Exit Point

In this episode, Laurent and Matt speak with Chris McNamara. Chris is an expert in big wall climbing and describes himself as a recovering wingsuit BASE jumper.  
Climbing Magazine once pointed out that three percent of Chris's life had been spent on the face of El Cap - of which he has climbed over 70 times, he holds 9 big wall speed climbing records, and is a winner of the American Alpine Club's prestigious Bates Award. 
Chirs has written 10 books, and is the founder of SuperTopo and now the Editor-in-Chief of outdoorgearlab.comAlong with other things we talk with Chris about his "too eventful BASE career" a climber's mindset, risk assessment, his intense BASE career, and when he finally felt like enough was enough.  https://chrismcnamara.com/
Chris on Ammon Mcneely: https://watch.reelrocktour.com/the-sharp-end/videos/ammon-mcneely
Chris essay from the Great Book of BASE: Why I Quit BASE jumping
Great Book of BASE: BASE Book
If you have been listening to Exit Point and enjoy what you've heard, we want to hear from you!    
lau@nextlevel.ws 
blank@nextlevel.ws
 
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Exit Point is completely self-funded and there are no ads. Please consider donating to help cover our operational costs: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/exitpoint
Thanks to everyone who has already supported us!
 Mark Stockwell is the man that makes this podcast sound the way it does.  Please show him some love.  
 

In this episode, Laurent speaks with Robert Pecnik.  Robert is the director, owner lead wingsuit designer, and test pilot of Phoenix Fly.  In Croatia, Robert's skydiving career started in 1982, and is still regularly BASE jumping with unrelenting enthusiasm.
Among other things, we talked about his thoughts on the risks and dangers of wingsuit BASE and how his passion for flying has remained so resilient.
Phoenix-Fly
@pecnikrobert
 
If you have been listening to Exit Point and enjoy what you've heard, we want to hear from you!    
lau@nextlevel.ws 
blank@nextlevel.ws
 
Exit Point is completely self-funded and there are no ads. Please consider donating to help cover our operational costs: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/exitpoint
Thanks to everyone who has already supported us!
 
 

In this episode, Laurent and Matt speak with Jamie Crawford. Jamie is an expert in urban BASE jumping who has been honing his skill with patience, dedication, and intention for over a decade.  Jamie provides a fresh perspective on Exit Point with his hardcore urban style. He has generously agreed to shed some light on what has historically been a shadowy dark art. 
Jamie's FB
His Insta
 
If you have been listening to Exit Point and enjoy what you've heard, we want to hear from you!    
lau@nextlevel.ws 
blank@nextlevel.ws
 
Exit Point is completely self-funded and there are no ads. Please consider donating to help cover our operational costs: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/exitpoint
Thanks to everyone who has already supported us!
 

In this episode, Laurent sits down with Tristan Wimmer and Ben Pitassi of 22 Jumps.  22 Jumps is a public charity that combines BASE jumping and fundraising to support the development of durable solutions for traumatic brain injuries. 
 
The project was initiated by Tristan Wimmer after his brother Kiernan's tragic death. Kiernan, who had suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) sustained in Iraq for almost a decade, tragically took his own life in 2015. Tristan and his family watched as Kiernan's injury affected his mental and physical well-being, leading to emotional and violent behavior. Unfortunately, Kiernan's story is not unique, with an estimated 22 veterans taking their own lives each day, according to a 2012 report by the Department of Veterans Affairs. In response to this, Tristan and his team are working to raise awareness and funds for organizations researching and treating TBIs by completing 22 BASE jumps in one day, the same number of veterans who take their own lives each day. 22 Jumps serves as a tribute to honor those veterans and bring attention to the struggles they face.
 
Our second guest is a member of the board of directors for 22 Jumps and is currently serving with the Navy Parachute Team while on active duty. He has deployed 7 times to various parts of the world during his career.  Ben is passionate about helping his fellow service members and founded The Uplift Union in 2019, a nonprofit centered around adaptive paragliding.
 
Note from Tristan: "22 Jumps would not be possible without the groundswell of love, support, and time that people give to make it a reality. There are too many to name, but Adam Ghannoum, COO of 22 Jumps, has been a shoulder since the beginning of this journey and has been invaluable to its success."
Their next event is scheduled for February 4, 2023 more info here: Feb 22 Jumps event
General info: https://22jumps.org/Watch the video: https://vimeo.com/651574823
If you have been listening to Exit Point and enjoy what you've heard, we want to hear from you!    
lau@nextlevel.ws 
blank@nextlevel.ws
 
Exit Point is completely self-funded and there are no ads. Please consider donating to help cover our operational costs: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/exitpoint
Thanks to everyone who has already supported us!

Jesse Hall is an accomplished athlete who grew up in the mountains of Colorado and developed a love for skiing, rock climbing, and backpacking at a young age. Jesse was inspired by air sports early and made his first jump on his 18th birthday in 2000. Since then, he's made thousands of BASE jumps from hundreds of different objects around the globe.Jesse won the North American Extreme Skiing Championships and podiumed at various BASE competitions including aerial, landing accuracy, and tracking and wingsuiting competitions. He also excels in a variety of other nylon disciplines including speed-riding, paragliding, and para-motoring.
 
Jesse is known for his positive attitude and for pushing limits while staying true to his personal boundaries.https://www.instagram.com/jessehallskibase/
https://www.facebook.com/jessehallskibase
 
Jesse's packing video: https://vimeo.com/128044236
If you have been listening to Exit Point and enjoy what you've heard, we want to hear from you!    
lau@nextlevel.ws 
blank@nextlevel.ws
 
Exit Point is completely self-funded and there are no ads.  There are some behind-the-scenes costs to keeping us online so please consider donating to help cover our operational costs: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/exitpoint

In this episode, Laurent Frat and Matt Blank speak with Todd Shoebotham.  Todd is the co-founder and President of Apex BASE, one of the premier manufacturers of BASE Jumping equipment. Todd has been involved in the sport of BASE jumping since 1987.  He is a designer, innovator, educator, a film consultant, and with his brother Troy, was one of the very first commercial manufacturers of BASE-specific equipment. You can find out more about Todd and Apex here:  https://apexbase.com/If you are interested in 'buying us a coffee' please follow this link: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/exitpoint
If you have been listening to Exit Point and enjoy what you've heard, we want to hear from you!  
lau@nextlevel.ws 
blank@nextlevel.ws

In this episode, we speak with Kenny Daniel, the founder and designer of Baseline.ws. Baseline.ws is a website and mobile app that provides tools designed to help skydivers and BASE jumpers improve their safety margin and increase performance. I've been excited to chat with Kenny about how I can best use baseline.ws for what I'm doing and general suggestions about data gathering for BASE.
www.baseline.ws
 
If you have been listening to Exit Point and enjoy what you've heard, we would love to hear from you: 
lau@nextlevel.ws 
blank@nextlevel.ws

In this episode, Matt Blank interviews Jay Moledzki. Jay Mo is one of skydiving's foremost canopy instructors and we've brought him on to talk about his history as a test pilot, his experience pioneering high-performance canopy flying, and some of his training tips that we can use to improve our own canopy skills for the BASE environment.Jasonmoledzki@gmail.com@jason_moledzkiwww.trustthejourney.today Flight-1.com@flight1sport
 
If you have been listening to Exit Point and enjoy what you've heard, we would love to hear from you: 
lau@nextlevel.ws 
blank@nextlevel.ws
https://www.instagram.com/exitpoint.podcast/
 

Sean Chuma has made BASE jumping his life and livelihood for the better part of one and a half decades, moving from southern California to Twin falls to BASE jump full time.
 
Despite being a world-renowned aerialist, tandem BASE developer and BASE jumping instructor, he remains a soft-spoken ninja who’s largely chosen to represent through action rather than words, so we’re excited to get him on record and dive into his personal progression as well as pick his brain for tips and advice.
 
https://www.seanchuma.com/
 
If you have been listening to Exit Point and enjoy what you've heard, we would love to hear from you: 
lau@nextlevel.ws 
blank@nextlevel.ws
https://www.instagram.com/exitpoint.podcast/
 
Big shout out to Mark Stockwell, our sound mixer and co-producer, for being part of this project.

Dr Matt Wilks is an adventure medic, ICU doctor and seasoned paraglider pilot. He founded the Flight Physiology Project, which is a multidisciplinary bid to study physiology, cognitive performance and safety of pilots during free flight. Matt has a long list of notable experiences including being the lead doctor on several large international expeditions. He practised anesthesiology in New Zealand and Nepal and has flown all over east Africa with the AMRF Flying Doctor Service.  Among other things in this episode, we discuss basic first aid for jumpers some helpful items to carry on every jump and how to manage a crisis situation in the field.