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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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Dec 10, 2018 - 01:04pm PT
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Well said, Ammon. Keyboard warriors love to call out folks on the edge. I get that. Proxy wingsuit has started to feel a little like a death cult with so many auguring. It's good to hear that BASE in general is getting safer, with folks logging thousands of jumps. I always thought that wingsuits could make BASE SAFER because one could track further away from the wall, but I guess that's not cool enough. I guess my judgement hackles get up when BASE jumpers go hardcore while also having young kids. I really believe that the responsibility should shift to making sure they make it to adulthood rather than serving one's own adventure rat.
Fly safe, ye Pirate!
BAd
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JoeyNMG
Trad climber
Lincroft
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Dec 10, 2018 - 04:17pm PT
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Power on Ammon! Keep on jumpin brotha! Hope all is well!
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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Dec 10, 2018 - 04:43pm PT
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Russ you know the ads displayed on this site are based on your browsing history right? NTTAWWT.
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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Dec 10, 2018 - 05:09pm PT
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how much you want to live
That would be a great title for a BASE motivational poster. That's the dilemma in a nutshell. The duality of such a thrilling activity making you feel so alive vs. the risk of not being alive. You can take that title both ways.
BASE jumping gets so much criticism because most people can't even imagine themselves doing it.
I don't really criticize BASE jumping but I do question if some people are not always being honest with themselves about the risk. I totally imagine myself doing it, I'm sure it's one of the most amazing experiences you can have. But in my (an my only) calculations the risk is too great for many forms of BASE, especially the external risks of a 180 opening and cliff strike or other malfunctions or weather/wind related problems. And jumping at the same time as someone else seems like a bad idea, you really open up the possibilities for problems. It's a similar reason to why I don't ride a motorcycle on the road much. I'll catch air on a dirt bike which is pretty risky and I've come close to some bad crashes, but I don't like the idea of some idiot killing me on the road which I may have little control over. Jumping from a bridge like Perrine seems reasonable to me. Nothing to hit, plenty of height which gives time to correct minor issues. I've seen friends do direct bag BASE jumps from 180 feet high. NO THANKS! If anything goes wrong that's it. No room for error. And it's impossible to always eliminate all errors.
It's always interesting to me when rock climbers criticize different forms of climbing or other sports for being too risky, but for the general public they think we're insane for taking the risk of any climbing.
I have to say there's something heart warming about the Pirate not giving it up and climbing back on that horse. I just hope you dial it down just a little bit.
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Don Paul
Social climber
Washington DC
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Dec 10, 2018 - 07:25pm PT
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Holy cow. I had no idea I would set off this shitstorm tsunami. I'm just a troublemaker by nature, but meant no criticm of the El Cap Pirate and have no doubt he's the man to take on all those unrepeated El Cap A5's.
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ionlyski
Trad climber
Polebridge, Montana
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Dec 11, 2018 - 07:02am PT
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Don, you didn't set anything off. It was Tut. He didn't even listen or read what Ammon wrote. About adrenaline. Went right over his head. He still thinks jumping is an adrenaline sport. Just like all the main masses view climbing.
In reality, as Ammon tried to explain to King Twit, adrenaline actually kills you in those activities, just as it does in the water sport of deep free diving. You learn to and realize you must control, calm and keep adrenaline out of the picture or your performance suffers. (or you will die free diving)
So how could you be addicted to that? I think he watches TV. Tut, what is the substance of addiction you are citing in Ammon's case?
Arne
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Gunkie
Trad climber
Valles Marineris
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Dec 11, 2018 - 07:36am PT
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+100000
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couchmaster
climber
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Dec 11, 2018 - 09:45am PT
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"Don, you didn't set anything off. It was Tut. He didn't even listen or read what Ammon wrote."
Come on Ionaski, Tut must have at least read the first 3 words like he usually does:-). And speaking only for myself, as my nutz are already so small already, I won't be jumping off anything and making them even smaller or worse, getting stuck permanently up in my throat somewhere when they shrink down even smaller looking at some of those jumps those guys do....I won't knock those with the stones to get on it. Good for them.
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Mike Honcho
Trad climber
Glenwood Springs, CO
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Dec 11, 2018 - 02:59pm PT
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Partied it up with Ammon over Thanksgiving in Moab. BASE jumpers have raised nearly $60,000.00 over the last 5-6 years for the Grand County Search and Rescue and City of Moab. It's turned into a pretty massive shindig and a little Ammon-time is always rad, he had some beers, I drank as much 7-up as my old ass can handle. I cannot think of a more universally beloved figure in the BASE community as Ammon. He's so popular it sickens me. I would give anything to be one tenth that loved. So there's that.
Caylor!
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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Dec 12, 2018 - 05:46pm PT
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You people, meaning those who have never jumped off of anything, miss the core of this sad miscommunication. Ammon is dead right about adrenaline. It clouds your thinking.
In the First World War, waves of boys would charge to certain death in waves. THAT is an occupation to desert. Your first BASE jumps are scary. As are first skydives and first big walls.
After you master the very real science and technique, they can sometimes feel downright mundane. Much like seeing Werner drive away seemingly every morning to solo The Gripper. Nobody considered that he wouldn’t come back, or that he was some thrill seeker.
To put it plainly, Ammon has mastered aid routes that consideration would frighten me.
It is scary at first, as it should be. Tom Cosgriff told me that he was so scared of his first antenna jump that he felt like vomiting. I recall doing our local tower 3 times in one night, packing in the moonlit grass.
There is a lot to modern jumping. Gear, conditions...you know the risk, and it is much like anything that takes time to master.
As to the notion of adrenaline addiction, it is hogwash. I used to have serious allergies that required regular injections of epinephrine. It always made me tremble, like way too much coffee.
As I said before. It is affection rather than addiction, and even in the old days would sometimes feel nearly, but not quite, mundane.
It requires awareness of every detail. Fortunately they are quite finite, and after a while you can react without wasting the time of conscious thought.
It has been forever, but I can still recall a midnight jump from a really tall building. Seeing the odd lit office in the building across the street fly by. An uncommon experience back then.
We did over a hundred jumps from that building without notice or attention. If you are doing for the approval of others, you would be quietly banned.
It is now commonplace in many areas. It isn’t a big deal.
It is fun as hell, though.
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Flip Flop
climber
Earth Planet, Universe
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Dec 12, 2018 - 05:50pm PT
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Chicken. Quitter. Aren't you? A quitter, that is.
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BASE104
Social climber
An Oil Field
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Dec 13, 2018 - 10:22am PT
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This place has become so infested with wankers.
I rarely visit.
Now I am done.
To the good folks: get outside and do something.
To guys like that above, stop masturbating so often.
Out.
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