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So, if a couple BASE jumpers somehow managed to get their own 950 foot legal A, with a winch, packing area, and BBQ, would people help pitch in for maintenance/inspection/lease costs? Say like $5 a jump?

1 vote here for YES

You know they would.

An "on your honor" coffee can at the bottom of the tower would probably work fine and rake it in 24/7. But we should be thinking BIGGER . . .

We've been talking about and waiting for this for over twenty years. I absolutely can't fathom why someone hasn't thrown up, or outright purchased a suitable tower. It would instantly become a "destination" for traveling jumpers. By adding a gear store, first jump courses for experienced skydivers, the "Huck" Bar & Café, along with periodic meets, competitions and other special events and there's no way this could fail its investors.

Tourists would also come to see the "tower jumpers" and of course reasonably priced bleacher seating would be available. "Observer rides to the top $50! Buy the family Pak & Save!!!" Whatever Podunk town hosts this would instantly find themselves on the map.

The next guy who's willing to drop millions in the soon to be over saturated wind tunnel market would be an idiot to pass this up . . .

NickD
BASE 194

If I'm all healed up, I'd do that...

Is there gonna be a gift shop, with T shirts, post cards and BASEjumper yo yo's. A tower like that is worth about a quarter mil in scrap steel...

900' towers suck.

for a shade over a mil construction/parts cost, we could have a 2000' wingsuit tower, with paper streamer 'gates' to fly wingsuits and track through.

and thats 1.3 million $ brand new, not a used tower.

Maybe "we" could start a paypal account? Would we need a few board members or just use this forum?

Deleted just because.....

Totally agreed bro. I used to stack towers in Houston. The overall cost is minimal?....elevators, tower size included. The point is 900' towers suck, they aren't really trackable for slider up, and they're a little to big for slider off(might as well be 450'). I say go bigger and make it $20 bux a flik. Oh yeah, then I'm in!

ive heard the expense is usually in the permitting, land acquisition, and code conformance more than the cost of the actual steel.

and 20 bux a jump? might as well go skydiving.

20 bucks is actually and can be an economical base jump..

so do it in mexico.

 
I'm also a little surprised no one has done any thing. I know a guy that worked for a company erecting towers for a liveing. He traded me elevator rides for packing classes once. He talked a guy into giveing him a 1000 ft mast. It was his all he had to do was haul it away and find a place to put it up. He had buddies that would help him assimble it. But he still needed say $20,000 to move it depending on the distance. He needed land to put it up. The concreat would have cost like $100,000 for the ankors. He was looking for an old site that allready had foundations. But what kind of shape are they in. They corode. Still need to buy that land. I guess it never went through. And this is a guy that is in a prime position to do this. He was just too broke. Now the growth in the sport and all these people willing to travel to do legal objects it might be more workable.

Another story. There was a building in down town FW. It was damaged in a tornado. They condemed it. It was going to be very exspencive to tear down. I kept thinking that if some people came in and set up a dummy corperation they might be able to buy it cheep. The people that owned it were so eager to get out from under it that they might not look too close. Could be a hell of a party for the next year before that compony goes bankrupt and you just walk away.

Lee

How about we put together a paypal account and take dontions for a tower site?

Someone could probably successfully pitch that concept to an Indian tribe with a casino. They have the land, cash and are virtually immune from the liability issues that WILL arise.

And I'm not talking about liability related to jumpers. I'm talking about spectators that sue the tower owners after their kids just watched someone burn in. And lots of people will burn in because it will be like the Perrine only with terminal speeds involved.

And what's even worse is that every time someone burns in the casino will be busy as hell for the next month from all the publicity associated with the incident.

But if it is to be done, I'd prefer if it was a 2000' tower crane...cranes are fun.

I'm averaging over $200 per slider-up BASE jump since travel to foreign lands and chartered Jet Rangers aren't cheap.

Although the scenery wouldn't be nearly as attractive,
some place in the continental US with $100/night hotel rooms and $20 winch rides would be cheap.

.... " And lots of people will burn in because it will be like the Perrine only with terminal speeds involved. . And what's even worse is that every time someone burns in the casino will be busy as hell for the next month from all the publicity associated with the incident. "
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OHhhh A Casino Also. That will be even better too because the Reservation and there Casino could be 'Taking Bets' and & Paying-$$$ Odds ALSO.
People could pull a few handles on the Slots and put a few dollars down on who's taking the PHaaaaatest delay today, On BASE Jumpers SMooooooooooking-In. Fuck I Bet even a few us could make a few $$$ on placing some Bets on who's next.
It would be like , Even-Money or 2-1 paid on a newbie with under 50 jumps but FuckAll, it would be like 100-1 odds being paid out on a BASE jumper with say 500+ jumps.
You could make a 'Killing' on odds paid like that. ...
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My neighbor builds A's for a living and he told me a 2000' A with an elevator and guyed wires ect. would cost roughly 600,000. It is way to much for me to put down but I thought it would be closer to 2 mil. So it is possible. We just need a filthy rich base jumper to do it. I already have my neighbor as the contractor so its all good. Just need the cash. Any takers?

Bryan

You could build it 2100 and lease the top 100ft~ out to a radio, tv, or cell phone company. Let someone else pay the morgage and the jumping could be cheap and all profit.

KBASE is on the AIR . . .

All Rock - All the Time!

NickD
BASE 194

i thought the limit was 2063ft?

or lease out the whole thing, not like anybody would really care ;-)

Cell phone companies wouldn't want anything to do with the top 100' of a 2063' tower, since it's too high to be useful. Cell antennas are highly directional and are typically placed at altitudes just above tree level that allow their thin beams to hit as much ground as possible.

TV/Radio transmitters legally can't be placed within a certain distance of humans, and OSHA often requires that they be powered down if workers get within a certain distance.

If there's ever a dedicated BASE jumping tower, I'm willing to bet that there would be no TV or Radio stations interested. It might be possible to lease a couple of cell sites at lower altitudes, and possibly a microwave dish or two.. but even in that case, carriers might be worried about their hardware or coax being damaged by the heavy tower traffic or freefalling bicycles or something

I agree 100%. This would be like putting video games on the same computer that validates credit cards for Starbucks... Too much collateral risk.

Now - if you were an investor you could buy a tower, lease it, and just keep the jumpn to close friends all bust free - all while making money. If anyone asks, you own it.

On a side note - only Idaho would have a TV station with the call letters "KBSE". See Attached.