Basejumper.com - archive

A skydiver here with a BASE question. As I was driving through a canyon on my way to go skiing, I was looking around to see what was jumpable. A stupid idea came into my head that you could climb along the high tension power lines suspended over a steep valley and then jump from the middle. After the idiocy of that thought passed, I thought about the scene in Cliffhanger where they are traversing across a highline and some lady falls. I think it is called a highline when you supend a rope between two points and then traverse across it, using it as a bridge. You could use such a highline to obtain a jump that would not be possible otherwise. I have attached an image of what that might look like.

What I would like to know is: Would this jump be considered a BASE jump? If so, would it be considered an S? Do people do this sort of jump?

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Those types of jumps have been done. I even know some guys who were thinking of setting one up to do regularly (not sure if they did or not). And six months ago, there was a guy trying to start one as a commercial enterprise--sort of a BASE DZ.

If you ever get a chance, check out the climbing videos Masters of Stone. One of the early ones (1? 2?) has some footage of Dan Osman (legendary nutso climber and all around nice guy) doing something like that--but not jumping.

This is called a "slackrope". I have seen people doing this on TV a couple hundred feet up at least in the mountains except they were trying NOT to fall.

Thanks for the answer Tom.

What would this type of jump be called? Maybe it does not have a specific name.

It would take a fair amount of setup time to do properly, which might be out of the question for many jumpers. Would you setting one of these up be considered "opening a site" even if it was taken down at the end of the day?

I would like to know, specifically, where this photograph was taken? Vivid romper-room colors... magical mystery locale. A must-do. Pm me and let me know where you are and if you'd be interested in showing this object to me.

Thanks,
Gardner

The jumper has opted for the "riser prosthesis".

To continue this ground braeking equipment development theme I'm going to have some brake pads grafted onto my ass since that's where I land the most.



PS 311 a newbie? Now that's funny.

 

I don't get it. How IS'NT this a span? Span does not mean BRIDGE. It means SPAN. Y'know, like when you span a rope over a canyon?

Several of the MofS videos have footage of Dano doing rope jumps on them, up to and including (if memory serves) MofS 5.

I believe Dano would have enjoyed BASE, it is too bad he didn't end up in our sport as I believe he'd have been a natural. His loss reverberated through the climbing world in a profound way.

Peace,

D-d0g

You are right of course. I just thought it might have another, more specific name. I will be content, for now, that it is BASE.

Ass implants... Romper room colors... riser prosthesis, too funny. Thanks all.

it's cool you've brought this up, though. I'm aware of an area that is otherwise unjumpable (very low cliffs with lots of trees beneath). the area does, however, have a set of high tension lines running across the gorge. what are people's thoughts about actually trying it out? as if altitude, gravity and high voltage weren't enough deterrent... it's in a NRA (not national rifle association).

thoughts? would a person still fry on the ground wire? I'm not an electrician, but I could stay at a holiday inn express the night prior to trying this. guinea pigs welcome to go first. skin?

Gardner

<shaking head> Poor guy probably thinks chitlins are a tasty treat, too...

Seriously, it sounds like just the kind of insanity this sport is famous for. My only concern would be getting the apparatus off the wires after the jump.

I'd bet you could rig up some kind of insulated cage that would survive long enough for you to actually exit.

Sounds like some madness I'd be willing to devote a few weekends to...

Unfortunately I just split my last guinea pig last night. The "Base preceeding skydiving" post would suggest that we try it first by using a frenchman in a basket.

The theory is sound once you're on the wire. Getting onto it is the difficult part. Let's use a student skydiver. They seem to have a penchant for landing on high tension wires instead of hitting the LZ if at all possible. That's the safest approach. Teaching them to repack whilst dangling poses the greatest challenge.

Well, well, well, it comes handy my knowledge about high voltages.
Yes, if someway somehow you are ON a single high voltage live wire, and you touch only it and far away from anything else (=other live wires, ground wire), you are safe. Just only think about birds that rest on live wires without being burned: in fact, the only touch ONE phase, only one wire, they are charged at the voltage of live wire and nothing (=discharge) happens. And, ONCE on the live wire, someway somehow you proceed along it, when you are in the middle of the span, you can safely jump.
The point (and the problem...) here is:
HOW TO GET ONTO THE LIVE WIRE WITHOUT BEING BURNED ?!?!?!?!?
In my humble opinion, it is simply impossible to go from structure of tower onto live wire WITHOUT being burned (unless you jump on live wire from several meters above and catch it and you don't break an arm/leg in the process and you don't fall down... ...too many "007 James Bond" things, not applicable in real life ).
Honestly, there are electrical workers that once in a while "do something" on live wires (WITHOUT the power authority takes the high voltage down), but: 1) they are paid for each of these operations a jolly good amount of money; 2) they are "dropped" onto live wire being put down gently from a helicopter in a special safety harness (but they are "safe" because in such a case they come into contact with only ONE phase, THE high voltage phase of that particular live wire)
Just my 0.02 €

Isn't the non-conductive property of a fiberglass ladder one of the things that makes it so appealing?

Now you just need something to allow you to climb down. I can see myself studying up on composites...

Mark

To me it would be a R jump..I saw a similar discus at Blinc onse,and desided that jumping the alphabet would be cool,but yes it would be a kind of span.Who cares?just jump it

Well Well Well,
Its apparent that your knowledge of high voltage systems is not as sharp as you think they are. I currently work as a transmission lineman and everyday work 500,000 plus every single day bonded to a conductor on the line without ever having to set foot in a helicopter. Yes while we do use them on occasion for certain structures and spans, they are not the only way to bond on to a conductor and work hot. Your bird on a wire theory is also not correct. Although you are partially correct being no ground and being isolated to a single phase, the conductor can and will pop you. I want you to tell me when you have seen a bird on a transmission wire? Not the very top wires on a tower or structure as those are your static wires, and not the wood structures you see around town as those are distribution poles and primary is usually limited to 12,470 or 21,000. I can guarantee you that there has never been a bird on an energized conductor carrying more than 69kv. Well why is this you ask, because of our good friend mr induction. What is induction you ask mr smarty pants, well I will tell you. Induction is a barrier or a force field if you will surrounding the conductor that carries certain static features combined with harmonics. A bird not only dislikes these high frequencys he cant even get to the wire if he wanted to. The higher the voltage the greater the induction rate and area. The ampere rate has nothing to do with this as it is an induced feature caused by the buck transformer from the gen station. As far as getting out to the conductor? Yes there is a ladder as someone mentioned that is layed horizontally made of fiberglass that is used for hot work. Now this is not a home depot werner 16 foot ladder that you get at a hardware store. The fiberglass used in these commercial ladders are not the same glass and are also glazed with a conductive coating to keep the ladder from splintering and fraying small particles of glass into your hands everytime you touch them. These work platforms can be bought from distributors anywhere but most require proof when you buy that sort of equipment. Another thing is when you bond on to the conductor you have to have a hot suit on. This keeps the potential of the conductor the same inside you and all around your body. If you were to make contact with such said conductor without the suit, it would literally cook every point the arc touched on your body. the suit helps distribute the applied potential evenly around your body and also keep other potentials outside your body. Someone also mentioned an insulated basket to carry you out on the wire? You certainly wouldnt want to be insulated from the wire you are riding because that puts you in a different potential. What happens when the conductor trys to make the different potential you are riding in the same as it? BOOM you are a cooked turkey hangin on a wire. There are carts and trolleys made to ride these wires for canyons, gourges, and any other non accesible areas where an expensive utility chopper would be out of the question and not a feasable solution. But anyone wanting to try to get on a conductor I would highly recommend that you not do such without having the knowledge and personel there to help you out and guide you.

Thank you swoopyswoop!

I was priviledged enough to jump a cable car that spanned a gorge, sure it wasn't as bright and cheery as your site but still the same principal. I logged it as an "O" for other. I log my "unusual" jumps in this category, objects such as a crane, lighthouse, dam, indoor jump, power tower, smokestack(soon!). Some people might not agree, and it's true that you could put them in other categories, I just feel like they deserve a special place in my logbook because they usually require a lot more work to get the jump off.
Part of the NC crew (myself, Tracy, and Eric (RIP)) thought about the whole power line jump for a long time after we had jumped a 210 ft. power tower that had lines spanning across a lake. Yeah your right about the hardest part being getting on the wire without being fried. The other parts were a bit easier...
we figured that we could use a zip line type pulley wheel to zip down the line. (we had just put up a small version, 200 ft long, tree to ground over a lake so the wheels in our head were turning already) Then all we had to do was release at the proper exit point (BASE spotting 101 ). Then how do we get the "ride" off? Here's our theory... please see attached picture. I know, it's not as flashy as some "artists" in the group but it serves it's purpose. (hey Tom, maybe we can add an art gallery to this forum )
once you release the handles you, at the same time uncork the soda bottles filled with sand via a lanyard or something then proceed to open you chute and land as normal. The reason for the sand is that you need the time to get your chute open and fly away from the falling "ride". Otherwise you get a hunk of metal through your canopy. once the sand filters out, the weight of the wheel will flip it upside down, and thus cause it to fall off the wire. Then you go and retrieve the ride to try it again. Oh, we also thought that maybe you could attach some sort of thin string to it so the next "rider" could pull it back up to the station. Of course only the last guy off would release the sand. Oh, of course don't forget about the zzzaaappp, zap of the power wires. But how could you forget it?? It would be pulsating through your body at 50,000 watts (or whatever term is appropriate here)
Just a couple of crazy ideas huh? Or are they...
Whoever decides to try it, make sure you include me in the jump!!!!
Jason
BASE 570
Actually I elect swoopyswoop as the official tester since he has more knowledge and access to the proper equipment than anyone esle here!!

Thanks so much Swoopyswoop for your explanation.
To be honest, I know something about high voltage because I have been working in a testing laboratory where we were used to test submarine power cable (after production) up to 900 kV d.c. (jolly high voltage!!!). But actualy we never did "calculations" about how far people/other equipment should have been to be safe, we simply put the terminals in the best location possible (=the point farest possible from any other structure within the factory), plus we were used to "shield" sharp metallic points within the factory with aluminum sheet (to increase curvature radius of metallic "things"). When we were manouvering the control console of d.c. generator, we were staying at about 15 m from generator itself behind metallic net shields.
But I never been in touch with/never spoke to people who really WENT on live wires.
So thanks so much for your tips and inputs.
According to your description, for a normal chap (=person NOT working ON live high voltage wires) it is jolly impossible to put his hands on special fiberglass ladders, plus "hot suits" and so on. Forget about approaching the live wire!!!
Would you mind to send me your e-mail address (mine is: base_689@yahoo.com)?
For the moment, we are stick to jumping power towers jumping FROM the structure, not yet thinking about jumping from the live wire, but who knows if in future we can get in touch with a possibility like that: so we are going to ask you a consultancy!!!!
Thanks again!!!
See you soon!!!

   Okay I got an idea here, I like the sand bag theory and that might work, but what about this. Ride the wire in a gondola with a hot suit bonded with a 16 foot leader. Once you bail from the gondola the leader would break away therefore killing your bond and from a safe distance not to buzz you with induction or static. The gondola could be retrieved with glass rods and p-line back to the tower for another jumper. The only problem is placing the gondola on the conductor. The only person who couild do it would be a journeyman with several years doing this type of application. I dunno any body got ny other ideas?

  Hey it can be done, just trying to think of a way to SAFELY do this. My email is Batwing_pilot@yahoo.com if ya wanna get in touch. I just not sure how to pull something like this off with peeps that have no live line experience. I just really cant explain the hidden dangers that exist when you are energized. Lets brainstorm here people and see what we come up with. I am on a mission now

Swoopy, you are crazy. good luck.

For those of us who are not linemen, take look at some of the crazy shit they do.

would you need a hot suit for your rig? or is the nylon of the canopy and container safe from the current?

Swoopyswoop, I now realize the true magnitutde at which you are crazed

Sod that!!!!!