Basejumper.com - archive

 Stunt Junkies Valentines Day

Well actually the last 3 days CBS Eye Too Productions with a crew of 42 people including 2 well known base jumpers of Apex Base (whose names I won’t release until I have their permission) http://www.apexbase.com were filming an upcoming episode of STUNT JUNKIES.

The episode will air on April 16 at 10 Eastern and Pacific on the Discovery Channel www.discovery.com

I had a chance to speak with coordinating producer Kelly Mclear of CBS Eye Too and Kelly wanted to thank all the agencies involved for making the production possible.

I checked with Director of the Placer Lake Tahoe Film Office Beverly Lewis (who was on site) and no fewer than 7 agencies were involved including CHP, CDF, State Parks, Placer County, Placer County Dept of Roads, Placer County Dept of Bridges, and the Swift water Rescue Crew as well as a full ambulance crew. Beverly also pointed out that CBS Eye Too was picking up the tab for ALL the MANPOWER and NO taxpayer monies were used and that all public personnel were working overtime and not interfering with normal schedules.

I couldn’t get Kelly to comment on the cost of the production or let me take any pictures but she did give me a point of contact at Discovery for approved photos in a few days

It figures to be some absolutely fantastic footage I snuck a look over somebody’s shoulder and saw about 3 min of the daily and the camera work is outstanding (even uncut!!)

Speaking with Park Ranger Scott Liske and he stated that they bust quite a few base jumpers every year at this site for incompatible recreational activity (I love that charge). The fines start at $250 plus the loss of your rig (at least until the court date) this is no surprise to you guys though.

Beverly Lewis did state that there were no permit fees but that the permit process for legitimate production companies varied from 2-4 months depending on complexity of the stunt and the number of different agencies involved.
I asked her if there was any chance of a Base Day West she said “there are several people in the county interested in doing that but it will be a long process to approval”
I mentioned that there would likely be more that 42 people and the local economy would soar for a week before and after if it ever happened.
Shooting will be complete tomorrow I’llsee if I can get a quick interview with the popular base jumpers and a photo or two

Also Photographer Chris Bazil was on site as official photographer so check out his site www.chrisbazil.com

just dont do jumps afterward that the production dont agree in

Personaly i think they showed such bad a side getting rid of a wellknown jumper after his fatsuit-stunt that i never would agree to work whith thouse..

Why? they know which kind ofpersons theyre dealing whith,if they really want to speak to extremsports people they has to acsept they do extrem stuff,if not they should cover other stuff instead..

Good on you guys getting into the show,i hope the effort pays off to that legal jump site,but sorry to say i doubt it.. people tend to speak what you want to hear on the tv..

There was a film crew and a bunch of banners on a green s this morning.

Day 4 finale shooting 2/15/07

I came back to get interviews with BASE jumpers Marta Empinotti, Jimmie Pouchert and Todd Shoebotham.
It was pretty neat to watch Marta working with Jimmie and Todd they were very methodical in rigging and setup. There were many stages to the setup of the entire stunt, throughout the course of the day several timing runs and equipment checks were made.

Marta will be one of the first featured female athletes on STUNT JUNKIES when asking her about her role as a featured female athlete she replied “I hope it will inspire more ladies to participate in the sport and encourage all the incredible lady athletes presently involved to continue regardless of the changes in there lives”
Marta is an active instructor at the base school for APEX base and regularly jumps the Perrine Bridge in Idaho (where it is always legal) as well as an Earth site in Moab Utah that is also legal. Marta praised the Stunt Junkies crew for their thoroughness and willingness to test and be sure. She is also one of the most experienced base jumpers in the world with close to 1300 base jumps

Marta’s rig was an Apex DP with a FLiC 200 chute and a 40” pilot deployed in the standard fashion and packed slider up due to speed of launch.

Speaking with Jimmy Pouchert, he had spent a lot of time setting and checking all the rigging with partner Todd Shoebotham.
Jimmy was concerned having made a similar jump himself that there wasn’t room for any errors “there are not a lot of outs if it’s not perfect” was his statement. I was also his first shoot using a Semi and that added a different dimension however Todd brought needed expertise to that aspect having done a similar stunt in years past.

It should be noted that a few watermelons volunteered to do trajectory testing on full speed runs and were brilliant at confirming the accuracy of calculations.

Eli Thompson co-host of Stunt Junkies hoped that people would realize that the level of precision and expert execution that went into the production as well as being thrilled that Stunt Junkies is one of the first shows to feature a lady extreme athlete.

At the end of production shortly after lunch spent a few minutes with Todd Shoebotham and we spoke briefly about Base jumping and the sports future. Todd expressed frustration with legislation making base a class d felony that is coming up in New York stating that it is “discriminatory and quite ridiculous” he stated that the community has become somewhat self regulating and thought that with base becoming mainstream as an extreme sport that eventually there will be a need for a sanctioning body similar to USPA and while he didn’t endorse that he felt it would become a necessary evil if base jumping is to remain legal.

In closing the Discovery/ STUNT JUNKIES / CBS EYE TOO crews put together an outstanding stunt and put a great face on Base Jumping the effort was huge and done very well
I’ll add a couple of photos later and welcome any constructive input.
I reserve the right to edit for correctness and all names are mentioned by permission.

Thanks