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Just got back from the Kjerag Heicopter Boogie and I'd just like to say a big:

THANK YOU to Stein, Kim, Karen, Tore and Vibeke everyone @ Stavanger BASE Klub.

The event was well organised and despite the bad weather everyone managed a reasonable number of jumps. (Does anyone one know the total number of jumps?)

In the end 80+ jumpers attended from the following countries:

Norway :p Australia, Mexico, France, Belgium, Russia, Germany, Great Britain, USA, Sweden, Holland, Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland .. and some more that I have forgotten...

Some of the world's most accomplished BASE jumpers were there and it was great to share the exit point with them and be able to ask advice from them afterwards in the bar

The highlights for me:

- watching Jeb "man in black" perform some incredible aerials
- seeing Petter fly his wingsuit from exit #6 to the other side of the Fjord
- the womens world record being set - 9 way
- watching Paul track (yes track) to the landing area from #6 using the new Phoenix-fly track pants

Robert Pecnik (the former designer of the birdman wingsuits / track pants) caused minor rioting when he distributed demo pairs of his new Phoenix-fly tracking pants for the jumpers to try.

Last Heli Boogie a porno moustached Norwegian tracked to the shore in smoke pants - this year people were tracking over (and beyond) the landing area using the new pants.

I was also lucky enough to try one of the prototype Phoenix-fly wingsuits (new wing profiles, bigger wing surface area, higher forward speed, better glide & longer delay than on my suit!)

Until next year!!!

Mucho BASE
J

Hi everyone who went to the heliboogie
I will thank you all for being patient about the weather we had, it was hard to get control of it
The total number that was done friday, Saturday and Sunday is 525 jumps and was done by 89 jumpers.
We had two minor injuries that happened by landings.
And we had one cliffstrike at the eaglesnest Saturday night, but the jumper had no injuries on that jump and we could get the jumper out by guide her up again. These two jumpers that jumped there was grounded and left Sunday morning.
I will also thank the crew who did their best to make this boogie go through. We learned a lot this boogie and we will do it even better next time. hope to see you again next year.
Best regards
Stein

Hello,

this event was a perfect and smooth Norvegian organisation.

Our group "the French Touch" learned a lot during the stay. All aspects were covered like materials, packing, flying position and that thanks to the dedication of people like Stein, Karine, Kevin, Robert and of course many more people.

The evening parties were also great

Take care and hope to see you soon.

François

Roberts new pants really kick ass!
the phoenix-fly pants have an amasing forward speed which gives a lot of lift, in my experience the speed kicks in after 9-12 sec, and after that it feel very much like flying a birdman classic!
cant wait to try them in the other norwegian big walls.
thanks robert

Yeah, I'm dying to give the whole suit a go. I've jumped my BirdMan Pantz nearly 100 times now. Been keeping them in the mid/high 70s with a lot of drive. I think the addition of booties (or some bootie-type of thing), as well as the lift on the upper body is going to make for a wingsuit-comparable glide.

I had a great time also , thanks to all the people involved in this great event .
I met a lot of great people , it was also a learning experience and I also had a chance to try the new Phoenix pants and I could tell there is a lot of difference.
Next year I will attend again for sure ( hopefully the weather will be better) .

Gabriel

Hey Franz,
Tell me you hiked to the exit point at least once for me. You know how much I enjoy that hike. Wish I could have been there.

Hi there!
I want to say great thanks for Stein. Sorry for the problems....your help was neccesary that time. It was my first trip to Norway and.... NORWAY IS THE BEST!!!!! I JUST HOPE THAT THE NEXT TRIP WILL BE MORE SAFETY!
Thanks you all, jumpers! Hope to see you next year!
Just mail me if anybody of you want to visit Russia.
And I can just repeat -- Pal's track, Robi's flight, Jeb's aerials were unbelivable!!!!'
Thanks to french team that left us before the boogie time began -- your video is the real cool stuff! You changed my opinion about french people))))
Thanks to Stavanger BASE club crew -- you were carefull to the hikers))))
Thanks Caren Sako for the nice visuals in our 2-way. You looks even more beautifull in freefall, babe!))))
Thanks Winny for the nice and fast hikes! It's not so difficult!
Thanks for the guys from cool boat! Your songs))) ("I'm a looser babe...") was full of fun!!!!
Thanks for caffee crew for the dry place for my canopy))))

Norway is the real wonderland!!!!
See you.

 
Thanks to Stein & the entire SBK crew for a brilliant event. The choppers, boats, accommodations, parties - everything was top-notch. Even with the weather, people still jumped their butts off & had a great time.

Some VERY cool stuff happening over there:

Sick long delays with Robert's new Phoenix-Fly products - people tracking to the lighthouse/landing areas from #6 in the Phoenix pants & wingsuitting completely across the fjord. Jeb's complicated twisting-flippy-do's in 5 secs., then tracking like a madman, with Douggs just feet from him the entire time. Chopper flight radness - those pilot's love their jobs. World record chick-way - 8 of us (incl. 1 awesome wingsuitting Brit diva!) & two great camera dudes - go Team Estrogen! (in my heart this was a 9-way, cuz sweet Lika was definately there in spirit!). Plus a whole lotta memorable jumps & shared smiles with old friends & new.

The energy, spirit & dream of flight are definately alive & well around the world.

Norway rocks. Thanks again.

BS/Safe Leaps,
Karin

nice one winnie!!! love ya work! speak soon!!

You just can't seem to get Winnie to jump without her wingsuit huh? Also, it sounds like those of us who were NOT there missed out on a lot of action. Maybe next year?

http://offheading.com/gpage1.html

"18.06.2004 It is really unbelievable, but it is a fact!!! The Norwegian taxpaying jumpers could see (in deep disbelive) with their own eyes the meaningless disabuse of their money on the first night of the commercial happening in Lysebotten, Helliboogie, organized by the local company Stavanger Baseclub LTD. The babylon (police) performed a raid with following drugtesting of some of the basejumpers that were sitting in the "White house" (Tourist guesthouse). The drug raid team included 4 police officers and a drug dog (the smartest member of the team). Two of them and the dog (K9) came with a non uniformed white Volvo station wagon (older modell), while the other two came with a small boat. The international jumpers were humiliated and forced to take a urine based drug test. If the test was positive, it resulted in a fine of 2000 NOK (ca.250 USD) and a "narc" mark in the surveillance papers. This operation costs the taxpayers a whole lot of money. Just imagine how expensive it is to send 4 officers out of the town friday night (overtime payment), to the remote mountains far away from any civilization, to find out that some people smoked a joint instead of drinking a bear..Suckers...And remember. This can happen again on the DZ Kjerag...anytime...who might have benefits from that kind of action...This smells bad..."

Is that true ??? Anybody willing to comment ?

bsbd!

Yuri.

Unfortunately - YES!!! Here is what media writes. The article should hopefully be translated pretty soon on the Offheading.com , but is not as accurate as the observations done ON SITE... http://www.offheading.com/subpage43.html
GET UP, STAND UP. STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS!!!

Here is another article...http://www.strandbuen.no/nyhet.cfm?nyhetid=2093
Some of it translated : The background for the drug raid was tip from the public, says Sten Kristian lund to Strandbuen


The (basejumping) community is international, and in this kind of happenings there are often some drugs. On the other hand we have to make cleare that the (basejumping) community themselvese are encouraging us to make those controlls. We are wellcome when we arrive, says the sherif.

WELL. I GUESS THE JUMPERS THAT GOT COUGHT FOR THE TERRIBLE ACT OF ENJOYING THC KNOW WHO TO THANKS FOR THE 250$ FINE...

Anyway. The summerweather have been pretty shity all june in Norway, and might never come to Stavanger this year... Perhaps the terrible weather will also make the drugpolice stay away from Kjerag. Rain, rain, rain...

Here are some pictures from the heliboogie.



http://www.shutterfly.com./pro/BOLT/photography

 

Lets make it Clickable

Welcome back Bolt

It is very unfortunate when business gets in a way of fun. I'm afraid Kjerag has officialy turned into a DZ, with the worst side effects manifesting themselves rapidly. Oh well, it was good while it lasted!

bsbd!

Yuri.

 

I'm upset that my US rights, concerning illegal search and seizure, promised by the United States Constitution, don't apply in Norway...

What is the "business" at Kjerag? A helicopter? Why is Kjerag ruined, or what makes it a BASE DZ?

I remember hearing that chewing gum is illegal in some growing Asian countries. If I ever go there, and am grateful that they allow me to jump their 1000+' building legally, I won't bring gum on that trip, even if I think it is stupid. Respect for the local laws when I am out traveling. I would also rather smoke than drink beer, but if I can't because thats what it takes to flik those, I will wait until I can break some silly laws in my own country. Different countries, different laws that you don't have to agree with, or visit. Don't get me wrong, I think it is silly based on my American upbringing, but the NPS doesn't even allow you to jump similar cliffs in US parks, even if you give them all the urine they want. Go jump the local A, and if you get busted, I would imagine that the cop would search the car taht you brought, and wouldn't be impressed if you had stuff in teh car, or on your person. The price you pay for incredible legal jumps, with bored uptight cops, in a culture that I know very little about. In fact, walk into the police station or "congress office" in Norway, with your BASE rig, and tell them how stupid it is...

Take that energy back home and send some letters to the people here that keep us from some sick stuff in our own backyard. I would rahter jump some Es in Cali before I went across the planet. There are tall cliffs in a lot of other places, the United States included...

I still look forward to going to Norway, as part of my next Europe trip. And Norway was after Amsterdam... Sucks, but sometimes you have to play the game to get access to legal big walls.

Never been to Norway, but it seems like a lot of sweet sites are getting some heat put on them recently.

Hi,

I am surprise to see such agressiveness in the last posts. Each country has rules and need to be respected.

First of all I can assure you that Norway is not waiting for Base jumpers to be a rich country !

You need to assume your acts. Smoking is illegal, that is the law. We could also say the the park rangers in the country over the pond are bast.... because they take the rigs in National parks. What is the price of loosing a rig or having a fine to pay comparing to the amount paid by certain guys in Norway ? A drop in the ocean.

I think when we talk about Base ethics and rules it includes respecting the laws, nature and people especially in a foreign country.

As a conclusion lets focus on the great job done by the Stavanger Base Klubb and hope that the show can continue during a long time in Kjerag.

Take care,

Franz

This is true, it is illegal to smoke in Norway, but what about those who could have smoked in Amsterdam, where it is legal, and then traveled on to Norway, and did nothing illegal at all.

Is this comment made in reference to the fact that a helicopter was brought in and thus made jumping at Kjerag more of a business? Unless I'm mistaken, for most of the summer months, aren't people hiking up to the exit points and isn't it just during these sort of heli-boogies that this DZ like business shows it's face? Or am I mistaken?

I am concerned if your comments about Kjerag have anything to do with new(er) BASE jumpers wanting to jump at this site. I could be mistaken, but there seems to be many older BASE jumpers which do NOT like newbies like myself getting into their sport (or was that their lifestyle). It's one thing for a new jumper to burn a site that a more established jumper put effort into building (I see that as an issue that newer jumpers need to consider). But why is it that many more established BASE jumpers do not like people who are taking up the sport, period? Are we newbies at fault for wanting to jump? Ultimately the gear manufacturers will go out of business if new blood is not allowed to get into the sport.

Hey I could be saying something inappropriate here (it's not like this is the first time I out my foot in my mouth). So I'm just curious as to why you say Kjerag is going downhill as it is absolutely a location I would love to visit and jump from before my time is up on this planet or ours.

IF they got a fine for that we must guess that it aint legal if they find anything in the urin...

Yes that cliff in Norway is a BASE dz,but so are many big events arround the world aswell... But we all like it as we keep going to thouse places/events...

Simply if we dont like it we should just stay away.. its BASE and its personal...

f u c k you all as im so jaloux that i couldnt make the trip,and still only has 1 slider up jump

Hey. You dont get it. It seems that the drugraid was planned and coordinated with the people on the DZ Kjerag...That's f#cked up!!! Big time...

Yes it has unfortunly became a DZ, but it won't last for long!!! Many jumpers in Norway (especially the new generation) won't tolerate that this beautiful place turns into a private proffit machine, with few "organizers", "groundings", segregation and other bullshit like that...

I know that the people did a greate job to make this comercial event work well, but the way it develops worrys people that love freedom and do not like controll...The drug-stunt showed that they want to get rid of people they do not want there, so it seems that we can't live side by side. And we are not gonna let this evolve further. Too much is to much. Kjerag is for everyone...
Ps. And do not bullshit us with the "safety first" undercover lies. If it was so, they wouldn't have a beer tent on the DZ. Jumping with a hang over is not directly safe, comparing to other things...

And I am agree. The royal family should be send to Spitzbergen to rule over the icebears


YES, YOU ARE MISTAKEN. The business is there all the summer. The rules are there also all the summer. The prices are going up, up and up while the living cost in norway are not going up, up and up...Besides...let me give you an example. An experienced norwegian basejumper can not take his friend and train him up to launch him from Kjerag, even everybody knows he is skilled to be instructing...No, hes friend has to pay a fucking expensive course by Stavangerbase...That is buisness. It is not safety...

It is hard to stay away from your own home...I understand if you mean a serten legal building but a whole mountain is a different story...

I'm not sure if you are infering this about Outrager or not, but if you are, let me tell you that this is the EXACT OPPOSITE from how he is. I am a newbie to the sport and have had the pleasure of GCing for him and some others in the local crew and he is extremely accepting of newbies and an all around nice guy willing to share any info that anyone might ask for.

No this is more of a question and also an observation of some, far from all experienced jumpers.

Thanks for clearing up a few things. I now see where a lot of people's frustrations are. I still hope to visit the site in the future and will do what I need to do to jump ($$$ ... aghh ... if need be). But I guess if man can taint Everest, we can taint Kjerag.

Not at all. My comments had to do with a conclusion, based on newspaper articles and conversations with jumpers, that police was invited to raid the boogie by insiders. I will not comment further until i get more specific info.

Regarding the new jumpers, nothing can be better for the sport! They bring all the energy, motivation and spirit to push the limits over the horizon. In our little neck of the woods 90% of the current objects have been open and are currently maintained by "beginners". I wouldn't make half as many jumps if they didn't drag my lazy ass off the couch. I understand there are people who would like to freeze the time... but it's stupid and futile. I hope there wasn't any misunderstanding here

bsbd!

Yuri.

Let me ask this: If I magically appeared in Norway with a rig over my shoulders, and wanted to jump the cliffs... Are you saying that even if it is legal, it isn't free? How much and to whom would I have to pay to jump a cliff that is already several thousand dollars away? Would I have to pay club dues? Pay for each jump I make? Pay for a heli that the club gets a cut of the profit?

Don't know anything about it, just asking...

 

i do feel for you guys,and i do agree that it aint fair play if an experienced jumper cant teach up there.
I never went up there(i dont like the big crowd thing),i dont know if i will,but i know i will visit Norway and jump somewere else.

Im not familiar by the locations up there so i cant say shit and even what i say means 0 for you that has the pain of not beeing alowed to jump free were you live.My statement were most minded at people traveling to the cliff.

I personaly just see it as rules for an object,but hey i dont have to live whith them...

Only thing i can do is saying that your welcome at my freeplace,hopefuly noone will restrict that anytime soon

and packs your canopy

Woah, that's weird. At a drop zone, you pay a drop zone owner to cover the costs of the plane, fuel, facilities, etc. What cost is incurred if I hike up a mountain and jump from a cliff? Who owns that cliff? There's a boat ride, but I can pay for that separately.

I don't have an issue with trespassing so long as an object is respected. But when the those being trespassed upon are fellow jumpers -- that's an odd situation. I understand that the reasoning is to keep the object open and protect those that jump it, but, for the most part, that's done very well through a system of good faith and mentorship.

I have no doubt that the quality of the instruction is top notch and the knowledge and wisdom coming from world class, experienced jumpers is worth a little kickdown. But forcing payment for access to something you don't own seems yucky. I'm sure I'll head over there at some point. I'll happily pay the join the NBA and I'll play by the rules. But at the back of my mind, I will find it strange that I have to pay to do something that doesn't cost anyone a dime but myself.

If you slam into the cliff... it helps out with search and rescue. It's a small price to pay.

If you bring a car,boat and driver, jumping at Kjerag is totally free!

If you don't, you can hike from the camping and swim back from the landing. A bit of a hassle, but still free!

But if you prefer being driven up the road and get a boat ride back from the landing, you have to pay for that... The jump is still free, but you have to pay for the transport to and from the jump....
If you, like most people, choose the last option, you also have to follow Stavanger BASE Club's rules and pay the registration fee.
Any of the other options, and you can do whatever you want...

Your choice


Have a nice day!!!!!!

Atle Dahl

I must say that it is amazing how much crap we get here. I just want to tell how a few things realy are.
Drug ride: The police contacted me and told me that they may would show up during the weekend, I did tell a couple of the jumpers in Lysebotn so they could spread the word. This is the first time they have had a drug ride in Lysebotn. And what they did find was a small amount of hasj. 4 people got a find, 1 non jumper and 3 jumpers.

Business: Everything cost money. We have boats to bring you back from the landing are the boats is also for people who lands in the water, SAFETY! I don’t have the numbers of how many people we have rescued from the water, but it is not few. Car to bring people up to the start of the trail is also an expensive unit we have. The shop cost a lot, nothing is for free. After 10 years of experience in kjerag, where 8 jumpers ended their lives, we have learned a lot how to try to prevent these fatalities and I’m sure we have saved many lives by the work we do here. The latest we have got is the “Pendulator” who have reduced bad exits on the students by 80 %, SAFETY! We do work for safety!!

If anyone believes we are getting rich in Lysebotn. Here is some facts for this year. 4 of us in Stavanger BASE klubb have paid from our own pockets 11.000 USD each, of course we expect to get the money back in a 3-5 years period of time. We have 1000-1500 hours of work to get the new boat ready, removed some boulders on the landing area where people have been badly hurt and remodelling the shop. Last year we made the bridge on the top where we had some injuries from jumpers going through the snow bridge, all this to benefit jumpers.
One third of the reg. fee is going to the rescue foundation. The other monye are going to replace items in the first aid cit, ice packs and administration.
Fore those who think this sucks, you don’t have to travel to kjerag for making basejumps, the world is full of places to jump. For those who think this is ok, I will thank you for your support and of course everybody are always welcome to kjerag to make long delays and safe basejumps.

Best regards
Stein
www.basekjerag.com

Yo !

I would like to say that i have received sufficient information to believe that Stavanger BASE Club had nothing to do with a drug raid, and in fact put a word about it in advance. It still sucks that such a shameful event happened... keep your guards up! This world is not free and safe - be it cops, rangers or gravity.

As the money goes: i have been in Kjerag every year since '96. The cliffs have not changed much since then. You can come and jump them exactly as they were. There is extra service provided, such as a bus ride up and a boat ride out. You can compete by driving your own car and flying a wingsuit back to the campground, for example. If this is beyond your current abilities - suck it up and pay or invest in a competing service that will drive the price down. This setup is actually a classic natural monopoly, but this is how the wolrd operates - not because you can't, it's just not worth it to start a competing service when the first one is doing a reasonable job.

I personaly hate rules and rigidly organized places. However there's always a fine balance between total freedom and chaos, between the law and common sense to brake it You take chances and win - or loose. This is how the laws of nature work, don't be surprised when human laws follow the pattern. Just don't be caught and have fun!

bsbd!

Yuri.

it`s true.. smoking pot it`s ilegal in norway BUT... and there is a a big BUT a lot of norvegians do it and all the autorithies knows about it... thay made this raid at the boogie just because there WAS A BOOGIE with a lot of foreigners who had money... they dont kare about soft drugs in day by day... u can easy smoke on the street in oslo and noone say nothing...
it`s strange because all over the Europe where are this kind of boogies (music festivals) the "officials" including police shut their eyes at the soft drugs
just because foreigners spent a lot of money there... and the politics is... let them smoke if they spent money there
i think "someone" was very disturbed there and call them 2 made this raid

I just got back from 12 days in Lysebotn, including the heli-boogie. I have nothing but good things to say for the Stavanger BASE Klubb, Stein, Vibeke, Kim, Ronny, Elin, Karen, and the rest of the crew. We had a great time in Lysebotn, despite the rain that seemed to appear everyday:)

I met many new friends and got to make some very cool jumps with a few others. The 10-way was wild (thanks to Simon for the visuals). The birdmen rocked and the tracking pants were very popular.

I captured about 300+ photos that I will post online in a few days.

Again, thanks to everyone involved in the heli-boogie. Let us know when you come to the US and we'll return the favor!!

although Norway can have a DZ feel about it with the amount of jumpers there and the fact you have to give some money over for registration etc - dont let this mislead you into thinking it a bad thing - the stavanger BASE Klubb do good things, and without them Norway would be so much more a hassle - I bet you will be glad of them if you happen to get hung up off one off the cliffs hey!

its not a lot of money to pay - and althought I am so anti "legal big group BASE" ( for personal reasons) I still went to Norway and paid my money and was thankful for what they did for me..................

I am certainly not a big boogie jumper type of person - but I did not bitch about the money I paid for me to jump the beautiful cliffs of Norway.............

I second that....just got back Monday night.
No one in the Norgie.Club is getting Rich.
The van ride up hill, a few kilometers.
And a boat ride back to shore is a small
price to pay. There are costs & overhead.
The boat especially is a safety factor issue.
If there is a problem, you got pulled out of
very cold water fast.
Also they are on top of it. If by chance you
ever get hung up on a ledge and need Evacuation.
A couple of people were grounded for that
Eagles Nest Screw-up, But that was bad
judgment, during an organized BASE event.

I also noticed that the Stavanger BASE club
purchased, Ten new complete BASE rigs in a
assortment of sizes from B.R. To add a even
Higher degree of safety for that person being
Trained up for His or Her first jump. Face it
people go there to do there first jump based on
the extra height of that object (3000 ft.) as we
all know height does not make it safer. so I say
Do what it takes to make a FJC a high standard.

The only rule that I really was told to follow
at the Heli-Boogie was Keep your canopy
rides over 15 seconds. but only for 3 days
Dont kill yourself.
Have fun. Pretty much do what you want.
The jumps are Quality. You can go there and
hit it as hard as you want to jump.
I had some really good jumps. Great time.

Thanks : Stein, Ronny, Kim and the rest.

OK. It was made to sound that there was essentially a "passage fee", even if you had all the resources necessary to do it yourself. That's evidently not the case. As far as rescue costs, does it really fall upon the NBA to pay? That definitely justifies a membership fee.

Rescue costs are borne by the government, mostly. But if the government has to bear too much of them, they'll just stop the jumping, I'd think. Hence, having a jumpers group contributing to rescue costs is (a) very good PR, and (b) a major proactive step in maintaining site access.

I'll pay the fees to the Stavanger folks, thanks. I think if you worked out how much they make for each hour they've put in, you'd find they're making something very negative (right now), and something like a dollar an hour (in the long term).

Most of the comments here are made by "basetourists" from other countries, comming for few days to Norway, to make as many jums as possible. They have hopefully greate time and leave the country with good vibes from the base Mekka. There is absolutely no doubt the Stavanger BASE people are nice persons and does a greate job to satisfie the guests!

However, it is not the current situation that worrys most. It is the direction things are evolving(in a matter of years). And if the things goes to far, it is hard to reverse them...


Before, the norwegian jumpers staying in Lysebotn could earn some money on renting their gear to the visitors/first timers during the summer. Also pakking work could give them some dollars to buy a pizza and a beer in the restaurant. (Also experienced jumpers could teach their own students). Now the Stavanger BASE club LTD will get all the income of this...Wherever people invests their own money, they are looking for personal benefit. That means it is in order to gain profit, nothing else. And wherever the money talks, the bullshit walks. Once again it is good for the tourists, but there are many "local" (norwegian and international) jumpers that do not like the situation where somebody takes total controll of a jumpsite and makes it a comercial DZ!

The drug-raid might be related to this aswell. As Stein writes. Stavanger BASE club LTD "was informed" (if not asked the police to come [thats personal opinion]) that police and dogs would come to the boogie, but there was no information aviable about that to the jumpers. Why??? A few people got the raid-warning, while others did not...Hmmmmmm