This year is going to be the events biggest and best year ever.

We are in the planning stages now for outdoor concerts, freestyle motocross exhibitions, bungee jumping and of course, B.A.S.E. jumping from the tallest suspension bridge in the World.

Go Fast event company has once again hired Apex BASE to be in charge of the most challenging B.A.S.E. event that is offered anywhere. If you would like to participate in this year's event, it is by invitation only.

To apply for an invitation, please submit a request to moab@apexbase.com You MUST have at least 100 B.A.S.E. jumps and be completely competant in your accuracy skills. You also must play well with others. We will check references on all applicants.

We return victorious!

We would like to thank our Venezuelan organizers Ygor Almeida and Pedro Moretti for once again making this trip possible.

We would also like to congratulate the following jumpers who made the outstanding effort to accomplish the dream!

Damian Doucette USA
Jack Cravatt USA
Yves Escudier France
Chris Knopf Germany
Al Howard UK
Mark Sutton UK
Mark Allen USA
Mark Krasinski USA
Larry Lemaster USA
Baxter Gillespie USA
Matt Kekati UK
Jim McGovern USA
Mike Cook USA
Mike “Mad Dog” McGuire USA
Marta Empinotti Brazil/USA

Here is a sweet video put together by one of the jumpers, Mike Cook, of Motionfish Productions. It is a 29M file, so it will take about 15 minutes to upload on a high speed connection.
Check it out: Angel Falls Vid.wmv



Angel Falls Adventure 2008
By Jimmy Pouchert

On January 27th, 2008, Apex BASE in conjunction with Venezuelan dropzone owner Ygor Almeida and logistics expert Pedro Moretti took a group of 13 jumpers into the heart of the Venezuelan rainforest to jump the world’s tallest waterfall, Angel Falls. Going to Angel Falls in the heart of the Venezuelan rainforest is always an adventure. Bringing a group of jumpers from around the world into Caracas and then moving them into the interior of the Country and up the river to the base of the falls is always interesting to say the least. Basically, it goes like this, we set everything up prior to the beginning of the trip. Once we arrive, we find out that half of the plans have changed and we need to adapt and overcome. This year was certainly no different. Two years ago, we were escorted by the National Guard and once we had arrived in Caracas, were traveling in conjunction with them all the way to the falls and back. This allowed us to use their transportation and considerable pull within country to iron out the rough spots. Not many civilians have any interest in confronting men with guns. This year was supposed to be the same, but about a week prior to arrival, the National Guard that was supposed to be with us was called to the Columbian border in response to a dispute. This left us without our escort and without the use of the Skytrucks that were to fly us into the interior.

Ygor Almeida and Pedro Moretti are the Venezuelans that make the trip happen for us. Without them, the trip would not happen. Once again, they pulled through in fine style. They made all of the new arrangements in record time and to make a long story short, continued to pull rabbits from their hats from start to finish.

We require that all participants have at least 50 BASE jumps and that everyone has strong canopy skills in order to qualify for the trip. The other thing that we ask is that everyone is the type of person who can handle changes in schedules and plans along the way. We were very lucky this year in that as the plans would consistently change, the clients would just smile and laugh it off. We were also lucky that we continued to move forward and didn’t have any setbacks that really affected us. Not to say that it wasn’t touch and go at times.

When we lost the National Guard escort, we lost our permit to jump. Angel Falls is in a National Park, which makes it illegal to jump without a permit. With some amazing dedication and waiting around in government offices for hours at a time, Ygor and Pedro were able to secure the first civilian permit issued by the National Parks to specifically BASE jump Angel Falls, ever. It’s not that all previous jumps and trips were illegal, it’s just that the permits didn’t specifically permit BASE jumping. Unfortunately, the permit specifically stated that no publicity would be allowed. This turned out to mean that the head of the National Park that we were in, who accompanied us, would not allow any filming of logoed canopies or rigs, and even went so far as to make us put gaffer’s tape over our Apex logo on the windblades in the landing area so that they were unreadable. Fortunately, only two of the canopies on the trip had logos on them, but I was required to tape over the footage of these canopies in flight.

Another situation was helicopter fuel. In order to access the top of the falls to jump and to be picked up out of the landing area below the falls, it requires a helicopter. It is also necessary to have enough fuel to rescue any stranded or injured jumpers as well as to make it back out of the jungle. When we lost the National Guard, we also lost the fuel that they are able to supply. The town that we were supposed to get the extra fuel from ran out of fuel just before we arrived and this fuel never showed up. We had just enough fuel for everyone to do one jump, plus the necessary surplus.

Angel Falls is created by water from rain falling on top of a 3,000 foot tall mesa that thrusts up out of the rainforest. These mesas are a unique feature to this part of Venezuela and they are spectacular. The mesas are called Tepuis. The more rain that falls, the larger and more powerful the falls become. There is a landing area at the base of the falls that is about the size of two tour busses parked side by side. The rest of the area around the base of the falls is covered by rocks and low trees. Beyond this area, the rainforest becomes solid 100 foot trees with absolutely no alternate landing areas apart from one extremely small open area which is so small the helicopter can’t even land there. During the rainy season, the falls are so heavy that they create too much turbulence to safely land anywhere near the base of the falls. In early February, it is considered the dry season and we were lucky to have excellent conditions. The other phenomenom with the tepuis, are there ability to make clouds. The warm extremely moist air will flow up the sides of the tepuis and will completely cloak Angel Falls in a cloud that just sits there, preventing jumping due to a lack of visibility for the jumper.

On our final aviation leg to the base of the river in a place called Punta Ordaz, we were told that only ourselves and just what we needed to jump along with one overnight could fit in the chartered airplanes, a Gulfstream and a Cessna 206. Also that the plane was leaving in 15 minutes. It was like a scene out of a comedy. At first everyone was staring at each other with open mouths, then the organizers said, "or we could just stay here overnight, if we miss the planes." Instantly people began ripping into their bags and sorting out rigs, cameras and toothbrushes. We understood that the rest of our luggage would be coming the following morning, so no one grabbed extra underwear, t-shirts, pants, etc... As it turned out, we didn't see the rest of our luggage until we came back down river 3 days later. The beauty of this is that we learned that everyone overpacked and apart from a few odds and ends, no one missed a single thing and we learned how easy it is to live simply, at least for a few days anyway.

This year, we arrived at base camp at around 11 a.m. and the falls were covered by a cloud, while the rest of the sky was clear and blue. This is usually a pretty good sign. We all moved into our hammocks and got our gear ready to board the helicopter at a moment’s notice. At around 3 p.m. the falls cleared and we sent the ground crew up to the landing area to set up the wind blades. The first load of four jumpers were on their way up to the exit point when the cloud magically formed over the falls. As fuel was limited, and things were not looking good, we aborted for the day and brought everyone back down to camp.

This left us with two days to get a break from the weather gods. Our permit to jump was from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. each day. At sunrise on the second day, the falls were completely clear. By 10 a.m. the dreaded cloud had formed over the falls and there was a lot of nervous tension in the air around base camp. It is always a possibility that the weather will completely shut us down after spending so much money and effort just to get there. At around noon, the falls started peeking out and we sent the crew up to the landing area to wait for a clear window. After about an hour, the weather cleared and we started to shuttle the jumpers up to the exit point. What separates this jump from all others is the unique characteristics and the visuals that the jumper experiences. The chopper drops you off right on the exit rock to the right of the waterfall. Over eons the water has carved out a giant bowl in the side of the tepui. As you exit, the water to your left is suddenly revealed and it is falling away from you. As you gain speed, you overtake the water’s terminal velocity and for one moment, you are falling at the exact speed as the water. You then begin to outpace the water and it once again becomes an indistinct blur. You are now inside the giant bowl and begin to reach tracking speed. Below and in front of you on each side are two 1,500 foot pillars with a gap between them of about 1,000 feet. You track right in between these pillars and the visual is unforgettable. After passing the tops of the pillars, most jumpers begin to feel like getting a parachute out sooner rather than later. Once you are open, the real challenge of Angel Falls begins. With a medium flow of water, the water hitting the bottom of the wall and pushing outward creates about a 10 knot headwind with some turbulence. The landing area looks very small from above and you know that it is either make the landing area or land in a tree or a pile of rocks. Most of the jumpers made the landing area or very close to it with no injuries. To look around the landing area at the faces of the jumpers who have just jumped Angel Falls is amazing. The smiles and laughter fueled by doses of adrenaline and some of the most amazing visuals most will ever experience is unforgettable. Angel Falls is without a doubt one of the jewels in the crown of BASE jumping. To travel so far and to commit so much time, effort and money with no guarantee of success makes Angel Falls a life changing experience. To travel by plane, taxi, shuttle, tram, boat, foot and helicopter to a place that most people will never even see first hand is an experience in and of itself. To throw a BASE jump in is icing on the cake, for most jumpers.

Three days of jumping a beautiful 1,850 foot cliff in the Little Colorado canyon in Arizona.

We are returning from 3 days in the desert with dusty smiles on our faces. The event was one that we all will remember for the rest of our lives. Details coming soon. Here are some of the comments from the customers:


"Great Trip Jimmy, Marta, Dave and Tim, the Paramedic crew, high angle rescue guys and gals (glad we didn't need the latter two, except for thet PC extraction incident). Seemed like all in all it worked out quite well for most everyone. Was great seeing many of you again and making some new friends too, many thanks to everyone! wonderful site, fantastic fun!"

"Awesome trip! Much thanks to everyone that made it happen!"

"Had a blast!
Good seeing and jumping with all of you. A big thanks to Jimmy and Marta.
Best time ever."

"Can't thank you enough for the terrific time I had. Those jumps were so cool!!!!!
I always have trouble believing that I get to be a part of something like that. It's always a special feeling for me. And thanks Jimmy for the tips on BASE tracking. I never had any training or a mentor. Had to teach myself to pack and jump, so having someone like you guys give me tips and advice, really means a lot to a guy like me. Thanks."

"What a memorable trip! Thank you to everyone that worked so hard to make this trip work. It was a wonderful experience in every aspect. Too tired to elaborate more right now, but wanted to get an immediate thank you to everybody."

"That was fun!!!!!!!!!!! Let’s do it again J Thanks to Jimmy and Marta and the crews working the event that made it happen.
Another great APEX trip.
I can’t wait to see what’s next."

"Just a quick note to thank you for the awesome
time out there in that crazy place.. You put on great
event!!!"

"I wanted to say I had a fantastic time last week. I thought everything was very well organized and run very well. Several of us commented near the end how special it was to be able to do this in the US and at such a epic location."

"Hi Marta and Jimmy, Thanks so much for an amazing event. Your knowledge, experience and patience is priceless for the base community."

"What an awesome weekend! Really sorry I didn't get to see you before heading off but huge thanks for organising such a great boogie. You must make this an annual event and put my name down automatically in advance each year!"

"Thanks from Apex BASE to everyone who made this event so awesome, Dave Gibbs, Tim Gibbs, our paramedics-Casey and Erik, Our rope rescue team-Hanky, Lee, Steph and Dean, Our photographers-Chris H. and BAZ, The Locs-Eddie and Ken, the Navajo Nation, and most importantly, the customers, you all rock!"

"I wanted to say thank you again for taking care of me on the last trip. It was ranked in the top five life experiences ever....I am extremely fortunate to have met you two." -Ed



Here is the article written by Tom Dancs for Skydiving Magazine:

"Big Wall B.A.S.E. Jumping Comes of Age in the U.S."

Apex Base, together with the support of Go Fast Sports and Beverage Company, organized and hosted the first ever legal big wall BASE jumping event in the US from May 9th to the 11th. The helicopter assisted boogie took place on the Navajo Indian Nation, where the Little Colorado River Canyon is 1850ft deep. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of Jimmy Pouchert and Marta Empinotti, of Apex BASE, and to Eddie Barton’s tireless efforts, the Navajo Indian Nation granted permission for this event to occur in truly awe inspiring location.

Eddie Barton has spent the last 8 years scoping and taking GPS waypoints in the canyon to find the best exit points. He finally settled on the part of the canyon where the event took place, realizing that this where the canyon is the widest, and the walls are the biggest and cleanest for BASE jumping. Eddie quickly realized that if the dream of legal big wall jumping in the US was to become a reality, some serious logistics were going to be needed to make this a “safe as can be” event. Apex BASE has many years of experience across several continents with the planning and execution of BASE jumping events. In addition to designing and manufacturing state of the art BASE jumping equipment, Apex specializes in the management of logistics and safety coordination for such events.

Dave Gibbs, the helicopter pilot, arranged for the appropriate FAA permission to fly and land in the canyon for the duration of the event. This provided the team with a quick and very scenic ride out of the canyon with the Bell 206-L2 chopper. His brother Tim coordinated the loading of jumpers in the landing area. Together Dave and Tim provided the professional and confidence inspiring service that made multiple jumps into this canyon not just a possibility but a reality.

Hank Caylor, Lee Hardesty, Dean Potter, and Steph Davis were stationed near exit point, to affect high angle rescue if it were to be needed. Much to everyone’s pleasure, and due to the skill and professionalism of all the jumpers involved in this event, the rescue crew did a whole lot of sitting around. They were however able to make some jumps themselves, which helped to spice up their many hours of standing vigil.

Man With Women’s Job and Two Goat’s Fucking took up positions in the bottom of the canyon to provide paramedic support. They spent the majority of their time drinking Go Fast, and heckling the landed jumpers as appropriate throughout the event. Chris Hunter and Chris Bazil joined the team, to photograph the event and the amazing desert scenery.

The team made a total of 226 jumps over a three day period. On day one, most everyone made one jump. With the exception of one close call, all jumps went off uneventfully. After the first load, the winds picked up significantly all jumping were halted for the day, and the helicopter was sent home.
After the first load, the excitement in the air was apparent, and the anticipation for more jumps was high. Fingers were crossed that the next day would be calm as per the forecast.

Fortunately, and as predicted, the morning dawned with clear skies, and calm conditions the team was eager to get going. The first jumpers started lining up early in the morning to make the first jumps of the day. By the end of the second day most jumpers had made all of their budgeted 6 jumps. There were numerous wing suit and tracking suit jumps made, in addition to a hand full of aerials and two and three way jumps.

With the exception of a few unstable exits and a few low pulls, all jumps on the second day were executed well and without incident. Rumor has it that one of the paramedics provided one of the low pullers with nice strong kick in the bum, after he provided the folks on the ground with a bit of a scare. The majority of the non wing suit jumpers were taking conservative 8-12 second delays, depending on the distance achieved by tracking. As the event progressed, it became clear that most jumpers were getting better and better distance on their track. Certainly an asset when it comes to big wall jumps. On the last day of the event, and after a fuel supply assessment was made by the helicopter crew, and an additional jump was granted to those who chose to accept it.

Every conversation that was to be heard revolved around how spectacular this jump site is and for good reason. The visuals of jumping into this canyon were breathtaking to say the least. The initial few seconds had one falling past a narrow arête of sandstone. As the track began to kick-in the visual of the huge rock bowl which forms the base of the cliff, provided a sensation that engulfed every inch of ones peripheral vision as the walls appeared to close in around the jumper. Very cool!

In addition to the BASE jumps, there were a few skydives made from the helicopter into the canyon. Jerry Swovelin, one of the skydivers, and incidentally one of earliest American BASE jumpers says that “…this Apex BASE expedition was truly a dream come true.” That dream, according to Jerry, was thirty years in the making.

Marta Empinotti comments that “…in order to do a legal 10 second delay, I've always had to go abroad. Not anymore! This is surreal I'm still awed by it. We are hoping this is the beginning of a new era in the US.” Jimmy Pouchert adds “...Having an injury free event for our first time down in the Navajo Nation is so crucial to being able to return, and return we will...“.

The question of how this history-making event will impact the efforts to legalize many of the other big wall sites in the US still remains. One thing is for sure however, that thanks to the efforts of people like Eddie Barton, everyone at Apex BASE and Go Fast, the professionalism of the jumpers involved, and thanx to countless others who are working to make BASE Jumping a legitimate and legal recreational activity, the 2008 Little Colorado BASE Boogie was certainly a step in the right direction.