Forgotten Lake Part I: Kicking it on the lake NC style,

Photos & Entry By Jolene Van Vugt, AKA “Nitro Girl”

Forgotten Lake, which was suppose to be our relaxing, resting vacation after mayhem at the Grand Canyon stunt last year, went so well and we got so much good footage for Thrillbillies that we planned another film trip to the rocks and water fun park for some “Double Wide” (NC6) filming with many more creative and most of the time scary stunt ideas! Our Nitro Crew rendezvous point was the Vegas Supercross and then over to the Pirates Cove Mansion for some dinner and pre water fun and dares. Then we drove over to the Lake in a 7 car caravan arriving at 4am monday. We spent till late afternoon getting the house boats ready, The Singles and The Cuddle Shuttle were getting loaded up as they scouted the spot where we were going to create our home base, then headed out on the water. Travis was amped to get things started but we thought we should take is easy the first day and just get settled in, not to push it right away since we have all week to hurt everyone! TP then backflipped off a 65 foot cliff to get back into the boat as he had found an area that he thought would be great for the big wheels and had to go up to investigate, then we headed in to make camp and secure the house boats. We had a great big bonfire to round out the night on a small island just around the corner from camp, all clam and relaxed, listening to music and hanging out, when all of a sudden out of nowhere a boat comes out of the midnight light with lights a blazing, we are a target for a spree of fireworks. Everyone hit the ground and covered their heads as the fireworks went over head and lit up the night sky. We here wondering where Jim, Crum, Plamer and some of the others were, well low and behold there were planing an attack! lol We couldn’t stop laughing as Crum came at us with fireworks, wearing an open faced helmet, cowboy boots and little white short shorts! Oh Crum!

The next morning started with a pssst there’s no wind, lets go jump! As Travis got us up so that he could perform his first stunt to which he was the only one to volunteer for! TP, Rubbneck, Palmer and James the camera man, headed up the cliff right atop our camp to get it done. Travis was off and set the tone for the week, crazy and out of control as he launches his pink big wheel off a 250 foot cliff to pull his chute and land in the water below right beside our boats.

Next up for today the zip-line, the crew spent hours setting up a zip-line in a great spot they found, a little nooke off to the side we now call Jim’s Canyon, the name Jim’s Canyon doesn’t come at a small price but yet a flash of a miracle you might say. The only one thing seem to make this dangerous was for fact that the first part of the zip line, the water below was only 3 to 5 feet deep in any given spot until you got about 40 feet out then it got deeper. Now you weren’t going to let go till about the end which was over 100 feet out so we didn’t think it was a concern, we are all strong enough to hold our own weight till the drop spot. To line-up for the zip-line was in order Travis, Gregg, Jolene (me), Cam, Renner, Rubbneck and a hesitant Jim, till he’s called out. Everyone zips down the line enjoying it and having fun, Travis even calls it “lame!” It seemed the hardest part of this was getting up to the top of the 80 foot ledge, using ropes and squeezing through the rock wall. But for Jim who “isn’t so cool with heights” even more than everyone else, he couldn’t get this palms to stop sweating as he grabbed hold of the hand bar and his knees to stop shaking. Jim takes it to a whole nother level when he leaves the cliff ledge of the zip-line and then not even a second later slips off the bar and drops the 80 feet down into the shallow water, just missing the edge of rocks in, we all stopped dead in our tracks waiting to see if he was alive, he popped up faster than you could ever imagine, completely unharmed in 3 feet of water! The water didn’t even come up to his belt line, we are all in complete disbelief as he is 100% ok, physically that is. He stood there and asked us if we could see him, then he looked down at his arms and just stared at himself making sure he was really ok! Jim takes the cake once again!

Later that night we had some new gunny pigs, oh I mean, visitors come in to hang with us for a couple days, Tarah Gieger and her boyfriend Chase. As a welcome some of the guys bust out the fire works and yet another ambush was ensue, within the first ten minutes of getting there Tarah had already been hit by a roman candle and her hoodie caught on fire. Welcome friends!

“The wind is clam my friend” the words utter by Travis to Rubberneck at 5:30 am Wednesday morning. Today was the day for the three way base jump, Travis, Rubberneck & Palmer going big. We went and drop the boys off around 6:30 am for there 45 min hike to get in to position for launching themselves off a gnarly 600 foot cliff together. The film boats got into to position and talks from the boys up above to Randy and I were entertaining and highly energetic as their adrenaline started to flow. We where waiting on the 10 second countdown when there was a slip in communications between jumpers and filmers just as the guys jumped early due to an Oklahoma count down but luckily the filmers were on the ball and got the shot. The stunt went great as per everyone was ok, but they weren’t happy with the timing and execution of it and felt it could be better so it was to be done again, later in the trip.

Then we took it to the sno bikes, we thought it was a great idea to try to run the sno bikes we got for the Winter Games shoot behind boats. You start off on the shore line and have the boat drag you and the bike in and you try to stay up and stable to ride it out. TP was not successful and Plamer in all his glory gloated to the fact that he beat Travis, finally! They started out as trying to race each other, but TP went down and Palmer took a spin around the lake. Kenny, Chase and I proceed after them to get the bikes up. Kenny and Chase where unsuccessful, I met with success on my third attempt and was killing it as Casey took me around the lake, and I expressed all my excitement and glory as we did a drive by at the crew on the shore line. Plamer then thought it was just as easy to bust out a large garbage can and take it for a spin around the lake, Tarah jump on doubles with him and then showed us a few of her surf skills, in the water and doing a run out behind the boat onto the board from the beach.

My base jump was up next for the day, I finally got to do the base jump I’ve been wanting to do since last year when we were here and I decided to just sit back and watch, this year I was gonna jump! I did my first official standing base jump, in which it was up to my feet to take me off the edge of the cliff not a motorized dirt bike that already had forward momentum. It’s called a roll over, or what we refer to it as, “The McConky” you hang the canopy over the edge of the cliff and jump out over top of it, your body flips over and then in a pendulum motion your canopy opens above you and you sail down to the water for a wet but fun landing. We had a special friend come in and join me on this one, Chase was brought into this stunt, he hadn’t done anything like this before but he was next in line after me on this line up. We hiked up to the jump spot but had to wait out some windy little weather burst that came in, we hung-out for a while on top of the cliff, then we had a break, the wind had died and it was go time! Plamer turns and says “ok, Jolene it’s time to go!” I geared up and walked to the edge. As I walked over to the cliff with the chute on I was nervous but super ready and focused for it, I followed Plamer & Rubbernecks instructions as they laid my chute out over the cliff and took a few deep breaths they did the 10 second count down, I heard it loud and clear from 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 as I count along with them, took one last deep breath after 1 and jumped out, I felt a clam come over me d
uring this, I looked at my canopy right away and saw it all, watching it open, it was awesome. I made a turn towards the boat and let out a woooo hoooo, coming in for a way cool wet landing in the lake! Then it was Chases turn, he did just what he was told and it couldn’t have gone any better, he came in for a pretty hot landing as he didn’t know how to use the breaks, but he did great and he was pumped up larger than life.

The last day and yet again the morning started with a 6 am awake up call from TP and base jump. TP, Rubberneck & Plamer wanting another go at their three way from yesterday. It didn’t go just the way they wanted, three ways are hard to time right and nail, but they managed it today, pulling off a great stunt. TP, pushing the limits on this one too, to anyones surprise, I think not. He was the last to open and it was low. A 1 second ride into the water low!

We headed back to camp to be apart of The Cam & Crum show, they created a human sling slot down a lame slip n’ slide off a little booter into the water, to give us the most hilarious entrainment of this trip for a good few hours as we all pitched in to make it work. It was more like a circus of carnage, with no one really nailing the original idea of the stunt but got extremely creative and entertaining. I am super surprised that everyone that participated in this one came way with bones all still in tacked, there where some hard hits, by Crum, Cam, Godfrey, Big Dumb Animal, and our smallest little go getter, “Little Feller.” Good job boys!

We then put the trampoline we had brought along on the top of one of the house boats and processed to jump off it with tricks, flips and spins into the water. Harmless and fun, we do do that every once in while. Tarah even one upped everyone and went up to the highest point of the house boat and backflipped off it.

Jim cheated death the other day and was now all rested, recovered and up for his base jump stunt, a down hill mountain bike base jump. TP, Rubberneck, Plamer and camera dude Marty all hiked up to the top with him. Helping carry the load of the Giant mountain bike. They got up top and got him into place, down bottom all the cameras were in place and rolling. His was going to be a sweet stunt and we were all super pumped for it. We get the 10 second count down fro Plamer and Jim is off as he drops in a rides down the top slope of the cliff, hit the ledge and launches off into the air, getting away from the the bike instantly, stablizing and pulling. He’s under canopy halfway down the 450 foot cliff and comes in for a landing in the water, is swooped up by the boat and in celebration mode. The walking dead man is at this moment more alive than most people can even comprehend. You the man Jimbo!

Some how Crum got roped into the last cliff stunt of the trip, it was all TP’s idea and he was having a hell of a time finding someone to take the bait on this one, after days of being wrecked you are less easy to convinced to do a stunt into the last day of shoot! TP then said if no one else would do it, he would. But Crum wasn’t going to have TP clam another stunt for the trip. This one is the big wheel ride cliff drop with no chute. TP, Chase, Marty and Crum in his best white short shorts hike the mountain with the big wheel. They get to the spot and take some time to find the best run in with the most amount of cliff clearance. Crum is not liking the height at which they are going to launch him, which is about 100 feet and understandable from the view down in the boats, it was going to hurt, it was just a matter of how much! Crum takes a little time to gather himself, then Chase starts with the 10 second countdown and there’s no turning back, Crum picks up some speed by the time he reaches the cliffs edge, skying out the big wheel and landing right on his butt! Bruising will definitely ensue on this one. He sat like a bowie in the water till we came over in the boat to get him, thanks for taking one for the team Crum!

Checkout Forgotten Lake Part II: Bull Riding One “O” One to be posted next.

Our Camp

Travis and his Big Wheel base jump

Renner on the zip-line

Jim standing up after he fell off the zip-line 80 feet into 3 feet of water, the look of terror on a man’s face

The start of the hike up to the jump spot for the three-way

The boys 600 feet up, getting ready for their three-way jump

Show time boys, as they launch their second three-way

TP opening low!

Plamer rocking the sno bike

My rollover, 300 feet above water (not sure who took his with my camera, but thank-you : )

Jim’s mountain bike base jump

Crum skies out the big wheel