SBCmac

You know what... I had this long ass explanation typed out before I read Tom's post. So after reading Tom's post, his last sentence said more, and with much better clarity, than if I were to have writen a book on an explanation on what I stated in my first post. So thanks Tom; awesome post!!! I just wish I would have read your post before writing a lengthy explanation to only delete it after I saw your post ... Just awesome stuff Tom ... BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

“The BASE game… Playing it at your level without judging others…” I’m motivated to make this post for many reasons, but I’ll only mention a few here. Before I get started, I just want to say that my intention is not to offend anyone… So please realize that I’m just expressing my feelings about a small portion of the BASE community… Also, I’ll try not to write a book here so I’ll try and establish the foundation of my argument quickly… This means that I will not elaborate on all supporting points. Here we go :)…. A few years ago when I first got into BASE I had this distorted view on BASE jumpers. I thought all BASE jumpers were enlightened people with open minds… Then I came across Blincmagazine.com and was quickly introduced to the true BASE community. I have to tell you that I was disgusted with what I had read on Blincmagazine.com and was almost embarrassed that I was now becoming a part of a community that I thought was closed minded and egotistical. As time went on, I began to get to know other BASE jumpers and my opinion started to slowly change, in a positive way… I also decided to stay away from the flame-fest site, Blincmagazine.com. That positive change was short lived and I began to truly nail what my conflict was with some of the BASE jumpers in our community… My conflict was “The BASE game… Playing it at your level without judging others…” What I mean by this is that I’m tired of people putting BASE jumpers in the “box” that they live in. The “box” that I’m referring to is the box that contains our comfort level in BASE, our own skills, and our own beliefs. Don’t get me wrong, I too choose who I BASE jump with because of the “box” that I have created in my own mind with what I expect out of people that I jump with. The difference is that if I have a problem with someone’s approach, I at least trying to see where they are coming from. If the conflict is too great and there is no solution to the conflict I keep our friendship separate from my BASE life and steer away from jumps that I think our indifferences will cause problems. What I just stated, I have only applied to a couple of BASE jumpers and I steer away from them in BASE because I truly believe they practice BASE unsafely. But again, like I stated, they are still my friends and I am more than happy to hang out with them outside of BASE… So not to stray; back to my main problem… “The BASE game… Playing it at your level without judging others…” or expecting others to play the BASE game by the rules you have created in your own BASE “box”. To put it simply, I truly believe that we should play the BASE game at our own level without expecting others to constrict their BASE game to our own BASE “box”/limitations/expectations… I bring this topic up because ever since I got into BASE I have always had to struggle with BASE jumpers that I know that judge me against their BASE “box”/limitations/expectations… And simply, I’m damn tired of it… For example… They were mad that I was doing aerials off of certain objects… They said that I chose to BASE wing suit one of our objects for the wrong reasons… And once I decided to do it that I was too fixated on doing the wing suit jump… They say that I’m jumping objects that are too technical, that they have walked away from in the past, and that I’m bound to get hurt… An object that they approached when they had only a few BASE jumps under their belt… And now over the past 6 months, after my best friend died on a BASE jump this last summer; they now say that I’m on a destructive path with my BASE jumping… They conclude this because they have always questioned my jumps and recently I have done some stupid things when drunk (e.g. gotten in brawls, wrecked my car, etc…). So yes, I’ll admit I have had some struggles over the past 6 months with my friend’s death and yes that’s probably why I have done some stupid things when drunk… So to top it off, I had a talk with one of my BASE acquaintances and I told him that my drinking and my BASE jumps have no correlation. His comment was that “it’s hard to draw a line between how your BASE jumping and what you have done drinking…” So again back to the topic of this post… “The BASE game… Playing it at your level without judging others…” or expecting others to play the BASE game by the limitations/expectations/skills that are encapsulated in your BASE “box”. My message is simply this… To those of you that judges me or any other BASE jumper, PISS OFF and get a life… Secondly, those of you sitting on the sidelines judging other jumpers, why don’t you do less judging and more BASE jumping so that one day you too can jump more challenging objects because you have added to your BASE box, the box that contains your skills and abilities/comfort level… And on a positive note… My up most respect goes out to you BASE jumpers out there that continue to broaden your BASE horizon/BASE box despite those that try to hold you down and control you… And finally, as for me… This is now off my chest; I have said what I feel and now I’ll go back to BASE jumping and steer away from those that corrupt the pureness of our sport… Michael P.S. All… Thanks for letting me vent … And since this is a vent, I'm not going to edit it

Special Thanks to KMonster & DexterBASE for being such amazing people… I’m motivated to make this post for so many reasons, but I’m not going to list them here… I have so many reasons to thank KMonster & DexterBASE that I would have to write a book in order to do it properly and to the level that it should be done to do them justice. I’m also motivated to write this post because of other BASE jumpers that I conflict with. So to keep my complaints separate I’m going to start another post called “The BASE game… Playing it at your level without judging others…” I’ll add the link once I’m done writing the post… LINK HERE -->http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1440969;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread Finally, I just want to say that if you ever have a chance to hang out with KMonster & DexterBASE, make an effort to get to know them; you will be thankful you did… KMonster & DexterBASE are special people and are more passionate about BASE and Life than anyone I have ever met in the sport… KMonster & DexterBASE have truly raised the bar in regards to what I want in friends and they have raised the bar with who I will BASE jump with. Again, thank you KMonster and DexterBASE for being such amazing people… Michael BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Thanks for all the replies AZ crew... I look forward to hooking up with you all when I make it out that way... Again thanks!!! Michael BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Hey Arizona Crew... I know this is a bit early but I'm going to be out in Phoenix for a couple of days in February and wouldn't mind squeezing in a jump in your part of the woods while I'm there... Could someone PM me from your crew... Thanks, Michael BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

3 days in a Candian jail... Butter on a ham and cheese sandwich??? What the hell is that!!! Now that's torture... And if that wasn't bad enough, I shared a cell with this guy that was baked out of his skull and screamed all night because the voices in his head wouldn't stop... Oh, wait... Even better, when being booked, the strip search with the good old bend over and spread your cheeks gave me and idea of how much fun I was in for... Good times ... BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Well good news on the right nut

Lesson learned ... Never go cheap on the climbing harness... I don't think I walked straight for at least three days after the climb because I had brused my groin area from haning in my crappy $25 black diamond harness for so long ... The harness doesn't distribute the weight, you basically end up having the great majority of the pressure pushing against your groin. I was in pain within the first 100ft of the climb and remaind sore for at least 3+ days after the climb. I had even pinched a nerve and lost feeling in the outside of my right foot for a good day and a half. Fun... Fun... Fun...

There's a lot of taxi's dowtown, so it wasn't too hard to located one

Again Thanks

Thanks Jon!!! (And everyone that has been positive...) This jump meant so much to me and that's why I wanted to share it with my BASE brothers and sisters... So again thanks for letting me share such an amazing experience with you all

I too carry a phone... We had a friend call rescue from his phone when he was dangling from a 80ft tree

I cram it all into a fanny pack... A as far as it being a nuisance/problem, I've just gotten use to it. From past experiences in BASE and in the military, I know how much it sucks if when you need simple life saving gear and don't have it on hand. I guess it's the Marine in me that keeps surfacing. I just know how shit can go wrong and how you can pull your ass out of a serious bind with simple safety epuipment/tools. BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

The rope was secured to the top of the building exactly how I envisioned it would be… But what I didn’t envision was that the surface of the top of the building would be so slippery; the top 25ft was smooth metal/probably aluminum. So since it was so slippery, I could not use my legs against the building, like I wanted to, to muscle the rope to clear the space I needed to move the ascenders up the rope. Normally you can just muscle the rope to get your ascenders past the corner. Also, I had watched the ropes the prior day and noticed that they were swaying with the wind, which told me that they had at least some slack in them. So while planning, I had hoped to use this slack in the ropes once I got to the top. But again, because of the slippery surface, I was not able to use the surface of the building to muscle the rope like planned… And yes, when I jump I carry both a hook knife and a pocket knife as part of my safety gear. Also, I normally jump with a space blanket, water purification tablets, tourniquet strap, compass with whistle, head lamp and flash light, water proof matches, plastic bag, static line kit, flint rock, radio, beanie hat, paper, etc… I consider a pocket knife one of the most essential tools in my BASE tool kit… Not to mention, if I was just out in the wilderness, a knife is a bare essential tool that everyone should have with them… And since most of my jumps are off of cliffs, I wouldn’t leave home without my pocket knife. BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Come on now people... If your going to post, comprehend what you have read first before making coments... Did I say it was premeditated??? As you see in my below quote from my earlier post, it was my only option to cut the rope, and I discoverd this dilema 3ft from the corner of the roof top... Below is what I stated earlier: And as I stated when I made my post, for the sake of not writing a book, I left some of the finer details out. For example, there were many variables that created my need to have to cut the rope; they included everything stated in my post, KMonster posts, and DexterBASE posts. Furthermore, if I didn't care about BASE ethics, I wouldn't have spent three full days planning and doing extensive recon work for this jump. If I didn't care about BASE ethics, I would have walked up to the rope the first day and did it that night. By waiting and planning for three days, I increased the danger because of weather and increased the chance that they would have pulled the ropes down. The first night that I discovered the ropes the best night as far as weather. I want to say so much more right now, but I just got home from a BASE jump and I'm tired. So I'm going to leave it at what I have said and let the people with common sense and the people that are not so quick to judge, enjoy this story... Again, if your going to post, comprehend what you have read first before making coments... Thanks... BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Story time all … Ok… I’m going to try and not write a book here, but it’s kind of a long story… So for the sake of not writing a book, I do have to leave out minor details… Location, a city far, far away … Building, a sweet 500 footer … So I work and live downtown… And so, there’s this building that I have been dieing to jump since I moved downtown. And not to mention, I work in the building across from it; so I see it every day from my office. I was first teased with the possibility of jumping this building when I started working in the building across from it, over a year ago. I had become friends with one of the security guards and he said that he could get me on the roof of the building that I wanted to jump. Shortly after he told me that he would help me out, he was fired for being late to work. So my poor heart was crushed … So just when I was finally getting over my trauma from my heart being crushed a year ago, I was blessed with another unique situation… Anyway, earlier in the evening, I went to dinner with a friend and had quite a bit to drink… So after getting home, I decided to go for a walk and grab some grub. First I needed to swing by my bank’s ATM to check my balance; the nearest ATM was near my work… As I was approaching the building that I work in, I looked at the building that I wanted to jump and noticed that the window washer people had left their ropes hanging from the roof and tied to the rail in the courtyard on the second floor. So obviously, the main problem was that they didn’t come to the sidewalk level. And not to mention, I was pretty buzzed and knew I would have to be 100% physically in order to accomplish ascending 500ft on a rope. Not only that, but I have never ascended anything higher than 50ft. So I decided to walk away from the opportunity, even though it was very hard to do. The next day rolls around and I had noticed that the window washer people had left the ropes down again. So during my lunch break, I decided to go on a recon mission. I did everything, located security, located cameras, and even walked up to the ropes to verify that my ascenders would fit the rope that was attempting to ascend. After all that was done, I came up with a plan for everything, including how to get into the courtyard at night, which basically meant climbing the fence at the top of the stars that lead to the courtyard. The only issue with the courtyard plan was that I was in direct visibility of the restaurant that was at the base of the building. So naturally, I decided to have dinner at the restaurant that evening to find out what time they closed. With all that done, I went home and prepared my gear for the climb. A few hours later, I was all set to go and started to watch the weather. So of course I turned on the TV and watched news to get local weather. And this is when my heart was crushed a second time… The weather person had said that the city was expecting wind gusts that were going to reach up to 70mph… I was sooooo pissed… I still woke up several times in the evening and checked the winds, and of course the weather person was right … The third day, I got to work and the winds had totally calmed down… So naturally I looked outside at the ropes. And to even worsen my disappointment, I saw the window washer people finishing up the windows. Even though I was convinced that they would finish that day, I continued to watch in hope that they wouldn’t finish. So the end of day rolls around and sure as shit, they left the ropes down again. At this point, I had done all the prep work for this jump and I was not going to let this last opportunity slip through my fingers… So I coordinate with Dexter, KMonster, and my girlfriend on the fact that I was going to go for it… The only problem was that again the forecast predicted that the winds would increase through the night… On the third night, the night of the jump, Dexter, KMonster, and my girlfriend, returned to the restaurant to do more recon on what you can see from the restaurant. Once satisfied with all the prep done for the jump, it was time for me to go home and gear up. The plan was to gear up a 100% prior to even getting on site. My only goal was to get to the ropes, not matter if I was seen later in the climb. I knew that since I was 100% geared up, whether I got in trouble or not, I would be jumping… So now I’m geared up and our crew is driving to the building… We get there and we immediately start walking to the building, the crew serving two purposes, distraction and filming. I hop the fence and hide to wait to see if I was seen… The coast was clear and I walk straight to the ropes and attach my ascenders… Within a minute or two, I was chugging up the rope, with the thought in mind, “Let the game begin”… So now I’m on the rope, and the first 120 feet I had to move quickly because of the way the building is shaped; everyone and their mother can see me in the first 120ft. So I hall ass and make the first 120ft in good time. The rest of the way I’m hidden by the building but talk about a long haul… All in all, I make great time the rest of the 380ft, but as I’m ascending the winds start significantly increasing and its dumping rain. Again, I knew that the weather was possibly going to go to shit, so I didn’t even let it affect my mindset. On these types of jumps, you’ve got what you got and you know that there is no going back down, unless you want to turn yourself in. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t die instead of getting caught… I just believe that on jumps like this, you end up accepting less than perfect conditions because of the nature of the jump. So in my mind, as I’m chugging up the rope, I was thinking of my first BASE wing suit jump… Both this climb and the one I did on my first wing suit jump, I told myself that even if I can’t jump, the journey itself was amazing. Trust me, dangling from a rope at 400+ feet and looking at all the buildings around me and looking at the ships in the Bay was just amazing… I then thought of my best friend that died on one of our wing suit jumps… I thought of the day before he died and thought about the mountain that we climbed the day prior to his death. All I could think about is how epic that day was and how epic the scenery was around me while I was dangling from that rope… So that’s when I knew that I was going to name this jump after my friend, the name of the object is his initials... I miss my bro and as I looked around I gained even more peace from his passing because of the epic journeys we as BASE jumpers are so lucky to experience… So back to the climb, sorry for straying… So now I finally make it to the top of the rope, just wasted… At the top of the rope I realize that the corner of the building was going to block my ascenders and prevent me from getting on top of the building. So I have climbed 500ft and can’t get on top of the building… I tried everything and at this point I have no strength to muscle it… So this is where I have to pull a miracle out of my ass… My miracle was my only option; my only option was to cut the rope that was dangling below me… It was something that I feel really bad for needing to do but I knew there were no other options… So I pull my pocket knife out and cut away the rope below me, so at last I could climb onto the rooftop. Now on the rooftop, I radio to the crew and let them know that because of weather conditions I was not going to hang out long… I realized that I didn’t want to stash all my climbing gear in my jacket, so Dexter gives me the idea to hook the climbing equipment to the other rope and send it down. Dexter’s idea worked out perfect; I was able to retrieve the gear after the jump … So now it’s time to exit… I decided to exit on the NW corner of the building… By this time the wind is so strong that it could blow me off of exit point… So I climb up to the corner and start my count… I got to two and just said “Fuck it, I need to get off this bitch before I’m blown off”. Huck and I’m off and deploy roughly 2seconds in… Boom, my canopy explodes open and right away I’m flying by the seat of my pants to keep my ass alive… I stay within the pocket that I knew was relatively safe, avoiding the south side of the building because of turbulence and rotars… And after some aggressive canopy flying I land on the street below… I land pretty hard but get up quickly and gather my shit… And low and behold, a taxi pulls up an asks me if I want a ride, I of course say “Sure, get me the hell out of here

JeepDiver, Well like promised, I have an amazing story to tell ... But first I want to thank Dexter and KMonster for their help... KMonster, Dexter, and my girlfriend made the jump, that I just did, everything that I could have imagined it to be like. They are just amazing people

The story is still developing ... I promise to give juicy details afterwards ... BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Thanks Dexter and Calvin19

Awesome!!! Thanks ...

Attached is the current way that I ascend... The only thing I add to this system is a foot ascender, on the same foot that has rope going to the hand ascender... ... SBCmac

You can read me like an open book ... PM me... I have jump of a lifetime for us... But it has to happen tonight

Hi all, I’m just throwing this out there because I’m getting ready to attempt ascending 500ft on a climbing rope… I’ve ascended 50ft before and know that it’s physically demanding. I use a cave ascending technique, foot ascender, chest ascender, and hand ascender with rope to my right foot. The 50ft ascent that I have done several times is not against the object, it’s identical to hanging in a cave where you can’t use the object to assist your ascent. Same thing for the 500ft ascent that I want to do, I will not be able to use the object to assist my ascent. So with all that said, does anyone think this is doable? I want to say yes, but how realistic is it??? Thanks for the help

I like those color... Just awesome

Hmmn... Nice skydive footage... I would show you my Batman Swoops, but they're off of BASE objects into small poorly lit landing areas, not out of an airplane into a huge lit hanger... SBCmac