Fuel for the basejumpers?

I'm not a BASE jumper.... but I am aware of the ongoing battle that many of you face in getting access to jump in different areas (its illegal)

Yeah thats lame. I feel for all of you.

With that said - why was this man's fun legal, and BASE isn't?

Man flys jet wing thing over the Grand Canyon

He took off from and landed on the hualapai reservation so I assume that had something to do with it.

I'm sure if you paid enough money you could base jump off that skybridge thing all you wanted.

Tyson Anderson wrote:He took off from and landed on the hualapai reservation so I assume that had something to do with it.

From the article: "...reaching speeds of up to 190 mph, before parachuting to the canyon floor in a suit that allows him to maneuver using his own movements."

I'm sure he just gave them lots of money.

EDIT: I see you're talking about the helicopter now. I'm not sure why that would make a difference.

He parachuted into the canyon, but before that was flying an "experimental plane" at almost 200 mph. The only flight controls the jet had was his own body. Just like a squirrel suit, only with a jet pack. He could have crashed into the canyon and destroyed tons of stuff.

I don't see how any amount of money should make it legal for him to do something that is basically a million times worse than BASE.

clevernamehere wrote:He parachuted into the canyon, but before that was flying an "experimental plane" at almost 200 mph. The only flight controls the jet had was his own body. Just like a squirrel suit, only with a jet pack. He could have crashed into the canyon and destroyed tons of stuff. I don't see how any amount of money should make it legal for him to do something that is basically a million times worse than BASE.

Sounds like Yves had a ton of fun. Sounds like you don't know what you are talking about.

It's the Native American's land, they can authorize whatever they wish.

Base jumpers have been flaunting the laws and causing problems for a long time.

grayhghost wrote: Sounds like Yves had a ton of fun. Sounds like you don't know what you are talking about. It's the Native American's land, they can authorize whatever they wish. Base jumpers have been flaunting the laws and causing problems for a long time.

What? The Grand Canyon is owned by the National Parks, which is why BASE is illegal there. Which is why people like Chris McNamara and countless others are fined and penalized for jumping there. Sounds like you don't know what you are talking about.

Besides that, the point I'm making is why is it legal for some people to play in the National Parks however they see fit, and others are penalized for it?

clevernamehere wrote: What? The Grand Canyon is owned by the National Parks, which is why BASE is illegal there.

Not all of it, some is owned by the Tribe. This chunk is where the stunts (Dirt biking off the rim with a parachute, skateboarding off the rim with a parachute, flying a jet contraption, etc.) are done to circumvent the NPS. Tyson Anderson explained this to you in the second post.

clevernamehere wrote: Besides that, the point I'm making is why is it legal for some people to play in the National Parks however they see fit, and others are penalized for it?

Because base jumpers, for the most part, are incredibly irresponsible people. You can read one story here and more directly to the point you can read how base jumpers screwed yosemite

I know that guy had to get FAA approval to fly.

Josh Cameron wrote:Except when they go to the ER and claim they got hurt rock climbing.

Yeah, climbers have never used that ER trick themselves.

Not the Wisconsin climbers.

The Larry wrote: Base jumpers as a whole are no more or less irresponsible than any other user group.

True. Base jumpers are just much more visible, meaning their irresponsibility shows up on the land manager's radar more often.

helicopter traffic in the lower canyon is insane.during the daytime hours, from sunup to sundown there is at least one visible chopper at any given point on the river, the most I saw at once was 5 overhead. BASE jumping is far less obtrusive and actually cool, unlike hords of vegas tourons swooping overhead.