Basejumper.com - archive

I saw in another post, "Where is Tom A?" Well - here is the answer...

I just wanted to share, out of gratitude, and so others will know if it is a "good fit" for them, my experience last week... (Perhaps you know someone itching to jump and you want to refer them to a course, or you want to learn in the future...)

I just finished Tom's week long "Deathcamp", a training program he offers for free twice a year. You can go to http://www.snakeriverbase.com for the lowdown.

It was a very impressive week. And I can personally vouch Tom did not look at his computer, thus leaving these forums without a moderator.

Here is a bit of a recap of the experience:

7.5 days of instruction

31 Jumps

• 2 PCA (PCA others)
  
• 2 Handheld
  
• 2 Static line
  
• 4 Unpacked
  
• 21 stowed

Exits from both sides of the bridge

Two round canopy water jumps with long(er) delays

Various exits (side float, floating, rollover, etc)

Multiways

Slider up and slider down

Day and night

Climb, hike, and boat rides out

Obstacle avoidance drills

Canopy deep brake adjustment

Rigging, packing, maintenance

Hours of "classroom" discussion over lunch and dinner. Hours of video review of other events and incidents.

Books, tools, logbooks, videos, teeshirts given...

Jumped 5 different canopies/containers to see what I liked. Single pin, double pin, Velcro.

Tom was a great host, dedicated 7 AM to midnight, every day, to our group.

I am so glad that I participated, as, almost every jump was videoed, and it provided a forum to fine tune details I know I would not have discovered without repetitive jumping. I could not imagine just showing up for the weekend and knocking out 6 jumps and calling it a trip, as I was able to really see things I needed to fine tune by doing 31 jumps.

I know it is just the beginning, I only learned a small fraction of what I will need. But, I would not have had it any other way.

If you are going to TF, or participating in Tom's courses - feel free to e-mail or PM me. I can give you some pointers of what I am glad I packed from home, what I forgot and needed, and what to expect. Feel free to ask any questions online...

cool..did he jump with you?

If memory serves, I made 5 jumps in the past 2 weeks, so no, I didn't jump with them on every load.

Yes.

When he didn't, he was debriefing others, packing the water rounds, picking us up at the hike out spot, going to the store to get water and ice, bartacking lines that were adjusted, etc. He worked hard while we had fun.

By the sounds of it, it looks like it's a better head start than most of us probably had. Good on Tom for providing such an extensive and broad first jump course.

I've watched these forums for quite some time and no matter what people say; actions speak louder ...

Jeez, sounds like a huge investment in time and effort on the part of the organiser. I know I wouldn't do it.

John

Just to echo what Travis has expressed: Fall Deathcamp was a unique opportunity to experience BASE. Tom was incredibly generous with his time and instruction. He did jump with us although he spent most of his time briefing/debriefing and packing for us.(He jumped despite having a bad ankle. From the course point of view I think he was keen to keen to lead by example but he has little to prove in terms of jumping and served the course far better by overseeing the exits and speeding up the jump cycle with packing and debriefing) He worked like a one-armed paper hanger for us for the duration of the week an exceeded all our expectations massively. His approach, experience and modesty are beyond reproach. I would strongly urge any aspiring jumpers to attend his course as I researched all instruction available and believe that there is nothing to match his Deathcamp. As a cynical brit I was nothing but thoroughly impressed. My tuppence worth........

Thanks for the review.

Really good to hear this.

Im hoping to do the Death Camp next year provided Tom gives me a place of course

Sounds like the most comprehensive course to staying alive out there that Ive heard of yet.

Did Tom ever show you how to jump from the rail?

The way your mom was bent over it made it impossible to climb up on.

Buh rump bump bump.