Basejumper.com - archive

So here it is, I have been a member here for years, read alot, put my.02s in here and there. It's time I start doing ground crew. It will be the first time doing this and I'm exited as a kid on Christmas morning, and I really don't want to screw it up. I would like to have a good idea as to what a newbie ground crew( aside from shutting up and listening to every piece of advice) should be doing in general. I understand each site will have a specific way things are going to go down but all and any input is going to e greatly appreciated. Thanks guys and let the roasting begin !!!:D

Try hard to convince the police that you didn't jump the B and that it were some other guys you don't know personally.

some potential, non-jumping roles:
go-fer
driver
medic
beer distributor
bail bondsman
lookout
tree climber
high angle rescue
locksmith
scout
distraction
ghost
crash pad host
camera geek
weatherman
elevator operator
pack mule
problem solver

I'm sure there is more!

ditch digger
pre-jump blesser
box-of-franzia purchaser
crossdresser

Your local community college has Ground Crew 101: The Basics of Ground Crew, on Tuesday's and Thursday's (which pisses me off since I like to fly in the wind tunnel on those days)

Course content.

Show up

1. The rest will follow

experiences differ of course, but I've very rarely been on a jump that needed ground crew. I personally avoid them. it complicates the jump. the more people, the harder it is to be stealthy. the ground crew can draw attention, while avoiding any legal exposure (unlike the jumper).

most likely, you will be first invited to a jump where they do not need you. they will allow you to accompany them because they like you. they are being friendly, with hopes that you will learn something. act so they do not regret the invite. (whatever that means.)

While I've never needed any GC either I think it's a good idea to have it. It would suck to die from exposure or some other easily preventable cause of death, alone.

Here's a don't:
If you have agreed to ground crew a jump, and the agreed-upon communication channel is the FRS radio you've been handed. DO NOT take said FRS radio for a quick shopping trip through a nearby (6 miles away) Wal*Mart.

Our ground crew did this one day because, "We figured it would take you guys some time to climb that thing, so we went shopping."

Um, yeah. Well it turns out the winds were quite blustery up high, and we only climbed half-way before climbing down and trying to radio you FOR EXTRACTION. You left us exposed with Charlie firing from the nearby hedgerows, you non-committal Communist sympathizers.

I've embellished just a wee bit with that last part, but you get the general idea. Plan the jump, jump the plan, and always keep your comms working.

~ Chris

And on another radio don't :
- don't use the radio unless something necessitates it. I had a stoner friend GC for a jump once. Apparently he felt like having a monologue, but decided to have me hear it through the radio.

when i GC i always made sure i had the car ready to go (doors open trunk open) in case someone got hurt or we had to get out of there quick. be quiet, dont use lights that arent necessary (phone etc) and be ready to talk your way out of it when police show up without giving up that there are jumpers on the tower. lots a stuff to do and not to but thats my 2 cents

Don't sit down at the base of the object and let your car keys, for the car you left offsite, fall out of your pocket so the entire load has to go back to the object and search for your keys while the dogs are still barking from the canopy openings... Well, not the entire laod, I got to drive my car a few miles away because leaving it where it was would have been a bad idea....

Or your cell phone!

dont be so drunk you forget what you are suppose to do!
as I opened I saw my groundcrew passed out in my car through the sunroof!

even if you know the lyrics to every song on sublimes first album, please don't sing the entire thing on the way to the exit point...i haven't been able to listen to sublime since : P.

oh, and it was really cool that you could drink a 12pk of bud light in less than an hour, not cool blowing chunks for the next...

It was a bandit balloon jump if it counts, but a similar thing happened to me... But instead I saw my car on it's side in a ditch with a fellow jumper's 16 year old hung over and still drunk brother, as our ground crew, wondering how it happened... Thank goodness there was not a scratch due to the shape of the ditch and a local farmer had a tractor to pull it out, but when I landed, he was standing on the highside running board fearful if he stepped off the car just might finish rolling over the few inches it would have taken to be dirt-on-paint...

I have to say thank you to every one for all of your input! I have to admit my first "ground crew" experience was absolutely mind blowing. It was adrenalin filled and I didn't even leave the ground! I am patiently waiting my gear to arrive and for my first jump. Again thank you to every one who responded with stories, jokes and information. It has all been great! I look forward to crossing paths in the future!

For the love of god, DO NOT improvise or try this great idea unless you are another jumper who knows what he is doing/