When I wrote Shadow of Denali I wondered if I should add a warning label at the point I jumped off the cliff. Soon after publishing it I got a tweet to the effect of “jump and plan how to land on the way down.” That is just not so not the whole story, if you want to reliably survive. Even in an fast moving world.

Even without a motor, this is The Target Posture

Here are ingredients:

1. Preparation. In the case of jumping off the cliff that means years of strength and balance training. The whole point is nailing the landing. There will be tremendous forces in play and muscles and shocks do help. In an agile software development we call this part hiring the best staff. That means staff with skills that can use them while working with others.
2. Observation. When doing something you haven’t done before it helps to watch others doing similar things to get an idea what needs to be done. When I saw others jump overhead I observed two critical things: speed at take off would be crucial to clear the cliff and land in the open and posture (they kept their front ends up, their bikes straight, their bodies centered but forward). This was not riding off a cliff. This was driving with everything you’ve got off a cliff. In software development this is called getting input in in the form of user stories as to what actually must be done.
3. Estimation of cost. There will be wear and tear on the body and on the mechanical machine, each will get a limited number of high force maneuvers before requiring significant maintenance or replacement (need for replacement is not good news…the medical community only knows how to replace a remarkably small number of components).
4. Support and protection. Prayer is great. But it is at God’s discretion to provide the angels. I strongly recommend an additional support plan with some human angels. An organized race. A person on belay. Whatever it takes.
5. Commitment to plan. Plans will change, but with no plan, there is no strategy. The plan to jump was formulated before the race started, and the commitment was there at the point of departure. In agile software development, this is called committing to which of the backlog of user stories go into a sprint. By the way, this is the last point where you decide not to jump off an object so high there is no reasonable expectation of nailing the landing. Reject that part of a Thelma & Louise act.
6. Commencement: At this point cross a point of no return and make adjustments to the plan on the way down.

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