Donk

Too sad... it has always amazed me the places johny would show and it was always a good time when he was around. Very sad news... another one of the good ones. Godspeed brother muff.

Sincerest condolences to his friends and family and to the Des Moines Skydivers and Couch Freak family; It has been a rough year for our brothers up north. And best wishes to Tom A, the Twin Falls locals, and the community who continue to support BASE; a difficult year for them as well. Godspeed. Donk

It was an honor and a privledge getting to know you both this year and last; know that you and Brian forever changed how I choose to live my life by your leaps of faith in 1966... Godspeed to Brian and best wishes to you Mike. your friend always "Dork". (not a typo, inside joke between Mike and I)

I will ping the owners of the videos and see but it could get pretty "messy" with all the copyrighted footage, royalties, etc. But I will definiatley send out a list of each video and add the contact and/or website where the DVD can be purchased. Give me a few days though... I am still hung over from Saturday night and my nose hurts from walking into the locked door of the bar at 2:30 am.

Andrew did great! becuase he was using my gear.lol! And for all you other future first timers it was not luck. Andrew not only participated in Tom's FJC but he also put a bunch of jumps from a plane on the same canopy he was jumping at the bridge (A BASE Specific canopy) and also spent the better part of the last few months mentally and physically preparing for this trip. Congratulations Andrew! You represented the KC crew well. PS: The DFH award thought was for one of our other first timers who had a nearly perfect jump as well but had a pretty big thud in the landing area. He also had about a dozen jumps on that Mojo prior to the bridge but when your 250lbs jumping a 280 with a tail wind... Congrats again to Andrew, KansasSkydiver, and Jason... you guys all made it look easy! but that is what preperation and BASE specific gear will do for you!

I just wanted to send out a thank you to everyone for making the Bridge Day 2006 video festival a great success. There were several comments from spectators and participants about how well the event went, the quality of the videos, multi-TV broadcasts of the videos, and how special it was to have representation on the judges panel from such a legend of BASE as Mike Pelkey; realizing Mike’s experience this weekend was sadly over shadowed by the passing of our brother and BASE legend Brian Schubert but I will reserve my comments or feelings on this for another thread. The Saturday night debriefing and presentation of the winners video had be to shortened to accommodate the Bridge Day officials schedule who were working diligently with family and friends, local officials and national media regarding the incident so I wanted to send out a complete list of the festival finalist, how they placed, and a few comments about each. Winners: 1st Place – Journey to the Center – by Jeb Corliss. Though this was only a 4 minute trailer the video set a new high for cinematography, editing, and story; a most impressive compilation of what is sure to be an epic feature film. 2nd Place – Down with Society – by Jimmy Halliday. A classic best of BASE, and representation of the insanity and personalities that make BASE jumpers who we are. A perfect compilation of BASE jumping, stupid human tricks, and all done with a very smooth edit. 3rd Place – The Free World – by Richard Alexander – probably the best pure BASE compilation entered, filled with spectacular jumps from amazing locations across the globe. 4th Place – When Good Times go Bad – Sam Gouws – also some great BASE footage in a tight edit and filled with lots of that “stuff” we all “hate” to see but compelled to watch. Honorable Mentions (Basically a 3 way tie): First Year of BASE – A Crash Course in Human Flight - Chris McNamara - More great footage with a great story about one jumpers quest to become a master of flight in a very short time. Female Outlook on BASE – Lika – Another great compilation of spectacular jumps from the unique perspective of a female BASE jumper who takes it the limit with the best of the boys. Fly the Line – by James Boole – scored one of the highest scores from the Thursday evening judges but unfortunately did not have the entry submitted in time for the prescreening scores. This film has some of the most spectacular wing suit BASE footage ever captured. And all the other entries deserve mention here as well (No particular order): Jump - by Peter Riddihough - put together an excellent documentary style film of one jump. Ski BASE – by Mark Lichtle – had 10 minutes of non-stop “ski-BASE” action. Awakening – by Ray Murphy – captured his journey with APEX BASE to Angel Falls this year and highlighted it with all the “spectacular” landings in Marta’s “soft trees”. Without Contignecy – by Will Heidebrecht - Another insane flick compilation of the Ontario crews BASE adventures this year. Rock out with your Cock out – by LeRoy Buckley - also filled with lots of sick jumps from America’s favorite spots. The final list of prizes included: Donk Productions - $500.00, $200.00, and $100.00 cash. 3Triple7 - $200.00 cash, gift certificates for $150.00, $100.00, & $50.00. Phoenix Fly – 50% discount coupon Morpheus Technologies 25% gift certificate and pilot Chute Asylum BASE – Pilot Chutes, Stash bags, and T-shirts 1 year free rigging from Rigging Solutions. Skventure coupon and hat. As I stated Saturday night (right before I broke into my best “Shatner’s” “Lucy in the sky with diamonds” impression and then handed the mic over to Johnny “muf muf” Gates himself) This years contest was really, really close with the first 4 places decided by less than 5 points out of an 80 point total. I would highly recommend every one of the videos for your personal BASE collections and judge for yourself! Thanks again and I look forward to seeing everyone next year… if not sooner. Hugs and Kisses, Donk PS: And additional special thanks to Jason, Jennifer, and Bill (and all the BD Staff) for keeping it together ALL weekend for us; You are the best! PSS: I did finally find that bag of like 30 "skull thongs" we spent hours looking for Sturday night when I was loading up Sunday...under my jeep. So if I promised you a thong, PM me and I will send it out to you.

Just a quick update to let everyone know that we have reached our max on video festival entries (11) and will be pre-screening this week. Here is the list of finalists by order that they were received and will be shown Thursday night: The Free World (Short) Journey to the Center Female Outlook on BASE (Chapter selection) Without Contingency Ski BASE Rock Out w/ Your Cock Out Jump Awakening AF 06 When Good Times Go Bad JHs Entry 1st Year of BASE At this point it is unlikely that we will be accepting any entires at the bridge, but if you do have something you really, really want shown, we will add it to the stand-by list and if there is time will show it. For Festival detail see this post. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2340918;search_string=donk;#2340918 Thanks and CU at the Bridge! Donk

4 days without any sleep, blood and "goo" stained clothes, total exhaustion, drug induced hallucinations, moments of total elation, followed by an instantaneous life long passion and love... kind of like my first trip to Bridge Day for that first BASE jump but "I couldn’t climb back down!" And I did take J-Bell’s dare and tried to bite the umbilical cord but the clamps were to close together to really sink my teeth in… but it did taste little chicken – all covered in poop needless to say the doctor was pretty shocked but she was cool enough to let me where my helmet cam during the entire delivery (which will be my video fest entry!) and just started laughing in disbelief; She has a real appreciation for BASE jumpers now!!! But it was definitely love at first site from the first second I saw him, even all covered in goo. And I cant wait to teach him all those “special” lesson’s in life. Cali and I will be returning home from our (well her) 4 day delivery war this afternoon with my new “little buddy” and we are really looking forward to this next chapter of life…I even changed my first diaper yesterday; never thought I could be so happy all covered in pooh.

Andrew sent me a PM - I dig the tenacity...kind of We'll have a face-to-face and get this all squared away; the KSU BASE FJC thing we talked about. All other "potential" first timers - Try to be patient and understand that BASE jumping is not like skydiving, in that you can't just show up at your local BASE site, pay few hundred $$$ and jump... you can only do that at Perrine and NRGB. BASE will open the doors to amazing places (Malaysia, Thailand, all over Europe and Norway, and some cool spots in the US) and the people are the best (well most of them ). It is a great world and I would encourage anybody with the right skill set and mentality to join it...but knowing the risks. I have had a few friends die and many more busted up. BASE can be dangerous game but with the right tools and attitude you can enjoy a long adventurous BASE ride...but it starts out slow. Ground crew a few jumps, watch, listen, and learn. And if you are not close to a BASE Mecca then talk with the BASE manufactures and sign up for a FJCs. Bridge Day is a great place to do that first jump (though I think the 50 skydive minimum is to low) and/or Perrine with a FJC or experienced crew. I highly recommend Tom A or APEX BASE's FJC. Great people with a ton on knowledge but finding qualified mentors and have the right baseline skill set is critical to long term knowledge transfer. Play safe, Donk

Donk

UPDATE: Bridge Day is getting close and I wanted to send out an update on the Video Festival. We have recieved 6 entries and 2 more slots "reserved", and from what I have seen so far, most impressive. Please contact me if you plan to submit an entry and if possible have it sent in so it is received by October 6th. If we have all entries by October 10th, we plan to pre-screen them all prior to the event and show the top 10 at the event and reserve final judging for the festival on Thursday night and give additional credit for crowd reaction and “state of mind” interpretation. Lol. Thanks, Donk donk@kc.rr.com (913) 908 - 3043

Pope - thanks bro! Judges Scoring The judge’s score is based on 5 categories: Action - Type of footage (bust, injury, great flicks, etc) Story - Did the video tell a story CinemaQ - Quality of the footy Editing - How it was put together Overall - How much did the judge dig it. The audience is heavily BASE biased and typically the videos with the best BASE footage do the best and even the shortest non BASE footy (like skydiving) has a tendency to get a big boo from the crowd. This is unfortunate because two of last years entries were bad a$$ but I think the judges were swayed by the crowd booing the skydiving footage. Hopefully the prescreening will eliminate this and give that "sober" unbiased review of each video. Thanks again! Donk.

Video Festival DVD Doing a best of or Video Fest DVD is something we have been discussing for years. It usually comes down to the owners of the actual video and how they plan to distribute it. I will ask the entrants if they will allow their video in a Video Festival 04 DVD or maybe a "best of" type of thing but don't hold your breath , some of the entries are from companies who make their living off the footage and we make no claim to any of the footage in the festival; so it is understandable that they would not want their footage mass produced and sold for a few bucks...but I will see how everyone feels about the idea as we get closer to the event. Maybe a highlights DVD to promote their product and entice the viewer into buying the full length version of the entry? Thanks for the note.

Bridge Day 2006 Video Festival This is a reminder that the 2006 Bridge Day Video Festival will be held Thursday night, October 19th, at the Holiday Inn bar "Rafters" from 9:00 PM - 12:00 AM. Last year’s festival was the best year yet with amazing entries from our winners BC Production’s – As The Rush Comes, Nate Varns’ – Thread The Needle, James Boole’s – Mucho BASE, and the Triax’s T-stake promo; additionally we saw some great stuff from Adrenaline Exploits, Ill Vision, Team FX, and many others. Some info and changes for this year: We plan to pre-screen the videos to get a more “sober” assessment of each video prior to the event. After some post Bridge Day reviews of the videos, some of us felt that a few pretty great videos were overlooked by the inundation of similar footage, drug and alcohol goggles by the 10th video , or just being distracted by the great crowd and such. We will still accept entries at the event but they will not have the advantage of the pre-screening, and if we have reached the 10 video limit already then it will be at the judges discretion how many more they are willing to see beyond that. We will also be lowering the number entries to 10 and 5 standbys to fill in for any one of the 10 that do not show or if time, the judges, and crowd want more. First come, first serve. There is no limit on the pre-screened entries so have your video in by October 1st. If delivering it in person, email me the entry form by October 1st and have your video to us no later than 7:00 that evening. At a minimum, please let us know you will be bringing a late entry by October 1st via email. We will have all the forms available in Rafters for walk-in entries starting at 5:00 PM. To continue the effort to make the Bridge Day Video Festival one of the premier BASE video festivals in the world, we will keep the cash prizes added last year in addition to the other prizes Jason is in the process of acquiring. 1st: $500.00 2nd: $200.00 3rd: $100.00 Honorable Mention: $1.00 Not bad for an event without any entry fee. We will also be announcing the three winners and showing the winning videos to the Saturday night crowd at the close of the briefing in the large conference room. Comments from last year's event: Please follow the "10 minute" rule or have a 10 minute "Trailer" of your full length production. If your entry is unedited or a "rough-cut" please have it queued to the beginning and pay close attention to the time. Once again few entries got cut short before their "money shot" because the video went well beyond the 10 minutes and/or the judges asked for the next video. Please keep in mind that the judges have to watch 10 - 15 of these and it can get pretty grueling, so have your best ready to roll. Also, pay close attention to when your video is going to be played so that you can introduce the video (optional) and monitor the playback. DVD (NTSC) and MiniDV only. Judges: We will need a few judges. Same deal as last year; the judges get free drinks and munchies during the course of the event. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or suggestions. PM: donk@kc.rr.com Phone: (913) 908 - 3043 The link to the official Bridge Day Video Festival site is here and the new form will be added shortly (last years form is fine too): http://www.bridgeday.info/videofest.php Thanks and I am sure that everyone is looking forward to another great year of some amazing videos that feature the best of the best, most knarly, hilarious, and inspirational videos shot since last year. Tony "Donk" DiCola 11184 Antioch, # 198 Overland Park, KS 66210 – 2420 donk@kc.rr.com (913) 908 - 3043 PS: The videos don’t necessarily have to be from 2006 but entries from previous years will not be allowed.

Great to see that you are actually posting here again...great stuff.

Nic, Wow that sucks but thanks for the update and we wish Matt a speedy recovery. But that dude was living the dream though... and I sincerely hope he is able to get back on it. I still owe him the chance to rope huck me off something sick so hopefully he will heal fast enough to toss my fat ass without the BASE security blanket. Best wishes to him and your crew and look forward to seeing you all somewhere sooner than later. Donk

It always saddens me to hear of the loss of one of our fellow brethren, especially when it is news of one of the "good guys". I eco much of the sentiment here in that Tom was truly one of the nicest guys you could come across in the sport. Regardless if you met him once or one hundred times, Tom would always remember your name and greet you with a smile and a hand shake. Attached are a few pics from our trip to the Cave a few years back. I have them in high resolution; if any of the family wants a copy, please don't hesitate to email me at donk@kc.rr.com. Godspeed Tom - you will be missed. Donk

That is exactly what it looked like from the LZ and I saw some video Friday night that looked like he had a half or full twist. I wish him a speedy recovery as well. He was so sweet looking up at all us from the back board..."is that Jimmy P and Kenyon from Triax, Donk's here too and wow, Jason Bell..." It kind of remindinded me of the scene from the Wizard of Oz when Dorathy wakes up in bed. we weren't in Kansas that is for sure... Has anyone heard what the full extent of his injuries were? From our perspective and the EMT it seemed isolated to the hip area...or he is one really tuff bastard for hanging in there during that hour long talus hike strapped on the BB. It had to be excruating with even a minor fracture. He will be yelling hellfish before long I am sure.

I have to put this out there since this is the like the third time I have heard the "I can’t pull on the risers so I just go for toggles” and may be very applicable here. Riser corrections are a pretty basic emergency procedure taught in most any BASE FJC but some FJC are starting to teach toggle corrections (which has already been debated in another thread) but what happens if you have line twists and are flying back into the object.... YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO BE ABLE TO REACH ABOVE THE TWIST AND PULL ON THE RISERS/ LINES or anything to get the canopy turning TO SAVE YOUR LIFE! I have had to do it once and have the video of a good friend of mine with like 4 full twists climbing up his lines to reach above the twist to get the canopy turning away from the object. This debate about toggles or risers is valid amongst experienced BASE jumpers but all beginners should be intimately familiar with riser corrections and be able to pull down on the risers or pull down from above the twist...especially when faced with line twists and imminent object strike. After you turn the canopy away from the wall, then deal with the twists. One of the best jumpers ever (RIP) has a video on skydiving movies of him going for the toggles (object height and experience made this a logical choice) after a 180 and missing it then striking the wall…no names here but he was probably one of the best BASE jumpers ever and if he can miss the toggle I’d guess anybody can. Yes there are good reason to do both but to say “I wont or cant do riser corrections is pretty much insane!” I hope everyone who is BASE jumping knows this but if not...that is a nice little BASE lesson 101 that will save your life. Thanks for pointing that out Ray. Donk

I think there were like 5 cliff strikes with minor injuries this TDB weekend which was kind of surprising since the weather was nearly perfect all week and I dont think there was a record breaking number of jumps done. But most went unnoticed by the local community because of the great rescue work and heart of the jumpers. I recall maggot saying something like "just get me up and let everyone start jumping again...I'll hop to the fu(kin hospital" or something like that. There are some valuable lessons to be learned in this post and the other "Turkey Jumps" post. Please read, learn, and take care. Tom A's comments about the potato bridge should really hit home. Just for clarification the two CS and resulting rescues at the Gash were from the not so surprising result of a "tard-over" off MG and then four jumps later a 90 ish left with what might have been a half line twist that very slowly turned into the wall. I could not see how many line twist or what actions the jumper took from the bottom of the Gash...but I think it is detailed in the other post from the exit point POV. I agree, regardless of skill and experience sh!t can happen, but there is also a lot a jumper can do to minimize that risk. In my opinion, there seems to have been a generational loss of object respect (perhaps related to Tom A's comment) and I can better appreciate the days of the IPBC, not necessarily the competition, but the camaraderie and most importantly the knowledge transfer that happened at those events. Maybe we need to add a "safety briefing" day to these "boogies" for the first time visitors to Moab or at least post something "sticky" about jumping in Moab, the risks, preparations, and BLM rules. Just a thought...but at a minimum it is each jumpers responsiblity to find a good mentor and/or learn all they can about how to safely jump from what ever object they choose. We can be our own best allies and worst enemies...the choice is yours. Play safe, Donk

Thanks Nick. You are always the voice of reason and highly respected in our world. I really apprecaite the quick clarification. Enough said...no ball busting required (my PM was probably more than enough) but you can buy me a beer next year. Hugs and Kisses, Donk

I am not going to get into the "right and wrongs" with how these cliff strikes happened but I do think all BASE jumpers need to take into consideration that this is a "legal" site and take extra precaution to play safe and jump wisely at these precious few sites we have in the US. I'll let the detail from the incidents speak for themselves. But I think it is paramount that "The Dude" Brian and Lee get credit for the incredible work they did on the wall rescuing both jumpers and the work done by the half a dozen of people who "first responded" and then carried Marty all the way down the talus to await life flight. Both rescues were 100% BASE jumper operations and there were four certified (BASE jumper) first responders on sight immediately. Marty was very conscious and coherent throughout most of the rescue and extremely courageous during what was surely a painful hour long hike down the talus strapped to a back board. Had it not been for the overzealous actions of a self proclaimed lead paramedic (the uni-mog driver) who demanded air support against all other recommendation (sh!t, we could have drove Marty to Grand Junction in the amount of time it took for that helicopter to arrive) no BLM or other rescue agency would have had to be involved. Had the helicopter arrived immediately (given Marty’s age) then it might have made some sense, but considering Marty had to wait four hours for the life flight to arrive, it was ridiculous and a waste of valuable resource. It is imperative that we not only have the skill to safely jump from an object but also have the skill to safely rescue, be prepared to administer first aid, and POLICE our legal sites when stupid things are being done. This soap box has been jumped all over before but really needs repeating. WE only have a few legal sites in the US and we all need to do every thing possible to protect ourselves as well as preserve these sites. Once again an outstanding job was done by all involved in both rescues: Jimmy P, Jason Bell, Kenyon, and all the other jumpers who ran up the talus to help us that I can’t recall. But again a special thanks for the skill and courage of "The dude" Brian and Lee for rigging ropes, rapping and jugging 300’ more than once, and working the wall on both rescues. YOU GUYS WERE AWESOME!! Play safe, Donk

Sad news of the loss of a BASE/Skydiving brother over in the Bonfire. My condolences to Tigger's family, the Skydive Orange family, and Des Moines / Couch Freaks crew. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1909531;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

I am always saddened by the loss of a fellow brother of the sky. Though I did not know Tigger very well, we seemed to always cross paths at events, I heard it from the Zoomeeland Crew at BD over and over, “Man, you got meet Tigger!” I did finally get to meet and run with him a bit at Bridge Day and he was the kind of person you immediately had to love. Our loss. God speed brother.

Just a quick follow up. I am in no way apologizing for my position on the biased and unfair treatment of BASE jumpers by the NPS. Honestly, I wish we had done the actual protest jump instead of raising the banner behind Jason. I would have loved the opportunity to explain to the local and national press why we were being detained/arrested at the largest event in the country with major media coverage behind us. Not to mention how horribly many of us were treated in the LZ this year by the "Marshals" and NPS officials. At one point I had all my gear in the stash bag hugging my in-laws after a jump (outside the "taped" LZ, in the far back corner by the vehicles) and got physically dragged out by a US Marshal. Needless to say I had words with him and thanks to JJ, who pulled me away, saved my from a more serious charge I am sure. I stand firm on my position against the NPS and was pleased to hear the locals’ opinion of the NPS. I gave more stickers to local WV people than jumpers. They too are equally frustrated with the NPS for similar reasons and thanked us for standing up to them. The time is here for a more formal protest… especially when the NPS starts asking for money to let us jump at Bridge Day (The feature attraction none the less). The NPS wants money to allow BASE at Bridge Day… only if it is a precedent that opens up all the parks to BASE not just one bridge for 6 hours. Ideally we should have the right to freely practice our sport without fees or contracts like any other outdoor enthusiast (climbers, mountain bikers, hang gliders, etc) in a National Park has. But as this relates to Bridge Day; Jason works his tail off for months trying to bring Bridge Day together for us. I worked with him from Monday - Sunday this year and could not believe how much work it is. A simple “thank you” at the event does not come close to what he deserves for all his work pulling the event off. In my opinion, the anti-NPS sentiment is right, we have the right to express our views, but bringing extra pain to Jason was not my intention. Bringing national exposure to the unfair, biased, monarchal control over BASE in National Parks is. I love going to Norway, Italy, and Switzerland for big wall fun but it is ridiculous that jumpers risk their lives, criminal records and huge financial penalties to exercise our sport in a National Park. The day will come and we will get our forum. Lets spend less time “chatting” about this on these boards and get serious about a protest jump.