Moment of Truth

Eleven months ago, I stumbled on a Youtube clip. Fast foward eleven months later and the images that I saw in the video are now all around me. The mountains, the people....and the dam.

The morning of my departure for Switzerland found me not only nervous, but grapling with the reality that something that was in my head is now a reality and I was leaving that day to confront fears, demons and the very real fact that I had to put my money where my mouth was. Had I physically prepared enough..metally prepared enough? I was filled with a sense of foreboding. Not so much that something could happen to me, rather that I would let everyone down..including myself. For those who strive for a goal or compete in anything, you know that is something you carry around with you for the rest of your life, despite what your friends will say to you.

I hate airports, crowds and lineups. So here I am in a lineup at a crowded airport. My nervousness had been climbing all day. I just kept saying to myself over and over again.."get on the plane." The flight was trouble free but I only managed 45 minutes of sleep. The rest of the time was spent reading and watching a couple of movies. Once in Zurich I found my way to the train system and headed for Locarno. In the afternoon I arrived at one of the most picturesque places anyone could imagine. Locarno is in the southern region of Switzerland, near the Italian boarder. The scenery there is a combination of mountains, evergreens as well as tropical vegitation. It is something right out of a computer simulation.

Having sorted myself and taken a walk through the town, it was time to start focusing on 36 hours from then. The plan was that I would take the 20 minute taxi ride up to the dam on Friday and have a look at the area. However, I had only 4 hours sleep Thursday night and my nerves were starting to get tense. It was decided that maybe I should just come up Saturday morning when it was time to jump. That way the sight of the dam for the first time would not have much time to make me even more nervous. So now its Friday night, the night before the jumps, and my nervous tension only let me get 4 hours of sleep. Not to mention the fact that the TV in my room had only 1 Engilsh chanel - CNN. I mean, you can only watch a news loop so many times right?

Saturday morning there was overcast but it was a decent temperature of 18 degrees C. I stood by the taxi stand near my hotel and waited for the ride to Valle Verzasca. The only thought going through my head as I stood there was "this is going to be a FIGHT". It is a drive along some very steep and winding roads going to Verzasca. A while later we made a sweeping right turn and the dam came into view and I saw it for the very first time. Now, all the studying of video footaage and pictures did not prepare me for that moment. To see it in person gives the true perception and understanding of its size and height. It is MASSIVE! From the very pit of my soul came the words, "oh my God..what have I gotten myself into??!! Once there I walked down the short path past some trees and stood on the dam. Yes, you can fit the 70 storey Bank of Montreal tower from Toronto in there. Well, I can't turn back now, besides, the Goldeneye crew is arriving. I finally met jumpmaster Vento Christian Hurliman in person and that made me feel better as he was very reassuring and expressed every confidence in me. We headed down to the platform area and began getting ready. I had to spend some time learning the rigging and harness system there and make sure I knew all the procedures and hand signals. The Goldneye owner Anton Draganits arrived and we were now ready to start.

There were 2 customers to jump before me so I had the chance to see someone jump right before my eyes. Once they were done and I saw they were still alive it was my turn. As I stood on the platform, I thought about what it took to get to this moment. Months of training, planning, frustration, setbacks and disappointments were now behind me and all there was to focus on was the canyon wall across from me. I admit at that point it was hard to fight back the emotions. Once I heard the countdown I was ready and nothing else in my world existed but the 220 meteres under me. the freefall was almost 3 times what I am used to - 7.5 seconds. There is a service entrance at the bottom and you are heading right for its roof. But as always, the bungee cord spared me a meeting with St. Peter and the rebounds were amazing. The trick to doing this many times is to focus on the task at hand. You have to get yourself upright, using the special harness, so they can lower the tow cable down to pull you back up. Its much faster than you would think and the crew have thousands of jumps without any incident. One jump done - 11 to go. Having set the record at Great Canadian Bungee at the end of July gave me a good understanding of how to keep your focus through something like this. Just do one jump at a time. focus on your tasks and don't think about which jump number it is. After 7 jumps, I knew that I had already gone further than any cutsomer ever had and after 8 jumps, was the first customer to reach their daily allowed maximum of jumps in one day. Now I was after the crew member's total of 11 jumps. Then the problem with my ankles started to become an issue. The harness around each ankle is secured as tightly as the crew member's strength can manage. In other words VERY tight. The harness was digging into the muscle and began to hurt very bad. The crew wrapped t-shirts around my ankles before putting the harness back on in order to help a little. At the edge of the platform for the remaining jumps, I would think for a second, " there is one wicked pain coming in about 8 seconds". However, I knew that pain down there meant that the cord was still there and that was just fine with me. After the 11th jump, both thigh muscles cramped and we had to spend 45 minutes working those out. Now I had to focus on keeping my emotions under control because the next jump set the new Goldeneye record..what we had been after for 11 months. There was a momemnt before countdown of fear then when it was time to go I have never felt such relief and joy in my life. I frankly did not care about the pain in my legs. I let out a yell and it was now over. Once back on the platform I was drained and elated at the same time. There were some people on the dam watching and they applauded which felt good. About 20 minutes later, CBC Newsworld called my cellphone and I did a live to air interview for them to tell the good news and thank everyone.

Its funny how you play an event in your head over and over and over, then when it is finished, you are both happy and sad at the same time. What got me though all of this was that some charities were counting on me and I did not want to remember the day for coming up short. I can look back now and think that I took an idea in my head and saw it through to the end, no matter what.

All from stumbling across a Youtube clip.

Lingering question

As the days count down to the main event at the Verzasca Dam, the question I still get asked is WHY?

Why would I want to do something so crazy as to fly half way around the world to Switzerland, and then throw myself off the highest dam in Europe with just a rubber cord harnessed to my ankles?

We all have goals in life and doing this is one of mine. I’ve done 52 bungee jumps but never from anything as high as Goldeneye (220m). So that is the next challenge. When considering doing this I came to the realization that attempting to do more jumps there than anybody is certainly an accomplishment but that wasn’t enough. Could I combine this with a public awareness and fundraising effort? My immediate response was YES. The idea was so compelling and I had no legitimate reason to say “no I can’t”. That was the genesis of The Gravity Gives Project.

The other question I’m asked is why the three charities that were picked for this project.

The GGP is very unique in the world of fundraising and I wanted to help some causes that would normally not get the level of exposure and assistance that the project is generating. The issues that these groups deal with are universal and they are in every corner of society. The people from these organizations do the best they can and rely heavily on the good conscience and generosity of people just to stay alive.

The Halton Learning Foundation works hard with school faculties to assist students who are economically disadvantaged and these conditions are a very real barrier to the student achieving the education they deserve. Where the province can’t help, The Halton Learning Foundation steps in and levels the playing field. It can be a matter of making sure the student has a proper lunch to providing vouchers for clothing. It may not solve all the problems but it may just be enough to get the student on their feet and on the right path.

The Deck Youth Centre has been in Milton for several years now and that by itself is an accomplishment. They provide an alternative to Milton’s youth who simply want to spend their spare time in more productive ways and in a safe and non judgemental environment. The Deck has helped many young people deal with the overwhelming issues that today’s youth face and have an exceptional record when in comes to encouraging them to resist the destructive influence of drugs and gangs.

Domestic violence is not something that you just read about in papers or see on the news. It has been blight on society for centuries and no community is immune. Halton Women’s Place provides sanctuary and assistance to women and their children who are desperate for a better life and feel that no one cares and that they have no where to go. There is strength and nobility in a woman who has summoned the courage to do what is best for her and sometimes her children, despite a future that is both frightening as well as uncertain. The Halton Women’s Place is a comfort and reassurance for victims in a very dark time in their life.

So if you know a family that is struggling and their kids don’t have the proper clothing or food to be their best in school, a young person who cant stand another night of listening to parents fight and has to go somewhere that they can feel welcome, or a woman who has reached her breaking point and has decided that she wants her life back, then this is your chance to do something. We can’t solve all the problems of society but where we can make a difference, even a little difference, it may be all the difference in the world to a person who thinks no one cares.

The jumps in Switzerland take place on September 26th. We will be accepting donations through Paypal on this site or by mailing a cheque to our post office box. Donations are being accepted until October 23rd in order to give everyone a chance to be part of this.

If I accomplish my goal that day in Switzerland then return to give three large cheques out to these people, I will call that a good day and the question of why will be answered.

Milestones

For many of us, this has been a summer of rain, rain and more rain.

That was no different at the second practice session at Great Canadian Bungee on July 24th. This was the second of three practices at the highest commercial bungee jump in North America @ 200 feet.

The rain had started the night before and was showing no signs of letting up. The goal for this practice was simple; do 16 jumps - no matter what. The current record for most jumps at GCB in a day was 14. So now with a new winch system that Matt Lawrence had installed in the tower we had a shot at beating that record without too much disruption to other customers wanting to jump. The plan was laid out for me to do 8 jumps in 30 minutes then rest for 60- 90 minutes. Then back up to the tower and do 8 jumps in 30 minutes again. Daunting but doable in my mind.

The rain played a major factor. There wasn't a dry inch on me and the rain was in a downpour at times. I remember thinking during my first jump, "this is nuts". One jump in this OK, but we're talking 16 here! However there was no other option and I had to produce this result. Not only as a personal goal but to also energize the project and hopefully bring some major media into it. After 30 drenching minutes, 8 jumps were complete. It was time for me to rest and change into dry clothes. Now the rain had stopped and I was optimistic in getting at least 7 more - especially if the conditions were dryer. Soon it was time to get back up onto the tower. The minute I started out on the catwalk there was some thunder and the heavens opened up again! It was just meant to be that way. When I was around 12 and 13 jumps I knew we were close and I just had to stay in the zone and keep going. The moment was at hand and #15 was done. A new GCB record! I did one more for good measure and that was it, 16 jumps in 1 hour jump time. I stepped down from the catwalk and went over to the tower base. There was a rock on the ledge that I had left there 3 hours earlier ( see previous post "The Rock"). It now sits on my office desk with the #16 on it.

I have to hand it to some people that were there. Ian ( jumpmaster ), Nick, Rob and Ian were the crew that day. They deal with all kinds of weather and that makes for a long day up in the cage. But they soldier on and I have tremendous respect for them. Eric Spurrell is the photographer for Gravity Gives. He and his assistant Brody Huk had to battle the conditions to get some video and stills for the project. They to did a great job and I am very grateful to them both.

Now we have the Augsut 15th practice then...Verzasca!

The Rock

Great Canadian Bungee is located in Wakefield Quebec. Known as "The Rock" it is the highest commercial bungee jump in North America at 200 feet! Yesterday was the first practice session there for me to get ready for Verzasca.

Arriving by car the night before, I woke to a very cold day and windy. It was - 3 celsius on the tower with high winds. I had to take measures to stay warm and not let the muscles get stiff. There was even light snow at one point.

I had not jumped in 12 years so the purpose of the session was to shake the cobwebs out and get "back in the saddle" as one crew member put it.
Its funny how the nervousness is the same as if doing it for the first time. But at 11:00 am sharp the first jump was done. It was great to get the momentum finally going and move past just talking about doing jumps again. Battling high winds and cold all day, I was able to reach the days goal of getting six jumps done. The crew at GCB are one of the best in the business. They work so hard at making everyone comfortable and let me tell you, its not easy being up on that tower all day in that kind of weather. Many thanks guys!!!

Throughout the day, I sent updates on my Blackberry to everyone on Facebook who were following my progress. You have no idea how encouraging it is to get messages from so many people from as far away as Spain, Columbia, Finland, United States, Iran ( seriously ) and of course, the folks back home. All of them wishing me luck and urging me on. That was incredible and very emotional for me. Thanks guys!

There is a superstition that I had when I did multiple jump days at GCB. Before the first jump, I take a small rock from the base of the tower and I sit it on a rail and leave it there. The point was that I would leave the rock there until all jumps were done. If I dont make all the jumps, the rock goes back on the ground. If I do all the jumps, the rock leaves with me and I write the day's date and the number of jumps on it. I have never put a rock back on the ground and it was very gratifying when I took another one home yesterday. On my last jump, cold and tired, just before takeoff, Rob, from the crew said "come on...gotta get that rock!"

The Journey Continues

Hello all,

I hate the word blog! With the technical marvel that it is...that's the best name they could come up with?

Anyway, The Gravity Gives Project ( GGP ) is 12 weeks old and the momentum is continuing to build. We have almost 500 supporters from around the world on Facebook and the energy is amazing. I have to say that it is very humbling and sometimes overwhelming that so many people are behind this effort and its only May!

This weekend is the first practice session and I will be jumping at Great Canadian Bungee in Wakefield Quebec. My first jump in 12 years. For me its very symbolic in that I am going back to something that I loved. It also brings the project to a new stage. The rhetoric is over and the real show starts. The training is going well and the business side is doing its thing to make this happen.

On that note- it would be the height of rudeness not to express my deepest respect and gratitude to the GGP project managers. Eighteen people behind the scenes, doing their best and giving so much. I can't do this without them and this is very much a team effort. THANK YOU guys!!!

I will make plenty of entries over the coming months. Apparently its good therapy for me as well.

Stay tuned- the ride only gets better

Welcome

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