BASE jumpers condemn illegal Whistler Peak 2 Peak stunt

Professional skier and filmmaker Mike Douglas says the BASE jumping community is angry after a man jumped from the Peak 2 Peak Gondola in Whistler, B.C., then posted a video of the illegal stunt on YouTube.

• On mobile? Click here to watch the illegal BASE jump video

The videoposted on Wednesday, which also shows a woman in the gondola,was apparently shot from a helmet camera worn by a man,who makes the jump at around the 2:30 mark of the video.

Douglas, a Whistler resident, spoke on Friday of the community's frustration over the stunt.

"In the BASE jumping community, it's a pretty tight-knit group and there's a code of ethics these guys and girls abide by. It seems that this incident...broke those codes," he said.

"There's a certain level of vandalism done there and I know that my friends in the BASE community have come out and condemned it, saying 'Hey that was a bad move and you've kind of blown it for the rest of us so thanks for nothing,'."

Shane McConkey 'honoured'

The title of the video,McConkeyReborn, apparently honoursShaneMcConkey, an extreme skier who BASEjumped from the same point on the Peak 2 Peak Gondola when it opened in 2008.

McConkey'sjump, with fellow BASE jumperMilesDaisher, was carried out during an event sponsoredby Red Bull and with the permission of WhistlerBlackcomb.

Douglas was a good friend of McConkey,who died in 2009 after jumping off a cliffwith a parachute while filming a movie in Italy.

He says McConkeywas a professional, who went through the right channels and came and did it the right way unlike the man who carried out this illegal jump.

"This guy seems to have gone about it in all the wrong ways. He caused a lot of damage in the process which I think is not cool.

"And he wasn't that smart about the way he did it. He showed his face in the video, he had an accomplice. All these things that you just don't wanna do if you're into that sort of thing."

Douglas says he thinks what people are most annoyed by is the damage done to the gondola car, rather than the jump.

"It shines a bad light on the entire BASE community when someone does something like this so you hope that, if these guys goout there andthey're going to push it, they're going to find waysbut you hope that they're going to do it in at least an ethical sort of manner."

On mobile? Click here to watch theRed Bull ShaneMcConkeyPeak 2 Peak BASE Jump video

Police hunt man, arrest woman

Police believe the man who carried out the jump is 25years old, and holds a B.C. driver's licence with a Vancouver address. They say heis originally from Ontario, but they haveyet to locate him.

Whistler RCMP Staff Sgt.LeClairsaid it is possible he pulled off the jump then headed back to the city and policecontinue toseeka warrant for his arrest.

"We're preparing a report to Crown counsel recommending charges against him of mischief over $5,000 and we will be seeking a warrant for his arrest.... He'sarrestableright now if we locate him," saidLeClairThursday.

AWhistler resident believed to be the woman in the video,was arrested Wednesdayat Longhorn Saloon and Grillin Whistler, where she has worked for three years.

LeClairsaid the woman,originally from Ontario,has since been released on a promise to appear in court on April 2, in North Vancouver. RCMP are recommending charges of obstruction and mischief.

"We initially interviewed her on Feb. 6. She was not co-operative at that point and that's where the obstruction charge arises from," said LeClair.

"Now she was interviewed [Wednesday] and was more co-operative when she was presented with some of the evidence."

Meanwhile, it appears a man with a similar appearance to her companion has been on a BASEjumping tour of the region, apparently posting a YouTube videoof a leapoff theStawamus Chief, a700-metre-high mountainin Squamish, B.C.

• On mobile? Click here to watch the StawamusChief BASE jump video

Gondola safety mechanism damaged

In a statement issued Wednesday, a representative of WhistlerBlackcombsaid a man entered the gondola at around3:45 p.m. PTbefore jumping 436 metres from the moving cabin at the highest point aboveFitzsimmonsCreek.

Judging from the video, it appears the man landed safely, but despite an extensive search byaWhistlerBlackcombmountainpatrollerand RCMPat the time, the jumper could not be found on the mountain.

The statementadded that it is believed the man used brute force to open the gondola doors andcaused $10,000 worth of damage to the opening and locking systems, which are designed to prevent the doors opening on their own.

"WhistlerBlackcombtakes tampering a lift system very seriously and is working with the RCMP to press charges and recoup damages to the Peak2 PeakGondola," said the statement.

On Thursday, LeClairsaid the stunt was not funny and serious damage was done.

"This is a criminal act where somebody has indiscriminately done serious damage to someone else's property for selfish short-term gain."

Anyone with information about the BASE jumper is being urged to contact Whistler RCMP at 604-932-3044.

BASE jumping usually involves a leap off fixed objectswith a parachute.BASEis anacronym which stands for four types ofobjects from which jumpers can make the leap abuilding,antenna,span, or Earth, such as a cliff.