JaapSuter 0 #1 August 5, 2005 This upcoming Monday we celebrate the 27th anniversary of BASE. On August 8th 1978, Carl Boenish and his friends stood on top of El Capitan to make history. Regardless of whether other people have parachuted from El Capitan before then, I consider August 8th the birthday of our sport. It is the day that we declared the entire world to be our dropzone. While I do have a strong interest in the history of our sport, I don't know enough to do this special day justice. Undoubtedly, Nick will come in here and share with us great stories and even grander ideas. Meanwhile, I'll stick to this message. People say it's impossible Friends say it's inadvisable The brain says it's acceptable Your heart says it's unavoidable Go ahead; do it! Celebrate the Human Spirit. You won't regret it. This Monday, take a moment to think of the friends we've lost and the sacrifices that have been made. Do a jump in their honour. Have a beer and toast to safe jumps in the future! Enjoy BASE, it's a great thing. Enjoy the people, they're even greater. Enjoy life, it's the greatest thing of all. Never forget that BASE is just a small part of it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JaapSuter 0 #2 August 5, 2005 Some people have pointed out that Fixed Object Jumping started well before August 8th 1978 with jumps from other objects. Others have pointed out that El Capitain has been jumped before that date as well. Finally, some pointed out that the BASE acronym was invented on not that actual date, but a while later. I know all of that. And I'll be the first to pick any other random day to have an anniversary. Heck, every day should be a celebration. What's important is that we realize that our sport has a history full of great sacrifices, a present full of great people and a future full of great adventures! And I'll drink to that! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NickDG 23 #3 August 5, 2005 Don't listen to to them, Jaap, they don't have the big picture . . . And good job, on your initial post. I really don’t have much to add except to say when I first met Carl Boenish in 1978 he seemed so much older than I, but when he died in 1984 he's only 38 years old. Had he lived he would be have turned 59 last April . . . We (all of us) tend to go overboard sometimes when someone dies and the, "what a great person they were," stories are so prevalent the words don’t mean much anymore. It's almost easy to think a son of a bitch never meets a bad end. Yet, Carl does deserve all the accolades he gets. At the drop zone he'd listen to the story of your simple two-way like he'd never heard anything like it, and he'd say, "Wow," in all the appropriate places. And although he is already famous, there wasn't a skygod bone in his body. Carl never set out to become the "Father" of BASE jumping, a title he would have been given even if he had lived. In fact, he came to BASE very indirectly. He is first and foremost a film maker and he enjoyed, revealed in really, filming goofy things involving parachutes especially if they were off the drop zone. This is how he agreed to film the hang glider jumps in Yosemite in 1975. Sitting in the valley with his cameras Carl Boenish had time to recall a story that made the rounds years earlier. This is about Brian Schubert and Mike Pelkey who first parachuted from El Capitan in 1966. While BASE has but one Father, it has many Grandfathers and Brian and Mike are certainly among these. Carl looked at the big walls in modern terms and suddenly realized the possibilities. It took Carl another three years to turn his plan into action. On August 8th 1978, 27 years ago, the first four modern fixed object jumps are made in Yosemite Valley. True to his calling it must be said Carl is more interested in filming the event than anything else and he didn't make the jump himself until the next trip some weeks later. This is a pattern Carl followed throughout his short BASE career and thank goodness he did. If Carl had dropped his cameras to take up cliff jumping full time the world would never have witnessed the films that flipped the BASE switch to the on position. Carl is the father of BASE for many reasons: Not only did he show these jumps are repeatable and not just one time stunts, he also prompted the use of Velcro closed BASE rigs and gave the sport its very name. It is the fact he had the courage to became the Johnny Appleseed of BASE jumping. Early on Carl quit a promising career as an electrical engineer at Hughes Aircraft for skydiving. He then put a hard won skydiving career on the line for BASE. The skydiving old guard is militantly anti-BASE by this time and Carl paid the price for pursuing BASE so passionately. When the USPA posthumously awarded Carl Boenish their highest honor, USPA Achievement Award, in 1987 I was there. I sat and looked at the USPA officials on the dais and saw them for the sorry hypocrites they were. A few years later I interviewed for the editor's job at PARACHUTIST and was dismayed to see the largest photo in Bill Ottly's office is his own El Cap jump. Needless to say I turned down the job, but I gave Bill an earful about USPA's position on BASE jumping. Carl is the Father of BASE because he didn’t seek to be the Father of BASE. If he was alive today I'm sure he would downplay his role unlike so many who are alive and keep reminding us how much they've done for the sport. No, if Carl were alive today and you mentioned to him that you just received your BASE number, he would listen like he never heard anything like it before and he'd say, "Wow," in all the appropriate places . . . NickD BASE 194 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
avenfoto 0 #4 August 5, 2005 Birds sing there's not a cloud in the sky August 8th I see a bunch of hippies crying yeah August 8th is a beautiful day Like waking up from a real bad dream suddenly everything is ok The storm has passed the sun is shining yeah August 8th is a beautiful day What's goin on what's goin on is something bummin your scene There's something wrong there's something wrong I'm not trying to be mean The air is sweet the summer flowers bloomin nowhere in that is anything grey Feelings of joy are filling the street yeah beautiful day Like waking up from a fucked up dream suddenly everythings looking good There's been no permanent damage done Yeah August 8th came right when it should Poor Jeff Poor little Timmy turtle Staying home on such a beautiful day -nofx... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TomAiello 26 #5 August 6, 2005 Rick made a jump here today on a rig that looked like he was jumping it with Carl Boenish. Randy reportedly has a rig here that was once owned by Carl. I think I'll see if he'll let me ride it for a BASE Day celebration. Happy BASE Day, everyone.-- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cornishe 0 #6 August 6, 2005 wow... and my buddy samer just called me about making a cool trip with him this would tie in to beautifully... I'll tell ya after its done. Happy. BASE. .Abbie Mashaal Skydive Idaho Snake River Skydiving TandemBASE Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
