Properties said. “The tower is a symbol of the city’s pride and a statement of our arrival on the global scene as one of the world-class cities,” Emaar chairman Mohammed Ali Alabbar said. When finished in two years, the silvery steel-and-glass building is expected to rise beyond 2,300 feet and more than 160 floors — dozens of stories taller than the world’s current tallest building, the Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan, which measures 1,671 feet and 101 floors. It will also top the world’s tallest freestanding structure, Toronto’s CN Tower, which stands 1,815 feet. Emaar isn’t releasing its plans for the final height of the Burj Dubai so it can add more stories if a competing developer mounts a challenge. Predictions on skyscraper Web sites say the cylindrical Burj, which was designed by American architect Adrian Smith, will eventually loom over the city from a height of 2,600 feet or more. Until the 1960s, the United Arab Emirates was an impoverished desert country whose residents survived through subsistence fishing, farming and small-time trade. After it became rich from oil, Dubai began building skyscrapers to gain international prestige, not, like Hong Kong and New York, because of a shortage of land. But Dubai’s skyscraper binge has jacked up land prices so much that tall buildings are now the only feasible use of coveted building lots in the city’s central district. Dubai has staked its fame on bold engineering, building attention-grabbing projects including manmade resort islands shaped like palm trees, a mall with indoor skiing, and a vast Disney World-style amusement complex that includes plans for an apartment building that rotates on its axis. Exhibiting a flair for the luxurious that is typical of Dubai, one of the skyscraper’s high-profile tenants will be the Armani Hotel, developed in conjunction with Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani. The spire will also contain private apartments and offices. Surrounding the dramatic concrete and steel tower is a $20 billion development project that includes several smaller towers set amid winding canals and a gargantuan shopping mall. All of this development has angered many environmentalists, who say the Emirates is one of the biggest energy consumers and carbon dioxide emitters per capita on the planet. The World Wildlife Fund has asked the country to move toward renewable energy, especially solar power viable in one of the world’s sunniest climates. Although the government says it is making improvements, construction hasn’t slowed on projects like the Burj Dubai. Motorists on the adjacent highway get dramatic daily views of the tower’s progress, with 10 cranes and the world’s fastest construction hoists zipping concrete slabs and giant bundles of steel rods to dizzying heights. The construction division of South Korean conglomerate Samsung is building the tower, using a three-day-per-story construction technique pioneered on skyscrapers in South Korea. “We’re not breaking any speed records, just the height record,” said Beejay Kim, Samsung’s Dubai-based business manager. Only one building in the Middle East currently remains taller: the nearby Emirates Office Tower, a skyscraper resembling a razor blade that rises to 1,165 feet. The Burj Dubai is approaching that height now — it stands at 1,140 feet — and should surpass it within days. Asked how long the Burj Dubai would hold the world record when it’s finished, Kim said he was unsure. “If anyone is looking for an even taller building, we are happy to build it,” he said. The Middle East previously held the record of the earth’s tallest structure for about 43 centuries. Built around 2500 B.C., Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza dwarfed the competition until 1889 when the Eiffel Tower was completed in Paris. ——— On the Net: http://www.burjdubai.com

glad to be there for the last ten and for the two of 07. next year do 737 while holding roman candles... i have NO IDEA where that idea came from. here is miles swoopin in the new year 12/31/06 (jump number 737): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSriuFfHfi0

http://www.basejumpingmovies.com/mov/Low_Pull_Into_Tree2.mov this version has one more angle on it... but still not sure why i can't get sound out of the original clip. that was two tree landings in the valley in 2 days. the trees seem to be hungry at the moment... watch out! PS: this is not video of me. some other friends here at the horner just convinced me to post it.

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=4806

Whoever dropped the bag of goodies on the way from The Nose to the Horner. The quality is excellent. As the weather has turned bad, its becoming more and more valuable to more and more jumpers. Popo: may i see your license please? Cheech: uhm... *looks around* hey, uhm... isn't it on the back of the car, man?

there is only one other low pull i have seen that is in that league http://maxf.net/~outrager/ostankino04/Pond_Flight.mov

snowboard base... the only part of the jump that was in control.

yes, snowboard base is more sketch. i am definitely torn between trying to work out the issues or just giving up and skiing off from now on. or snolerblading. that look rad! my advice: - go slider up. i have this habbit of opening facing the wall and the extra slider time always gave me a little extra time to get ready to turn away from the wall once i opened and was flying - goofy is better than regular. when i go off regular. the motion of reaching for the pilot chute starts turning me to the right so i end up facing the wall when i open. if you go off goofy, the motion of reaching for the pilot chute would, in theory, turn you 90 so you are square. - take tons of speed! the only thing that has saved my ass so far is launching far enough away from the cliff so that when i open facing the wall i have enough time to turn it around - just theories. i only have 3 snowboard base jumps so everything i said above could be crap

the norwegians are the experts on this stuff. i am just a hack. there are some threads on this forum where hans-solo and some other VKB gave tips and tricks. hans was also very helpful when i emailed him directly. i just went to walmart and bought the cheaped jacket and pants they had. any pants and jacket would work. the more zero p the better i guess. my jacket has started to come apart so i have to resew the seem every few jumps. in the pic i posted above you can see its just a "Starter" brand running suit i bought both sizes that were kinda tight and size that was pretty loose. i flew them both and found loose fitting worked a little better. more drag so you wont go Superterminal like the norwegians but it think more drag is better for the lower cliffs.

dont know how far i cleared the rock band by... maybe 50-100? guessing i opened 200 feet off the ground. i attached a photo of the tracking suit i jumped. i just watched SuperTerminal a bunch and this is my best imitation of what they were jumping. on later jumps i started pulling the sleeve even further down over my hand making the wing just a bit bigger

i'm a lazy bastard, too. that is why i didn't really make any mods to the jacket or pants (no air inlets, booties, etc) i just put cords in it and jumped it. later, the pant seam started to blow so Pete S reinforced it a little. i would definitely recommend that anyone considering putting 500 toward a tracking suit first just see what happens when you put cords inside some pants and jacket.

after seeing SuperTerminal i spent 22 bucks at wall mart on a windbreaker pants and jacket. put parachute cord in the arms and legs and was amazed at the results. when i jump out of a plane, i can fly with a birdman classic. here is some headcam footage of the suit in action: http://www.chrismcnamara.com/movies/22seconds.mov (after you click on the link, just wait a minute or so and it should start playing) i think the VKB have it pretty dialed: make a homemade tracking suit for tracking, and then put the $500 you saved by not buying tracking pants and jacket toward a Vampire wing suit. ps: you might need the latest version of quicktime to view the clip: http://www.apple.com/quicktime

So who here has actually met link? or talked to him about jumpers? while spraying about rangers always makes for entertaining internet posts, the main issue here is the law, not the enforcement. Alliance for Backcountry Parachutists just came out with a new newsletter on what is being done to get the national parks to open up access: http://www.backcountryparachutists.org/