Switzerland 2009

I sit here now in a van heading for France for more BASE jumping after almost a week in Switzerland BASE jumping with Team ILL VISION. Three days of wet weather and slippery exit points was followed by bright blue skies and two jumps via helicopter from the Eiger Mushroom as the trip’s highlight.

I was fortunate enough to meet many incredible people and made close to 15 jumps total for the trip.

Switzerland’s Lauderbrunnen Valley is a place of dreams, not only for its remarkable access to the biggest mountains of Europe or it’s simple quite and beautiful laid back farming style, the food or the people but the opportunity to pursue whatever outdoor sport you wish.

The area is lush with forest and incredibly huge granite walls on both sides. Trains and cable cars allow sportsmen and families alike to reach trials and vista’s unimaginable by American standards. The beauty of the area is nothing short of breath taking in all directions and one could spend months in just this one area and never scratch the surface of what is truly offered.

The area is reminiscent of R.J. Tolkin’s “The Hobbit” and brings to mind the place he called “Rivendale.” Some of the farming family’s history is over 500 years old still tending to cows and grass pastures. Nomes, hobbits and elves? I get it now. You have to see this to believe it.

Traveling, another sense permanently embeding an area to memory is sound. The area is rich with the sounds of church bells ringing every 15 mins, the clanging of cow bells, helicopters echoing through the valley everyday, all day and the constant flow of waterfalls 360 degrees.

Water is never a problem. The weeping walls of the valley produce some of the cleanest and freshest water I have ever tasted. Public free flowing fountains can be found on many street corners flowing fast enough to fill a 2 liter bottle of water in a matter of seconds.

The outdoors is shared by everyone from hard core extremists to families, the old and young alike. Even at the most remote destinations all the comforts of home can be found complete with toys and parks just for keeping the kids entertained.

I am incredibly grateful at the opportunity to experience my sport and life in such a setting. Below are a few pics. I will have more up on my Gallery later. For now I must go. We are reaching our destination in France and should be at another incredible huge exit point soon, more to come.

Check out some more pics here of our BASE jumping.

HP

Yes, I am still alive

Where do I begin. Many of you have written wondering why I haven't made any posts.
It's been well over a month, I know.

I made a last minute, risk it all adventure. An old friend and jumping partner offered the opportunity I have been attempting to create for several years now.
The opportunity to help bring his team, Team ILL VISION, to the next step. Now none of us know what that is, but he knew that it was time to push it to the next level. So, I signed on as Team Development, documentation and marketing.
I had three weeks to move years of baggage and stuff, pack my car and shut the house down ready for a Hurricane. Took a week to drive out West stopping at several friends places along the way. I finally made it to Perris Valley, CA for some work with world renown aerial cinematographer, Craig O'Brien. Those event posts are below.

My girl, Shireen, flew into Huntington and we took a week driving up the coast, which was awesome. The highlight being the Hearst Castle and two nights and threes day in Big Sur. We hiked, walked and took in the sights. I will post those shortly. The coast is amazing.

I eventually reached my destination of Northern California on May 16th. Shireen helped me settle in to my new place and then it was straight to work. And let me tell you, it's been busy. The calender is booked solid with travel and events.
I plan on posting pictures here as I move through them. Really just wanted to give you a quick update and start posting.

Current Project, Team ILL VISION
Enjoy the pics below from our recent trip to Twin Falls, ID and the Perrine Bridge where the team jumped with others four days in a row during great weather.
That makes two blogs I am running and of course my Facebook page. If you are interested and want to keep up on the latest. Those three outlets are where to look and all three will have slightly different postings and pictures depending on the audience.
My life has taken an incredible and exciting turn. One thing I really notice is the view. Completely different, as you will see.
Thanks for all the support. Look forward to seeing many in Sebastian coming this winter.

The ride out to Idaho was amazing. As soon as we made it through Reno the desert opened up, the cell phone slowly died and for the first time, in a long time, I let myself disconnect from the matrix. It was wonderful. Ten hours of just open country and the elusive "No Service" Sings, on my phone, on the road. Perfect. I could feel my breathing change, my mood elevate and the conversation took a different tone. It was by far one of the best mobile offices I've ever had.

All these were taken from the truck. Sometimes and open window, sometimes closed and then sometimes through the front window filtered with bugs and road stuff. To see some BASE jumping Pics go to Team ILL VISION.

Perris 100 Way Camp COMPLETION

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The end is here. The camp is over. LAST jump and my group did it! They completed. The other group had to do a go around, lost floaters and had to land.

What a great weekend. Never before have I seen a camp this big where people generated so much big way experience. The learning curve was HIGH to say the least. Many of these peoples limits were pushed beyond their own expectations.

Any of you looking to take your RW to the next level should check out Perris Valley Skydiving

It's the end of the day, pictures n people are going crazy and I gotta pack up and get to the next adventure.

I will be on the road and not sure when I will post next. Stay tuned. It's going to be an interesting summer.

Make sure you check out the pics and leave a comment!

Aerial Pink Play House Breast Cancer Fundrasier, Perris Valley Skydiving

Gonna make this quick. It's early, I was up late, I'm late and on a 10 min. call. The party was great.
The organizers really did a bang up job on this party. The planning was top notch and it showed. From carny games to sumo wrestling to a spread of food it was all there. A great fundraiser for a great cause created by a an awesome group of people.

Here are the pics. I'm on a 5 minute call. Enjoy!

Want to tag yourself, your friends? Many more Pics. Just Go to my FACEBOOK profile.

Saturday at Perris Valley Big Way Camps with P3

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Want to tag yourself, your friends? Go to my FACEBOOK profile.

Gonna make this quick. Great party going on.

Another awesome day of jumping. Flew in the left trail and left, left trail all day. Great group of people in both planes.

No completions yet but it's so close many of us thought it was a done deal until we looked at the pics.

Five jumps, full altitude, took all day. That's it. Gonna party with the gang. Think I'm a carny for a booth tonight.

Enjoy the pics

Friday 100-Way Camp

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Want to tag yourself, your friends? Go to my FACEBOOK profile.

If you like this blog or the pics, please leave a comment at the bottom.

Made five loads today. Didn't get a completion but everyone had a lot of fun. There are a lot of new people here really pushing their comfort zones and limits. I don't think I have ever seen an event where you really get the chance to learn. Everyone did the same dive all day and for some of the dives it really paid off and a completion here or there was missed only by a few.

And, no one gets upset. Learning is a process. Tomorrow I am sure the group will be mixed up and even more progress will be made.

Today, we all stayed with the same group and the same airplane. I was blessed with the right trail trail, the newly painted Shark, out of five airplanes I am in the last one on the right. And, I was with the funnest airplane for sure. Many of the jumpers were members of TEAM Awesome! and they don't get that name as a group for nothing. Smiles on every load, chants and good vibes.

From our airplane we could see the entire plane formation all the way to altitude. Just a blast. Our communication with each other made for some smooth climb outs and exits.

Our camera team even grouped up after opening for some formation flying and landings on every load. Challenging all the way till our feet hit the ground.

Tomorrow is going to go big. The organizers have something up their sleeves and the girls are throwing down BIG for a fund raising party for Jump For the Cause, breast cancer.

The "Aerial Pink Playhouse" will boast a boxing ring, sumo wrestling, a bouncy house as well as a climbing wall and carnival games! There will also be a DJ, magician, face painting and belly dancing, I an told. Supposedly the boxing ring will feature boxing rounds with the organizers - Dan BC, BJ Worth, Larry Henderson, Doug Forth..........

A "Pleasure Station" will feature "MonaTinis" a martini made with Mona Vie, jello shots and free beer. They even plan to hold a "boobalicious" bake sale.

So stay tuned for more action from the P3 100 Camps here at Perris Valley Skydiving.

Perris Valley 100 Way Camp Blasts off

Want to check out all the pics, go to the low priced, easy download GALLERY.

Want to tag yourself, your friends? Go to my FACEBOOK profile.

If you like this blog or the pics, please leave a comment at the bottom. Feedback is rare and greatly appreciated. Would love to hear what you think.

This Thursday afternoon the P3 group from Perris Valley Skydiving brings together all the instruction from last weekends big ways to this weekends 100-way camp.

The P3 organizing team consists of Dan BC, Kate Cooper-Jensen, Tony Domenico and Larry Henderson. The Participants consist of new up-and-coming big way enthusiasts, as well as many veteran large formation skydivers.

Today we made four loads for two groups of 110 people. That's five planes back to back alllllllll day long. The first two loads went to 13,500 for basic base building and whacker site orientation. The last two loads went to full camp altitude of 16,500 ft requiring O2. Both loads got closer and closer to completion as organizers cleaned up slots and traffic.

Overall a great day of jumping. We have a nine person camera team, four on each load and one on the ground downloading. The plan is to keep our group and switch planes so even we as the camera crew get to hone our skills on every jump. And let me tell you, this is way fun. Floating on big formations is a wild ride and using O2 requires ones attention. Once all the floaters are outside the airplane the pilots must keep their positions relative to the lead plane and that can be a bumpy fun ride. Time is crucial to position oneself perfectly with the base making sure for excellent and professional debrief video. The pressure is nothing but pure overdoses of satisfaction.

The organizers definitely have their hands full and at the same time progress is the proof after every jump.

Overall a very successful day of jumping for all involved here at Perris Valley. Enjoy the pics and please leave a comment if you like what you see.

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