Archive for the 'BASE jumping' Category

Things I am Thankful for…

A couple years back a friend of mine, Jeremy Jones, posted a blog of things he was thankful for. His blog was inspiring and I decided to post a few things I’m thankful for. In a time when many folks are struggling it’s important to recognize all the things we are lucky to have…

I’m thankful for my dog Chief.  He passed away this summer but I was lucky to have him for 13 years…
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I’m thankful for my family…
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I’m thankful for my jumping friends…
jumping friends

I’m thankful for my Nitro Circus family….
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I’m thankful for my mountain friends…
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I’m thankful for Annika…
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I’m thankful for the opportunities I have…
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I’m thankful for my brother and my nephews…
the boys

I’m thankful for catching air!!!
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I’m thankful for snow storms…
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and powder…
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I’m thankful for down time…
relaxing

I’m thankful for the mountains…
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I’m thankful for skiing…
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I’m thankful for Shane McConkey…
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BASE jumping in Twin Falls

While on a 2-week break from shooting Nitro Circus Season 2, I made a day trip to Twin Falls Idaho and met up with friends for some BASE jumping. The Prienne bridge is the only legal bridge in the U.S. you can BASE jump on a daily basis. I met up with pro BMX rider Mike “Rooftop” Escamilla and pro surfer Brandon Lillard who were on a week long trip shooting footage for Hurley. Neither of them had BASE jumped before…so it was back to “Death Camp”. Its always fun to teach people especially those who have the ability as well as fear and respect for the sport. The boys learned fast and once again Twin Falls was very good to me!

Brandon, me and Rooftop hiking out the 500 ft canyon
Brandon, me and Rooftop hiking out the 500 ft canyon                                       photo: cody davis

Rooftop getting in one of his first BASE jumps
Rooftop getting in one of his first BASE jumps

Making the leap!
Making the leap!                                                                photo: cody davis

I've jumped off this bridge well over a hundred times....it never seems to get old.
I’ve jumped off this bridge well over a hundred times….it never seems to get old.                                                                       photo: cody davis

Shoshone falls is just up the river from the bridge.  It is an impressive site.
Shoshone falls is just up the river from the bridge. It is an impressive site.

A couple jumps…

Home….

I love living in Lake Tahoe.  There is so much to do and the environment is one of a kind.  The combination between the mountains and the lake offers so much.  Summer is my favorite time here and I am just starting to set into my summer mode.

After a week of a relaxing vacation I picked up right where I left off.  The day after I returned, I spent the morning skiing and hiking all over Squaw Valley Resort.  After a mountain bike ride and a quick lunch I met up with some friends for my first boat trip of the season. The lake was as flat as it gets and the weather was warm…there is nothing more peaceful than being on the lake in those conditions.

The following day I met with some other friends for a couple days of skydiving and BASE jumping.  I really love this place!

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Skiing some of the last snow of the year.

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Looking down some of the late season lines at Squaw…

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Taking it all in on top of KT 22 after hiking and skiing from the peak on the far lookers right (way back there), all the way around the ridge to the left and up to the top of KT 22.

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Hanging on the lake after a nice day…the “Best Place on Earth”.

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Next day..after a morning of BASE jumping (no pictures: its illegal and too dark out)…into a day of skydiving!

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Now what?  Maybe a night time BASE jump off a different object…check!

Road Trip….Tahoe > Whistler > Utah > Tahoe

As the season is winding down and summer is getting close, I decided to head to the glaciers around Whistler for a few last minute shots for the TGR film Re:Session coming out this Fall. I drove my old Jeep and towed my snowmobile 18 hours North to Pemberton for 2 sunny days of snowmobile skiing.  The mountains in British Columbia are amazing…it always blows my mind how much terrain you can access with your snowmobile.  We had really long days in the alpine and it was good to get back in the BC mountains.

After the short sunny window, I drove another 18 hours down to Snowbird, Utah for Dynastar’s “Spring Daze” event.  Luckily I had to drive right past the Twin Falls Bridge and naturally I needed to make a stop and BASE jump.

Each year Dynastar invites shop employees, managers, industry people to Snowbird for 4 days to hang out, catch a glimpse of the Dynastar family, and ski.  Hundreds of people show up to participate and the event always proves to be a good time!  The last night I had to give a presentation to 150 or so people about what I have been up too. I was happy to get that over with and head home the following day after a lot of driving.

I am home now but headed to LA in a couple days for the season finale of Nitro Circus.  We have signed on for season 2 and start filming in the middle of May…Time to rest and heal up!

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My old whip…

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Snowmobile and big mountain legend Dan Treadway. He was a great host as always and hes probably the most fun guy to be with in the mountains.

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Some of the terrain we road…you can snowmobile right to the top of this face.

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A glacial cave we came accross.  We were able to ride our snowmobiles right through it.

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Making the pit stop at Twin Falls for a jump…scared up top.

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Happy after making a successful solo jump.

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Finally made it to Dynastar’s Sping Daze event…time to relax and have some fun.

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Except for the presentation I had to give…

Shane McConkey Memorial Jump

23 of Shane’s BASE jumping friends got together for a memorial jump.  I cannot discuss in full detail but I can say it was one of the coolest jumps I’ve ever made.  I’ve never before jumped with so many people or in such an amazing place. Stories, laughs and cheers for Shane were shared and ashes were spread.  We all felt Shane watching and laughing hysterically…I’m sure he was proud. Long Live McConk!

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Some of the boys about to gear up…

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The landing area looked like a skydive drop zone with all the jumpers…so cool to jump with so many people.

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The crew celebrating McConkey!

The Beginning of B.A.S.E. Jumping

Here is a guy who was really pushing the limits of human flight.  Unfortunately…it didn’t work out!

Twin Falls Death Camp

After riding the bike park at Whistler for a few days we were all beat down. Everyone was banged up, bleeding and sore from hard riding and numerous crashes. We loaded up the rig and headed to Twin Falls, Idaho where we met up with more Nitro Circus members and TP’s dad for some beginner BASE jumping. When I say beginner BASE jumping, I mean people with absolutely no parachute jumps…no skydives and no BASE jumps. Most jumpers would not advise this type of behavior but I figure I can take a certain type of person and make it relatively safe in a controlled environment.

The Prienne Bridge in Twin Falls is one of the only legal bridges to BASE jump in the US. Jumpers come from all over the world to session the bridge. This is a great place to spend time and learn about BASE jumping as well as practice your skills. When your not running from cops or hiding from security guards you can slow down and pay more attention to what is going on with the general safety of your jump.

In all, I pushed 7 new people off the bridge. The way it works is I hold the pilot chute in my hand while the jumper climbs over the railing. The pilot chute is the small parachute thrown out to catch air and pull out the larger parachute packed into the container on your back. The jumper makes the jump from the bridge and I hold onto the pilot chute manually extracting the larger parachute from the container. This allows the jumper to focus mainly on body position and shortens freefall time to avoid any type of parachute malfunction.

Once the parachute opens the jumper has been instructed to fly the parachute over the water and land in the water to avoid any chance of breaking bones trying to land on ground for the first time.

The highlight of the trip was when Travis’ dad stepped up and threw a gainer off the bridge for his first BASE jump ever. One of the crazier things I have witnessed and he stuck it! No wonder Travis is the way he is…
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The bridge

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Some of the Death Campers

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Pastrana about to jump

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Nitro Circus Member Hubert making his first jump

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Willie Crum climbing over the railing…scared senseless.

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Getting in some flips

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Travis’ dad about to stick a gainer from the top rail without any parachute experience at all.

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Death Camp Instructors

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Landing pattern

Skydiving in Lodi

Central California can get hot mid summer…I’m talking 110° hot. There is not much going on in Lodi or the general vicinity. Mostly dry fields and vineyards, but for me, it’s where I jump out of planes.

The drop zone is filled with unique characters of all ages and backgrounds, more or less a melting pot of alternative individuals. It is one of those things really hard to describe unless you witness it for yourself.

I love jumping in Lodi due to the care-free attitude, the extremely cheap prices, and the “I just want to jump” mentality. Much nicer and lets just say “by the book” dropzones exist but this place suits me the best!

If you ever want to learn to skydive…come to Lodi. $500 and 7 jumps later you are on your own. After that you can jump out of the plane for $15. Let me tell you…it’s a great way to spend $15!

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The changing room…

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This is where everyone comes to pack rigs, manifest for a jump load, prepare for a tandem jump or just hang out and talk about how rad you are. These hangers are where you can find some “colorful” people.

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Tandem students watching the 10 minute instruction video before they are strapped to the belly of a tandem master who then pushes them out of the plane…often times screaming.

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Annika packing one up…

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Waiting for my ride…

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Loading up…

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Final approach…

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Fill it up again!

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Another perk to Lodi is the numerous large antenna’s in the area. This one stands 1800 feet off the deck!

Chaos on the Lake!

Whenever I thought of the upcoming Nitro Circus trip to the lake, my palms immediately started sweating. A week of fun on the lake with this group is not what most people would consider fun. I knew I was going to be lucky to come away uninjured or alive. Our goal was to get footage for the new Nitro Circus film “Double Wide” due out this fall.

The Nitro Circus rolls in style. I was picked up at the Las Vegas airport and taken to the owner of Nu Skin products “get away” house near Lake Mead. The house is entitled “Pirates Cove” which is basically “Pirates of the Caribbean” for adults. Long water slides, 60-foot mast jumps into small pools and pirate bars throughout the estate. I have never seen anything like this place and could easily spend a week there getting lost in all the details.

From there we loaded up a motor home, 2 fifth wheels, all the other trucks and headed for the lake. In all we had 2 houseboats, 3 cigarette boats, 4 ski boats and more toys than you can imagine.

Throughout the week we accomplished Big Wheel BASE jumps, Mtn Bike BASE jumps, rowdy zip lines, Rollovers for folks who have never skydived or BASE-jumped as well as many punishing stunts the crew was trying to step up too. I watched stunts executed to perfection and I also witnessed a few miracles. All in all, everyone came away in one piece. We had great time and I was stoked to play with the team again!

After the Lake, Pastrana, Plamer and myself rolled back to Vegas for some more BASE fun. Pastrana has some pull in Vegas…we showed up at 2 in the morning made one phone call, and found ourselves at the wind tunnel for a private middle of the night session.

The winds did not cooperate in Vegas but we made up for it with a private go-cart session with Cowboy Kenny Bartram, TP and TJ Lavin.

Make sure you check out the new Nitro Circus film“Double Wide”. You are not going to want to miss this one!
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Ring Leader of the Nitro Circus…Travis Pastrana getting warmed up at “Pirates Cove”

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One of the many nooks at Pirates Cove. The mast behind the girl goes up 60 feet with a platform to jump from. This is also the finishing pool for a legit water slide!

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Some of the crew…after they ran out of gass.

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TP’s Big Wheel BASE jump. This was a nasty 250 foot cliff right above our camp. TP had his heart set on riding a big wheel down this face. It was super gnarly and he went mocking down the side of this rock. TP crushed the jump in true form!

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Next up was the zip line. After about 5 of us hit it, Jim DeChamp decided to try it out. You can see at the start of the zip line you are 80-90 feet off the deck. What you cannot tell is that the first 200 feet is over water that is only 2 feet deep. Somehow DeChamp managed to peel off the bar and fall every bit of 80 feet into 2 feet of water. Miraculously he was alright….

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There was endless firework warfare!

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TP, Plamer and myself getting ready to send it.

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The aftermath…

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Jim DeChamp redeeming himself with a rowdy Mountain bike BASE jump.

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Waiting on wind….Not a bad view

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Willie crum wanted air time himself. He decided to send the Big Wheel without a parachute. I am sure you can use your imagination to figure how this ended up.

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Cowboy Kenny Bartram, TP, Me, TJ Lavin just after our private rally session.

Check out some helmet cam footage in the “BASE” section of the Video page!