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November 24, 2009

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BASE jumper jailed in Reno says protests will continue

Tuesday, Oct. 26, 1999 | 11:53 a.m.

Dennis McGlynn of Truckee, Calif., is serving a 90-day jail sentence for his own jump protesting restrictions on the parachuting sport at Lake Powell. He's a friend of Jan Davis, 60, who died in the jump at Yosemite.

McGlynn said the protests won't end until the jumps are made legal.

"Jan Davis' death cannot go for nothing," he said.

BASE jumpers make their jumps from tall buildings, bridges and cliffs. Davis was among those who leaped from the 3,200-foot El Capitan to protest the ban on jumps at Yosemite.

McGlynn said jumpers have to compromise safety to avoid getting caught after jumps from national park cliffs. He said Davis was using borrowed gear to avoid having her own expensive rigs confiscated.

"She didn't have to die. She was using substandard gear," McGlynn said.

McGlynn is in jail for aiding and abetting a jump that killed another friend, Paul Thompson, at Lake Powell in 1994. He was sentenced earlier this summer after a two-year-long investigation.

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