Moab Restrictions

[guest]

YOu mean to tell me that everyone who has been lifted out of there, or helped out by SAR that is not base jumping related has had insurance and reimbursed the SAR, medical bills, etc.? I would find that very hard to believe.

[guest]

Okay kids lets keep the arguing to a minimum. Im going to try to contact Matt and Earl to get some email/ phone numbers for us to start bombarding. Tell me the addresses that you need or the letters you want written. I have the time to spare. Ill post the numbers here when I get them.

jeremy

[guest]

Yep, maybe I got a little upset. But I would be happy with the names and addresses of the Grand County Council and if there is more than one BLM official. "Nyland plans to sit down with BLM officials to discuss specific restrictions that he will take to the Grand County Council for approval."
My opinion is that one voice is better than no voice.
Thanks
Brian S

[guest]

Oh hi
I am a member of Grand County Search and Rescue and editor of Silt Happens.
First- Personally I do not favor restrictions of launch sites for all the reasons stated and I wouldn't like it either if I base jumped. Freedom of choice and personal responsibility are good things.
Second- the arguement that the cliffs are safer in the Parks cuz they're higher is sooooo stupid. The average cliff height in and out of the parks is the same. Open you eyes.
Third- the 4 base accidents recently had nothing to do with cliff height. We've had 2 off headings resulting in wall strikes, a fellow who didn't check to see if his chute was packed correctly and a pilot error under full chute flight.
There will always be a leading cause of callouts for Search and Rescue. You all are moving up the list fast.
Who pays? We charge you and everybody else. Just turn in the bill to your insurance. If you have no insurance, blow us off. That's surly a sign of being cool.
So?

[web]

while i can't provide statistics to affirm or refute your statement as to average cliff-height on BLM vs NPS-administered lands, i do take issue with your contentions pertaining to the wall-strikes. given sufficient altitude to build airspeed in freefall, a jumper can trim his/her body to achieve significant horizontal movement. this movement, termed "tracking", is used to gain separation from obstacles. with sufficient separation, canopy heading on opening becomes less of an issue as the jumper has more time to make corrections to avoid an object-strike.

this point being made, there are a number of well-known terrestrial features on NPS-administered lands which provide the necessary vertical distance necessary for successful tracking and deployment in clear air. notwithstanding some spectacular failures by individual jumpers departing tall objects, more unobstructed vertical distance beneath an exit point is a good place to start in designing a safer jump.

thanx so much for all your help. here's hoping i never find myself in need of your services. "Silt Happens" just got added to my list of favorite websites.

blueskies!

p.s.: not that it's guaranteed to do any good but, if there's an address where one might send a contribution to GCSAR, it wouldn't hurt to post it. we aren't all destitute and/or thankless.

[guest]

Bego:

Thanks for your comments, but alas you are as uninformed as the good sheriff about different things.

Cliff height does in fact have a _major_ effect on everything. The longer a freefall you can do, the farther away from the cliff you can get with a decent "track" position, thereby exponentially reducing your chances of wall strikes regardless of opening attitude or pilot skill.
Period. Basic fact of physics.

And while the walls of your local national parks are the same general height as those on BLM land around Moab, my refe3rence to the higher walls in national parks and monuments referred not to the tiny little 300-500-foot walls around Moab (in and out of the parks) but the massive monolith/talus slopes of Yosemite Valley (1,000-3,000 feet), the Black Canyon of the Gunnison (1,600-2,200 feet), Zion (1,000 - 2,000 feet), Glacier (1,000 feet +), Dinosaur (1,000 feet +) and others which I don't know about or don't want to broadcast....

Hopefully, this will open _your_ eyes just a bit there, Mr/ms Bego. Remember, the world does not begin and end at Moab, though it is such a wonderful little piece of the planet that I can see why one could fall into that way of thinking. :)

Thanks for your interest and contribution to the Board... and how do I get a sample copy of "Silt Happens" ?

Love,


Robin Heid