1338

[Pikey]

Andy Copland - BASE 1338

Jump 1
Antenna
May 4th 07 - 1am
300ft


I was in a little town in Georgia on a skydiving vacation from the UK when i met a man who was flat packing a canopy into a home made BASE container (it used to be a dolphin.) I had a huge interest in BASE and recognised instantly what i was looking at, so i went over without saying anything and just watched, taking mental notes. I figured the man would just ignore me but that night he came up to me while i was sinking a beer and said "So you wanna BASE jump?" and without much thought i said yes. I was 22 at the time and was thinking with desire and not common sense. That night i was doing an outside climb, up an AM antenna that broadcasted Gospel radio. I was wearing his dolhpin BASE rig with a Fury220. As i got to exit he explained that he was getting ready to PCA me and i waited, when he said he was ready i spent 10 minutes doing nothing but leaning out til my arms got tired and i had no choice but to jump or fall. I didnt want to climb down.

I left the object a little head low but opened on heading and landed right in the middle of a graveyard. I got my head together and started stashing the gear. It was then that i realised i had half a bridle and no pilot chute. The bridle slipped between the V in the steel and as it deployed my canopy it burnt my bridle in half. I stepped away from BASE not sure i wanted any part of it again.

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Jump 2
Span
March 2nd 08 - 8am
190ft

I couldn't help but call some locals after trying to find them when I moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. I got hold of Jimmy Kensill (BASE725) and offered my assistance ground crewing. I turned up a few days later and he had a rig for me which was a bit of a surprise. With borrowed gear i managed to clip a tree in the landing area dropping me heavily. Next step, buy my own gear while ground crewing for these chaps jumping towers all night.

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Jump 34
Building
August 16th 08 - 2am
240ft

We had been looking at a building that was being put up along the Ohio river, Kentucky side. A beautiful new luxery apartment building with 21 floors. We checked it out for 2 nights, watching security and assessing other factors. We planned it down to every detail we could think of before we decided to give it a try. I was with 725 and 1081. We got to our exit point after multiple failed attempts on doors before we got lucky. At exit I watched the night guard walk around with his torch, looking at the bushes before getting back into his car, which was directly below exit point at this time. He didn't move so we all got ready and went for it in quick succession, they gave me the honour of going first and opening it up.

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Jump 93
Earth
June 20th 09 - 6am
330+ft

This jump started last year, when i saw a picture of the falls, i knew straight away i had to jump it. I contacted locals and it seemed that there was literally only 1 guy in the area and he was going to be in Switzerland when we arrived. We packed our gear and hit the road, i was with 725 and Josh Cook who also needed this cliff to qualify for BASE. We arrived at the falls at 4am and they looked pissed off. Water was hammering down and we spent that morning scouting exit points and also checking the turbulance from the waterfall. It was starting to look non jumpable with the rain they had recently had and the winds coming from it. We pitched our tent 3 miles away, lit a fire, drank some beers and settled down for the night thinking about what tomorrow would bring.

We awoke to a cold morning and headed for the falls, the weather had been dry and it was much better conditions so we geared up. Jimmy went first, I wanted him to jump that very second to stop freaking me out. He left and had a nice jump, good delay and on heading with landing . We got on the radio and asked how it was:

"Jimmy, how was she? Over."
"Winds are good, good opening, landing is a breeze. Over."
"excellent, give me 2 minutes."
"That was a fucking scary jump"
"Thanks Jim, just what i want to hear before i jump"

I will never lose the image of seeing the walls around me and a waterfall to my left, infact I opened facing it as i was staring at it when I tossed my PC. I landed and waited for Josh, he done excellent and landed with wide eyes, dropping his toggles to the ground and throwing his arms up in the air in what can only be described as a look of disbelief.


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