Basejumper.com - archive

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/5474132/detail.html

So, I have no idea who this was, or the experience they had...

but please be careful people... seriously.

this is not Fucking Around.

I actualy have no idea what happened, other than what i saw on the crane an hour ago and what i read on this article.

whoever it was, blue skies.


i dont know where else to post this.

Oh man, this is bad news. Cranes aren't stationary while they're "parked" so it's entirely possible that the rig was set up right, but the boom had moved since they set it up. Non BASE types might not know that.

I personally don't think it's wise to show people how to set up rope jumping rigs. If they need to figure it out themselves and actually jump a system that they're not totally sure about, that will deter about 95% of the population from trying it out on their own.

It's better to just go with someone who knows the rigging.

Dano was pretty strict about no video footage of the anchors or other components of the system. (at least for gazers) I agree with this angle.

I've taken a bunch of people rope jumping, but I don't really let them watch me set stuff up. I explain in detail everything they need to understand about their end of the system, but they have to just trust my rigging on the other end, or not jump.

Also, I don't jump on tyrolean rigs anymore. I lost two buddies that way. Actually, I would jump on your system, I just won't rig one myself. I know how to rig a bombproof tyrolean rope jumping rig (that is quite different than yours) but I can't go there again. Especially with people I love and care about.

(For the record, I've done several hundred rope jumps)


Edit: Rope jumping can lead to BASE. Look what happened to me

I agree.

IT WAS FREAKING WINDY HERE LAST NIGHT.
our airport lost a plane or two, pulled the tiedown rings right out of the spar.

But i dont think the crane moved, i went to check it out this morning, and it looked as if the crane was locked in place by its main hoist. (the part that actualy lifts stuff)

About showing people how to set up a rig and jump it, i dont think i would actually teach somebody "the ropes" from start to finish, but i would help somebody if they were already into it and had figured out things on their own, i would answer questions, and ask my own. Rope jumping has an insane amount of variables, especialy tyrolean jumps.

It would be hard to keep people from photographing our system, all the rigging and such. but i think it is a good idea to not give as much info about it in the future. When i was letting people jump our rig, the only info I gave was a crash course in jumping and retrevial technique, i answered specific questions about the system, but we are not writing a book.

The problem with rope jumping is it is entirely inventive and sight specific, Base jumping we have rougfhly 2 packjobs for everything.

rigging a rope jump presents new problems with every sight, in fact, the only system i have ever used more than once is the simple bridge swing.

like i said, Rope jumping is no game. not something to do on friday night with your drunk freinds and your weekend warrior $99 REI special climbing rope.

be careful. in fact. dont do it.

"but they have to just trust my rigging on the other end, or not jump. "

So true. I would not have it any other way

Another Article...http://www.9news.com/...d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf

This sucks ... I sure hope it's not someone we know ... it's bugging me right as I sit here and think about all those 22 year olds I've met through jumping. Of course you would have been high on my list of 22 year old Boulder rope jumpers ... but unless you're not the real Calvin19 I can rest assured that it's not you.

haha, thanks steve,
"if we cant laugh at everything, life is going to last a whole lot longer than we want it to."

i have gotten literaly 17 calls from freinds making sure it was not me, you never know how many freinds you have until they think your dead.

I go to the service for Heather tommorow, and i have yet to figure out who this was.

I will keep updated,



thanks to anybody who has called though...

Edited to add---18 calls

---I have recently discovered the hard way how impossible it is to eat a pop-tart with a fork.

Rope Jumping?

Can someone briefly explain this sport to me please

Start here.

fark

thats the shi-@

its like basejumping without a parachute, imagine the delays ya could have, it would be like deploying ya PC at 10 feet

is there much skill required for this ?
like for example if any yobbo went and jumped off a cliff with a base rig they'd go head down and onto there back etc,
could most yobbo's have safely performed an unstable exit on that rope in that video ?

>>like i said, Rope jumping is no game. not something to do on friday night with your drunk freinds and your weekend warrior $99 REI special climbing rope.

be careful. in fact. dont do it.<<

Gee, that sounds exactly like the early days of BASE jumping . . .

If Dan Osmond is your Carl Boenish then soon there will be rope jumping glory hounds, site burners and back stabbing politics.

And in twenty years you guys will be the "oldtimers."

Enjoy it while you can . . .

NickD
BASE 194

"If Dan Osmond is your Carl Boenish then soon there will be rope jumping glory hounds, site burners and back stabbing politics. "

With the number of fatalities and the actual number of rope jumps made, and considering the difficulty and frailty and precision it takes to make a worthwhile rig, i am going to assume and hope that this never becomes a sport or a hobby.

What time, money and mental strain my freinds and i have invested in doing this the way we feel is safe is probably not worth it.

Nick, I have my own list, informal, and for me alone. but its longer than it should be already.

There is a magic to BASE jumping, we have discussed it here before, that there seems to be a trend for it to work out,(not all the time, by any measure) as if our gear and skills surprise us. I believe Whole Heartedly that this magic is entirely missing from Rope Jumping.

Sorry - had to pick you up on this one. There is a lot more variation than 2 pack jobs. Configuration of the deployment system is an INTEGRAL part of the pack job (the most important part in my books). There is basically a lot more than two pack jobs.......

Imagine if someone said rope jumping is basically three setups???? I agree with you, there is certainly more variation in rope jumps.

I agree, i was being dramatic
I pack the actual canopy 3 seperate ways, then is bridal routing, priming, PC size, deployment method, etc,

forgive the generalization, just trying to make a point. What i was getting at is generaly, every new sight does not need a completely new, invented on the spot packjob.

>>Nick, I have my own list, informal, and for me alone. but its longer than it should be already.<<

I understand you Calvin. The historian in me wants you to keep your List current and accurate and to yourself if you want. But, someday it may be very important.

The human being in me wants you to drop it and runaway as fast as you can. Eveyone on the early part of the List will be your friend and later ones will be your brothers. It's a terrible burden . . .

NickD
BASE 194

Hello,
I'm sure "Tom, Mr Aiello's son",
is just about to split this thread.
Let me get this in, sorry to digress.
There is only one way to pack a BASE rig,
and that is: as if your life depends on it.
The rest is fluff and useless clamps.

>>Calvin
"don't do it."<<
Always good advice.

My respect for the dearly departed.
Take care and God bless.
Avery

(thought provoking)

My deepest condolences to family and freinds.

I also want to thank you Nick for doing your hard work in keeping the list so well

take care

Benjamin

I work in the Safety Department at CU and have an office next to a very cool CU police officer - he said he'd go get the details for me. All he knew for sure at this point is that it was assumed the guy was rapelling (my friend will try to find out what sort of set up/gear was in use), the top of the crane swung when the guy jumped/rapelled and the he was smashed into the building across the street (it's barely a 2 two story builing and he is said to have hit around the SW corner). When CUPD arrived he was hanging about 5 feet off the ground from the rope.

There were 109 mph gusts in Boulder that night and the police are wondering if that is a factor, at this point it is assumed that the movement of the crane was the biggest factor.

Anyway, thats the news from CUPD and the Safety Department...
-Carrie

109 mph gusts? That figure correct?? At what altitude?

Coco

The deceased has been named and he's not a name I recognize from the local CO jumping community. So I'm happy from that perspective. However it sucks for this young man, for his family and friends and just sends out a message to the rest of us to leave the rogue rope jumping to guys like you and to stick to safer activities like jumping from these cranes with a BASE rig.

Thats what the local news said. Boulder's altitude is around 5360. The wind took trees down, pulled a roof off a house and blew it 600 feet away. It was a pretty crazy day around here.

Trust me, it was that windy. had some fun with an 8' round at the airport.

Doesn't that information turn a sad fatality into a nomination for a Darwin award?

Don't get me wrong, it still sucks. I don't have sufficient nor reliable information, but doing rope work in 109 mph gusts can be considered poor risk management.

Hey I agree Jaap, No disrespect to the dead, but what a dumb ass!!

Coco

you have got to be kidding me coco...
nobody knows exactly what happened.
and id be willing to bet my left nut ,that while im sure there were gusts of that magnitude, the deceased probably didnt jump in 100mph winds...

and even if he did, it dosent justify comments like that...

what if you went in? on accident of course..noone ever intentionally goes in (minus suicides) and some low-timer, who participates in a totally diifferent sport, smears you all over the rockclimbing forum?

some rappeller:"oh, some fuccking idiot killed himself (you,hypothetically) jumping a building (without prerequsite expereince) in virgina beach last nite because his chute didnt work... no disrespect to the dead, but what a dumbass!!"

im not really flaming you as much as im trying to say perhaps a bit of tact and respect is in order...

have a nice day....

I want to stress very clearly that I never called the deceased a dumb ass.

In the hypothetical scenario where somebody would do rope work in 109 mph winds, I would lean towards an assesment that indicates poor risk managment.

However, I do not have sufficient facts to see how close the actual event is to the above mentioned hypothetical scenario.

So let's refrain from calling people dumb-asses.

First off, I'm not trying to flame you, just prove a point. Two, that was totally disrespectful. I totally agree with and respect calvin19. I also agree that noone should get into rope jumping, as a climber i know the design specifications of your average 129.00 rope, usually around 5-7 UIAA falls, not quite enough to handle repeated factor 2 falls and extreme use. Also, I understand the complex nature of the tyrolean rig and how multidirectional the forces (stress and strain) are that result on a rope designed for unidirectional force. The beauty and wonder of mathmatics can result in critically high stresses, that may not be intuitively or visually evident. That shit will kill you!


The gust of 109 mph was recorded at Kenosha pass which is about 45 miles from denver and more like 60 (57.4) from boulder. There was one, one gust of 97.9 mph recorded in boulder on MONDAY morning at the National Wind Technology Center, not Tuesday at 3:00 AM when this incident occurred. Yes the winds in the area were a pretty steady 50 mph on average during the morning on Monday. By the afternoon on monday though, the wind had already weakened considerably and was at 9 mph by 2145 Dec 5 and 14 mph at 545 on tuesday Dec 6 with very little change in barometric pressure over that time. Those are conditions in which I would likely BASE jump. The rest of the wind that evening was uneventful, the majority of the damage (not that there really was too much ultimately) occurred on monday morning. Yes there was a Piper that was flipped over and heavy equipment was used to shield the remaining aircraft at the airport.

Just because there is a rumor in an internet forum that some kid was jumping from a crane in 100+ mph winds does not make it true. Did the incident happen? Sure. Does that give anyone the right to call someone (who for one happens to be dead and definitely not from suicide more like a mistake whether poor judgment or lack of knowledge it does not matter, it could happen to anyone even me) who has absolutely no affiliation with these forums at all a "dumb ass!!." You can do what you want, but in my opinion it is totally unacceptable. You too can find these simple facts by maybe doing a little research into the situation rather than just following rumors blindly. Hopefully you feel ultra confident knowing and making sure everyone else knows that you are less of a "dumb ass!!" than an 18 year old adventure seeking kid from boulder. Great karma, if you're lucky, it will roll with you throughout your base career. Oh yeah, I have absolutely no attachment to the deceased, I am just tired of reading flames directed to those who are unable or unwilling to defend themselves.

My sincerest condolences are with Ryan Young's family, though I never knew any of you. It is never an enjoyable experience to lose someone you love to something they love. I will never blatantly desecrate someone else's reputation after a misfortunate event, who knows, maybe I'll be next? Has BASE taught you nothing about yourself, or is it just some kind of fun little game/hobby? I'm sure eventually you will have an experience that will put your own life into perspective, I just truly hope that isn't your last experience.

Hey I agree with common sense, no disrespect for poor decision making, but don't forget to think!!

Jeremy

My condoloences to the family and friends.

I apologize, sorry if I offended people. I guess I should have chosen my words more wisely.

BUT, I look at doing rope work in 109 gusting winds in the same boat as (a hypothetical) me having 14 BASE, 1 wingsuit skydive and going to the Swiss valley and doing WS BASE. If I burned in, I’d consider myself a “dumb ass” for doing something so careless and irresponsible.

But I agree, I should have been more sensative to the deceased.

In my opinion having 14 jumps makes you a dumb ass already, but that comes from a guy who's hoping that his best friends will piss on his grave and nominate him for a Darwin when he smokes in BASE jumping....

Don't ever forget that we're really just a bunch of monkeys having a good time...

I can vouch for the winds - I live about 15 miles west south west of boulder at 9000 feet. the wind got REAL loud that night, i mean, FREEFALL loud. strange thing is, i was walking around my property that night checking things out and had to use poles in addition to my snowshoes just to stay upright.

I dont know anything about rope jumping or base other than what Ive read, but I did use to work with cranes when I wa a bit younger.

Some of the big permenant cranes that were used where I worked swayed qite a lot in even a light wind, and if there was a storm warning they were left set so that the top could rotate something like a weathervane to reduce stress on the structure during the storm.
It always used to suprise me how easy they seemed to move. If not for the fact that I saw this due to my work I wouldnt know this.

I could be wrong, but taking an educated guess, id think that the static weight of a body swinging on the end of a rope attatched to the tip of the gib would be enough to swing it round a suprising amount.

>>if there was a storm warning they were left set so that the top could rotate something like a weathervane to reduce stress on the structure during the storm.<<

I think they only secure them if there is a chance they can hit something . . .

http://www.dropzone.com/...ring=cranes;#1400380

NickD
BASE 194

From what i have looked at so far, this may be a simple rappelling accident, made complicated by a moving crane. again will kee updated

That is prety much the word on this end (CUPD) as well.

Yeah, thats what it is. A rappelling accident. forgive the hype.

Yet another case where the media destroyes the truth an a perfectly simple case.

Rest.

It now sounds like it was a rope jump (more like a rope swing). They were apparently trying to swing through an alley between two buildings and missed. He had just started skydiving too.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/...N_15_4304525,00.html

There was a good graphic in the newspaper that isn't online. I'll see if I can scan it.

this is pretty much bang on i rig tower cranes for ajob they free slew when not in use and it doesnt take much wind or change of direction to move them im not positive on the efect of a swinging mass on the slew as i havnt fallen off yet but they have a lot of inertia so i wouldnt think it would do any thing. and they are occasionally tied down if the potential to hit something however it requires special permission as it opens another big can of worms.