RiggerLee

Those are some great shots of Thor. I wish I could read French. I have being an illiterate American. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Most of those pic's from Sam Ford were taken very late in the season, June, and it was a very dry year. The snow had melted out on the ice leaveing a lot of water on the surface and I was haveing trouble traveling then a stroke of luck. A storm blew in and we got a good cold snap that refroze the serface into this big beutiful ice ring. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Baffin was never as big a secret as people think. Sylvesters jump was off Asguard. In fact I know Ox jumped Thor which is a great cliff some years earlier. Jean Banish ran a trip to the park at one point. I don't know if that was the same trip Ox was on or not. He was planning on takeing a trip up to the NE coast then he broke his back. He didn't make it up there till several years later when he went up there with Barlia. If you'll recall Barlia had all ready been up to the park to jump Asguard with Patreak. See Good Stuff. The NE coast was just less well known till Mark Sinnet started that big wave of climbers with The Great and Secret Show but even then a few other groops had been up there. The best pics I found were in Climbing several years earlier from a photographer that went up that way. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

I hate to sound like a shit but I never understood what people were makeing such a big deal over. This was not an unusual occerance. I don't know why the media made such a big deal out of it. Don't get me wrong it sucked but there are deaths like this every year. Normaly they don't get more then a blurb. I'd like to say that it's nice that people are seeing what the rescue teams do and the effort that they will expend to save lives but with the way they ran with it this kind of back lash is envitable. It might have been best if they were just left the anonomus heros they have always been. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

For those of you not familiar with Sam Ford here are a few of the things on the menu this spring. On another subject, who has jumped what up there? Could we dispense with the whole site-naming thing for this discussion? Honestly any one with the dedication and resources to go there, the skill to survive there, and the ability to reach the exit points is probable qualified to be there. This is not a burnable site you can drive to. I remember when I could count the total number of accents on my fingers much less the jumps that were made. I’ve lost track of who all has been up there to play. I’ve been all over but I only have jumps off Kigut, The Beak, Scott Wall, Hang Over Hill or more precisely the cliff south of it, and The Prow. Every one knows about Ox, Dave, the Red Bull crowd, the Limes, and I herd a Russian climber took a rig along on Great Sail. Chad was up last year but we never bumped into each other. I think he got some jumps off Kigut. Who else is a vet? Lee P.S. Yes, these are all from the same valley, wait I lied one is in Clyde but it can easly be done as a day trip when you come back to town. Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

I've been bussy. Now that the lateist Black Water gig is over I can get back to my Baffin campain. Here are some better pics of the sites I was jumping last spring. I had to go back and dredge up photos from the second trip. I just couldn't figure out how to get a good image off those tapes. Not a geek. Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

After the Polar bears I can't seem to work up a lot of dread for an over grown goat. Still those pic's are awsom. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Not base related? Frankly I think it's the things I've seen and places it's taken me that have kept me base jumping as much as any thing else. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Has any one posted or does any one have a set of pictures of the rangers that work in that part of the park? I think it would be a fine thing if a set of mug shots were to become "Sticky" at the top of this page. They keep their "List" why shouldn't we keep one of our own? Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Do you keep track of the conditions when you jump? In perticular Density Altitude? What are you normally at on these jumps and can you quantify the effect of higher DA. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

For A while I've had an idea in my head for a low altitude D-bag. Where the canopy would pack in a longer bag more like a sleave. Whith the center cell already fully spread. Imagion takeing a normal pack job and spreading the line groups and center cell to width. It would now look basicly like a U. S fold the bottom half of the U in thirds to shorten it like a reserve pack leaveing the ears above with out narrowing. The bag would be a large square with a square sewn down in the upper middle between the ears. Probable easiest to spit the sides to aid packing. The flap would be a trapazoid that would come up high enough to close the whole mouth and fassen with two rubber bands with a tail pocket above it. For carry it would fold in thirds but at the exit you would fold the sides out and clip the two corners so that it would be spread. I've never been in to the low stuff. And I'm not advocateing this I have never gotten around to building one. The idea is utterly untested and consist of nothing more then the wind blown out of my ass. Just curious if any one has built a more specalized D-bag for really low oppenings? Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

I didn't get as much video as I would have liked from the last trip. the battery charger had a melt down and I was left with only the batteries that I had with me. I was going to film every thing as it turns out I got more then I was expecting about six houres. Most of the stuff I filmed lacks a lot of the B roll kind of footage that would go in to makeing a film and you don't get the best shots when your alone. I'll often keep a journal on my trips. Depending on the trip it may or may not be long and may or may not be very compleat. As you will note my spelling is not much better then Magots. I'm probable not the best person to write a book but the real problem is that I've never really had any thing bad happen on my trips so there isn't really a good dramatic story line to any of them. I'd like to get some more people up there this year and try to get enough footage for a real fim about the place. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

I'm from Texas. My homophobea alarms will not even alow me to fully decifer your post. It's like Norton My mind just wont go there. If you want to come on this trip you can but you will not under any cercomstances be sleeping in my tent. And be advised that I do not have near enough rope to pull you off one of those faces. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

"The Alpine Pack" Copy rite Lee Hardesty 2000 I've done diffrent things over the years but for the last trip I took the Alpine with me. Imagion a combanation internal frame back pack and base rig. It will cary tent small bag, stove, pot to melt watter and cook, foam pad, ice tools, poles, exter cloathing, food and some climbing gear. Yes it is just as scarry as it sounds. I ment to redesign it before I left but didn't get to it. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

You pack on the sea ice. Just throw a tarp out. For the most part it's not a problem. There are some areas where the snow is very soft. Where water has formed on top of the ice below the snow and eroaded it from below. Basicly quick sand. Even then if you can pack at "night" it's often cool enough for the crust to suport you so you don't sink in. Totaly lost the weather gamble last year. About every six years they have a year like that where it just never seems to stop snowing. I don't know the mecanisem. Sounds like an El nino kind of thing. Basicly I'd have nice weather, get a jump then it would turn nasty. I'd pack up and head for another cliff along the way it would get nice but I'd just be out on the ice. I get to The Prow and the weather turns bad again and I'm stuck for a week waiting. Nice Day and I get a jump then the wind picks up So I start humping. Of course then the weather gets nice again. I get into the pass across Remote and I get stuck in this nasty ground fog. I could see up at the sky but not the mountians on eather side and only about thirty feet on the ground. So I was trying to navagate "IFR" by the angle of the sun. The whole time expecting to see a bear charge from out side the range of my vision. They love bad weather and hunt by sound and smell. It got bad enough that I was stuck there for a couple of days. Then just as I get to the end of the pass to Hangover Hill I get cought in a storm for about a week. Did I mention that a bear got into I cash I droped off on the way out? So for the last four weeks I was on 1/4 rations. Damn bears. Ate every thing but the hot chocolate. Thank god for Swiss Miss. Storm sucked then it was perfect, dead calm and blue skys. Pulled the rest of the way to the cliff took a knap and started climbing. There was a lot of snow droped by the last storm. Slow going. I got to the top and the weather was still nice but you could see some wind in the clouds. Did some rock drops and geared up. As I did the wind started to pick up. Still not bad. I mean it's a big wall with a seven mile wide landing area. So I was playing the lul game for a while. Got I nice lul and decided to go. This is when I triped and fell right on my face on the edge. You got to see the video. Be advised the camera from which you can see the edge was on my hip not my head. Just about gave my self a heart attack. The wind is still not real bad maybe 15 but the landing area is huge and you can open high and fly well away from the wall. So I talked my self into going, did not want to walk dow. This is the Famous jump number three. Short delay. Flew away from the wall at about 1000ft I hit the shear layer. Bad turbulance. The wind was NOT blowing above me and comeing down. It was blowing down in the bottom and comeing up. The gust were pulling the canopy over side ways level with my body in flight. For the record that big Flick that Jimmy was kind enough to loan me for the trip never once folded up. That was a very nice canopy. There were a lot of things I liked about it but I will not degress on to that subject right now. I got just as far away from that cliff as that canopy would take me, nice glide by the way, before turning into the wind. Backing up faster then I normally fly forwards. Canopy touched down just fine then the ride began. I really really wish I'd taken the time to build three rings for that rig. I started hauling in on a break line till the cascade jammed in the ring. Wrapped the line around my boot and used it to pull the line down till it poped through and I could climb up and get ahold of the tail. It didn't stop dragging me till I was pulled ontop of the canopy. The canopy was so big, 265, and the lines so short that half the canopy was still at line stretch and that alone was enough to drag me. You got to see the Video. I was tempted to let it go for a while it was actually takeing me towards my camp. but the consiquences of hitting a stray jaggad peice of ice sticking up out of the snow were just two scary. I'm guessing the drag line was 150-200 yards as it was. When I looked back it went further then I could see. Best guess was stedy 50 mph with gust pushing 70mph. I got back to my tent. I put it up where it was some what sheltered behind a point but there was also a glacier there and some times the wind would come down of that and try to flatten the tent. I spent the next couple of days in it as every thing melted around me. It was a warm wind blowing down off the land and all the snow was melting around me into a lake on the ice. I lost most of my ankers and had to pull the pole from the vestibule. In the end I was just tied into a couple of ice screws. Wish I had a few more with me. Never leave home with out them. In the end all was fine. The north face Mountian tent held togather and came through with flying colors. A calm sunny day melted what little snow remained and between the sun and the wind most of the watter was cleared off the ice. It was a nice cool night and most of what remained refroze. Illko came by and picked me up around three AM and we headed back to Clyde. So ends the third great saga of northen exploreation. Sorry didn't mean the answer to be so long. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

I put down payment on a 50 cal. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Just a little porn to get your juices flowing. Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Ok, it’s that time again. Time to think about Baffin. So this is it. Who’s down for a trip this spring. Dates are still flexible. My schedule is probable more flexible then most. We’re looking at a three to four week trip. Less is almost a waist. I’d be down for six again if every one else can make it. If your set up and ready to go I’d budget $5,000.00 US dollars. One thing I’d like to push for is good video. I’d like to do the whole trip in HD. You might want to look at the Sony HC3. The place is so spectacular, Just trust me it’s worth it. For the record I invested in two HC1. For me this is my fourth trip up there. Straight up, this is not for every one. If you are up for a trip like this and are seriously ready to commit both time and money then I’ll be happy to entertain all of your questions. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

A Keltec how cute. They're fun little toys but they just don't cut it up north. If you want to come to Baffin this year you will have to buy a real gun and figure out a way to jump it. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Will it hold my 50 cal guide gun? http://www.wildwestguns.com/CoPilot_And_Guide_Rifles/body_copilot_and_guide_rifles.html Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

I hate to say it but I amost find my self sideing with Magot on this. I've built a number of designs with new harnesses, hiden rigs, all the way to very scary back pack/rigs. I've tested them all off objects. I mean you wouldn't wont the sport to become too boring. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

34 12 or 13 I don't remember Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

I met a base jumper once. I had a chance to take a look at his gear and thought it was pretty interesting. I wanted to learn more so I built my self a rig from memory. I did get some one to help me pack it the first time. Does that count? After that I was on my own. I was out jumping A's all over the place. I'm trying to remember but I think the first time I ever had some one to jump with me was a guy I took for his first base jump. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

Telling them to read the list is'nt really about instruction. It's part of a reality check they need make in there decision to get involved in base. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com

The way you teach some one to do something is by showing them what they should do. For the most part it is a bad idea to use negative examples in primary instruction. There is too great a danger of confusing the issue. However as time goes on people need to be aware of the errors of the past. We have a very high turn over rate in skydiving and base jumping. Average life span of a skydiver is only about five years. I don’t have a number for base. I can tell you that the last boogie I went to in Moab had a Lot of new faces. I could count the people I knew on the fingers of one hand. Any one that’s been in the sport long enough has watched one or more generations try to reinvent the wheel. There are plenty of things that do not seem unreasonable on the surface. I love getting a hold of a new rig or peace of gear that some one has built. It’s not unusual to find small and some times large mistakes. If we don’t remember and pass on these little details then yet another generation will have to go through a rather painful learning curve. If you doubt this just wait. Sooner or later some one will try to explain to you why you should use the break mod slider up so that your canopy will fly the same as you are used to slider down or some other silliness. Lee Lee [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com