Basejumper.com - archive

BASE jumpers are some selfish sombitches. Lot's of times we use drivers like $3.00 whores. So, prop's to the drivers.
Tell us why you do it. Tell us why you sometimes tell us "anytime man, I'll drive whenever you need me", only to leave us hanging.

Tell us a funny jump story, tell us about the night you wish you hadn't drove. Tell us what your gonna do the night we go in. The night the cops show up. Tell us something.

We need a break from ourselves.

Listening,
Rod

(And I thought MY beer was going down smoothly...)

I have volunteered to simply GC on a couple of occasions, simply because I just didn't feel like climbing that night. Just hearing that slider-down whack in the calm, pitch-black sky is pretty damn cool, too. That and seeing the looks on some newbie's faces makes it worth it...

Mark

I always tell my wife that she is "BASE Getaway Driver #1", since she's ground crewed for all four objects. She's the best.....you should have seen her hanging out of the window on the 34th floor just to get video of our jumps!

Thanks to all GC!

Now this is something I can talk about. Why do I drive get away or even ground crew? I’ve asked myself this many times…especially when the NPS is searching my vehicle.

I guess it’s for all the reasons why you see me at the bottom at Bridge Day. The smiles on your face, the joy of accomplishment and of course the sound of the canopy opening are just a few that come to mind. I know I get as big of a rush as you do. My palms are sweaty, my heart is racing, and the adrenaline is pumping for me as well. Now of course that’s all legal and nice. Turn that into an illegal jump and everything is multiplied by 10.

I get to test drive different cars and boats. I’ve even been ground crew on a raft…long story. Hanging out of the window wasn’t one of my favorites, but, it was all for the video.

To all jumpers: Remember your ground crew and getaway when the jump is over. Buy them a beer or two and know you probably couldn’t have pulled it off without them.

Jen

Uh, oh. She's going to have to slug it out with Joy, who officially claims Ground Crew #1. It's even in her email address (jhgc1@ means 'Joy H., Ground Crew #1).

Actually, my wife is probably Ground Crew #49 or another high number. We realize others have done it long before her, but it's kinda neat to joke with her about having her Ground Crew number. It shows appreciation for her hard work over the last 11 years (although, she's had a slow last couple of years!).

Yeah... if you don't count BD!!!

 this past Dec I shuttled jumpers up from <edit: site location ~TA>
a few times and that road scared me everytime. The funnist drive was at night.

I had to sit out a load at MB because my wife refused to drive down that switch back. I wish I would have jumped and walked out because we got winded out the rest of the day. So there is my Ground Crew story.

MB is an easy drive. Just don't look down.

LOL I remember the first time I was on that road: I was riding in the back of a p/u truck with bald tires in the snow... that had a camper top... and two of us were in the back.. locked in.

No shit there I was... thought I was gonna die..

What a great road... makes the butthole pucker, huh? There are worse roads around there than that one, believe it or not.

Good stuff.

Yeah, but she's really hot. I know, my woman and I fantasize about her frequently.

Angel

Ain't they great?

Should have seen mine last night, hanging with the "big bad BASE jumpers", climbing the 8' fence, ripping her jeans on the barbed wire, battling the armadillo, just to push a couple buttons so her husband and jump mate could rape a 1700' stick in the heart of TX.

She was more excited about the jump than we were. As long as that happens,it's all good.

Thanks Dana.

cya
Rod

I do not post often, but had to get in here! Kudos to Jasons wife,I think I have a pretty good idea of what she's been through.
Being a part of ground crewing for twenty three years has enriched my life greatly. I have done more daring things than I ever would have otherwise.
Climbing up vertical poles nailed into the side of a cliff, which Smitty convinced me I could do. Sliding down from a bridge on very rough terrain using Carl's huge camera bag as a buffer, I only broke one lens. Running to get on board PM Magazine's helicopter and almost hitting the rear blades, they were invisable, it scared the pilot more than me. Many confrontations and made up stories with the law, even one night in jail. The alarm going off when I opened the door to the top of the Statue of Liberty. Being in a tiny row boat with a huge barge closing in.
Filming a cliff jump when my dog broke his rope and took off to follow Rick, I didn't get the footage, but I got my dog! At the base of an antenna when Randy landed and forgot to send the elevator back down before he jumped, he had to climb back up with thunder storms looming. Looking the conductor of a train in the eye, trying to decide whether I could beat the train to get to the other side for the best shot. Getting tired of tying my self onto the water pipe on the bridge, so I got rid of the rope, dumb! Burning out the brakes on my car getting Rick to the hospital in downtown Houston, two bag ladies helped me get him in.
There is more but Rick should be home from the local A soon.
Ground crew rules,
I love you all!
Joy

There's a whole lifetime of BASE in that short post. I hope sometime in the next 30 years I can catch up with even a fraction of that.

For the benefit of our other readers...


Um, would that "Smitty" be BASE #1?


And I'm guessing that "Carl" is better known to most of us as Carl Boenish, father of modern BASE.


That's ground crew going above and beyond.


You rule, Joy.

Site naming! :-P

You got me. I've fixed it up now. Good thing you're here to keep me on my toes. Maybe I ought to deputize you into the site naming police.