wwarped

have I? the important question, has anyone else? if no one else knows, I have done my job. DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

I do not. see: I believe less than legal night jumps require a certain committment lacking at day legal sites. those sites attract people with video cams trying to one-up each other. (NOT all jumpers, some.) if we focus on legal day sites, the resulting carnage may FORCE us into creating an organization. I prefer night jumps from less than legal objects. it is amazing what a solo from such a place will teach you... there is a certain beauty being alone with the wind, stars, and moon. no one watching. I jump only when it is right for me, no one else. DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

you make some great points (and did a great job with markup...) still, do we want publicity of legal sites? doesn't publicity and openess create issues? -the Moab turkey boogie - ended. -the TF rash of injuries and jumping beyond limits during the big weekends. -the disrespectful jumping in the Swiss valley. -the thought of going for a new record at the ITW. all legal sites. all legal events. all have suffered from publicity. many locals feel their sites threatened by sloppy jumping. they fear a backlash from the general public. the best successful publicity comes legal sites sharing some element of control. -BD -SBK in Norway -KL -RG but jumpers balk (including myself) at a governing body. if we develop more local groups exerting some form of control, I can see them banding together to form an overall governing organization. or am I missing something? DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

a governing body would change the personalities drawn to the sport... DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

USPA's BOD is dominated by commercial operators. they have a strong financial incentive to make sure the regulatory environment does NOT change. people making money off of us will come to our aid. whether they operate a hotel, bar, restaurant, etc. people making money tend to have more clout than a bunch of out-of-towners. obviously, every state in the US has a different legal environment. I still expect having "friends" would ease any concerns about potential liabilities. DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

how many of the sites are commercial? (i.e., the owner has a financial interest in maintaining the activity.) how many of the sites have the liability risk of a BASE site? I really have no clue... you may have a valid point, but is it apples to apples? DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

you seem to think growth=good. publicity leads to growth, so publicity=good. if you wish to make a living from the sport, I guess you might be correct. I hope you step up to the plate and expain your reasons. it seems unfair to make us guess. especially since I may guess incorrectly. as for my opinion... BASE is best suited to people who find it on their own. it is a sport that demands effort. if new participants start in the sport without having to make an effort, when will they learn that necessary skill? after witnessing/experiencing the dark side? publicity attracts new participants. now some would have found the sport without the publicity. but others only get involved with the sport because of the publicity. a surge in participation will naturally result in a surge of deaths. it will also increase the frequency of access issue events. local authorities may disregard 1 such event a year, but what if it becomes 3 or 4? authorities may choose to limit access to current sites, driving the remaining jumpers to fewer sites. the increased jumping at the remaining sites will likely create additional problems. a carnival, reckless atmosphere closed a prominant US valley a few decades ago. wiil the same close a Swiss valley? an Italian wall? few will fight alongside our interests out of the goodness of their hearts. they must also have a vested interest. once someone can charge us $100/jump, they'll assist in the fight... so SLAMBO, your turn to explain why growth=good. the ball is in your court. time to step up to the plate and contribute to the dialogue, not simply criticize. convince me I am wrong. DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

I do not know, but see Tom's posts. particularly #8, 10, & 13 in this thread. he seems to know something, but does not wish to speak fully. I'm left reading between the lines. DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

please refrain from stating what you would do/pay/etc. to jump from the structure. IF this becomes a reality, we ought to let the organizer sort out the details. why weaken someone's hand during negotioations? DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

having jumped (and plan on doing so in the future) in areas delightfully oblivious of BASE, I prefer to keep things quiet. it reminds me of the bygone era described by NickDG. TomA lives in a community where BASE has a higher profile. I can understand how a good spokesman could help there. I also agree with a previous poster that the Tony Hawkes appear on their own. we can't create them. should one appear, we'll know it when we see it... we may wish for a nearby, perfect object. we may welcome a fresh, charismatic spokesman. we can dream, or simply adapt to the current reality... DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

I'll second that... DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

my guess is negotiations. someone might be trying to find solutions to a variety of concerns. unless these solutions are presented to the public with the concept, many will balk at any deal. rarely are any negotiations held in public. Gary C handles things for the KL events. Jason handles things for BD. neither posts details of discussions. be patient. edited to add: read the news articles. groups opposed the structure. the local leadership chose to move forward in the hopes of providing jobs. Jobs? from people walking around a hunk of glass? doubt it. the Indians probably have a master development plan involving a variety of businesses (curio shops, gas stations, shopping centers, etc.) do you really think they plan on releasing details before all required agreements are in place? DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

it will all revolve around how you behave. your age does NOT matter. I've seen plenty of older jumpers happy to listen to the advice of younger jumpers. I've seen big men listening to young women. it's all about respect and understanding the other's concerns. it is NOT about age or time in sport. DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

please clarify. do you mean the point where I basically agreed with you? that the current situation is the result of many beyond simply "glory hounds." there is an example of the anger that distorts your posts. (plus you add a red herring to distract from your argument.) actually, I made no such assumption. your only motivation I commented on was your anger and bitterness. please point out where I indicated so... as for validation, you seem to be bragging about having the pack on your side, not I. you also seem to be baiting Nick into an argument. his lack of response evoked a very visceral response from you. I was one of the first in this thread to try and point out the error of Nick's views. again, we appear to be in agreement on content. I don't think responding to Nick's "antagonism" with further "antagonism" proves particularly helpful. I also think you have distorted my comments as I have attempted to show... DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

your sarcasm clouds your point... Nick maintains a list. his list provides cautionary tales. it warns us about hazards detrimental to our health, and the sport. he is trying to contribute and help others. and face it, documenting a death a month has to drain the life out of someone. the repeated mistakes must create frustration in the one working hard to prevent just those accidents. you created another list... is it designed to educate? warn jumpers by listing the mistakes of those who came before? be constructive? your writing has a very divisive tone. harsh. bitter. angry. and I have no clue to it's source... I think we share many views regarding distributing video to the public (please see my earlier post). some have done so to gain fame, some to gain wealth, and some to promote the sport. in the end, BASE has become far more public and higher profile. it also means any attention starved politician may use us as a cause to generate votes... (in the US, politicians love fearmongering about somehting.) but I find I sympathize more with Nick right now... DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

interestingly, the article mentioned LA adrenalin junkies. so are the glory hounds only in LA? yes, the glory hounds contributed to our notoriety (and possibly a less than constructive image...). others contributed as well. every person that has fought to gain legal access has made people and the authorities aware of our activities. any video creates a very visceral reaction, postively or negatively. this forum also serves to publicize our activities. that said, I'm not convinced any of it is really helping keep sites open... legal or not. (fortunately, cost conscience bean counters will probably keep the best security away from some sites.) DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

what he said! balloon jumps may give you a taste of the high, but first aid training might be a better way to prepare for BASE. DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

I thought last night would be a nice opportunity to be neighborly. the haze, waning moon, and impending fog made for a dark night. so I went out to introduce myself. as I climbed, the winds grew noticably. that might be why the "venue" was absent. that left doing a solo... maybe next time I'll have company. DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

I'll settle for letting sleeping dogs lie (or rather sleeping turkey vultures roost). if they choose to let me be, I'm happy to show the same consideration. DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

vertical separation. it prevents unnecessary entanglement, expecially when you have more height than required and limited horizontal spacing. DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

gotta like this part: "Vulture poop is actually a sanitizer! Their uric acid is so strong (because of the nature of their diets) that it kills bacteria." while it doesn't say how it reacts to nylon, I doubt it is good! DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

from memory and a few images, it looks like I stumbled across a "venue" of turkey vultures. I spotted the "kettle" circling above the site. it seems they have some rather offensive habits, like vomitting and defecating on themselves. could prove interesting... DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

here I am in Louisiana, scouting out a beautiful 300 ft tower. old decommissioned freestander with a large platform. gorgeous landing area. as I drive up, I see 6 or so large birds circling. these are the big kind. larger than hawks. the tower must be sweet as a couple dozen of these guys are perched all over the structure! no visible nests, just plenty of talons and beaks. there is a wooded area 100-200 yards away. 'course the tower dwarfs all of them. I'm guessing if they like the tower during the day, they'll be there at night. maybe in a month or two they'll head north. thoughts?/suggestions?/advice? thanks! DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse

open your mind. make this a learning opportunity. as we think through various scenarios and plan our actions accordingly, we become better jumpers. we can increase our chances of success. what you call speculation, I would call risk management. the previous "speculation" may or may not be fact. that does not make it a less illustrative lesson. we should not be sloppy jumpers. besides, those who know the real facts should NOT post. let law enforcement sort it out themselves. DON'T PANIC The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse