Basejumper.com - archive

and I'm looking for "Mikkey" or someone who knew Carl Boenish who can direct his wife and/or family to contact me or my dad. My dad is Brian Schubert, who in 1966 was, what I just learned, the pioneer of BASE jumping when he WAS THE FIRST to jump off of El Capitan (note: this was the only "BASE" jump my father ever did - he was a young, crazy kid, skydiver and former paratrooper who wanted to try something daring and note: this was before BASE diving actually had a name). I just found out how much of an influence my dad was in Carl's life/career and I forwarded the info to my dad (who is internet-challenged!). My dad and I would very much like to contact Carl's family - I'm only saddened and deeply sorry that I didn't find out about Carl and his history while he was alive.

The best way to find Jean today is probably by contacting the USBA (the organization Carl founded, which awards BASE numbers). Contact info for Rick Harrison, current head of the USBA can be found in this BLiNC thread.

Note to anyone reading this: I've left the site name in for historical interest. To the best of my knowledge no one has jumped there since the NPS banned jumping back in Carl Boenish's day.

Tom.... a man well known for his knowledge...



dontbanmedontbanmedontbanmedontbanmedontbanmedontbanmedontbanmedontbanme

 
If you can't get hold of rick, send me a mail (iseppanen@hotmail.com). I'll talk to her occasionally.

Iiro

Said with a straight face too

Nope

And there was me trying to be subtle about it. Tut tut gentelemen (I include you in that, Dex)

If.. Mr. Schubert made a BASE jump in 1966.
Would that be the first BASE jump made off, El Capitan ?
Before NPS Ruled it an illegal Act.

If it was 1966 ? Would he be the first to ever BASE jump El Cap. ?

What are the details ?
Day, Month, kind of Gear/parachute used, free-fall delay, how was the landing ?
.

Has anybody got any details of this yet ?
I did not think that there were any BASE jumps made between: (these dates)

1603 - Faust Vrancic / building jump
1914 - stephen Banic / bulding jump
?
> 1966 - ? - Schubert / El Capitan... ???
?
1975 - Don Boyles / Royal Gorge Bridge
1976 - Owen Quinn / World Trade center
1980 - Phil Smith, Phil Mayfield, Jean und Carl Boenish. / El Capitan

1966 is, 52 - years after the invention of the, Round Parachute in 1914
61 - years between 1914 and (don boyles) in 1975 (that's a lot of year)

It is quit possible
That there were other BASE jumps made by other " Ballsey Individuals."
.

1966 off El Cap? Very cool if it's fact. Are you saying Carl knew your dad jumped the big E in 1966?

_________________________________________________
To begin with, the round parachute was invented pretty much around 1780's for sure, in the years after the Civil war it was modified to be non-rigid, foldable, ostensibly by Thomas Baldwin but possibly by several others about the same time....


There were lots of BASE jumps made between the late 1800's and the time when Carl filmed the first El Cap jumps... There was even....

After Thomas Baldwin's parachuting displays in London in the 1880's, there was a monkey who would do parachute descents INSIDE LONDON"S ROYAL AQUARIUM (+/- 100') under the stage name of 'The Baldwin Monkey'....

There are several early BASE jumps in the archives of skydivingmovies.com, dating from the 19-teens and 20's. In 1912 a jump was made from the Statue of Liberty by Frederick Rodman Law, who also jumped a building and a bridge in New York.... Law worked for the Army as a rigger at the same airport where Irvin and the boys experimented on parachutes, before he died of cancer in the early '20's....

There are documented jumps made in (I believe) 1917 by Major Orde-Lees (of Shackleton expedition fame) and a Lt. Bowen from Tower Bridge in London to demonstrate the use of the Guardian Angel parachute and the ability of a downed airman to exit the twist and punch original harness once in the water.

I had an article in May 2002 Skydiving magazine detailing jumps made in 1908 from the Rainbow bridge in Niagara Falls (Bobby Leach), and again in 1927 by Australian Vincent Taylor. (This bridge was since replaced in a new site).

Irvin test jumper John Tranum (early '30's) made a name for himself doing high altitude AND low altitude jumps, the latter off the 154-ft Pasadena bridge. He also describes how Shorty Osbourne rode a Motorbike off the cliffs near Santa Monica and landed in hydro wires after the pilot chute caught on the bike's mudguard.... (This (attempted) jump is also available at skydivingmovies.com). Tranum later made a similar jump off a higher cliff (1000') in Colorado (I believe this may be the one at the beginning of an old Norman Kent film)....

Other then the motorcycle jumps, most of these were static-line jumps.

Then in the 50's a dentist made a well documented jump in the Alps doing several seconds of delay off a cliff. Then the two round jumpers at Yosemite in '66, and later Rick Sylvester jumped el cap on skies (1972). (He later repeated the jump somewhere on Baffin Island for a James Bond movie
(the one where Roger Moore opens up a Union Jack paracommander).

This is by no means comprehensive list, but parachutes were around long before aircraft, and for a reason.... They were originally thought of as a means of exiting burning buildings but...It was the use of balloonists as observers during the civil and crimean wars that got a bunch of people into ballooning as means of making a living, and they went on to develop parachuting to the point where airplanes came along and after that too (the last of the true 'smoke jumpers' performed up until the mid-late 60's).

I have it from very reliable sources that there were three round jumps made off the Big Stone in the 60's. Two ended with major injuries and one was a walk-away.

 
Someone had the idea Jean would be upset to hear of this, not to worry . . .

Jean knows, all the old-timers know, Carl Boenish isn't the first person to jump from El Capitan, yet, I suppose it's an easy conclusion to come to. Carl wrote of these 1966 El Cap jumps later in his BASE Magazine. (And as far as I've ever heard these are the very first El Cap jumps.)

SCHOOL . . .

In fact, Carl didn't even jump on the first load he organized there in 1978. He planned and recruited the jumpers, it was his idea and all, but his first priority was to film it. He didn't jump until the second trip some weeks later. We've known about Brian Schubert, and Michael Pelkey and another jumper, for a long time and if you look at the (old) Basic Research website, the story of the 1966 jumps I wrote has been in the history section there for over ten years . . .

In 1966, everyone on the Elsinore DZ (and every other DZ) heard about these jumps when they occurred, including Carl Boenish.

Years later, in 1975, Carl is in Yosemite filming skydiving from hang gliders over the Valley. He sees square parachutes flying around and he remembers again the story from 1966. The jumps he eventually organized occurred three years later in 1978.

I call Carl, "the father of modern BASE jumping," because he brought modern gear and freefall techniques to cliff jumping, and showed through his films that these jumps were repeatable. All the fixed object jumps made throughout the world prior to Carl's jumps in 1978, and there are many, were stunt type jumps, done once and that was it. It was Carl Boenish who turned cliff jumping into something we understood as a sport, and then later, he turned that sport into BASE.

NickD
BASE 194

3 jumps in the 60's using rounds.

How long do you think the Delay's were then ?
How good was the Tracking Back then in the 60's ? I have a feeling the
Technique was not that good as BASE and Skydive now .

I'm not sure (what year) when the first baton pass was in skydive using tracking.
I don't think it was in the 60's ? (nick would know)

That would be a scary jump indeed. Scraping down the wall with poor
clearance. Then opening a Round Parachute......Wow

Gotta give them a little respect. to step up to the edge and say "I'm Going for it."

http://public.srce.hr/...4/nv17/nv17_1.htm#17

Rough translation...

"With a four angled sail cloth tensed with a four same wooden sticks and with 4 ropes tied in angles, man can safely drop from a tower or any else high place. Even so if then wolud not be wind, the force of a droping man would create wind that will hold the cloth so man would not hit the ground hard, but softly touch down. However, humans weight must precise determine sise of the cloth..."

Sorry about spelling, I dont have time for that now.

Fun,

I.P.


PS:He (Faust Vrancic) was Croatian scientist, inventor, writer, humanist, physicist etc. and he was one of the greatest Croatian minds ever. He among other science project published first ever printed scheme of parachute in his project Homo volans (Flying man) He tested successfully his parachute from some towers in Venice and from some cliffs in Hungary.

Blue sky
I.P.

-Edited to ad "PS"

Nick,

This is all great information. I really hope you are putting all of this into your book so that it is in one place, apposed to numerous others.

added: note that I have saved most of this post into various text files for historical value

Skypuppy :.. I hope this is not to little to late ?

Man in response to your post I did not mean to Dis it,
I never expected to see a Reply so in-depth. It overwhelmed me a little.
As a matter of fact it was so good that I did not have a Response to
throw back at you. You reply pretty much sums up my question and
fills in the gaps in the 60's and more. (you answered my question to good)
It was a History Lesson.

You post kicked ass
Sorry for being an insensitive Dick... (public apology, i'm hanging my head)
.

>>This is all great information. I really hope you are putting all of this into your book so that it is in one place,<<

It's in there already, I wrote that section when I first started the book years ago. Tina has put me in contact with her Dad, and I'm really looking forward to talking with him. One of the problems with a BASE history book is it takes so long to get the right information.

For instance, if Tina hadn't found us, I don't know how we would have ever found her. And to this day I still hear from people updating details on fatalities (for the List) that occurred 20 years ago.

Tina tells me her Dad, who never made another fixed object jump after El Cap in 1966, had no idea what effect he had in the history of this sport. He stopped skydiving shortly after that as well, so without Tina I'm sure I would have never found him.

My big dilemma is putting the book out now, or waiting until I think I have it all right. I would have died to have gone to press, and a week later, hear from someone like Tina . . .

NickD
BASE 194

I wonder if posting or talking to the "old timers" (with all due respect) and getting the best consensus would be acceptable?

Please, please, please do it now.

No history is ever 100% correct. That' why there are later editions.

Plus, if you do it now, I can make it required reading for my course next semester.

Hi,

My name is Mike Pelkey. Brian Schubert and I made the first El Capitan jump in recorded history on July 24, 1966. The Park Superintendent confiscated our gear and camera ewuipment and kept us in the park for three days while they checked for any existing rules that they could charge us with. They were not able to find anything prohibiting parachuting from their mountaintops at that time.

Yes Ray.

Brian Schubert and I made the first El Capitan jump on July 24,1966. We were quite accustomed to the round parachutes. Paracommanders were quite new at the time, but neither of us had one. We used modified military chutes. In fact, I made the modifications myself on a standard issue unmodified military chute. They didn't have a lot of drive, but the good part was that we didn't have to worry which way they were facing when they opened. There is always a bright side

Hi,

Yes, Carl knew about our El Capitan jump. He even prepared and signed two certificates for us - El Cap 1 and El Cap 2, which were presented to us by wis wife Jean about a month ago. She told me he always wanted to meet us before he died.

Carl was considered the "Father of MODERN base jumping". He differentiated himself by the use of square parachutes and the art of "tracking". I wish I had met him to let him know that Brian and I were both skilled in the art of freefall, and probably couldn't have been able to pull off the Cap jump if we hadn't known how to track. The El Capitan jump was my 184th l[reply]ogged jump. My personal opinion is that the only real difference between our jump in 1966 and his jumps would be the parachute technology.

I wouldn't want to take anything away from him however. He's the guy who made a sport out of it. We just did it because it hadn't ever been done before.

Regards,
Mike Pelkey

Hi Mike,

I left you a note over on the BASEboard. It's great to see you here.

How about setting the record straight and giving us the whole story?

All I know is what Carl Boenish said and info from the newspaper clippings a BASE-friendly Park Ranger sent me many years ago.

We'd love to hear how you came up with the idea, I mean we want details . . .

NickD
BASE 194

Hi Base587,

Yes Brian Schubert and I made the very first El Capitan jump on July 24, 1966. There are numerous sites referencing the jump. Just key in: "Base Jumping History" on any search engine. Most of the information about it is inaccurate, such as: the spelling of my last name, the exact date, the extent of our "injuries", etc.

We did not do it with the intention of starting a new sport. It was just something that had never been done before.

Regards,
Mike Pelkey, El Cap 2

[reply]Nick,

The idea was neither mine nor Brian's. It was suggested to me by another skydiver I worked with at the time. I mentioned it to Brian, asking him if he would like to do something no one has ever done before. He was all for it. We spent the next month or so studying every scrap of information we could find on the El Capitan before we made the trip to Yosemite to make the jump. We were both Class C licenseholders at the time. I don't know if the USPA categorizes it the same, but when it was called the PCA, a C license was Jumpmaster status. The El Capitan was my 184th logged jump.

After the jump the PCA and the FAA grounded us from jumping for a full year. They sent letters around to all the area drop zones instructing them to notify them and the local sheriff's office if we ever showed up and requested to make a jump. Fortunately we had a friend whose only request was that we set up new log books with phoney names and we were welcome to jump at his DZ any time.

The newspapers made it sound like we were beaten half to death in the jump. I did have one small unfortunate mishap after I opened when I made a wrong turn to counter some erratic side winds, slammed into the face and fractured an ankle in the process. Brian landed in a downdraft and injured both of his feet. I think we were both jumping again a month later.

The freefall was incredible as you base jumpers all know. We had about a 10-12 second delay out of it. We used good old-fashioned military parachutes modified in a TU configuration. Obviously nothing like the squares you guys are jumping these days. We had the choice of a nice freefall and landing in the rocks below or a short freefall and enough float to get over the trees into the meadow. We both opted in favor of the rush of freefalling 20 feet away from mother earth.

I hope I've given you all the details you were looking for. You can email me any time at mike@destiny.com if you have any questions. Otherwise, I'll be checking into these forums now and then. It is interesting to find after all these years that I have been credited to have been a part of the history of base jumping and never noticed until Brian's daughter Tina started investigating.

Regards,
Mike Pelkey

Thanks, Mike, that's all great stuff. Please consider, along with Brian and Tina too, coming to Bridge Day this year. We need to stand you two up in front of hundreds of BASE jumpers and get you the cheers, tears, and applause you both deserve. And I know you'll get a real kick out of what's happening in the sport nowadays. You can go here http://www.bridgeday.info/ for the details . . .

I'm not sure if you know, but before Carl Boenish organized the 1978 loads from El Cap it was you two that gave him the idea. He was a young jumper at Elsinore in 1966 with about a hundred jumps when he heard about your jumps. It was something that stuck in his mind and all that he did later, naming the sport "BASE" and coming up with the BASE award, is all due to what you two did.

So, please consider coming to Bridge Day as I know about 400 jumpers that would love to shake your hand.

PS, bring some good pens. You're going to be signing a lot of logbooks . . .

NickD
BASE 194

Ray,

I can answer that. The first baton pass was accomplished in 1964. I remember it well because Jim Brewer and I had been within inches of being first on several jumps when another couple of guys beat us to the punch. Brewer and I actually had a successful baton pass within a few days after the event made skydiving history. Everyone in the sport was working on it in those days.

this is possibly the best thread EVER on DZ.com.
cheers Mike, Nick, and Skypuppy.
pope

Tom,

There were three of us on the El Capitan jump: Brian Schubert, myself and Jim Cleary. Jim was not a jumper. He was there to take pictures. Unfortuneately he didn't do a great job. The film was developed by Life magazine. Life rejected doing the story as soon as they saw the pictures. I was told that Life is essentially a "picture" magazine, and they didn't like the quality of the pictures. Looking back we should have forseen the public interest side of it and taken along better camera equipment. Oh well, live and learn....

Yes!
Thank you Brian and Mike.... FOR GOING FOR IT!!! Ballsy move indeed. I for one (and Im sure all the BASE jumpers) would love to meet you both.

Nick,

Thanks for the nice letter. I scanned the forum for information on Bridge Day. It appears that I may have missed the deadline for a ticket to make a jump. I'm sure I could talk Brian into it as well if we were able to get tickets. Neither of us have any gear these days, but we may be able to improvise something by October 16. Maybe someone has a couple of old TU's to loan us. I'd be right at home with one. Let me know if you have any ideas in that regard.

In any event I will be thrilled to attend the event. I know Brian would love it too.

Regards,
Mike Pelkey

There are still slots available. They just went on sale yesterday. We would really love to have you two there. Maybe we can even talk Jason in to letting you two be the first off the bridge this year. I'm sure the photos would be high quality this time.

Boy, I smell a plan coming together . . .

Of course, Jason Bell has total say on who gets the first off slot, but I'm sure we could get some gear together for you to use. Tina mentioned you stopped jumping sometime after El Cap, so am I correct in guessing you've never jumped a square parachute?

Rounds are fine at Bridge Day, but instead of something military we now have smaller rounds designed especially for BASE jumping. I have a pretty good "in" with one of the manufacturers so maybe I can help with that.

However, please don’t get the idea there is any pressure on you to make a jump. Just having you two there would be more than enough for us. However, if you really do want to jump I'm sure Johnny Utah, or Tom Aiello, would gladly have you in the courses they provide for first timers at Bridge Day. You know, LOL, just as a refresher sort of thing.

There are crackerjack boat crews at Bridge Day, so you can land in the river and they'll have you in the boat before your hair gets wet.

Now, this is getting exciting . . .

NickD
BASE 194

Mike and Brian, you are both invited to attend my Bridge Day FJC (as a refresher sort of thing) at no charge. Its the least I could do to say thanks FOR GOING FOR IT!!!.... and planting the seed, which has grown into modern day BASE jumping.

Nick,

I actually have made one jump with a square canopy so I AM experienced. It was an awesome experience for me. They called it a "wing" at the time. I faintly remember hearing it referred to as the "Rogallo Wing". I'm assuming it is the same technology. Let me know if I'm wrong about that.

I haven't made a jump in 35 years or so but I'm sure it is just like riding a bicycle - you never forget how.

I have put in my request for a jump ticket on Bridge Day. I'm not sure

That would be great Nick. I'd really hate to have my hair get wet and wind up with a bad hair day. I wouldn't dream of jumping if I thought I might get my hair wet.

Thanks Johnny,

Speaking for myself I'll be happy to take you up on your generous offer. I'm not sure that Brian will be jumping though. I talked with him this morning and he hasn't committed to doing it yet. Plan B includes challenging his courage. Brian is the poster boy for fearlessness and I'm sure a challenge will work if I have to use it.

Excellent.
I will save two slots for you guys.

Very cool, Johnny . . . !

NickD
BASE 194

This whole thread is really enlightening - thanks. Someone should make a documumentary.... now that would be ....

Mike,

Yes, ram air (square) canopies then and now are basically the same. However, you may want to wait until you see the landing area in person before deciding on landing there or in the water. A new saying we have is, "You dry faster than you heal." But, Johnny can help guide you through that decision.

I will say the landing area at Bridge Day isn't the meadow at El Cap It's small and surrounded by tall trees. But, all the details can be worked out. You are going to be surrounded by some of the best BASE jumpers in the world, and they'll all want to help.

The local media at Bridge Day always finds some angle on the event to key off from. Sometimes it's the weather; sometimes it's a jumper wedding on the bridge, things like that. This time we should make every effort to make sure the angle is you two guys . . .

I can see it now, "Closing a Circle . . ."

NickD
BASE 194

I'll offer free Bridge Day jump slots to anyone on that 1966 El Cap load. It's the least I can do to say thanks. I'd love for you guys to say a few words to the crowd on Saturday night. Email me jbell(at)vertical-visions.com if interested.

It funny that even on the very first Yosemite BASE jumps, the rangers were digging through lawbooks in order to find something to charge you with.

PS. Free Bridge Day jump passes to any current or retired NPS ranger as well!

Wow, it's just getting better and better . . .

Nice, Jason!

NickD
BASE 194

Damn...... I am going to HAVE to sign up for this. Time to work on the angle to the boss.

Something not to miss.

If you're comfortable jumping modern gear, I'm pretty sure there will be pleny of jumpers waiting in line to have the honour of you doing a jump in their gear. I, for one, would be at the front of that line.

So in the rather unlikely event that you can't find gear, drop me a note.

Nick,

Is there any possibility you still have the newspaper clipping? My copies disappeared many years ago. I'd love to have a copy.

Mike Pelkey

You guys are so great! I wish I had met all of you years ago.

Thanks
-Mike

Interesting stuff...

Anybody has any idea where and when 'modern' jumping took off in Europe? France perhaps...?

J.

You guys are also welcome to free spots in my class, if you want them.

At any rate, regardless of whether you choose to sit in on either course, I'd love to have you come talk to mine about a bit of the history.

Thanks!

>>Is there any possibility you still have the newspaper clipping? My copies disappeared many years ago. I'd love to have a copy.<<

I do have them. Send me a mailing address to: base194@aol.com and I'll send you copies. I'll need some time as they are buried in mountain of BASE history stuff. Here's one piece, see the attachment; I had out the other day.

Here's the text from the "Mariposa Gazette" dated July 28, 1966:

"Two Men Sustain Injuries in El Capitan Parachute Leap"

"Brian Schubert 26 and Michael Pelkey, also 26, both experienced sky divers of southern Calif, had a near brush with death when they survived a parachute jump of 3,200 feet from the summit of El Capitan in Yosemite last Sunday.

Pelkey, who sustained a broken ankle and abrasions, was found by a motorist, next to a road near the base of the gigantic rock. The motorist notified Park headquarters, and an ambulance was dispatched to the scene. On their arrival, Pelkey told the ambulance crew of the jump, and said Schubert was lying seriously injured at the base of El Capitan. Rangers found him a short time later and carried him to the ambulance on a stretcher. He had sustained a broken leg and foot.

The men, both of Barstow, jumped from the top of the rock at about 5 p.m. Sunday, after hiking up the back side on a public path, according to rangers. The daring attempt at a descent was the first to occur here, but many attempts have been made to climb the almost vertical face of the mammoth formation.

Violent updrafts and a strong wind repeatedly smashed the men against the side of the rock. Their injuries were sustained as they tried to push away from the rock wall, as they swung like pendulums in their opened chutes. "The air currents were really tricky. We didn't expect anything like it," said Pelkey.

John M. David, Part Superintendent called the act "fool-hardy" and expressed amazement that the daredevils were not killed.

William A. Schnettler, Park management assistant said the stunt would not have been permitted, if the intention of the men had been known. Rules will be drafted immediately to avoid repetition of Sunday's incident, according to Schnettler."


>>Anybody has any idea where and when 'modern' jumping took off in Europe? France perhaps...?<<

"Modern" is a loaded term. I started using it only to differentiate between before and after Carl Boenish's 1978 El Cap loads. I wish now I hadn't as what Mike and Brian did in 1966, in general, can also be considered, "modern." I suppose what I really meant by the term was to denote the actual start of the sport as before Carl Boenish the jumps made were more like one-off stunts.

Anyway, disregarding the term "modern" the first documented cliff jump was done in the German Dolomites by Mr. Felbemayr in 1965. I'm not sure if it’s the same jump, or a similar jump, but look through the BASE section of skydivingmoives.com and there's a video. It's similar to the jumps Mike and Brian made a year later 1966, but with a shorter delay.

Now, I want to be careful with the following. Over the years I've received a few nasty notes from my Euro-brothers who accused me of being USA-centric. They'd say fixed object jumping certainly began in Europe, and they are right. They point to the Dolomites 1965 jump as proof. However, this is short sighted, as the very first parachute jumps ever made were indeed made in Europe, but much earlier. The 15th century saw parachutes tested as a means to escape fires in tall stone towers in Italy.

However, as a sport, and this is the key, it certainly began with Carl Boenish, in Yosemite, in 1978. Carl showed the world these were more than just one-off stunts. He showed us that fixed object jumping was repeatable. I have never said Carl Boenish invented fixed object jumping. I have always said he is the "father" of the sport. The person who actually made the very first parachute, hundreds of years before the invention of the airplane or hot air balloon, is forever lost in ancient history.

Okay, with that bit out of the way, here's the answer to your question.

In the very first issue of the first ever "BASE" magazine published by Carl Boenish in January of 1981 there appeared the mention of "modern" fixed object jumping in Europe. The piece is called:

"Tollveggen, Norway -- The El Capitan of Norway – Discovered!"

It's a long piece, but here are the particulars. The European version of Carl Boenish is Jorma Oster. The first word there is jumping in Norway reaches us in the summer of 1979 when Jorma Oster is jumping Kjerag. Later he led the expeditions for the first Troll wall jumps. Carl was with them and filmed these jumps. So we can say the first "modern" fixed object jumps are made in Europe in 1979.

These jumps made headlines in the newspapers and Europeans began to show up at the Troll wall in droves. Fourteen months later the accident rate at the Troll began to soar. One rescue involved two Germans and cost over a $100,000 U.S. The accidents, in hindsight, can be forgiven as in 1981 we weren't really BASE jumpers yet. We were still only skydivers jumping off rocks. Many of the accidents can be attributed to not tracking away, doing RW, or freefalling too long.

One very prepared English jumper is interviewed by the press and found to be carrying an extensive first aid kit that included morphine. The newspapers the next day carried the hysterical headline "From the Troll Wall with Morphine".

The "Norwegian Parachute Association" (not sure what it's called) stepped in and essentially banned its members from fixed object jumping. The Norwegian Air force even threatened to ban all skydiving in the country if fixed object didn’t end. It was a time Carl Boenish sadly remarked European fixed object jumping was going the same way as in America. "We have," he said, "another fight on our hands."

So now here we are on July 4th, 2005, Independence Day here in the states, and we are still fighting. We're having a Comet bashing party here tonight so I'm going to go and get ready for that. But, if I may, let's chill on the infighting and remember who the common enemies are. We are in a fight against intolerance and ignorance, a fight for our right to fly. Lets' remember how far we've come, and how far we still have to go . . .

NickD
BASE 194

Hi Mike,
Nice interesting thread.
Did You and Brian do a 2 way ?
If not, did you two think about doing a 2 Way ?.
As I might of missed something reading this expanded thread.
My mind has not been so Bright Lately.
Thank You
Gerald Harendza, El Capitan # 494

_____________________________

Nice interesting thread.
Did You and Brian do a 2 way ?
If not, did you two think about doing a 2 Way ?.
As I might of missed something reading this expanded thread.
My mind has not been so Bright Lately.
Thank You
_____________________________

Hi Gerald,

I'm assuming the term 2-way indicates a two-man hookup. We didn't consider doing anything fancy. We didn't actually stage the exact exit sequence in advance. Our intention was to be the first to "initiate" the El Capitan, nothing more, nothing less.

Brian actually jumped about two or three seconds before me. I had the advantage of being able to watch him through the entire descent. Needless to say it was an awesome experience.

It of course never occurred to us that there would be such a thing as El Cap 1 and El Cap 2 vearly 40 years later. Carl had me as first and Brian as second in the certificates he prepared for us before he died. We never met so we obviously never discussed the jump with him. We straightened it out with Jean when we met her so Brian would get the top honor for the record.

Mike Pelkey

____________________________________

<<<Pelkey, who sustained a broken ankle and abrasions, was found by a motorist, next to a road near the base of the gigantic rock. The motorist notified Park headquarters, and an ambulance was dispatched to the scene. On their arrival, Pelkey told the ambulance crew of the jump, and said Schubert was lying seriously injured at the base of El Capitan. Rangers found him a short time later and carried him to the ambulance on a stretcher. >>>
____________________________________

This is NOT what took place at all. Brian was first out. His canopy collapsed and forsook him for the last 50-100 feet or so before he landed in the rocks below and injured his feet. He left his equipment behind and headed for the road right away. I landed like a feather but had already sustained a minor ankle fracture due to a poor choice in dealing with the side winds trying to kick myself away from the face. Brian definitely did NOT notify the NPS rangers that I was lying seriously injured at the base of the mountain. He just told them I was on my way out. I started walking to the road after I field packed both of our chutes. The ambulance was waiting for me when I got to the road.

Most of the newspaper accounts of our jump were very obviously heavily biased in favor of the park.

Mike Pelkey

<<< I'm not sure (what year) when the first baton pass was in skydive using tracking.
I don't think it was in the 60's ? (nick would know)>>>

Correction

I had the facts totally wrong in my last post on this subject. The first baton pass took place in 1958 at Fort Bragg between Charlie Hilliard and Steve Snyder.

I should have researched it before I made the last post on the subject. I was obviously mislead by the guys who ran our club back in '65. They possibly thought they were doing something cool to encourage everyone to hone their skills in relative work. Whatever the reason was, I stand corrected.

Mike Pelkey

(from Tina, Brian Schubert's daughter)
All I can say is WOW!!!! I want to SINCERELY thank those of you who responded to my initial e-mail back in December. I hadn't checked the thread since December, and then - Mike e-mailed me and told me what was happening and about the invitation to Bridge Day.
From your e-mail responses back in December, I found and spoke to Jean Boenish, along with some other wonderful people - INCLUDING Mr. Michael Pelkey, who my family hadn't seen in 38 years (I was a mere 4 years old at the time). All of your information, along with Carl's legacy led me on a quest and down a path that has truly filled my heart. The reunion that my dad had with Mike and his family over Memorial Day weekend was emotional and like finding lost family. Both families will be traveling to The Cap (my dad's first time back since the jump and some of our families' first time ever) at the end of September. And then, we will most humbly travel to West Virginia to share in the festivities (and Michael, you KNOW I'm gonna do everything in my power to keep my dad on the ground and ALIVE!!!) I wish I could convey what this all means to Dad (and I'm sure Mike). I can't wait until the two of them share their story with all of you. They tell the story with humor and modesty - they were a little more injured than what Mike conveyed - Mike did end up with a broken foot (or ankle(?)) and my dad broke all the metatarsals in both feet - he walked with a limp and was told he would be a "cripple" for the rest of his life, however, a later jump broke the calcium free, doing (as doctors told him) what they could have never done, allowing him a career in law enforcement.
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH - my intention was to thank all of you for for your GENEROUS invitations and hospitality and to tell you that WE WILL BE THERE and I can't wait!!!!!!

With much gratitude - Tina Schubert Lindebaum