Zennie 0 #1 June 8, 2004 Thought folks might be interested in this. Russel Metlitsky is (we believe) the first paraplegic to make a solo BASE jump. He made two out at the Potato Bridge this past memorial day weekend. One of the pics is here. The pic is of Russell making his second jump. Johnny Utah is holding his pilot chute and I'm to the left assisting. Congrats Russell! Tom Aiello deserves a huge amount of credit for planning and coordinating the jumps. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Misslmperfect 0 #2 June 9, 2004 im curious. how would landing work? may be a silly question, as i have no experience, but i would imagine that landing without use of your legs would not be an easy task. thats amazing though! thanks for sharing that...truly inspiring!Oh Canada, merci pour la livraison! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zennie 0 #3 June 9, 2004 The bridge runs over the Snake River, so Russell performed intentional water landings. We had two boats ready to fish him out, and he was able to tread water without problems during the brief period it took us to get to him. We're all brainstorming ways of allowing him to land on dry groud so we can get him Paraplegic BASE #1. Ideas anyone? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nightingale 0 #4 June 11, 2004 one of those big foam pads that they use for high jump? maybe he could land on one of those? http://www.advantageathletics.com/essx.html or a crash pad like people use for bouldering? http://www.backcountry.com/store/BLD0647.html?AFC=CJDataFeed&AID=10281785&PID=1261764&%3BATT=AD-060104 I don't know shit about paraplegics or base jumping, but this was the first thing that came to mind. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TomAiello 26 #5 June 12, 2004 QuoteIdeas anyone? I've got a couple. What I really wonder is if there is some way we can make him a "steering" apparatus for his legs, so that he can use his arms to manipulate them and make long free falls.-- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zennie 0 #6 June 12, 2004 Hmmm... interesting thought. Maybe something akin to swoop cords, but for his legs so he can track. It seems to me that with Russel we need to throw out all notions of what a "standard" BASE harness is all about... because it's designed around landing with your legs. Seems to me maybe something along the lines of what his paragliding harness is like may be do-able in a BASE environment. That is, we need to come up with something that will let him land in more of a sitting, rather than a standing, orientation. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GravityGirl 0 #7 June 21, 2004 Dan Fairchild is a para, and we built him a skydiving rig that had an extended but cusion in it. Also attachment point to clip his legs in place after he opened. Hookkit? You out there. He helped rig the harness, so he'll have a better picture of the logistics. When there is a will, there is a way! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peace and Blue Skies! Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JoeyRamone 0 #8 June 23, 2004 That is great, ...Makes ya feel like ya can do anything if you put your mind to it.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
