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Has a report been posted on the results of BD 2015? I've only made one jump off the bridge 11 years ago, but I would have certainly joined the boycott had I been planning to jump this year. What crap the "powers" come up with.

From what I've been told by trusted sources and former staff members:

-120 jumpers showed up. There are normally 400+ in recent years.
-4 transports via ambulance according to the Charleston Gazette.
-20 people in line to jump at 9:42am
-No jumpers in line at 11am
-At one point during the day, there were no jumpers for 20 minutes
-High winds started around 10:30am with LZ gusts up to 20 knots
-Demo skydive canceled due to winds
-Bad jump ramp visibility for spectators
-Estimated total jumps around 200, but reports say 313. There are normally 750-1000+ in recent years.

Due to high winds, many jumpers couldn't make it back to the LZ and were landing wet. This was the point where 20 knot winds picked up. My former LZ coordinator Bill Bird, who jumped or worked the LZ at every Bridge Day event since the early 1980's, decided to step in and make sure the jumpers on the bridge knew they shouldn't go past the LZ when initiating their final turn into the wind prior to landing. If anyone knows the LZ, it's Bill Bird. He approached a girl with a radio and told her she should send a radio transmission to the exit point about the situation. The girl actually asked him what she should say. Bill told her to start with "LZ to Exit Point", which she did. Her radio transmission was not heard at the exit point, but on another radio in the LZ. That radio was held by Tree, who just jumped. The end result - no radio comms with the exit point and a very laughable moment that further proves my point.

And then an apparent act of God. A tree fell across the road leading out of the gorge, blocking vehicle access for a short time.

I'm sure the new BASE advisors may have more accurate numbers than I......if any were captured. Feel free to let me know and I'll update this post.

"Jumper turnout falls on West Virginia’s Bridge Day"

http://www.wvgazettemail.com/...51017/GZ01/151019534

It did get stupid windy, enough so that i only ended up doing one jump. The tree that fell on the bridge was actually only there for about 5 minutes, we had about 30+ people on it right after it fell and moved it off the bridge so the buses could get through.

Glad to hear no serious issues with the event. As much as I didn't want it to happen, I didn't want to see any bad things happen to anyone. Perhaps the small issues may reinforce the reason for having an extended event at BD. Seems unexpected things always delay, interfere with the jumping and its just too difficult to try and fit it all in such a short window. Perhaps are renewed and unified approach can be had by ALL in the BASE community to establish abetter event for all. the time to get it together is now. Let's quit fuckin around here and make this happen!

 I really hope you guys can work this out. I would love to attend again.

It sounds like the boycott was mostly successful.

Just to clarify a few things:

There were three ambulance transports and one jumper who refused a transport.

There was never an extended period where there were no jumpers at the exit point. However we did have an extended hold while the skydiving team did a fly by and dropped wind drift indicators. There were also several periods where the jumpers who were at the exit point weren't comfortable with the wind and wanted to wait.

The platform was maybe a foot lower than the platform used in previous years, however it was still high enough to make it easy for spectators to watch and there was no boom truck this year blocking part of the view.

The final jump tally was 313.

We had radios and cell phones at the exit point and the LZ for communication. We also had two large wind blades provided by GoFast in the LZ. Mark had the radio at the exit point in the morning but there wasn't much to report. The wind at the LZ was nothing. When he jumped is when the wind was starting to pick up. He didn't hand me the radio he was using before he jumped but as soon as he landed he called me up and told me to turn on one of the other radios. So there were about two minutes when we didn't have LZ to exit point radio but we still had cell phones. Mark relayed Bill's recommendation to me and we relayed it to the jumpers. Mark stayed down in the landing area and continued to relay wind conditions to me which I passed on to the jumpers until about 12:30 when I jumped. I stayed down in the landing area for the rest of the day and relayed wind conditions to the guy who took over at the exit point. The wind was very shifty the rest of the day, going from 0 to 15 MPH gusts in all different directions, so every time I relayed a wind report I tried to caveat it with "but it could change at any second."

-The Charleston Gazette reported four transports, but they do like to exaggerate. We normally had 4-5 transports on an average year, but with 3x as many jumps.
-My team would have never held jumping for a skydiver's WDIs.
-Our jump ramp was 8' tall and yours appears to be around 5', but let's not get into a "mine is bigger" discussion. Spectator visibility is important and it's something that is often overlooked. A boom crane allows visibility from the sides better than a man lift.
-The Go Fast banner in the LZ was against NPS rules. No commercial advertising is permitted on NPS property. They probably let you slide this year.
-Cell phone comms on normal Bridge Days are impossible. Never rely on cell phones (texting or voice) on Bridge Day. You got lucky because crowd and jumper attendance was low.

it was awesome 300 jumps total first time jumper here i got 4 it was sweeet water wasnt cold jumps were fun lil windy at top toward end of the day

Note to add:

One of the transports was a spectator on the bridge.

No one lost their citizenship because of the scans.

All injuries were minor and the jumpers were treated and released and were at the seven o'clock meeting Saturday night.

All in all, Lessons learned include its better to make friends than make enemies. It's better to sit down and talk about changes, rather than expect or demand them.

Is it your view that this years event represents a success on behalf of BASE jumpers?

You're making a large assumption here...and that is that the end result of Tree's efforts are superior to what would (could) have been achieved by a proper boycott.

I think that's a bit of a stretch.

How many terrorists were caught trying do harm to the people?
take care,
space

Just wait until there is another hack: https://www.washingtonpost.com/...ral-authorities-say/

Again, the issue with fingerprinting and government collection is you get put at risk of hacks from "bad guys" and mistakes of identity from "good guys". Getting interrogated all day and missing a flight is a risk I am not willing to take, even if unlikely. Warrant or GTFO.

Jumpers sat down and talked about changes, but the Bridge Day Commission voted in November 2014 to move forward with fingerprinting. Then, the head of the Bridge Day Commission felt our pressure and asked me to come back and organize in 2015 if the fingerprint requirements were removed. And a week later, the entire Bridge Day Commission voted to continue fingerprinting.

We sat down and talked. We wrote letters and emails. We made phone calls. But the Bridge Day Commission wouldn't budge.

The boycott started to really put some pressure on them.....and then the scabs showed up and tried to claim victory. BD 2015 was no victory. The only reason the Bridge Day Commission partially buckled was due to those who stood firm and boycotted. You and your crew don't get to drive on the road WE paved.

Correct me if I am wrong, but Jason sat down & tried to talk until he was blue in the face.

After 21+ years of dealing with LEO, federal agencies, & bureaucracy in general, I can say you guys did far more damage than good. It was a mistake to show up at all. You achieved nothing and cost a lot. Tree and the rogue nation went against what the majority of community stood for - the numbers speak for themselves. Argue my point, call me a fucking jerk, become abhorrent, do what you will, but you guys fucked up - plain and simple.


Agreed...unless it is common knowledge that your friend is an uneducated, irrational, ill-informed, self-centered, militaristic, intellectual midget that doesn't give a fuck what you think.

Just my $0.02, which is worth even less in China.

So much this ^^^

I don't get how this is so hard for some people to understand??

Did the tree have to get fingerprinted?
Clearly a threat to security like everyone else on the bridge....

Do I think this years event represents a success? Well, last year, no one wanted fingerprinting. The BDC went ahead and voted for it. After talking to the BDC like adults, this year, it was optional. To me that sounds like success.

None!

Then pay with cash everywhere you go and if you ever decide to come to BD, opt out of the background check and you will be fine.

Background checks and fingerprints are un American.. Now we are trying to undo what jumpers agreed to post 9/11.

The Patriot act was passed in same way. Now you have no freedom of speech. No freedom of arrest without reason. No Freedom of search and seizure.

I expected the Community to have a little more backbone. This year proves we are disorganized. My wife made excellent statment. "If they don't figure out what is important-rules will be dictated to you"

We organization. We need community. We need goals.

Target can't detain me and stop me from going to work.

Scabs - derogatory term for people who cross picket lines

You sir should know that many of us would not have
attended had you not publicly changed your mind...

Personally, Fingerprinting is not a big deal for me
because I have worked for several states and a
few federal agencies, BUT on principle I objected.

As asked by you I contacted the BD commission,
based on your request, I also gave an interview
to the local newspaper, which was published.

Then You decided to support Tree, I was still on
the fence about going, then Gregor asked me to
be on the exit team, plus several friends who had
never been wanted to go, the event was going to
happen either way, so I finally decided to attend.

Later, You pulled out, well at that point friends
had already made plans, requested leave, etc.

I am not posting this to attack anyone or defend
anyone, but for those who have not followed this
from the beginning they could miss a few details.

Lastly, I did not submit to a fingerprint scan, all I
did was send an email to a guy with the same or
less information than I have given you 6 times.

Sincerely,
~Tom L.

PS: I know someone who had their attendance at
a prior Bridge Day show up on a background check.

We all have different standards. Undermining a concrete movement for a REAL change and then claiming victory on the coattails of others that laid the groundwork COULD be considered a victory. The finger scan was done by over half of those that attended. This boycott was about less intrusion, not more. You wanna beat yer chest and claim victory for what is clearly a defeat that you and yer cronies instituted, so be it. Once again, you are revealing your true colors.....

Is there a permit applied for and approved for BD with the NPS ?

I always had to apply for a permit and pay up to $2500 to the NPS over the years. I'm not sure what transpired this year.

Herein lies the problem...those who would call BD2015 a success have a narrow vision of what the problem was and how it could be solved.

Those who support BD2015 have said, "The problem was fingerprinting and we fixed it!"

Those of us who boycotted have said, "Fingerprinting is merely a symptom of a much larger disease, and we need to fight the disease."

The idea many of us had was to use this (fingerprinting) symptom as a catalyst to fight off the larger infection. Unfortunately we were given a semi-remedy to this single symptom. The result? While our symptoms may (arguably) be marginally improved the infection persists.

Is that a success?

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

If your idea of a successful Bridge Day is a hand full of base jumpers, a gaggle of 50 skydive wonderchildren at a Holiday Lodge filled with 50% West Virginia locals for a off the charts after party then by all means BD2015 was a flagship event destined to set the path for many great years to come.

Target was one of the largest victims of credit card hacking in recent years.

As I recall, Jason's "fuck off" video sent to Sharron in response to fingerprinting was the reason the boycott got started.

And I agree that there are other issues that still need addressed.

Alan,

Allow me to educate you. The video I captured during the Bridge Day 2014 party was intended to see who would attend the event if fingerprinting was a requirement. When the crowd was asked to hold up their hands, a few people OUT OF HUNDREDS THERE raised their middle fingers. Do not call it a "fuck you" video as that was never my intention. You're either missing the point of the video, or you're just being a dick.

Here's the video, which has been on my website front page for nearly a year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8FkNF6t4vo

I know and while that is another inconvenient problem, they have no legal authority to detain me. The WV police, if they fuck up, can cause a lot of problems while they figure out mistaken identity or whatever. That's why we have rights--protection from mistakes.

That is the main issue, the secondary being government data leaks and possible identity theft.

Success would have equalled 400+ jumpers, a unified BASE community (not a unified 2% of the BASE community), 100,000+ spectators (I can freeze frame the video from the bridge and give an accurate count of spectators in about 20 minutes), 3x-4x the amount of jumps, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, a mutually agreed upon path with all stakeholders for future successful events.

Bridge Day 2015 was a colossal failure in every sense of the word as the none of the aforementioned even came close to happening. If you fucked over 98% of people in a company and only hit 25% of previous year's records, you would be fucking fired. You failed. There is no arguing this point.

Nothing got changed with your alleged sit down and talks, or your emails and phone calls. After talking to Sharron, anything you say or try will not be considered after sending her the "Fuck you" video. Her response was "No, fuck you."

The only reason local restaurants offered discounts to jumpers this year was because of "our crew" sat down and talked. The only reason we had three free meals this year was because "our crew" sat down and talked. The only reason the hotels offered discounts this year, was because of "our crew". The only reason finger scans were optional this year, was because of "our crew". The only reason we got "Thank you" cards in our goody bag from the community this year, was because of "our crew". Tell me sir, why didn't any of these changes take place under your tenure? I'll tell you why, because someone who sends emails to someone saying they are your friend and you trust them, and then you send them a video telling them to fuck off, doesn't get you anywhere. Telling the NPS you have a great working relationship with them and then going online and talking shit about them doesn't get you anywhere. I heard from three different people in Fayetteville that are involved with BD and said they were glad you weren't allowed to run BD anymore because you are a "bully". So, no, I do not want to drive on the road you paved because it is a one way road out of town.

Again, the "fuck you" video you cite was intended to show how many jumpers would not attend the event if fingerprinting was required. Several jumpers raised their middle fingers. Should we ignore the hundreds of other jumpers in the video who raised their hand in protest? Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8FkNF6t4vo

We always got along with the NPS and the NPS supports this. I actually had to defend the NPS from jumpers over the years.

They don't let you organize BD for 13 years by doing a bad job.

This post upsets me. I strongly disagree with everything you said.

"Nothing got changed with your alleged sit down and talks"...
The reason that nothing changed is not because of Jason, it is because of Tree and people like you who attended. Had we stood firm we would have got a lot more than "Thank you" cards. You don't see the big picture.

sounds like a bunch of Bullshit justification for being assholes. Finger print scanning is one of the most obtrusive privacy violations. They fingerprint criminals. this optional is bullshit when they charge extra for a normal background check.

I got into BASE and have never felt more free jumping off cliffs and bridges around the world. the moment I leave the object is the moment of freedom. I am not a criminal, just like I wont give the police my ID if I dont commit a crime, I wont give them my biometrics. They have proven that they are not responsible enough to have them.

This boycott could have changed the way the event was organized for another 13 years without the po po sniffing your ass.