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The following was released as our official response to the Op Ed. piece in the Times News regarding the Heaton fatality.

Twin Falls, Feb 14th, 2008

Jumpers Create Twin Falls BASE Association, Respond to recent Exposure Death

11 of Magic Valley's local BASE Jumpers are forming the Twin Falls BASE Association to increase communication, and give back to the community they live in. The TFBA will be the unified voice of the local BASE Jumpers and will coordinate charity, safety, and clean-up events in the Snake River Canyon.

Twin Falls, ID February 13, 2008 -- In the wake of the recent tragedy in the Snake River canyon, the local BASE jumping community would like to address legitimate concerns of the citizens within the Magic Valley; The very same people who have supported jumpers and the sport of BASE for so long. The death of Richard Heaton struck the BASE jumping community in general and the Twin Falls BASE community in particular, as unbelievably preventable in its tragedy. As with other outdoor sports, vulnerability to the elements should always be taken into consideration. Just as hikers, climbers, snowmobilers, and skiers must prepare for sudden and extreme changes in the weather, so must BASE jumpers. Mr. Heaton made a successful BASE jump, but did not know how to get out of the canyon, and was unfortunately not prepared for the harsh winter night. It is with gratitude we acknowledge the Search and Rescue personnel who extend themselves in rescuing and recovering all extreme sports enthusiasts who find themselves in a circumstance such as Mr. Heaton’s.

For years there have been standard recommendations by the BASE community for BASE jumping from the Perrine Bridge available to aspiring and veteran jumpers alike, just as there is knowledge shared among back-country skiers and boarders who enjoy the powder at Galena. As Galena Backcountry Ski Patrol Director Rick Allington has said to would-be backcountry travelers, “Don’t go out without education—your brain is your most important survival tool.” One of Idaho's greatest appeals is the freedom for all citizens to live as they please. It's a shame that New Hampshire beat us to the “Live Free or Die” motto! Our community must think hard before imposing ideas of regulation and control on others. Once that door opens, it doesn't close. This is especially true when approaching a situation with the “save people from themselves” mentality.

The Twin Falls BASE Association has been formed as a mechanism by which education about the world's most familiar BASE jumping object can be shared openly among jumpers and with our beloved community of Twin Falls. The Association is made up of individuals who have been drawn from all corners of the world to call the Magic Valley and the Perrine Bridge home. We come from every facet of the community and many of you know us from every day life interactions. Our primary goal is to protect the freedom to BASE jump from the Perrine Memorial Bridge for generations to come. To that end, our organization will publish recommendations, educate the jumpers, inform the public, train first responders, and fulfill other needs of a community that is internationally renowned as one of the few places BASE jumpers can come out of the shadows and be themselves. When you get to know us, you will see that we are just like you, we are part of Twin Falls. We just have a different and exciting hobby! Come out to watch us and say hello!

Our first order of business will be a donation to the Twin Falls Search and Rescue Team. Keep an eye out for the next press release. Have fun and be safe.
Respectfully,

The Twin Falls BASE Association

Mark Kissner
Ray Pickett
Miles Daisher
Tom Aiello
Mark Ridley
Abbie Mashaal
Andrew Karnowski
Serena Welchel
Kurt Gregory
Jamie Boutwell
Chris Harvey

Keep the bridge open guys. There are plenty of other objects that we can do what ever and when ever we want to off of. I applaud your effort.

And ParaFrog, What in the hell kind of SCUBA bubble is that? It's even gold.

Well written, thanks.

Here is what was printed in the Times-News:

Story

BASE group forms
T.F. jumpers say media gives too much attention to bridge accidents
By Matt Christensen
Times-News writers
The Magic Valley's first organized association of BASE jumpers has been formed in the wake of the death of a Georgia man who died at the base of the Perrine Bridge last week.

The group of 11 jumpers gathered Monday, two days after the body of Richard Heaton III, 27, was found in the bottom of the Snake River Canyon. Heaton, who traveled to Twin Falls for a week of BASE jumping from the bridge, successfully parachuted into the canyon late at night but died of exposure after he was unable to find a trail to climb out, authorities say.

BASE is an acronym for building, antenna, span and earth - the places jumpers use. The Perrine Bridge is the nation's only span where unrestricted jumping is permitted year-round.

Mark Kissner, a spokesman for the new Twin Falls BASE Association, said the group in part will work to change public perception about the sport. He was critical of media coverage of Heaton's death, saying that the Times-News unnecessarily tied itto the extreme sport byidentifying Heaton as a BASE jumper when he had made only three jumps before his death.

Kissner called Heaton "a dead hiker" whose demise had little to do with BASE jumping.

"There are some who would say he wasn't a BASE jumper," Kissner said. "But it was clear in the story they were trying to make it about BASE jumping."

Kissner said his group feels the media gives too much attention to BASE jumping accidents, which has resulted in periodical calls for regulation of the sport.

In a written statement, the group said its "primary goal is to protect the freedom to BASE jump from the Perrine Memorial Bridge for generations to come."

"I don't think anyone is saying BASE jumping is like playing golf," Kissner said. "Injuries are something that happens in any extreme sport. But there's a lot of misinformation out there."

The association will also fight any proposed limits on jumping from the bridge, which in the past have included calls for jumpers to pay a fee that could fund search and rescue efforts.

The association decided Monday to make a financial donation to Twin Falls County Search and Rescue, which often responds to BASE jumping incidences. Kissner declined to disclose the amount of the intended donation.

Twin Falls County's rescue team has been deployed for BASE jumping incidences at least eight times in the past five years, said Sheriff Wayne Tousley. At least five people have died in BASE-related accidents from the Perrine Bridge in as many years, according to Times-News reports.

The association also plans to help "train" some of those first responders, Kissner said, and will coordinate charity, safety and clean-up events in the canyon.

Details on most of the group's plans are still sketchy, Kissner said, but some have proposed installing a sign with advice about good BASE jumping practices at the bridge, which is managed by the Idaho Transportation Department.

Organizers of the group are Ray Pickett, Miles Daisher, Tom Aiello, Mark Ridley, Abbie Mashaal, Andrew Karnowski, Serena Whelchel, Kurt Gregory, Jamie Boutwell and Chris Harvey. Kissner said they plan to meet at least four times a year.

Matt Christensen may be reached at 735-3243 or at matt.christensen@lee.net.

Great idea

How would other jumpers go about kicking in for that donation ?

how about an interpretive sign on one side for good PR, and then a list of guidelines, contact info, and maps for the two exit trails and insturctions about making donations on the other side.

I'd donate to help fund such an endeavor. You see similar signs at a lot of climbing areas, educating the public to think its cool, and requesting the climbers to follow the local ethics in order to avoid loosing access.

V

I was just in the Swiss Valley today and paid the new landing fee of 20 chf.I was the 65th jumper to pay,and it just went ito effect.Maybe that would be good also at the bridge.
Sure there will be some jumpers that choose not to pay,but it is best to put these fires out before we lose the few sites we have

From what it seems to me (read: i've never been to LB), the permit system there is in place to compensate farmers for the use of their fields for base landings. While this appears to be a good solution for LB, I don't think charging a fee is a blanket solution to all problems, especially not the current one in TF.

The fee could go to a fund to help support the SAR.

Knowing that every jump site (such as dropzones and cliffs) have injuries, minor and major - it is inevitable that people will get hurt in TF. Heck, it might be the car ride from the hotel that does it... But, the unique factor about the bridge is that the landing area, especially when the boat is not available, is pretty hard to get to.

Hence I for one would gladly pay a small token for every jump at the bridge if the money went to the associations and organizations that help us when we need it.

The bridge gets more jumps than some Cessna dzs, however it is not like a DZ in that an ambulance can't drive to the field to pick up the injured party at normal bill-to-the-injured party medical system rates.

So, there are added costs to rescues. And while we do bring sales tax revenue and good marketing for the town (some would say we put the town on the map)... We should pay our fair share...

The Twin Falls Base Association could establish a website/portal where donations could be made, with suggested amounts based upon real world costs of incidents per jump ratios. Easy paypal payments, and the community could see that we "pay our own way" when the shit hits the fan. Like insurance, so when and if someone gets hurt, they don't get a voluntary or mandatory bill for the rescue, and the press can report it was a jumper funded rescue.

I see this no different than when we used the TF hotel's exercise room to pack and left half of the landing area's vegetation seemingly on the carpet and vacuumed up our own mess. Or when we walked in the lobby with muddy shoes accidentally and vacuumed the entire lobby to the attendant's surprise as an apology in the spirit of "leave no trace." If we would have left a mess beyond "normal use", they would have said, "those damn BASE jumpers".

If the community sees us working hard to "clean up our messes", it will be just that much harder to shut down the site.

A creative financial planner could make the donations go into an endowment, such that as the fund grows, the interest dividends would grow, but the principle investment would remain untouched, and the interest alone could make the site self supporting with no future payments.

Lets say... $5 per jump. 10 jumps per day. 365 days. $18,000 in revenue. 5 years = $100,000 investment. 5-7% interest earned = $7,000 a year to the rescue associations.... AND - after 5 or so years the endowment would be fully funded and no further donations would be required, EVER. As long as we jump, the rescue associations would get money. If they ever shut down the bridge, the $100,000 principle would go to a charity outside of TF. All the more incentive for the local government to keep the site open...

Then again, these are just my opinions. But if you look at all the threads online with jumpers begging other jumpers not to burn sites and leave no trace, our community already seemingly has the fundamental "leave no trace" ethics that can keep TF open.

I don't want to pay to jump the bridge. My insurance already covers the costs of rescuing me when i get hurt. Its irresponsible to put yourself in a situation where you might require a rescue without the means to get yourself out.

Having a good public image for BASE is important to me. But i don't think that we would be getting enough good publicity bang for our buck by paying for rescues etc.

I think the local charity fundraisers work lots better, and seem nicer to folks.

 

I totally agree.

My idea was completely VOLUNTARY and a way to manage DONATIONS...

Some may opt to contribute more, some may opt to contribute less. But, in the end, an endowment will allow the "gift to keep on giving."

True, the charities establish their own endowments, however there is only one press release/good will gesture when the principle is paid on the first donation.... 5 years from now when money is pulled from the investments, they forget who gave them the resources to be able to pull that money.

If instead the TFBA created their own endowment, every year a new donation would be made from the interest, to the most appropriate charity at the time. You get more bang for the buck, and you can make sure year after year the money is allocated to good will and good PR for our community while compensating the organizations who save our ass when we need it.

Dude, since we are friends, even thinking this thought makes me sick inside.... If you died on a jump in such a way the paramedics declare you dead on scene, I don't know if you have a policy that covers the costs to retrieve your dead body... I don't know all your insurance coverages and stuff, but of all my friends who have jumped at the bridge, I can't think of many who have policies that cover dead body retrieval and other associated administrative and operational expenses associated with rescue of live or dead bodies...

But I agree that charity events, as you mentioned, are another good PR move for a good cause. Maybe I agree, that is the best way to raise money to "leave no financial trace" for the inevitable injuries, even very minor ones.

The self-funded endowment idea
was good and the use of compound
interest to fund it in perpitutity(sp)
was neat too.

However, would it not be a whole lot
cheaper for us to just collectively buy
a little boat with a quick motor?

There are no plans for - in fact we are against (as a group) - user fees of any sort. We are organizing several fund-raising BASE events that will have entry fees associated with them, as well as mechanisms for donations.

The charter of the organization is to keep the bridge open and free.

We will still help out the local rescue organizations, but it will be through fund-raising and donations, not user fees.

TFBA Site

If you re-read my post, and my reply to Collin, I agree and was simply suggesting a way to collect donations, and a way to establish an endowment so those donations could continue in perpetuity.

The "per jump" dollar figure I guess I was not clear about... I simply suggested a user should donate in proportion to their use... And.... the math I used to calculate the revenue was simply to see what the "customer base" was to see if there would be enough $ to set up a cool donation system that would give the TFBA financial leverage (Dear Politician, we have an endowment, that money is for the community as long as we are permitted to jump, and we are trying to not burden the community with our actions).

To re-clarify, I 100% agree NO MANDITORY USER FEEs, I would reject completely any organization who tried to impose them. However, donations to those who save our ass when we need it is super cool, and I support that.

My point was... If you donate once, the money is donated once and the leverage expires in a few days. If you have a fund, that self sustains, the TFBA can year after year, without collecting additional money once fully vested, use the funds to leverage access and reimburse those who have expenditures on our behalf. 10 years from now the TFBA can donate money from the fund to the charity that needs it the most (the one that spent the most for an incident, or one that is most deserving because of their mission)

Pretty much repeating Tdog.

Why not setup a nice website on go with your "The Twin Falls Base Association" to help smooth over the locals, get it out there for the local non jumpers to see with flyers, stickers, newsprint, and ect....

In your site add a section named "Friends of Twin Falls BASE Association" and allow non locals to join/donate to the local EM services and such to give back to the city and State. List who you want to help, list the service with a nice "clicky logo" and have Paypal account links for each.

Have a page that list who and where these people come from that give. You can have different donation levels for those that like to see there name in print and glory, work it like PBS TV does.

With the general joining/donating fees, just split it equal the the local services or balance out some of the "clicky logos" that get low donations. Pay for a planter or two, one of those nice bench viewing areas and not just a brick (nice though guys) but the whole thing, pay to have a simple card flyers like you see in hotels explaining BASE and Twin Falls and how it's a privilege to do so there and put those in the vistors center and hotels.

Have a cleanup party in the canyon set a side one day when there's large but lets not say events a couple of times per year.

Mainly give back to the town, let them know we care, help cover the cost of our mistakes, and let them know more about us other than were stupid and get busted up once and a while.

I liked it better when the bridge was known more for the half a dozen suicides per year, more than the BASE accidents as it's becoming now.

Well stated.