Why Bridge day???

[BASE813 0]

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There is no other place on earth where you'll find hundreds of experienced BASE jumpers teaching the first timers, simply because they want to help.

Now thats different................

[crapflinger2000 1]

Aiight!

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What would Vic Mackey do?

[Zennie 0]

I'll throw in my $0.02, since BD '02 was also my first BASE jump (I now have 54, so I'm still a noobie).

My first Bridge Day was one of the high points of my life, for many of the reasons stated previously.

I made my first BASE jump there. I got to meet a bunch of experienced BASE jumpers for the first time. I learned a TON just by talking to people and asking questions.

The biggest appeal of Bridge Day isn't the jumps, though they are obviously fun, it's the people. In the few days I was there I met some of the coolest, friendliest, most helpful people in the world. I felt totally at home.

Where else will you be fumbling with you gear and have someone just walk up and say "Can I help you with that?". Where else can you hang out with about 50 other BASE jumpers, drinking a beer and watching people's new videos? Where else will you find folks running naked through the hallways... well, OK maybe you'll find THAT at a DZ as well.

I always recommend Bridge Day to newcomers. It's high, beautiful, SAFE (by BASE standards), informative and just plain FUN!

Plus, even if you go there not really knowing folks, you'll forge new friendships and maybe get some connections to mentors who can continue your training.

I am SO looking forward to Bridge Day this year. I have a few jumps under my belt now, so I think I can have a little more fun this time instead of being scared sh$%less on the edge. A bunch of my friends will be there making their first jumps, so I get to share in the joy they're experiencing. And I get to see new friends I've made over the past year again.

What's not to like?

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[base515 0]

I made my first two BASE jumps at bridge day and my next two off a 135ft water tower at night. You know what? I was far more scared at Bridge day. Bridge day is one the best places to break into the sport, whether ya'll like it or not. That first jump, no matter where you are, is going to be a mind fuck. And there is no place better equipped to handle this mind screw than at bridge day. IT! is most definintly is a BASE jump. If you believe otherwise, you are setting yourself up to be a casuality. When you stand up there on exit for the first time, you don't give a flying crap about anyone behind you or around you. All you will see is the EDGE. And the realization of how low you are. To a skydiver used to skydive heights, the gorge looks extremely low. It will screw with your mind.They say skydiving is 90percent mental and 10percent physical, well then BASEjumping has to be even more of a mental strain. It's all about trusting yourself and confidence in your ablities. A first timer doesn't have that yet, and old timers better not ever forget it. Is it a easy BASE jump? Yes. compared to most. Is it safer? Yes compared to most. The bridge is very forgiving of screwups, but it is not to be underestimated or taken lightly by any means. Fatalities have occured, and will occur as long as people keep jumping there.The worst attitude peole have about that place is that, it is like any other skydive and you won't get hurt. It is not Skydiving!! It is a BASE jump. Respect it as such.I have jumped in every one held since i started there in 97, and will continue to in the forseeable future. Is it indicitive of most types of BASE jumps? no, I have for more night jumps there in the cold and dark than Bright daylight ones, I enjoy both. When you step off, legally or not legally it still feels the same, the same rush of air greets, the same rush of adreanline. The difference comes in how you have to go about it, to get it. Bridge day is a party, it is a circus, it a time to hang with old friends you haven't seen in forever, a time to watch the faces of the newbies as Jason said. The years i click off in this sport start and end at bridge day. A time of reflection, a time for planning ahead. It is probabily the best place to start learning how to handle the mental strains of this sport and to decide if it is for you or not. The art of sneaking, of climbing barbed wire fences, of bypassing elevator controls, of bullshitting your way out of trouble, all those things will be learned in time and you will continue learning for as long as you are in this sport. Why go to bridge day? simply put : it's just plain fun! Good luck to all the new guys and gals, you are about to step into a whole new world.
peace
nakedbase16

ps Brits like 813 are the reason we kicked them off our land so many years ago.. haha, couldn't resist.

May we live long and die out

[Shotgun 1]

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That first jump, no matter where you are, is going to be a mind fuck.

LOL That was the EXACT description I used when I got back from my FJC - "what a MIND FUCK!" No better words to describe it...

[mdowling 0]

I'll be one of the 90 people Jason mentioned that will be making my first BASE jump at Bridge Day 2003. To answer the question that started this post, there are several reasons I decided to participate, but the most important is this:

With this many BASE jumpers in one place, how could I possibly not learn from the experience? I'm going to make the absolute most of every bit of information I can get my hands on in the moments leading up to my jump. My mind will be wide open and ready to soak it all in during the Friday seminars. I've been reading as much as I can from various resources, but nothing can replace face-to-face discussions with people in the know.

And when it's all over, hopefully I'll have met some people that can continue to teach and guide me in the safe and proper way to conduct BASE jumps when I return to New Jersey.

Oh, and I hear the party is pretty fun too. That'll be a nice distraction on Saturday night.

Counting the days until Oct. 18......

[skypuppy 1]

***
No...my perception of BASE jumpers is pretty...
...unchangeable.
You can usually tell by the limp, whether they're 'hard-core..
or just a "Wanna-Beeee"

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

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BASE is about different things to different people.

I have like 30 jumps off of bridges. No other objects. Frankly, I currently have no desire to jump off anything else. Am I a true BASE jumper?

no, probably not by most people's definition.

But I am content (when I am healthy enough neck-wise) to jump off bridges and be scared and politely decline offers to go to other local "stuff behind me" objects.

Am I looked down upon within the hardcore BASE community? Probably. But I really don't care.

That was a brilliant post. Likewise, while I have a whopping zero BASE jumps, I am not averse to nice, reasonably safe objects. I could give a shit about the "sneak through the woods" shit and the "outlaw" attitude some people have about things they do. Someone put it succintly earlier when that laughed at the "skater versus inline " rift.

[QuickDraw 0]

Because they were bending all the A's.

-- Hope you don't die. --

I'm fucking winning

[BASE813 0]

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ps Brits like 813 are the reason we kicked them off our land so many years ago.. haha, couldn't resist.

hehehe - and theres me thinking that we left when we forecasted that the country would end up going down hill!!!

Oh well - seems my boredom on a Monday night was entertained slightly by obviously anoying people! - Take it easy people!! Make sure you enjoy BD - I guess you will have a GREAT time!!!

[Faber 0]

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-I can't understand half of what you bozos are typing. Break out your dictionary please.

then stop reading it you obesily dont like it any way

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-Those who are moaning about Bridge Day clearly haven't been there.

No i havent but as said before im jaloux i coudnt make it.

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-Our FREE first jump courses are not as thorough as what you would get if you paid for one

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Woha,it were just the thing about pressure and stuff i didnt like about a FJC such a place,and now you tell me its not even as intence as a regular course(or didnt i get it?)..geezz

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-If you think Bridge Day is NOT for first timers, you obviously don't know jack about our sport at all. So many jumpers, many of them quite famous, have made their first BASE jump at Bridge Day

hmm you really sound like shit in that line... sorry i didnt make the famus top of the world BASE FJC at BD,i better stop now i sure cant make anything right as i wasnt there..

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-We sold all 400 jump slots in 20 days time.

ofcours you did,evryone likes that S,and that event,and i really hope its around some time

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-Where else can you get a free Birdman BASE seminar hosted by Robert Pecnik and Yuri?

Sorry i dont know,im not experienced enough to BASE my wingsuit,and not at all from that alti to start whith..

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-Where else do you get bus rides from the bottom of the bridge all the way to the exit point on top?

Can i walk if i want to?i dont want to be fat

-And where else do they set up a 16' commercial aluminum diving board for the experts?

Im not an expert(54jumps so far),but i do belive the experts got a diving board from a tall B event elsewere...or does the fact that its Aluminium matters

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-I'm not trying to defend Bridge Day, but let you know you should be thankful for Bridge Day....otherwise, you might still be doing hop and pops out of a 182.

No ofcours your not trying to defend BD,becours we didnt attach it. we just said our oppinions about it..
Werry smart to criticice skydiving on a skydive board..brilliant...
Read the tread again and find peace...

To all thouse who are going to BD,i hope you gonna have fun,be safe out there a jump from a brigede whith a single parachute system is a BASE activitet and should be respected the same way.

Stay safe
Stefan Faber

[base704 0]

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Jumping a single parachute system is still MUCH more dangerous than skydiving, no matter how careful you are packing, jumping, exiting, or whatever.

I beg to differ my friend...

...dbags scare me

You can get a lot more done with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone.

[base311 0]

yeah no doubt... and collapsable pc's, and rsl's, and cyprii, and... and....

gardner