Basejumper.com - archive

AP news:

http://www.katu.com/.../local/16102862.html

Skier makes daring base jump off Mount Hood (Oregon)

By Anita Kissee and KATU Web Staff
Video

MOUNT HOOD - A man from Spokane, with the help of a local friend, became the first to ski base jump off Mount Hood and the daredevil act was all caught on tape.

Matthias Giraud is on cloud nine after making the most impressive jump of his life on Thursday.

He cruised to the edge of Mississippi Head, shot off the vertical cliff and soared 253 feet before a parachute guided him safely down into the snow.

"It's the best feeling in life," he said. "It's the perfect moment. You get to the top and hiking, getting ready to do it, and you're like 'Oh my God, what am I doing?'"

Asit Rathod helped Giraud pull off the historic ski base jump. They had tried it before but the notoriously fickle Mount Hood weather did not cooperate. This time, 50-degree sunshine made for a picture-perfect day.

At 7,159 feet, Mississippi Head is one of the most dangerous spots on the mountain. It is part of the Mount Hood Triangle where climbers and skiers face the danger of tumbling down into Zig Zag Canyon.

Base jumping is not illegal in and of itself, it just depends on where you do it. KATU checked with the U.S. Forest Service and after a lot of research, they determined Giraud did nothing wrong.

However, while they admire the adventure of it all, they are not encouraging others to try the same thing.

direct link to video

http://www.katu.com/...ml?video=pop&t=a


We really appreciate their deligent work in ensuring that what he did was legal...

Met Matthias at the bridge. Very cool chap. Good job dude.

Welcome to the club Matthias!
Nice work.

nice work ,I enjoyed that vid...well done ![/:)]

nice jump. i pass this cliff every weekend on my way to snow board up at mt hood. ive always wondered if it was jumpable, now i know. the jump looked great!
however being a newb myself i get confused. i was taught to be low key and not attract attention to ourselves. especially the media, and to not be a glory hound. but then jumpers do these types of things and nobody seems to mind.
ill use jebs empire state building jump for an example. that was quite a botched circus and certainly brought a lot of negative association to the sport but everyone seems to cheer him on!! i once postted that i didnt think what he did was a good choice and man did i get flamed!!! it just seems like a double standard when it comes to that guy and other high profile base jumpers that got to be high profile beacuase they do these types of stunts spotlighting themselves for their own glory.
im confused? i think its great to do these jumps but why contact the media and send in their footage? i just dont understand the point of that part of the jump.

I think it was quite to the contrary... Many were flaming jeb...

livenletfly,
I am a media seeking base jumper so I will answer your question the way I see it. Many will disagree.
Does Sean White "spotlight himself for his own glory"? What about all the other athletes in the world who get media attention? What about the Russian Extreme Project dudes? I believe the answer is no. They do their sport for the enjoyment of it as well as to make a living. In base one simply cannot make a living at it unless you get media attention. In the case of many, including myself, its a means to an end. If people see what I do I get paid and get to travel all over the world jumping off stuff I wouldn't normally get to jump. The main issue is wether or not the media attention is damaging to the sport. In certain cases I believe that it can be. I try not to do things that way. Many jumpers believe that any media is bad for the sport. I think that as time goes on jumpers are beginning to realize that this really isn't the case. It all depends where each person draws the line of acceptable media exposure. There will always be the hard core purists who hate it when you even bring a video camera on a jump. The biggest misconception the media haters make is that it is all for the "glory" when it is most likely for the paycheck. The important thing is that the whatever media stunt you do for that paycheck should not cross what you believe is the line of damage to the sport.
This should prompt some interesting and heated responses!
There I did it! I posted another fucking novel on the goddam Dorkzone. I can't believe it.

thank you for explaining your perspective in a clear non confritational way. its RARE here. sometimes when we speak were not trying to start an argument, just trying to understand.
i guess what your saying is "times are changing" and its now becoming a matter of "taste" dealing with the open public.
i really appreciate for just one post not being freaked out on.
i may or may not agree, but that doesnt really matter,
i guess
every man has the right to prosper and make a living at what he loves to do as long as they dont obstruct others from quitely enjoying the very sport they're spotlighting to make that living.
theres a quote from ben harper that fits this converstaion;

"my choice is what i choose to do, and if its casuing no harm it shouldnt bother you,
your choice is who you choose to be, and if causing no harm then your alright with me"

 
I think people understandably have that outlook on the media due to the history of parachuting and the media (as NickDG has retold before). It's pretty uncommon to see them mix in a good way, so much so that I'm really surprised when it does happen. The majority of cases it's the usual bad press (regardless of it originating from the jumper or the reporter), since it sells more papers than good press. It's really commendable when an event like the Perrine Bridge Festival, "a bridge to success for kids" puts on a great event that advances not only the image of the sport but a good cause. It's equally regrettable when a potentially good event like Bridge Day goes bad due to easily avoidable injuries/deaths. Is it different when someone selfishly uses the media to hurt the sport in a desperate attempt to get attention? Yea I think that qualifies as crossing the line. As for myself I feel the high risk and consequences of bad press outweigh any benefits so I keep quiet and don't publish my work.

you provided a sound argument for certain situations, especially the high profile, sponsored jumpers. how do you view all the youTube videos? do you believe they are mostly created for a paycheck? if not, do you care why they are created/posted?

thanks for fostering a serious discussion!

http://durangoherald.com/.../08/news080327_2.htm

Not sure I understand how sound of an arguement this is for the high profile sponsered jumpers any more than those who just post on u-tube. Why would it be any better that someone video's a jump because they are doing it to get paid? I.e. I think its irrelevant why someone posts a video, either its okay because its not bad for other jumpers, the sport, the object or its not okay. If someone does it to inflate their ego or their wallet the effect on everyone else is the same. The difficult question - is growing publicity good in general because it mainstreams BASE and makes it more acceptable, or bad in general because it makes what should be a secretive thing more in the public eye?