Basejumper.com - archive

August 8 - Jake Kilfoyle & Peter Gambs for starters.
(click on the DZ.com Home page for the link at the top)
Peter is the "Rocket Man" doing ultra low BASE freefalls.
I haven't seen any footage until yet but I was part of Peter's crew and watched the stunt develop.
Take care,
space

Right on Peter! Good for him. Those 18 meter rocket jumps are nuts!

Who did they pick to replace Jeb as host? I know they were looking for another BASE jumper...

Eli Thompson

Excellent choice. I met Eli at Twin when he was taking his BASE FJC in 2001, and believe he'll come across well on TV.

359

He's perfect for it. He's a good guy and he'll definitely come across well. I'm happy for him, he deserves it.

bummer he's too short to fit into Jeb's fatsuit though--then again, who isn't??
cp

There's an interesting history to "Stunt Junkies" and those type shows. There is also a connection with the parachuting community as these shows have cost a number of jumpers their lives over the years. The shows today are a bit more controlled but in the years of "That's Incredible" and before – you'd basically gaff up some stunt and call them to come and film you. In the eighties guys like Jimmy Tyler, BASE 13, were trying to make a living off doing that.

"You asked For It" was the granddaddy of all these shows and aired in the fifties. People would write it with things like this:

Dear YAFI,

I heard there was a guy in Milwaukee doing parachute jumps inside an airplane hangar. I'd sure love to see that.

Bob
Iowa

The above is a true case. When the cameras and crew arrived and found the guy it turned out he was an airplane mechanic who practiced the stunt inside an old blimp hangar. He first dropped the parachute using weights until he was sure it would work and then he did it for real as part of air show/exhibition. The year was 1949.

The best part is when the film crew asked, even offering him money, to do it again for their cameras he basically told them to go F themselves.

You gotta love a guy with ethics . . .

NickD
BASE 194

Bumping it because it's on tonight.
take care,
space

That was a SICK jump.

Did anyone else see it?
I am in Europe and can't view it.
What did you think iffin ya did see it?
take care,
space

Jake barely landed in that tiny shark cage. he was still moving, so I wonder how much his legs hit the side of the cage...

Peter had a rough jump. off heading opening. bit of a flare to clear a ledge. he did great, but looked rattled. everyone else looked pumped, while he had a shocked expression.

I liked both episodes. (and would never consider doing either. respect to both.)

No kidding he was freakin movin and his body stopped damn fast when he hit the far edge of the cage....
what if both legs would have went through the slots of the cage (OUCH!!!!!!!!!)

All i can say is "WOW" that was unreal!
They did a great job putting the whole episode together....
I like how they showed the trial and ERROR in developing his system....
MAN!!! did he have his hands full on that jump.....

They dont have peters vid but here are the photos


They do have some vid of jakes jump.

 The funny thing about the low base jump on the show was that the guys in Arkansas would consider that a normal jump.. there are two guys jumping stuff in arkansas that is all below 200 feet.
Those guys down there are nuts like that!
Joe

I've been off some low stuff, but not on a mx bike or frefalling the exit with a compressed air deployment system.

It was pretty ballsy and he had to deal with a 90 right with no clearance. It was a smart move to go for the toggles rather than the risers. Otherwise he would have clipped the ledge, from the camera angle.

He could have found a much safer exit point, but it was pretty impressive. I've seen Greenie go off a 170 footer hand held and I still think that was pretty ballsy. If you've seen the video you can tell he's definitely considering the possible outcomes.

So how would guys that do sub 200ft FF consider sub 100ft FF normal? I am not following you here.
take care,
space

 those arkies are "jump what you got" kind of guys and if you got 100ft then hit it and make it your norm.

Ok... So I'm gonna come out of posting retirement to comment on this. I doubt I'm the only one thinking this, but isn't stunt junkies just a big ol' "Look at me!!" egomaniac fuckfest? I mean seriously... WTF? I think that this is really a “shock and awe” type of show that doesn’t really do anything constructive surely for base and possibly for skydiving. All this type of show does is excite the brain dead masses in a blood hungry frenzy for some extreme sport carnage. What does this show do for an already misunderstood sport? In my opinion, and I’m sure to get flamed for it & that’s cool, this just furthers in the public’s mind the idea that base and skydiving are a bunch of extreme wackos who take stupid risks for the sheer spectacle of the “stunt.” This isn’t what these sports are really about and anyone who has gotten over their ego can tell you that. I know I haven’t been around as long as a lot of other base jumpers, but I know we all see certain people in this sport who are so caught up in their image of being “The Most Extreme” or the most dangerous or whatever, and history shows that these people, who only respect their egos and not the sport, are the ones who get hurt or killed. Come on people base is about meticulously calculated risk, not “Hey, look how fucking cool I am!!”

Flame away….

PS. This is not at Eli, but rather at the whole idea of making base and skydiving a spectacle for the masses that only want to see someone get fucked up. I haven’t met Eli personally, but I have met his wife and if he is as cool as she is than he is a stand up guy. Shit, if someone wanted to pay me to do a show like that I’d have a hard time turning down the money, gotta pay for college somehow….

Be safe out there…

Hello,
Your last (PS) sentence really says it all,
about you and the way of the world.
What is the point of anything?

You write a diatribe and then shit on your own morality in the end...what a fucking hypocrite

Very true... I didn't think about it too much when I posted it, but you are correct, I guess that was a pathetic attempt at trying to ease some of the flaming that will probably ensue, and a hint at the desperation that I experience when I get my tuition bill.

But hey... its the internet where everyone trys to find someone to put down from behind the protection of their computer.

from the title of the show, I'd agree.

after viewing the 2 shows previously mentioned, I'd say they portrayed both stunts as carefully constructed and planned. neither show came close to implying anything reckless.

they depicted both jumpers quite positively.

Actually… Avery’s right, what’s the fucking point... I posted this in response to my gut reaction to seeing this show totally by chance since my Tivo recorded it as a suggestion. After thinking about it some more I really don’t care, I really doubt there will ever be a day when base or skydiving doesn’t have a negative image throughout the general public. So fuck what the public thinks about the sport, and good for Eli and everyone else making easy money off the show. With or without the show or others like it, the public perception of the sport is never going to change. So I’m going to just keep doing my thing and forget about caring how the sport is portrayed. At least there is europe...

You know waht would be sweet? If they would use these timeslots to air Chronicle I, II, III, every Taylor Steel movie, every TGR and Steve Winter movie, and every John Holmes movie.

thought both programs were very well done. the producers didn't condescend to the audience by dumbing down the explanations of what was going on and really focused on the skill sets that both jumps required. on the other hand the constant reference to "risking their lives" meant to build up to the final event scared the shit out of my kid...she slept in my bed for two nights straight. guess it's back to the disney channel.

Having seen some of Peter's films on the web I must say that his jump was very impressive!

I can't wait until I get to see Bob's jump into the Grand Canyon.

Now all we need is for that catapult guy to put it on top of the fungus in Europe and fling himself off of it!

PS I feel ya on the college tuition! I have been fighting with financial aid all week trying to get my grant money back. I am hoping I get enough of a refund to go finish my AFF……