Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jon Bowlin
I was introduced to Jon in 1985 by Shelley Presson-Dunbar, who was dating him at the time. They were both hailing from the Tahoe area.
Quote from Rick Linkert:
Still miss the wild gleam in his eye.
The man did have a wild gleam in his eyes! Blue eyes, as I recall, or eyes which easily transmitted as much light as shines from anyone with blue eyes, whether his were in fact hazel or whatever. He was fully into his base jumping mode at this point. He and Shelley and I went up to the top of the Leaning Tower one day, all three of us up and down the Gunsight, for it was too windy to risk the jump. I witnessed in him that day the kind of tension that someone experiences when they've invested in a project that comes to be seen as too problematic to entertain. He chose wisely.
The day he jumped from Glacier Point, I gave him a ride up there and we stood at the edge while he did his preflight check, if that's what it's called. Maybe he gauged the wind, he may have dropped a small rock over the edge, counting off the seconds before it landed in the bushes below, particulars I don't recall so well. But he did point out to me that there was a terrace some 600-900 or so feet beneath our perch, which he needed to clear.
Before he went off, he gave me that look that only those of you who knew Jon would truly understand. The man was committed to his activities, and conveyed that with a mischievous, almost childlike enthusiasm, but with a very adult command of the situation. The flash of life he emitted from those eyes told me he was competent, ready, and completely enthused by life.
He went off and I watched with amazement as he popped his chute and floated out over the terrace, clearing it with perfect timing. He was a bold man, and I don't say that in the sense that is obvious. Yes, the jump from Glacier Point was certainly one of the more calculated and thrilling acts that I've ever seen, especially from close range, performed by human being. But perhaps even more bold, was that afterward he met me between the Yosemite Lodge and the Four Seasons restaurant, still in his flight suit and with his chute strapped to his chest!
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