Sunshine Superman Page #5

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someplace to get in or climb over it.

It was really easy to do.

There is a stairway, no elevator.

But there's a stairway and we just

went up to the top, no problem.

With Carl Boenish,

you have to understand

the number-one thing is the film.

So it didn't matter the security

of getting away and making the jump

and getting all that stuff;

that was secondary to getting that film.

So we got in there real early. We could

have made a jump then and got out

but the light wouldn't have been good.

So we always had to wait on Carl

for perfect light.

About the time we started seeing a

little bit of traffic down the streets,

Carl let us know that time

is right. The conditions are good.

Once we put the jumpsuits on and

the cameras on and plugged them in,

we knew that it was just about the time.

As soon as we got the go-ahead,

"OK, we're ready down there."

"The helicopter's ready.

OK, you guys, we're waiting on you."

We knew that we had to start

the countdown, turn the cameras on.

I didn't want to screw up.

Neither one of us did.

OK. Five, four, three, two, one.

The thing that I remember most was

looking down as I was pushing out

at the windows on each floor going by.

The first second,

I saw two or three go by.

Then by the third second

they're going by just incredibly fast.

Step off and then...

You'll see the building behind you

or the cliff or whatever it is.

As it just goes...

I let go of my pilot chute,

which opens my canopy,

because I see Smitty's over here.

His is already starting to string out.

I let mine go.

I opened probably 150 feet below him.

And just as soon as I got open

and I was not facing the building,

I breathed an enormous sigh of relief.

Because now the whole thing is over.

All the danger is over.

All I got to do is land

and hopefully get away.

But even if I don't get away,

if I get detained by the police

because I was trespassing,

I'm OK with that.

So Phil Mayfield and I,

I guess we skyrocketed into history

and made the first completed

BASE members.

Phil Smith is BASE jumper number one.

He was the first person to jump

all four required objects

and has since made

over 50 successful leaps.

Skydiving then was just as much

a challenge as BASE jumping is now.

So it's that challenge

that we're seeking.

And we really want to...

We want to expand our environment

to include bigger

and more and greater things.

BASE jumping, there's so many things

out there that haven't been tamed

that I'm really excited to tackle them.

1981, that's when

the BASE program started.

We actually told the public,

told the world, about BASE.

Of course,

it grew exponentially after that.

Almost immediately, Carl was

bent on legitimizing it to the world.

Are you bored with your life

nine to five

looking at the clock,

check in, check out?

Look, you only go around once.

You might as well go for it.

Carl and Jean Boenish are here.

They're BASE jumpers.

You jump off of buildings,

antennae towers and bridges?

Yes. And cliffs.

- And you're both crazy.

- No, we're not.

As the equipment got better

and word spread about this thing

then the numbers began

really accelerating.

Then it became a worldwide thing.

Not just the United States

or not just Texas and California.

It took off.

The still uncompleted 54-storey

Crocker Center in downtown LA

may have seen the last skydiver

jump from its lofty heights.

A group of intrepid divers have been

climbing to the top of the building

and parachuting off

for about four months.

But always at two or three

in the morning.

The jumpers say it's a new sport

called BASE diving.

Police aren't sure what to call it.

But they say there's no law against it,

except maybe trespassing.

Question:
why did you jump

off the Crocker Center building

in downtown Los Angeles?

Answer:
because it was there

and a lot of fun.

Carl, how can you justify breaking

the law to jump that building?

Answer:
what laws am I breaking?

He assigned a lot more importance

to the laws of nature

than he did the laws of man.

The laws of man, in Carl's eyes,

were temporary at best.

There were buildings

in downtown Los Angeles

that were under construction.

The Crocker Center happened

to start construction

when we were interested

in jumping off of buildings.

Well, you know, Jean and I

have each jumped from a building.

A thousand-foot, 75-story skyscraper.

And people say why?

Why did you do it, Jean?

I actually do it for the fun of it.

It's the feeling that you get

when you jump off of a high dive.

There's nothing to push against

like when you're swimming

through the water.

You are falling, literally,

for the first two seconds.

And you can't control your fall.

That's why you have to be very careful

in the manner in which you exit.

One morning, Carl had gone

to do an early morning jump

after it was already light.

Yesterday three men jumped off

the unfinished building,

the Cracker building in Los Angeles,

in their sport of skydiving.

And today I talked to one of the three,

Carl Boenish.

You're standing there and no matter

how seasoned a skydiver you are,

or a BASE jumper, you're very

apprehensive and you're nervous.

But you know in your mind you can do it,

even though your physical body

says you'd better not do it.

I mean, that's 700 feet straight down.

So finally you say,

"Here we go. Ready, set, go."

And the first second you start

accelerating incredibly fast.

It leaves you almost breathless.

And then the second second you

have a feeling of freedom and power

and confidence, almost euphoria.

You think, "Wow, I feel like Superman."

The next day, the LA Times

had this photograph of Carl

right on the front page

jumping off of Crocker Center.

Plain as day, literally.

Mr Boenish, my name is Fred Gooch.

I'm an attorney for the owner

of the Crocker Center.

I want to advise you

that at 1:
30 tomorrow afternoon

in department 85 to the

Los Angeles County Superior Court,

the owners of the property are going

to seek an injunction against you.

An X party application for a temporary

restraining order against you,

members of your group,

and any other skydivers

from jumping off of the Cracker Center.

I suggest that you have your attorney

call me.

And I pick up the LA Times one day

and I see this picture of somebody

jumping off Crocker Bank.

And I read the article

and, OK, that's Carl.

Then a day or two later I get

this phone call from Carl saying,

"Jim, I think I'm in

a little bit of trouble."

Here's the message.

Carl and Jean, this is Jim Winkler.

Give me a call as soon as possible.

Cracker Bank apparently

does not want to settle.

They wanted to get control

over this situation.

So the Crocker Center decided that

they wanted to start legal proceedings

specifically against Carl

because he was named in the newspaper.

They couldn't catch him

most of the time.

Then, when he was caught,

I would guess the prosecutor at the time

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