Basejumper.com - archive

Just wondering who may have logged the most illegal jumps.. I'n my expereince, about 200 perrine jumps equal one illegal jump off a Ant. at night.. So tell me.. what do you guys think?

Equals in what sense?

i do, i have 1

What? People actually count legal jumps?

That's the biggest load of fanny bandit bullshit I've ever heard!

i only do legal jumps

Thats almost like saying I got five lap dances so it means i got laid.....Really, Go smoke some dope drink a couple forty ounce malt liquors and go jump off some shit yelling fuck the police. 200 perrine jumps equals 0 illegal jumps

Didn't your mother teach you any respect...don't talk to your elders like that!

I got 2 thoughts...

<smartass>
1) jumping off objects is rarely illegal. the US NPS is a glaring exception. I don't think NYC ever passed the anti-jumping ordinance.
</smartass>

2) more to your concept... I don't care. worrying too much about how something ranks in the scheme of things sounds too much like skydiving. jump. don't get hurt. don't get busted. have fun. that is enough for me.

BUT, if people want to brag about anything in BASE, it should be about prep work. I'm personally more impressed with stories of repetitive scouting missions, long hikes, learning lock picking, taking a course on wilderness first aid, and other signs of dedication. the jump itself should be almost anti-climatic. the biggest uncontrollable unknowns occur before deciding to jump. thus, uncertainty should vanish at the exit point. if it does not, consider walking down!

maintaining a log of illegal activity is probably not a good idea.

That's all fine and well if you want to enjoy yourself, but how am I supposed to know who I'm more hardcore than, and who's more hardcore than I am? Am I cool, or am I just another slave to The Man? Do my jumps Really Count (tm)?

Edit to add: I hate to add complications to such an important and still unresolved issue, but what about different degrees of illegal? Are the legal jumps I did on Baffin Island more or less cool than the ones I do off of cliffs in my backyard, where I can face charges of taking off or landing an aircraft in a provincial park?

Somebody please tell me how cool I am!

736 is super cool

Who cares?

Find fun and varied objects. Jump. Repeat.

If you're a soul surfer sort of dude that may mean hiking through the back country and jumping mostly legal cliffs especially when you come from Colorado or Utah.

If you're an urban hipster it may be hanging out down-town, getting friends to let you into their high-rise apartments, and making early-morning jumps off buildings landing on empty streets.

As a professional you might just head out of the country to where the local authorities welcome you and the chartered helicopter you flew in on.

"the biggest uncontrollable unknowns occur before deciding to jump. thus, uncertainty should vanish at the exit point."

That comment makes no sense to me. But then again, I might be high...

no it makes no sense

jumpers can't control (or predict precisely):
winds
clouds
traffic patterns
barking dogs
security guards
the light in the landing area
etc.
thus, there is a ton of uncertainty revolving around these aspects. many minor decisions get made before reaching the exit point. the jumper can build a chain of solid decisions, or questionable ones.

on the other hand, jumpers can control their jump. it should be a known.

example:
riding up an elevator on an A that was new to me, but familiar with my friends. it had an unknown exit platform. would I catch my rig on the passing steel? poor communication with the elevator operator. shifting wind had us questioning which side to leave. a police patrol car, with lights ablaze, coming down the quiet street, right toward us. etc.

I could only guess if everything would sort out well. there was a lot of uncertainty.

one by one, all those potential issues fell away. our group was at the exit point, ready to go. the only questions left in my mind centered on being uncurrent. that seemed trivial. there was no big decision to make. the drama had ended. the movie had reached it's climax. now it was time to relax into the jump, the aspect where I can exert the most control.

or how about spending hours hiking to an exit point? Leroy did not fail on the jump, but on the hike. he tried to force the outcome, and failed. he apparently jumped despite probable severe uncertainties.

"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action, according to our will within the limits drawn around us by equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrants will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual."

-Thomas Jefferson

Fuckin A.

Thomas Jefferson - "I Have Sworn Upon the Altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

Your mom's a log of illegal activity.

always with the mom jokes.

Wwarped sometimes you really post some nonsense. Leroy very obviously failed on the jump. Exiting the wrong exit point is not "failing on the hike"

Sorry.

And to the op, its common knowledge that Eric Ryde has the most illegal jumps. Hands down.

was it nonsense?
you like to express opinions, but hate to explain them. you rarely back up these comments.

most aviation accidents are composed of a series of flawed decisions. if any one decision is changed, the accident fails to occur. for example, if Leroy had NOT insisted on continuing alone, he probably would NOT have jumped. I could list a whole lot more. Every jumper (Skydiving or BASE) has a chance to break the accident chain with relatively minor choices.

just because you see things differently, do not understand, possibly have a simpler view, or whatever, fails to mean I posted nonsense.

then again, I might have. feel free to explain, educate, or just prove to all how smart you are. make me look as bad as you want. cool. I like learning.

" But then again, I might be high... "

That's probably the case.

You know you like em.

...and your mom does too.

My mom taught me how to grow closet shrooms, and would give me white Russians instead of chocolate milk when i was younger.. She is not the best role model

travisjones is a lucky man...

She's a wild one though. Lotza fun!!

.....That sub 40 year old English chap or the 20+ years in the sport UK chap.....

Bascially, an English fella....

My dad used to give me baileys and milk as a kid. High five to you!

posting

Reference post 20 for explanation.
You looks so bad and look how smart I am!

seems like everyone missed the intent of this post. 200 jumps off a bridge in daylight isn't the same as jumps made off ant.s or cliffs at night. It's like comparing 200 static line parachute jumps to freefall skydives. Pretty much any moron can jump off the perrine and live. It takes real skill to jump from ant's , buildings or cliffs at night and walk away. Jump from 500ft and throw and go? big deal! Jump from 2000ft at night an open under 500ft everytime takes a bit of skill .I'll take out a new guy with 10 night ant. jumps, over a perrine 200jump wonder anytime. This sport has lost some of the outlaw nature it once had.. which is sad because it created gear savy and intellengent jumpers, vs. the current youtube vidiots.. lol flame away...

agreed on all counts.

The Perrine is not the only legal object around.

A lot of my legal jumps have been way more dangerous than a lot of my illegal ones.

Different objects definitely require & build different skills.

Multi-ways, flippy-dos, new camera mounts are all fun

but my most rewarding jumps are opening new objects.

[non-official commentary]
the point of a thread titled "Who has the most illegal jumps" is comparing which jumps are more hardcore?

the highest skill jumps require dedicated research, skill development, and even specialized gear. it sounds like it was more common early on. I doubt many are putting that much effort in nowadays. thus the phrase, "PusSieS BIg" seems reasonable.

if the people who CAN meet that standard don't feel like comparing the relative value of different jumps, I won't either. I'll follow the lead of Rick and Joy who let the applicant make the call.
[/non-official commentary]

 
All of this was much more commen early on. That's because they were blazeing trails not following beaten paths. Litteraly. But there's still plenty of fun stuff going on out there. And those are hands down some of the funnest jumps I've ever done. That's part of why I've always incuraged people to go out and do the off the beaten track stuff rather then just going out to MB to jump Mary's Gash. That' why I was on a big anti Toumb Stone campaine for so long.

Examples of fun stuff.

I remember one jump. I really didn't know where I was going. I don't think it had ever been jumped before. I was sure I could find an exit point some where but getting out could be a probblem. If I remember correctly I camped two nights on the hike in and pokeing around looking for an exit. I was carrying a rubber pool raft and the smallest collapsable paddles I could find. I took the stays out of my internal frame back pack and crossed them inside in a x. That let me compress it down much shorter and wider. I put the rubber raft, sleeping bag, and other shit in it and turned it around on my chest and put my rig on over it. It was verry awkward haveing some thing that big on my chest and not being able to see my feet or the ledge that I was running off of. I turned sideways so I could see and starting from the edge measured back the four long strides that I would run off the edge. Yes it was as scarry as it sounds. I did this like ten times trying to convence my self that I could really run off this exit point. No this was not one of those gear up and go exits. It was getting on into evening and it was timme to jump. I probable would have succomed to sanity and not done this but I'd allready poored out all of my water and was commited to reaching the river. So I squared up faceing the edge turned sideways for one last peak took a deep breath and started to run off the exit. Ever notice how you lean forwards when you start to run? Well I go to make my four big steps that I'd been measureing and practiceing for the last hour and realize that I can't lift my legs. The pack on my chest is in the way. I'd been practiceing standing erect but when I went to do it I leaned forward to run off and found that I couldn't. So all that practice turned into a totaly blind sstuddersteping stumble off the edge. No I didn't tumble but it was not the most dignified exit and as luck would have it my canopy opened on heading. Got to love that old pegasus. My landing area was a little bit rockier then it looked from above but not bad. The canyon was very pretty in the fadeing light. I stuffed my canopy in the top of my pack. By now it was dark. There were some rappids bellow where I landed and I started to try to climb around then. It was now pitch black. No moon. The canyon was very dark. The tallus turned out to be a lot more challangeing then I thought it would be. some of the blocks were big. It turned into a boldering climbing problem in the dark. I kept haveing to down climb by feel with tis damned top heavy pack. but don't worry if you fall I can tell you that there will always be some form of cattus there to cushon your fall. I think the century plant was the worst. My scream ecoed throught the dark canyon. Did I mention that I was some where that I was not supossed to be? So much for being sneaky. I made it down to the bank. I could hear the rappids above me and the water seemed calmer here. It was time to put my escape plan into operation. I dug out the pool toy raft from walmart and started to try to inflate it. I'd been carrying this thing for three days and it almost killed me on exit now it was time for it to earn it's way. I almost passed out trying to blow the thing up. I had to do all of this in total darkness by feel. At last everything was ready. There was just enough room for me to sit and put the pack between my legs. I pushed off into the water and started to row down stream. I'll always remember the total blackness of the canyon with only the narrow strip of stars above me guideing me. It was like the river was above me not bellow me. The only sound was of the water around me. I knew there was only one peace of class five in that section of the river. I was resonably sure that I had jumped in bellow it. I did go though some rough spots but there was only one spot that was a problem. At one point I hit the side really hard and got sort of pinned against it where the water ran under an over hang. But at other times it was calm and peacefull just rowing alond under my river of stars. On the whole my toy boat did good. Never turned over. Never deflated. If I could have seen any thing I probbably would have been much more scared but hay that's why we wear the shades right? The ones that turn opaic in the face of danger so you can stay cool. And so I came floating out of the canyon on a moonless stary night all dressed in black like a ninja in my neon yellow escape vehical.

I was going to give you several examples but I'm tired of typeing. So who's next? Let's hear your Not perion, Not tombstone story. Let's hear your epic.

Lee

very cool, but what's up with your exits?

I loved your solo Baffin jump stories as well. IIRC you fell down right at the edge. good old slippery ice, and a kit full of stuff like a polar bear cannon weighing you down.

got a PM from a guy. I doubt I'll do the story justice. he jumped one of those port crane devices, on rails. it sits on federal property behind real security. a boat dropped him off, he picked a lock, re-locked it after entry, climbed up, jumped from around 200 ft, opened, turned 90 degrees, and landed on one of those narrow, 4 ft wide marina docks. boat antennas everywhere.

like Lee's story, impressive. kudos & respect to those that put in the effort!

In all fairness there were... challenging elements to the exit. I acually ment to give you several examples but it turned into one long story.

Other examples.

There are a lot of off the path things being jumped out in moab. There are a lot of climbing access exit points. These are all well known legal sites. In fact Ox's first jump off the Titan is actually listed in the first accents of the climbing guides so I don't think I'm giveing any thing away here. Any one wth the skill to access them probbably belongs there.

I've done the Titan with Jimmy. It acually took a couple of days to climb it. Hauling line for fixed ropes and all that. It rained at one point and I had to take a day off to let it dry out. But once it was ready we all went out and jumped it. It's been jumped a lot. some French men have done it and Jimmys been back a couple of times that I know of.

Same thing on the King. We've hung rope on that a couple of times and every one came out and jumped it.

Casselton is another famous one that every one has done. You can go pritty light on it and we normaly just climb it and jump down with rope and gear with out fixing any thing. That tallous is just too long of a hike to go back up to retreave any thing. That's by far the best reason to jump it. Fuck repelling and fuck that long hike back down. Better to land by your car and crack a beer if you are so inclined. There's seems to be a movement towards the climbers learning how to jump and the jumpers learning how to climb.

Wane and Mario have done Art couple of time. Mario is a good example of a jumper turned climber. He's always up for an adventure like that. I think Art is a bit tight on opening but it's an example of something you can climb light, jump and throw your rope down on.

I hear the Preist and the Rectery have also been done. Now there are a whole slue of towers in the parks. Not saying they haven't been done but I'm not going to tell those stories here.

Lee

This wasn't a thread on most hardcore jumps, or else I would have called it that, you asshat It was on illegal, vs legal. To knowingling(if that is a word) break the law in pursuit of altitude carries risks greater than simply dying. If someone goes in, their probs. are over. No big deal on a legal jump. On an illegal jump the circumstances change. You can be an accessory to a criminal act, that resulted in an death. something to think about. A legal bridge jump carries the risk of equipment malfunction or human error. An illegal carries the same risk, but the added risk of prosecution for those that survived. Unless your a pussy and flee the scene..

Even though I shouldn't, because of my role, I must agree partly with 515. While our official position of the US BASE Association is to promote safe legal BASE jumps, (and personally I wish they were all legal), there is a bit of an adrenalin boost on the night illegal ones. I just wish the authorities knew that while we are only there to steal a little alitude, we give it all back, every foot, in just a few seconds and leave without hurting anything. Like Carl said, take only memories, (including pictures) and leave only footprints. When my best jump friend Smitty and I jumped a lot in the early 80's, if it was a bandit jump, we shook hands after landing just because we made it OK and then shook again after reaching a public highway. As much as I hate the illegal aspect, it does occassionally add a bit of adrenalin to the experience. Anyway, it's the legal ones that have really helped the sport progress both in training and equipment so I'm all for legal jumps.
cliffleaper
38

While you're right that you can die on any jump, but can only get arrested on an illegal one, it strikes me that the difference (especially if I'm doing the dying, but also if it's a friend) seems a little like saying that washing the dishes is risky, because if Earth is hit by an asteroid, all life will be wiped out and you might drop a dinner plate. But the risk of doing something illegal has never held much allure to me in BASE, so certainly others may feel differently...

I agree whole heartedly!! I'd much rather get arrested than
get hurt, paralyzed or die. Hell I'd rather go to the pokey
than watch my friend or student get hurt, paralyzed or die.

About half of my jumps are legal and half are bandit-ish
(while day blazing an antenna in the middle of po-dunk
nowhere-Florida is technically illegal it is not any extra
juice or adrenaline for me and has very low bust factor).

However, my couple dozen illegal urban night missions
were absolutely amazing and worth the consequences!!

This has more to do with the ones left behind on the jump, since we rarely jump alone. If you go in on an illegal jump, you are dead, over ,done and out. The problems are left behind for those that you jump with. you have now stuck them with explaining to the cops what happened, explaing to their releatives what happened.. I think I my arguement is that you should be careful not to only save your own ass, but to save your friends a lot of grief also... Or, simply jump alone. I do it alot... and no, it's not because i have no friends.. it's because I do have them.
Mike