Gary Harbird

[odyssey11 0]

Ian,
I was at the dz that day too. LOL it was funny as hell. I had the video around, I'm searching for now, along with some other pics and video. More has been posted on facebook if you are on there.
If I find it I'll send it along :)

Eric.

[odyssey11 0]

Hey Ian. Just sent you a request on the book. It will be easier to share vids there.

[Granimal 0]

Great memories jumping with Muppet at Jumptown. He was a great guy and will be missed.

[midgetdivet 0]

OMG Ian, remember that video! It was hilarious. The description is so apt, but you can't truly understand until you actually see it.

--gary

[svst 0]

How absolutely horrible. More news about Gary and a video of the area below.
Its a sad sad day.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1350392/British-Base-jumper-dies-leaping-High-Ultimate-rock.html

Fall down....dont go boom!

[flygirltricia 0]

It's always a sad day when we lose one of our own. RIP Gary, may you always have blue skies.

yesterday has passed, tomorrow is yet to come, live for today!!

[Douggarr 6]

Interesting to note that Muppet was a packer before he was a skydiver. One of the last conversations I had with him in November was about malfunctions. He had just got finished calculating his "work dives' for 2010 (900-plus something jumps) and I asked him how many reserve rides he had. 16. 8 tandems and 8 on his own rigs. BASE jumping, of course, is something completely different.

SCR-442, SCS-202, CCR-870, SOS-1353

[Ashtanga 0]

Quote

Not sure how many people remember, or know, this but Gary actually ended up on America's funniest videos a while back. When we were at Boston Providence there was this tall grassy/plant area (about 5-6 ft high) that we would swoop through. One day he was down in it and caught a line, and it looked like the bushes just ate him up a and then spit him out 2 seconds later (tumbling).

Muppet stands up, dusts himself up and (in a thick british accent) says "I got caught in the bushes"

I was there that day. That was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I think Scott (camera flyer with the goatee back then) shot the video.

I had a chance to see Muppet again in Eloy at the Christmas Boogie and we laughed about it. Funniest thing was as he was getting on the plane he announced, "I'm going to swoop the bushes" so we all stayed there and watched.

Blue Skies Muppet.

[ianmdrennan 2]

I totally forgot about his "I'm going to swoop the bushes" declaration before the load.


Ahh good times

Performance Designs Factory Team

[JDBoston 0]

I've jumped at Orange on and off since 2002. Last summer I took my fiancee out there to do a tandem, and I requested Muppet as her instructor. I guess that tells you what I thought of him, despite the fact that he always used to rag on me about how ugly my rig was.

He was great - one of those people you always looked forward to seeing when you rolled up in the parking lot. This is a terrible loss.

JD

[blonDZ 0]

Ian I have the original video. I just have to find it, its on my old hard drive. I'll let you know.
Its so hard to believe.
So sad
~Tracy

[EirAnne 0]

I met Gary back in 1998/1999. We were running a Skydive University one on one event, called 'The Search'. Gary was one of the people who attended, he was 17 years old and it was his first time in the U.S. It was fantastic to meet him, he was easily the most enthusiastic person there. At the end of the event, he said that he was going to stay in the U.S. and become a full time skydiver. He was so young, so determined and so fired up. It was great.
I hope that wherever he is, the next journey is just as exciting. x

PS. Can someone please tell whoever is in charge that the Swiss cliffs need to stop gobbling up our best people.

[odyssey11 0]

Well my hard drive with many great pics of Gary was wiped clean when I got a virus. :( That really sucks cause it had all the ones of him and my son when he was a baby. I still have a couple somewhere.

Tracy, it has been so long! I'm glad you have the original vid. Find me on facebook, or pm me.
Eric.

[nutellaontoast 0]

I only met Gary once, but he was an awesome guy. He influenced my decision to join the skydiving community. I'm sad to hear he's gone.

Don't let the fact that I sound like I think that I know what I'm talking about fool you. I know that I don't know what I'm talking about

[SkyPainter 0]

I just learned about this yesterday, and was devastated to hear Gary was gone. I rode many a load up with him during my AFF training, and he was many times a Tandem Inst, and we would kid around in the plane with the students. Several times we went out in a group afterward to share a cold one at the local Jumpers bar.

Gary was truly a unique person, with a wicked sense of humor, and a kind soul. Wow. Will he be missed by us all.

BSBD, friend, and Fly Free for us.

Live deliberately; Dare greatly; Land gently
SkyPainter
SOS 1304, POPS 10695, DS 118

[howardwhite 6]

Muppett's ash dive will be at Jumptown in Orange, MA Sunday June 12 with a weather date the following Saturday. There are links on the Jumptown web and FB pages for donating to bring his family to the US.

HW

[shorehambeach 9]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-21340877

BSBD