Basejumper.com - archive

So, anyone care to update us on Bridgeday? I can't be there so naturally, I'm a bit curious.... I guess I can call someone who's there.

Just got back from B-day 2004! It was great but the weather sucked! I got my first BASE jump in as the second to last jumper off the bridge. Jason did an awesome job organizing and his staff worked their butts off to make everything go smoothly. I had a fantastic time and will definitely be back next year. Oh yea, 4 second delay and I landed on dry land .

I didn't drive down but the local news did a live remote from noon to 3 and i Tivo'd it. I don't know what happened before noon but the weather was a bit dreary at noon. Wind and light rain on and off. Didn't stop the jumping though.

It rained really hard near the end and they were gonna call it off so the remote switched to an infomercial about step ladders. After the weather went through they continued jumping.

The news didn't show as much video of the jumping as I was hoping they would. They interviewed spectators, food vendors, rescue boat drivers, the people who were repelling from the underside of the bridge, etc. Jason Bell got quite a bit of camera time in a pre-recorded segment they kept cutting to. Pepe Rodriguez (Who are the Rodriguez Brothers?) got an interview in near the end of the telecast. That was muy excelente!

I'm gonna dump it to digital tape and burn some DVDs for people. Hopefully I can post a few of the cooler segments somewhere.

Please do tell us your landing story. Seeing it first row was priceless.

Hahaha were you one of the people down there? Well the long version of the story was my buddy and I rented a BASE rig together and split the cost (poor college students). We were both 4th wave, but it didn't seem like a problem since he was jumping around 1ish to get it repacked and jump before 3pm. Well all the packers were like 4 or 5 deep at the bottom so he decided to come back up top to see if there was anyone packing up there (someone had said there was last year).

Well there wasn't so we both went back down, and that is when the torrential downpour/rain started and all the packers and people got in line to get on one of the buses. So I didn't think I was going to get to jump because I couldn't get it packed and it was creeping up on 2 already. So this really nice guy from Brazil (don't remember his name but he jumps Deland and the Ranch I believe) helped me out and packed it for me after the rain stopped.

So the other BASE jumpers in line for the bus let me jump to the front of the line to see if I can make it up there (2:33 and 20 min ride to the top).

Bus comes, then takes forever to get up the mountain, we pull up it's apprentally already 3pm by the park ranger's watch. This fucking awesome guy Johnny Utah says "Dude, follow me and I'll get you up there." So we jump the barrier and run in through the press entrance and under the platform and Johnny tells Jason B. what's up and that I haven't gotten to jump yet. Jason gets the park guy to let me go in front of the guy that was promised the last off the bridge slot so I run up, get a really quick gear check and just walk up and jump off. I was so afraid that I wasn't going to get to jump that I never even thought to be afraid about making this first BASE jump. It was spectucular, everything went great and I managed to land on dry land, narrowling avoiding trees and a large boulder.

You can imagine after all that shit I was pretty stoked that it all came through in the end and that I made the jump and that the jump was awesome. It was all pretty overwhelming. I have to say though, that was by far the coolest event skydiving/BASE wise that I have ever been to and the people are by far the coolest as well. Without the help of like 20 some jumpers and staff that didn't know me at all I never would have made it and for that I can't say thank you enough! Thanks guys and I'll be back next year come hell or high water!

PS someone on the bus said they had video of my landing...was it anyone on here?

I wouldn't mind one of those DVDs, if you can burn an extra....I saw a lot of great interviews and exits. One of the media guys asked if I would do an interview, but I told him I wasn't purty enuf for TV.

Awesome day all around, except for the weather.....and it wasn't really that bad. Windy and spitting drizzle most of the day, except for the sleet storm that hit around 1:30, and shut it down for a while. Everyone crowded under the ramp and behind the ambulance for cover....and I observed that a Port-O-John will hold up to 4 grown men in an emergency. I got out to the bridge at 6:30 am to help unload and assemble the board and the ramp......Jason and his team did a terrific job with the set-up and construction. Kramer (?) the MC kept everyone at the exit point entertained all day, the gear-check crew was fantasically thourough and dilligent (I got 5 checks before I jumped - the crew did 3, I asked for a couple extra), the transport buses ran like clockwork all day long, the food was great, the crowds were friendly and inquisitive.....and a larger crowd than I would have thought, given the weather conditions.

Lots of cool exits and aerials. Scariest moment (to me) was seeing and hearing a jumper clip the lower arch with his foot as he fell past it. Most visual jump was a two-way with unpacked parachutes held loosely in their arms (don't know the terminology for that). They exited with a bungee line between them, one cut away then swung down on the line, then dropped and deployed pretty low.....had about a 5-second ride before he landed in the top of a tree.

The boat crews did an OUTSTANDING job....a lot of water landings, but no one was in the water more than about 5 seconds before a boat was there. I was extremely impressed with their skills. Since I was going to be doing an intentional water landing, I made sure to observe them closely all day.

Mikkel, I guess I met another DZ.commer and didn't even know it. You sat next to me on the ride up out of the gorge.....I remember you saying you were second-to-last off the bridge. Congrats again !


Don

Yeah, I have to say the weather sucked. More than anything the 2 of us were packing on the gravel next to the tarps ( since the tarps had puddles, and gravel didn't ) at around 1.45 when the shit reaaaally hit the fan and the downpour started - we kept on packing and once we got done, the sun came out.. but - at least we were the few who had packed rigs ( with about 2 extra pounds of weight in water :).. so got to jump for the 3rd time around 2.40 Did a two way and I ended up with 3 line twists - and still made the landing area.. nice !

so how about that covered packing area for next year, Jason ? And a heated one for the year after that :) ?

cya in '05 !

http://www.wvgazettemail.com/section/News/2004101627

Damn those springloaded pilot chutes. I love the "the cord" insert. Would have done better just to not mess with the quote.

Maybe they interviewed that one dude that comes every year with the spring loaded pilot chute? Haha the press always gets that stuff wrong, probably intentionally because most of the population knows "ripcord" and most don't know "pilot chute".

That's awesome, I probably would have introduced myself if I hadn't been running so high right then. Someone was supposed to tape that footage for me in OH but they said their station didn't play it so if you do burn those on DVD put up a thread so we can send you a couple bucks for a copy or something.

390 jumpers showed up and made 645 jumps in another amazing Bridge Day. The weather was cold and rainy, but we fought our way through it to make a lot of jumps even with weather holds and a train that decided to park under the bridge (I hate trains!)

We had four jumpers transported to the hospital, but only one of them broke something (foot and toes). The other three jumpers had sprains or sore backs, but zero injuries.

A major storm that included hail and 40-50 mph winds hit at 1:30pm and the rangers said to me "I guess we're gonna call it". I told them with the wonderfully large 6 hour window they give us each year, that we will never "call it" until it's past 3pm. We commenced jumping at approximately 2:10pm! Never give up!

Highlights: Russel Metlitsky's solo paraplegic jump with a 3 second delay (although he did nip his toe on the steel after swinging a bit too much on the bar).........Red Bull's giant rope swing jump.......My scissor lift (man-lift) jump from 20' above the road deck........the Triax guys doing a 2-way from the boom truck basket........and the guy who hit the Live TV truck mast and transmitter in the LZ shortly before we went LIVE (it was later repaired).

The BASE Videofest was a very successfull event with hundreds of jumpers, 2 big screen TV's, and 15 entries!!!

The Saturday night party was the best I've seen that included a guy on stilts with a monkey mask, streakers, and 11 kegs of beer. Also, the Continuum II premiere was standing room only!

I recorded the Live TV broadcast on my DVR if anyone wants a copy. So far the first 45 minutes are pretty cool and I'm actually still in complete shock at seeing jumpers on live tv. This is amazing coverage and they are mentioning my push for jumping off the bridge legally EVERY DAY of the year! I knew we made major progress this year when jumpers told me they went back to the hotel after the storm and watched us jump until 3pm on TV.

Cya next year.

More info soon.

Thanks to everyone who attended.....

thanks for an awesome BD Jason !

now, how do we get a copy of your DVR recording ? are you able to rip it to DVD/DIVX or are you just going to post a low-res version ? I am sure many people would be willing to pay for a copy. ( or if you want to stick with legalities pay for your time, but get the footage for free )

Also, can you post a link or any info on the LEGAL everyday jumping of the bridge ? The poster was there, and so is the link on your site, but all they say is "contact for more info" ...

tnx !

I second that. Even though I didn't make it this year I know how hard Jason and everybody involved work to make sure this event runs smoothly and they all deserve a big pat on the back. This is a community full of some of the finest people you'll ever want to meet.


I was just going to edit out the commercials and archive it to DVD for my own viewing pleasures but if anyone wants a copy I'll send it out gratis. Let me know the particulars (who, where). If I get too many requests maybe I'll ask that people chip in for postage or the blank media or something.

Jason, thanks for an awesome event. Over the years I have attended many skydiving related events and this by far had to be one of the best run. Everything was very well done, so well in fact that even the weather hardly slow down the event. Thanks again and we will be back next year!

I guess I'm the only one at BD this year to break anything, and the frist and only bridge strike at BD. I broke 2 bones in my foot when I hit the steel structure of the bridge in freefall. As Jason said I just nicked it. I'm surprise that's all that happened seeing as how I hit a piece of metal with my foot at about 40mph. (around 2 seconds in freefall). I mentioned to a few others I broke both feet but after more x-rays turns out just the left.
Had an awesome BD despite the weather and the break.
Thanks to everyone for all the help as usual!

Dude ! I was very happy to know later that day that both you and your buddy got to jump. The nice guy who packed your rig was Junior and I was the guy who's rig he was packing when you came asking for help.

Jason, thanks for a wonderful bridge day. Your effort is really appreciated. Will definitely be back next year.

How did you manage to do this exactly?

Jason.
I would also like to add my thanks to you, the staff, NPS, and all involved in making BD2004 the awesome event it was. The weather was not ideal but I hardly noticed as I was jumping with two of my friends, Crutch and jumpingbean001,and my wife was in the LZ taking pictures.

I would also like to congratulate pBASEtobe on his number,and too add that he is an inspiration beyond words, WELL DONE RUSSEL!!!

Mike, it was the best weekend of jumping I have had in a long while, thanks to both you and Penny. We are already planning next year's trip! Maybe we can get the whole crew to come along with us next year! Oh yeah, in six months, there are some jumps to make around town

I as well had an awesome time at bridge day! Congrads to everyone involved for making it a fantastic and safe day of jumping despite less than ideal conditions.

Jason, what is the current state of the effort to get the bridge legalized every day? Who are the authorities involved that would be able to grant us permission to jump the catwalk? Are we in any type of position to start petitioning and harboring support, or do you or anyone else already have a plan set forth to get the ball rolling?

See the thread called "BD Bridge Strike Video"

 
Thanks, Jason, I had a blast . . . you and your staff did a wonderful job.

But, enough of that crap. Here's a photo of me.

And, it was my 50th birthday . . . !

NickD
BASE 194

dude, happy belated birthday. Would have bought ya a beer if I would have known. But i gueess it will be hard to think of an excuse for forgetting next year eh?

just wanna echo the thanks for an awesome bridge day! made my first 2 base jumps that I will NEVER forget!!!! THANKS!

Personal high light of my first (and last) BD-

After over delaying, I landed short, on a large dry rock on the shore line...unfortunately taking out a huge tree branch as I set down which summarily hauled me off into the river.

When I finally got to the shore with the help of two great volunteers, completely soaked, separating my canopy from the large tree limb....

A friendly local whuffo lady (so I thought) was videoing my difficulties. We chatted for several minutes about jumping and where I was from and why I did it. After asking my name, she said in a quiet unassuming way "my name is Jean.....Jean Boenish"

It was like finding my long lost mother or something.

I gave her a big (wet) hug and said "Hi, base 587". SHE "Hi....base #3"

"I always told people to land well in the river if they couldn't make the LZ, but they never listened to me then..." she said smiling.

We spoke for 15 min more and reaffirmed my reasons for getting into and eventually out of the sport. Very cool. Thankyou Jean. I'm glad to have finally met you.

can I send you 5 bucks over pay pal for the video?

Cool story Spence! I have to reiterate it was amazing to meet the people who are heroes and pioneers in BASE.

I would prefer it by mail. PM sent.

If anyone else wants a copy of the live TV broadcast that aired from 12-3pm on Bridge Day, I'm providing DVD-R's at cost. Just send me $5 ($9 outside the US) to cover the cost of shipping and the DVD to:

Vertical Visions
BD04 DVD Offer
PO Box 934
Bridgeport, WV 26330

Make sure you can view DVD-R's, as I wouldn't want to get all wrapped up in refunds or replacements for a $5 DVD.