El Gigante Trip Yeilds 35 Sick and Twisted Jumps

**basehound** · March 3rd, 2003, 08:36 PM

A burst transmission from down south..... via satelite/generator internet. Besides mastering the spanish language......... many el jumpos made with deep delays...... except for the few loads people chose to carry accessories on........(handbags). We will post a full report when we get back to reality. Of course after visiting the local lounges in El Paso.

Jay, Damian, Drew, Matt&Ray(The Estrogen Brothers), Steve)(The Dubious Doctor), Jim(The Mad Proffessor), and Mad-Man Benny.(oh and El Guapo)

p.s. we will post some sick video as soon as we can get to a good connection.

P.s.s. We have two trips tenatively planned for May ...........

cp · March 3rd, 2003, 08:51 PM

right now, i'm sitting in a very dry and boring class.;(

but you guys are world heros, live it up! :D

**Craig** · March 5th, 2003, 07:35 AM

A video has made it's way to skydivingmovies.com:

ftp://ftp.skydivingmovies.com/upload...%202%20way.mpg (20 MB)

**basehound** · March 6th, 2003, 10:19 AM

After dropping off our clients yesterday, I find myself with a few moments to post a semi-complete report.
After 12+ hours of transport from El Paso,(tolls, customs, border crossings, hassles, millitary checkpoints, ect.) we arrived in Basaseachi and enjoyed a good nights sleep. We got up early and finished some logistical tasks.
We moved the group to the top of El Gigante and I jumped in to demonstrate. Jim W. promptly jumped in behind me. Ray M., Matt M., Dr. Kinnet , and Drew E. followed respectfully. Of course with Damian coming in last.
I am very sorry to report that Dr. Kinnet misjudged his landing and was injured severely. We initiated first aid, back-boarded him, and started a heli-rescue. Dr. K thought he had either broken his back, his cochix(sp??)his pelvis, or maybe something else. As it turns out.... Steve broke all of the above. Steve is one of the most pain-tollerant people on G-ds green earth. He refused to leave that day, and tuffed it out over night, untill he realized just how broken up he was. We wanted to heli-vac him to Chihuahua, but he refused to be put back into the chopper. We made him as comfortable as possible, and loaded him up in a vehicle. Jim W. (the man) decided to drive Steve and his Girlfriend Milly to the El Paso. Jim scooped El G #3, and felt he had gotten what he came for. He also has spent some time with the doc at the cave, and wanted to be the one helping him back out of Mexico.
We are very sorry to have had an incident involving injury. Steve(if you don't know who he is, was the poster child for Bridge Day last year) is a very experienced canopy pilot. This accident reinstates how unfriendly the enviroment outside the l.z. really is. It is one hundred percent unlikely you will remain unscathed if you choose to land out. This wall is at the confluence of three seperate river canyons. The winds are questionable every day after 9 a.m.. It is nescesarry to be on top by 7 a.m. daily. Normally one to three loads can be made in the morning. Access out from the bottom is pressently not possible... beside there being too much water in the river to cross, there are a couple of local growers(of you know what), that would not appreciate any gringos rolling thru their fields. The logging road in to the top area has been destroyed by torrential downpour. The gov. has plans to rebuild the road in the next year.
We are currently working with the local and state gov. to build horse trails in to the base thru one of the other canyons. We are hoping to organize the area into a more accesible area within the next year.Our hopes are that in the near future, it will be possible for people to roll down there on their own, and be able to jump these sites with minimal assistance. The local gov. will start allowing limited jumping two and a half months a year . At pressent time, a guiding service is required. Presently we are the only company certified to guide jumpers in the area. We are planning on bringing Gabriel Ruiz with us next trip in order to properly pass on all pertanent information to him. We are psyched to be opening up such a cool area. The Gov. in Mexico is difficult to deal with at times. The most important thing about jumping in Mexico is to be responsible for your group. You are solely responsible for all evacuation and medical treatment. You can not rely on the Millitary or Gov. to come pick up the pieces. There is NO infrastructure to help you. If there is one more incident in the canyon involving the millitary....... thats it...... we have been warned ....... they will shut down the entire area forever.
An example of how things work. Two years ago a girl was swept over the waterfall and dies. It takes 3 days to find the body. The millitary helicopters in to do the recovery. After the recovery, the Fed Gov. locks up all paths to the falls, canyon, and park. They literally padlock everything shut. It took a lot just to open the area back up to hikers.

Anyhow, back to the trip..... for the next 3 days Matt, Ray, Drew, Damian and I made 1 to 2 jumps a morning, averaging between 14-18 seconds on each jump. Matt and Ray got six, while Drew, Damian, and I got in seven. We all clocked almost TWO MINUTES of freefall time in four days of jumping. Damian and I flew wingsuits on a load or two. We had an amazing time, and were able to coordinate a couple of loads where we used the chopper to film people as they launched.

Matt, Ray , and Drew performed flawlessly, and proved just what kind of jumpers they are.The kindd we want on future trips. They also showed us their master skills at horseback riding(which turned out to be one of the coolest things they did the entire week). They took an afternoon and rode out to the top of the Piedra Volada(an 1800 foot waterfall).

Here's a few small video clips of the sickness.......
http://basehound.tripod.com/Video/El...te_two_way.wmv
http://basehound.tripod.com/Video/El...irdman_mix.wmv
ftp://ftp.skydivingmovies.com/UPLOADS/El Gigante Birdman Jump.mpg
ftp://ftp.skydivingmovies.com/UPLOADS/El Gigante 2 Way.mpg

And a few photos.........
http://basehound.tripod.com/sitebuil...roup_photo.jpg

http://basehound.tripod.com/sitebuil...y_at_ledge.jpg

http://basehound.tripod.com/sitebuil.../heli_shot.jpg

We want to thank everyone who joined us, as well as all the people who gave us amazing support to make this dream possible. We are truly appreciative to the Mexican Gov. for allowing us to enjoy a National Park to the fullest point possible.

We have two 7 day trips planned in Mid May. We are planning on 5 to 6 days of jumping on those trips. We also have one trip planned for October, which we may run in cunjunction with a cave trip. I will be updating our website when I return from Mexico in two weeks. I will be deep incountry working on a few new large(I mean LARGE) projects. Putting myself in mortal danger in order to further our sport(hee-heee). Somebody has gotta do it.

From Down South,
Jay and Ben
www.adrenalineexploits.com

p.s. the scariest part of the trip....... the drive down there.......way dangerous.

p.s.s. Anyone with any questions about the area is more that welcome to contact me via email... jayepstein@hotmail.com or phone 303-898-7562.

**basehound** · March 13th, 2003, 01:37 AM

http://basehound.tripod.com/sitebuil...basaseachi.jpg
At the end of a three week roadtrip, I am sad to leave Mexico City as I have been shown a marvelous time by my gracious host Gabriel Ruiz. He was kind enough to escort me to the top of his favorite span(2 hours from my moms) . An amazing site, as you jump from a pillar at 660 ft. , and use the road to key off for pull time. I spent two days jumping at the local DZ(45 minutes from my moms place) out of one of Chicagos super otters. The tickets were a couple of dollars expensive..... but the dollar coronas and stellar scene more than made up for it. A week before we got there a cow ran out on the runway, and got smacked by the landing gear(no damage to the plane), the cow flip flopped down the runway, and layed there for about 10 minutes. It got back up and had a tire mark for its trouble...... that's Mexico.
I scoped a 1200-2000 foot wall pretty close to my moms. I'll probably check it out with Gabriel in May.
I beleive due to scheduling conflicts, we will actually be running only one trip in May to Copper Canyon. We have rescheduled our Cave of the Swallows trip for late May. Our cost on it will be 2200. We will base it out of Mexico City(cheaper airline tickets)(1.5 hours more drive time), and offer an extra three day extension at my families private retreat near the D.Z., with a probable large span jump involved(extra 175). We will also start offering the girlfriend slot(yes..... much cheaper) in order to make everyone happy. On our Copper Canyon trips, it'll include a private cabin,one day of horse back riding, two days of riding the heli out to watch you jump(you stud you), and of course all food, lodging , and transport.
Marta , Jimmy and a few other clients have signed up for May in Copper Canyon. We will be running this trip with 3 guides, 2 live in base-ground crew, 1 medical personal, and of course heli-crew. We are willing to take up to 9 jumpers on our May outing. This trip will be a 7 day trip with hopefully 5 days of jumping. We hope to yeild at least 6-10 jumps per person. We are obviously only looking for experienced jumpers who are into a little bit of exploration(via helicopter of course). Please contact me if you are interested, and fit into this criteria.
http://basehound.tripod.com/sitebuil...oup_photo2.jpg

Jay
www.adrenalineexploits.com

p.s. http://basehound.tripod.com/sitebuil...ico_Bridge.jpg