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As many of you know, we had some problems at the Holiday Inn Oak Hill during Bridge Day 2008

Police presence

Rude hotel staff

Pet problems

A general lack of respect for jumpers

We found a GREAT replacement hotel in Beckley and worked on a contract last November, but later found out that hotel renovations would cause problems for our group.

Then, we scoured the Fayetteville countryside for additional meeting areas and found a whitewater rafting outfit that would work with us. They have:

Primitive cabins, very basic with electricity

No heat

Sleeps 6

Shared shower house

Tent camping

3+ RV spots

Pet friendly

Large lodge (jumper registration, trade show, packing, etc.)

Restaurant

Spacious bar

This rafting outfit would offer some advantages:

Boogie atmosphere

LARGE bar

Plenty of camp sites

Friendly people

No cops waiting to give you a ticket when you walk 2 feet out the front door (open container)

Cheap lodging ($75 per night for a cabin that sleeps 6; tent camping far cheaper)

Closer to NRGB and new BD dropzone (more on that later)

More freedom to do your own thing.

However, the rafting outfit has some disadvantages:

No heat at night

You could stay nearby at local hotels, but would have to drive back and forth to jumper headquarters

Minimal inside packing areas

Integration with some whitewater rafters who are in town for the Gauley

I stayed at White Water Rafting, i think it was called, in 2007, on a tent platform. It was a cool place and I even ended up hooking up with some older chick, though not sure if it was a positive thing. That being said I will probably stay at the Holiday Inn this year, if I'm not broke. It would be nice to be able to crash in my room at the hotel instead of having to leave the party early or find a way back to my campground when I'm trashed.

I've seen some cold nights at BD. I have been bundled up to ride the boom truck.

I also haven't seen too many people camping at the HI, even though it was an option.

Sooo, I doubt I'll want to tent it.

That said, I trust Jason's decisions. If he thinks it better to change, I'll support the call.



p.s.
On cold weekends, I bet the wet ones welcome warmth.

I vote the rafting place...

but can they house all of us?

I stayed at that campground for about a week after BD 08. They were super friendly and it was completely beautiful, though it did rain a little and some nights were cold I will stay there again this year.

Do the cabins have electricity? Because if they do, then a few bucks can get you a space heater from wal-mart.

If it is the rafting place im thinking of they are super cool people and will be down for having a good time

i was extremely dissatisfied with the Holiday Inn last year, and not too impressed with it the years before either. it definitely makes things easy to have all that space to do everything that has to be done for the event, but i will not ever stay there again... ever.

in fact, not that what i think really matters, but if it's held there again with the same shitty management, i will not attend bridge day. and that would be sad.

Cabins have electricity. Keep in mind that you can stay at any other hotel in the area and simply drive to the whitewater outfit for the videofest, registration, or the party. We are considering having a shuttle service for Thursday and Saturday nights for those who are a bit tipsy.

Good comments so far.....keep 'em coming.

For the last several BD's we've had a group of 6-10+ people stay at a campground North of the Bridge.

Which whitewater outfitter are you considering? I would prefer to camp over any hotel. Most of the campgrounds with bars usually have some great bands playing, and by far a better atmosphere.

I'll go to Bridge Day no matter what but Holiday Inn won't get another dime of my money. They don't want us and we don't want them. The solution seems obvious. Go elsewhere.

Edited to add: I think the campground sounds great. I'd rather spend a few bucks on a space heater than a small fortune for a room at the holiday inn.

campground +1..


i think jumpers and paddlers will get along just fine.

well there are two things i must say to that. one, if any of the event is at the holiday inn, then they are getting more than a dime of our money, inadvertently. two, i mostly say i won't attend because i will probably not be in the country for it this year anyway, but that would definitely seal the deal for me.

bottom line, i think the campground idea rocks!

08 bd was the beginning of my desire for base and i'l be back for 09 bd to jump but NO WAY will i stay at that hotel! they were dicks last year and they will be again i'm sure. jumpers make that frikkin hotels entire quarter or at least month and they somehow dont care so piss on the wankers! TTOO TTTHHHEEE CAMP GROUNDS!!!!!! well thats where i'l be anyways

I'm not thrilled with either option. Maybe there's a suitable place without attached lodging?

You must be thinking of a place similar to where they hold weddings, gatherings, etc? I looked at a few - many have "no alcohol" rules and others simply lack the traditional Bridge Day feel. There would be no bar, no restaurant, and it might not be close to the bridge. Plus, it's ideal for us to have our headquarters close to a place that has lodging so some of us can stumble from the bar to our beds. FYI, the whitewater outfit we're looking at is located about 1500' from a major hotel in Fayetteville, plus we'll probably run shuttles back and forth on Thurs/Sat nights. There are negatives wherever we go this year, so let's choose the lesser of two evils.

which rafting place is it?

I, personally, would not enjoy staying in a place without heat as it is very cold that time of the year. I vote for a different hotel altogether.

 

The good thing is you can stay at any hotel you want and then drive (or be shuttled) to wherever we chose to be headquartered. You won't have to stay in a cabin or camp and most people will likely stay in a nearby hotel. We're simply looking for a new place for the videofest, trade show, jumper registration, and the saturday night party. If jumpers prefer an outdoor setting, we'll likely chose the whitewater outfit (River Expeditions) as our headquarters.

The Beckley hotel that we've got in our sights for 2010 is awesome. There are 200+ hotel rooms available and a liquor store 100' away. Looks good as long as the NPS doesn't try to disrupt it in some way (I wouldn't doubt it).

I'll support which ever, but I dont like being cold at night. And if it rains it's even worse. Summertime wouldn't be so bad, but cold nights aren't my idea of a vacation.

I think we should take over the Ranger Station.


Party Time.

What about the Fayettville Gymnasium?

We used to hold the BASE trade show there. It's big, has heat and light, showers and restrooms, and plenty of space for 450 sleeping bags.

I'd gladly pay 100 bucks to spend two nights there and not give the Holiday Inn my money. Hell, at Bridge Day I always wind up sleeping on the floor anyway . . .

Anyone think the city of Fayettville couldn't use $45,000 ???

NickD

I want to live in a van down by the river! :o)

This could be another "good gesture" to line the city officials pockets to get them on our side for year round catwalk jumping!!!

>You must be thinking of a place similar to where they hold weddings, gatherings, etc. <
Yes. There's a couple places like that near me that would be ideal. Just wondering if Fayettville had anything similar. I'm sure we'll create the "bridge day feel" where ever we go. I think Nick's gym idea is worth exploring. I'll likely show up whatever you decide.

The Fayetteville Memorial Building (which I remember from 1993), was discussed. You want everyone to bring sleeping bags and sleep on a hardwood floor?

Ideally, our meeting space needs to be integrated with some form of reasonable lodging. It's also nice to have a bar, restaurant, parking for 550+ people, and have some space to do our own thing. River Expeditions offers all this and more. We just told the Holiday Inn Oak Hill "no thanks" and we worked a deal with River Expeditions. I'm excited about the change and I think it'll be a positive one. A nice big campfire on Saturday night right next to their large bar will be a welcome change!

I'll have more information shortly regarding our new headquarters. Of course, jumpers are free to stay at any hotel they choose, even the Holiday Inn (a bargain at $247.50 per night)! Although I think it would send the right message if NO jumpers stayed there this year. We're currently working with other hotels in the area to be held for jumpers.

You have to deal with the Holiday Inn folks all year, we just have to deal with them for a few days, so if you feel that strongly about it, do what you think is right, I don't think any of us will argue too strenuously.

That said, none of the Holiday Inn staff has ever caused me any problems beyond charging outrageous prices, and it seems like they put up with some pretty wild stuff. Evidently others have received treatment significantly different than I have received.

As far as the problems with the police (which were fucking ridiculous last year), IMHO we will have the same issues with the police wherever we end up. For what its worth, after dealing with the Sheriffs Department and magistrates in Beckley last year, I suspect the law enforcement presence in Beckley will be far worse than anything we saw at the Holiday Inn. Dealing with the fucknuts in Beckley made me feel like I was living in a Tom T. Hall song. I'll not stay in a hotel in Beckley nor spend my money there.

As far as River Expeditions goes, I have stayed there several times in the past, and it is a fantastic place. No way is there room for all of us in the primitive cabins, but if you run shuttles to the hotels close by for those who are unwilling to sleep in tents in the cold, it should make a nice spot. I am assuming we will have it to ourselves? The management there takes good care of their campers and enforces strict noise policies so that the rafters can be up first thing in the morning and ready to raft. Many of the normal clients there are church and youth groups. Running naked through the campground at 1:00 am and other shenanigans are not tolerated, though they will be polite when they tell you to stop. (Trust me )

Just my two cents, since you asked.

Looking forward to it.

The police presence at the Holiday Day Inn really, really creeped me out the last time I went to Bridge Day. I would love to stay the campground and would most likely trek back to Bridge Day this year if the campground was the chosen central point.

Jumpers can reserve all 25 cabins through the week and 15 of 25 cabins on Friday and Saturday nights. Camping is pretty much unlimited at all times since they have plenty of space. We can have 3 of 5 RV sites on Friday and Saturday nights. Pets are permitted as well if on a leash. There will be some rafters there but we will be the majority.

As for the "open container" police issue at the Holiday Inn last year, I'm told it's not an issue at River Expeditions since the entire area isn't in public view. You will be able to drink openly anywhere on their property.

I would imagine that noise on Friday night won't be an issue since many jumpers want to get to bed early as well. Saturday night is a different story. Perhaps I'll try to group all our cabins and tents together in a secluded section of the campground so that noise won't be too much of an issue. Good comments, thanks!

>>You want everyone to bring sleeping bags and sleep on a hardwood floor?<<

Why not? You can bring rubber ladies (those camping mats) and there's Gym mats too. It would be a soul cleansing communal BASE experience for all of of us. And I'd bet with 45 large, or more, going into Fayettville's cigar box the police could be persuaded to leave us alone. As long as we didn't burn the place down!

Jason, you're looking at this like an "organizer" and that's cool. But you know BASE jumpers are an inventive lot and I think we'd get along fine in the Gym and have a blast doing it . . .

It's as close to "doing our own thing" I can think of besides just going camping in the woods all by ourselves.

NickD

What gives with all the LEO's? Why the increased prescence? I hope homeland security isn't at it again...

Fucking patriot act. I had an idea I'd love to publicize that we should try to start clouding the filterable information like emails, phone conversations and so on, by getting more and more people to randomly drop words like IED or kill the president, during phone calls or in emails/on forums, ect...

Rebuild Freedom!

what's a LEO other than a low earth object?

yeah, some hackers used to call on a landline with prerecorded repeated controversial phrases on a loop in order to get the attention of the NSA.

Law Enforcement Officer, he was talking about your post I think. I was referring to homeland security though not LEO.

At BD2008, one of the Holiday Inn staffers was an off-duty cop. He apparently called his boys and they started issuing tickets to jumpers who walked 5 steps outside the front door of the Holiday Inn (under the carport). Cha-ching $$$$$$.

Problem solved this year. No Holiday Inn for us. And there is no "open container" issue at River Expeditions.

Jason,

I think what ever you organize is going to be fine. If it is at the campground, my prissy wife probably won't stay, so I'll send her across the street to a hotel, or leave her at the house. Maybe I'll get lucky and meet that old chick hikeat hooked up with

As far as LEO, I didn't have any issues personally with them at the hotel (but I didn't walk out on to the carport with a beer) but it was a bit silly for all their presence. They didn't need to bust everyone for having an open beer, after all, we are not an outlaw gang.

I got screamed at and threatened to have my jump pass pulled by an NPS Ranger lady after landing because I "walked into the media area", and got screamed at by a WV Trooper when we were crossing the road after the event (we were just trying to catch a ride). So, a place with a little more freedom would not be a bad idea.

As far as the Holiday Inn, way to expensive for what they offer in return. My friend George was raped by some toothless bastard, but I think he was asking for it roaming the hall in his "chili pepper" boxer short undies pulled up the crack of his behind and no T-shirt cooing "hey mountain man" to the Holiday Inn staff

SO, whatever you organize, I will be there!

Thanks for alll your hard work and tell Jennifer "Chip and Dale" say hello!

Since it's a "campground", I'm assuming campfires are welcome? That's gonna be one hell of a campfire!! Yeah, it's going to be cold outside, that's a given... but with the atmosphere, drinks, campfires, and probably all the portable heaters people will be bringing for their cabins, it won't be as bad as some are saying. I think this would be a good change. Cheaper, Friendlier people, cooler atmosphere, more freedom, and closer to the bridge! As long as no sparks from any of the campfires land on anyone's canopy!! I vote campsite.