Year: 2010

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A letter to skydiving – By Sydney Owen

Sydney, Ashley’s Life twin, and one of my recent new acquaintances wrote a letter to our beloved sport… I know exactly where she’s coming from, and I felt that this deserved a re-post… Check out her blog here

Dear Skydiving,

I’m going to tell you a little bit about me.

You know when you get to that place with something new in your life where you kinda shock yourself by how full-steam-ahead you’ve been approaching things? I’ve been there. A lot. It happened with rowing when I jacked up my hip flexor and was out for the rest of the season. It happened when I packed up my car to move to Chicago because, holy shit, this was actually happening. And it totally happened this weekend with us. I was sitting down at a picnic table and heard something about people going back to school. And then it hit me: um, hello August, nice to see you.

So after ground school in June, you took me by the hand and were all “hi Sydney, I’m your new life, let’s do this” and away we went. I haven’t really looked back since I started AFF. Cue my state of shock.

People are starting to talk about their plans for the winter. Which is totally exciting (for them) but makes me totally nervous about what’s going to happen in a couple months when season here wraps up. Nervous mostly because everything that every skydiver has said would happen once I decide that I’m straight up and down batshit crazy about this sport has happened. You’re addicting and I love pretty much everything about you. If it was actually possible, I’d just have my paycheck direct deposited into my account at the drop zone because that is where all of my money goes anyway. And, I’m okay with all of that. Every last bit of it.

But when we get back to the state of shock stuff, historically, in my little world, I’ve dealt with it in one of two ways.

One, I can keep going full steam ahead. In the instance of rowing, I didn’t have this option, my fate was decided for me. In the instance of skydiving, I can keep going. Keep jumping. Keep spending every waking minute between closing time on Friday and the morning drive on Monday at the drop zone, soaking it all in. Breathing in the culture, the people, the lifestyle, the group of people that have started to become my second family. I can keep going at the pace I have, try to turn off my brain about what happens in two months, and just LIVE. Continue to dive (ew, pun) head first into what is single-handedly the best thing to happen to me in a long time. Continue to fall in love with you, and do so with no reins, love this sport like I love anything that I really set my mind to, and figure out the rest when it happens.

Or, option two, I can start to reel it in. I hate this option. This turns into the battle of what my brain thinks is right vs. what my heart says is right. If I know that everything is going to shut down once the hangar closes for the winter, shouldn’t I start preparing myself for that? Shouldn’t I try to start weaning myself off of that lifestyle so it isn’t a complete and total shit show in my brain when I actually have to stay in Chicago on the weekends? Which, side note, I’m definitely not complaining about staying in Chicago, because it’s one of the greatest cities on the planet, but yeah, you know what I mean. The reeling it in option sucks because I’m cheating myself out of two months of awesome. The reeling it in option is usually the one I’ve gone with because I don’t want to deal with the aftermath.

So, skydiving, a couple questions. What do we do once things shut down? Do I chalk this up to the best summer ever and we’ll revisit when season rolls back around, rinse and repeat? Should I save money to plan winter skydiving trips so we can keep this thing alive? I’m new at this, fresh off of student status. What’s the procedure here?

hearts and sparkles,
Sydney

– Original post

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“A” license in a week….The mental game

Hi Everyone, I’m MJ….before I dive off into my first post I guess I should give you a little background on me. I started on the road to skydiving through my wonderful husband.  He had 6 Static Line Jumps and 4 free-falls years ago – while I had none.  He thought that I should take a tandem jump, thinking it would be a bucket list thing for me, and boy was he wrong.  I landed, and the first words out of my mouth were “I have to do it again”.  And so I did….another tandem – 2 days later (he went along for this one too).   This was last month, July 11th and July 13th.  Fast forward to today, I am a “A” licensed skydiver – and I finished it in 9 days.  I must say that I could not have done it without my family.  There were days that I thought that there would be no way that I would make it though the program.   My kids told me that I could do it (keep in mind that they are 7 and 4 years old and think its cool), the husband told me that I could do it and that he had faith in me – but the question was really if I had faith in me.  I sat there wondering….What was I fighting?  I was in fact fighting my own fears – my own insecurity.  When I conquered this and let go,  and realized that skydiving was really 90% metal and 10% physical.

To summarize my AFP jumps

AFP Jump 1 It took me a while to actually get out the door….

AFP #2,  I made it out better, and tried unsuccessfully to relax – potato chipping through the sky

AFP #3, the release dive, went completely unstable and tried to swim my way out (much like Nemo in Finding Nemo)   as to the point that my instructor pulled for me.

AFP #3 try #2, They released and I made it though stable.

AFP #4 try #1 & #2, I was still so scared from my mishap on AFP#3 try #1 that I didn’t want my instructor to let go.

AFP #4 try 3 I finally relaxed, and was let go of the entire time -from door to ground – and pulled very stable without assistance.   This is where I found my peace and confidence. After this one, there were no more do overs 🙂 Here was where I came to the realization that I was not fighting the wind, gravity, nor anything else….Just myself and the fear and insecurity that was inside of me.  When I let that go, I was truly free.  That was the realization and freedom that I needed to make my skydiving and my inner self really come together.  When I landed, the grass was truly greener – the sky was bluer, and more importantly, I was truly at peace with myself.  The things that get to you or irk you in life are no longer so troubling – in reality, its just a moment that too, will pass.  This is just like instability in the air, if you just relax and become neutral, it too will pass.   Once one breaks through this barrier in skydiving, or in life, it gets so much easier.

AFP #5-18 were a blast, from flips to rolls and everything in between.  The highlight was, in the end, was a six way graduation jump that was truly amazing, I’ll have to post the video one of these days.  I ended up with my “A” license in about 9 days.   Not to bad. ….Now, on to my quest for a rig…..

Blue Ones!

MJ

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Review of my new Factory Diver full face helmet

So I finally got the chance to jump the full face helmet I had to wait nearly 2 months to get…

It was worth the wait.

I’ve gotten 57 jumps done with an open face helmet wearing goggles…
After having done 2 jumps with a full face, I don’t know how I managed…
I see the ground so much more clearly, it’s not silent, but it’s so much quieter on the way down,
I barely hear the annoying flapping of the slider in the wind…
And all the stuff I heard about peoples’ full faces fogging up has now been 100% clarified to me.
I was sweaty, it was humid out, and I had the helmet on my head. (not over my face, just resting on the top of my head)
It fogged up fairly quickly.
As soon as I took it off, it started to clear up.
While wearing it, if I’d breathe through my nose, it would fog slightly around my nose, but not enough to affect me.
The vents for your mouth are well placed, so you can breathe quite well.
In freefall, the vent around your nose lets in just enough air to keep the visor from fogging up, but not enough for you to be bothered.
My favorite part of the helmet is landing…
It’s got a LOT of visibility, you don’t really have any blind spots which you do have with goggles… You see very clearly and judge distances much easier as well.
My landings were much more easy to gauge with the factory diver then with my goggles and open face.

Cost: 4*
Cheap compared to other full faces, but still fairly expensive

Comfort: 4.5*
It’s very comfortable, but unbearably hot when it’s sunny out, and small amounts of sweat make the material inside feel flooded

Look: 5*
It’s a very sleek and sexy helmet, easy to paint, very little to obstruct your vision.
Velcro on the side to tighten it instead of a strap with a snap.

Durability factor: 4*
The material inside probably won’t ever have any issues, but the Velcro will wear out and I’ve been told that I’ll end up having to add a snap. The lens is EXTREMELY fragile, to the point where even cloth would damage it and replacement lenses are never cheap.

Value: 4.5*
The Factory Diver is about 25% cheaper than the other full faces on the market, the visor doesn’t open, so you won’t have to worry about it opening randomly in free fall… This is both an upside and a downside. The Z-1 offers a safety button that keeps it from opening which gives it points, the FD simply doesn’t open.
The Factory Diver is also a bit bigger of a form, so fits a wider range of faces.
It loses .5 simply because some people want a helmet that can open.
It also has a slot for an audible altimeter on the inside lining.

Availability: 2.5*
I had to order it twice to get it, once through my DZ who never ended up receiving it, and then again through a buddy’s shop who was told that it would be on back order for a month.
7 weeks later, I had the helmet in my hands… That lost some major points for me since I’m looking to buy something now, not in 7 weeks… a 2-3 week waiting period is fine, but 7 weeks… (I waited 1 week for my Protrack to arrive at the DZ and it also had to be ordered… Review coming soon)

Overall: 4/5 Star rating
I’ll say that I’m very happy with my purchase regardless, and I’d suggest it for someone on a budget looking to get their hands on a full face helmet to add to their gear selection.

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5 Dumb Things Every Skydiver will do, eventually.

5 dumb things every skydiver will do at least once, in absolutely no order whatsoever.

1. Go up without gear.

It’s gonna happen at some point or another. You’ll be rushing to get on the next load and then next thing you know, no altimeter, no gloves, no helmet or goggles. At this point you have two options. You can either ride the plane back down, and pay for a plane ride, or throw your ass outta the plane. Depending on what you forgot, it may or may not be a big issue. Key thought – take the plane ride option if you forgot your rig entirely, dumbass.

2. Walk over someone’s lines while they are packing.

Apologize profusely, and bring a case of beer next week.

3. Cutaway

Another fact of skydiving life. That’s why every time you go up in the load you should practice pulling your handles. Do it however you were taught, and never forget where your handles are. Remember in an emergency, there are only two things that will save your ass – yourself, and your AAD. Make sure both are in jumping condition BEFORE you go up. Hopefully, you have nice friends and they’ll spot your malfunctioned main for you. If not, it’s time to find some new friends. PS – buy your beer.

4. Make a bad spot.

There are two simple ways to tell if this has happened, first – “If the door is closed, you’re hosed.” Ever look back and see the door of the plane shut when you know jumpers haven’t gotten out yet? Yeah, nice spot Sherlock. Wave off ASAP, and limp back at half brakes.
Ever go out on an RW jump and see that it’s 7000 feet, and everybody is gone? Oops, hope you make it back… No? Oh well, at least you’ll never forget the feeling of corn cobs smashing into your face as you’re landing in a field. Trust me – that shit hurts.

5. Try to stand up a landing that you should just slide/PLF.

You know it’s coming, maybe you’re slightly crosswind on your landing, or maybe your swoop is just a little fast. Odds are you’re wearing your brand-new white jumpsuit too. You don’t want to get it dirty, so you decide to try and run it off. Bad choice. At best you trip and fall, and ride it out on your knees. At worst, you break a few bones. Either way – your new jumpsuit has grass stains, and you still look dumb. Save the trouble. “If you’re not going to stand it up, don’t try to stand it up.” is a quote from an instructor that comes to mind.

This is just a small list to get everyone started, what do you guys think? Any other dumb things that all skydivers will end up doing at least once?

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Skydiving in Social Media

Let’s get real here for a moment…like really, real.

I love skydiving – for obvious reasons.

I love social media – mostly because I work in this space all day and see the benefits, like keeping up on the latest information, staying in touch with friends, getting updates on products and services you enjoy.

I also hate social media. (Don’t worry, I’m not about to say I hate skydiving…not in the slightest. :)) Social media has done things to our society that I fear can’t be undone. Sure, we’re more connected than ever before, but I also believe we’re more lonely than we’ve ever been. Our idea of “community” has been altered. We’re walking down a path that’s slowly putting us out of touch with our humanity (yes, Weeds fans, I did steal that line from the show, but it’s true)!

What’s more is that it’s making us passive aggressive individuals. Instead of talking to people in person or taking someone aside to chat about an issue, we’re publicly calling people out. I’m seeing this more and more with skydiving related topics as well.

In the last week I’ve seen skydivers who have posted about switching from RW to freefly, another who posted about downsizing (which is always a hot topic and everyone has their opinions), and subsequently, I’ve seen “friends” of theirs put them on the spot with things like “you shouldn’t do that, you’ll get hurt,” or “you’re too inexperienced,” or “are you sure about that?”

All this does is put people on the defensive – after all, they were just called out in front of their friends and families in one of the most populated social media communities.

Thing is, I really don’t believe the people who are making these passive attacks see it this way. It’s genuine concern most of the time – which we as skydivers truly love! But if you take a step back and look at how these very public comments come across, the potential outcome probably isn’t what was intended. Think about it, if you were at the DZ, instead of online, would you stand up on the picnic table and yell to the guy who is talking to his instructor about freeflying, “hey, you shouldn’t do that, you’re not proficient on your belly yet, you’ll get hurt, or worse, you’ll hurt someone else!”

Of course not! That would embarrass them, and possibly even make you look like a jerk. Instead, you’d have a personal conversation to express your concern for that person and those with whom they share the sky. That’s just common decency…isn’t it?

As a skydiver, I love having the ability to use social media (such as Facebook and Twitter) to keep up with things that are going on in the industry – updates from USPA, manufacturers like PD and Infinity, getting links to the latest blog posts – and staying updated on my jumping buddies, where they’re headed for the weekend, staying in touch with those I’ve met in my travels, but when I see skydivers who have to get defensive because of someone who didn’t stop to think of the outcomes of a comment they could have sent privately, that starts to make me question how great these tools are after all.

Now don’t get me wrong here, this isn’t an attack on anyone who may have done something similar in the past. I believe everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise, so I truly believe that most of these comments are not meant to publicly humiliate other jumpers, or to try to put someone in their place for the purpose of making them feel bad. That’s just not skydiver nature, as far as I’m concerned. We jump together, we beer together (yes, beer can be a verb), we chill around the bonfire together…hell, we do just about everything but sing Kumbaya together at the end of a great day of skydiving. Well, maybe if we’ve had enough of that beer I was referring to, but that’s an entirely different topic altogether.

Point being, I do honestly believe that everyone has the best of intentions in this sport, and those that don’t are quick to be outed by their own behavior. I blame social media for our ability to post anything and everything online and not think for a second that there’s anything wrong with that. But when it involves someone else, that’s when I think it’s time to take an extra second to review how your words could be perceived.

In the end, we’re all here to help each other out. So to the defenders: stop being so sensitive…they likely didn’t mean anything by it. It’s your decision if you want to freefly or downsize or BASE jump or whatever. Just make sure you’re being smart about it. To the antagonists: you’re probably not how your comments make you seem, you’re likely just concerned, but be sure it’s coming off that way, and not as “you’re an idiot, I’m smarter than you and a better skydiver than you so you better listen to me and so should all your friends who will see this post too.”

But then again, this is just my advice, which, given that this is a social media platform, could very well be taken as “skygod-ish” itself.  Though I promise you, that is not my intent. From one skydiving, social media user to another….

Blue skies!

Ashley

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Celebrity Skydiver

I have a picture of me skydiving on the cover of a national magazine this month.

No, it’s not Parachutist or Blue Skies. My cover is on TCL = Today’s Chiropractic Lifestyle.

Still, it’s kinda a big deal. I wrote an article about why I fell in love with skydiving. Then I did a photo shoot with my friend Warren Cleary (who is a pretty crazy skilled free flier and photographer) and got the footage needed for the article and the editors liked the photos so much they used one for the cover. Here’s the PDF: TC_DoorToNow

I’ve been a local celebrity at work since the magazine has come out and everyone has seen it. I work at a chiropractic school and many people didn’t know I was skydiving so the cover and article has generated some buzz. I also brought copies to the DZ and have signed a few copies. It is totally obnoxious. Feel free to make fun of me at will.

I have a video of the photo shoot jump but I can’t find it right now and I don’t want to delay getting this post up. So, enjoy the pdf. That’s all I gots fer ya!

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Jump for Diabetes is upon us!

For those who have heard about Jump for Diabetes, you’re likely well aware that this event is happening in just over a week. I know, right…holy crap!

For those who aren’t aware, here’s a little background on what we’re doing!

Jump for Diabetes is an annual skydiving event to raise funds for diabetes research in hopes of finding a cure. It’s that simple! Well, not really, there’s actually a lot more to it than that, but I won’t bore you with the back-end details.

What you should know is this: we’re hosting the event on August 14-15 at Skydive Pennsylvania. A portion of each tandem skydive that weekend is going to the cause. Additionally, we have a group of 11 very passionate, sponsored skydivers who are donating their jumps this weekend to the cause. Meaning: they have people who pledged each of their jumps and that money will go directly to support diabetes research. As you can imagine, I’m one of these jumpers, with the intent to make 20 skydives that weekend for this incredible cause. Wish me luck!

Not only that, we’ll be doing HIGH ALTITUDE JUMPS from 22,000 feet on Sunday. This is huge! I’m so excited that we’re able to offer this up. This also means that we have another turbine coming in to support the event for the weekend. So we’ll have the Porter, Cessna and the King Air for the event!

Of course, we can’t forget about the PD canopy raffle that’s going on. For everyone who donates at least $100 to the cause, they receive a raffle ticket for a 1 in 100 chance to win a FREE CUSTOM canopy from Performance Designs.

That got your attention, huh?

This is limited to the first 100 people to donate $100 and request to be entered in the raffle. So far we’ve sold under 50 tickets. So if that’s all we sell, then the people in the raffle have even better odds. And the best part of this is that you don’t have to be present at the event to win! We’ll draw the winner at the event and let everyone know as quickly as possible who the winner is.

Interested? Email [email protected] to enter.

We’ve also got a grand prize raffle taking place – here’s what the prizes looks like for that:

1st: Tandem and Video Package for 2 OR $500 in jump credit

2nd: Tandem and Video Package for 1 OR $250 in jump credit

3rd: Hot air balloon ride/jump OR 4 fun jumps

Tickets are $5 each or 3 for $10. Again, don’t have to be present to win.

Though if you do attend the event, we’re having a general raffle, where each person who registers gets a ticket (as well as additional tickets on sale at the event) and we’ll be giving away thousands – yes, THOUSANDS – of dollars in skydiving gear including things like FREE jumpsuits, helmets, Gatorz and big percentages off containers, and much, much more.

Pre-registration is $30 and guarantees you an event t-shirt, goodie bag, raffle ticket and $10 hop ‘n pops.

Oh yeah, and all of this goes to support an incredible cause!

So if any of this interests you, please, don’t hesitate to email us at [email protected]. You can also check out our Facebook page and website.

This event is going to be one not to miss!

Blue skies!

Ashley

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What a birthday!

It’s been 4 days since then, and I’m still feeling the after effects of Saturday.

I started everything off by partying with some friends Friday night and got to bed around 4:30AM…
Woke up the next morning at 8:00AM to pick up some friends at the Metro (Subway) and then head to the DZ.
My mom, being a pastry chef decided that she wanted to make me some cookies and brownies to bring with me, so I had about 3 boxes of junk food with me along with my skydive gear, a small ziplock back full of cherries, my box of Gatorade powder and a huge smile on my face because the sky was just so perfectly blue!

We arrive at the DZ at about 10:00AM, I have 7 people who came along with me to do a tandem jump for the first time, they’re as excited as I am…
My buddy Alex who’s also a skydiver decided that he wanted to pop in and bring me a gift… The most wonderful gift a person can give a skydiver… He didn’t want to tell me what it was over the phone, all he said was that it’s golden and that he thought of me when he bought it.

I had no idea what to expect, in my head I was thinking “hmm, golden and he thought of me… Does this guy have a thing for me or something?”
After a few laughs at that idea, he pulled the gift out from behind his back… a Heineken Draughtkeg!!!!!
Draughtkeg

This is probably the best thing one can give a skydiver…

So I proceeded to hide it behind the manifest’s desk to be sure no one taps it open before I get to it.
(Many laughs about the disappearing keg followed later on which I’ll write about)

So i manifest myself on a first load, do a 2way with a buddy at the DZ, we decide that today we’re gonna do fun jumps that aren’t serious.
First exit: Roller coaster! I’m in front in a seated position with my legs pointing forward in front of me, his legs are on my sides, I’m holding onto his leg grips and he’s holding onto my shoulder grips.
We jumped out facing the wind instead of back to the wind, so we span all over the place going first feet forward looking down, then ended up looking up towards the plane. Was a blast!

We did some formation work after stabilizing, we grabbed arms, he satellited around me, then grabbed my arms again, then I went around him, grabbed his arms and so on.
This was his official 100th jump. (Unofficially however it was an 8way :P)

We landed exactly on point…. The instructors at the DZ however…. Landed in the soy bean fields hahahahaha!

2nd jump, two of the tandems I brought along were on the plane, one was nervous, the other was extatic.

We decided to do a head down exit, so we grabbed onto each other’s shoulder grips, jumped out, stayed head down for a few seconds, stabilized, did the same thing as the last jump, except this time after going around one side, we’d inverse and go the other side.
Again, perfect landing.

3rd jump, 2 more tandems come on (hopefully one will be doing his AFF soon)
did a 4 way with an H position exit, we were fairly sloppy on the exit (*AHEM* *Fabien* *COUGH* *COUGH*
We lost major stability and took a while to get back together… Actually, we never did, they all fell faster than I did and I couldn’t catch up before 5k feet.

Great landing though…. so golden that I had to run towards my canopy so that it wouldn’t catch wind and pull me off my feet…
Then I realize that I ran onto the runway as the plane is landing, so I have to run back….
running towards canopy

running from canopy

The tandems were extatic at the end of the jump hugging each other and yelling in the field.

4th jump was another 4way, same people, same exit except this time, the person who will remain unnamed took an easier position (tail of the H only has to jump backwards, no need to position himself into the wind or anything)
The exit is flawless this time, we stabilize… Except when we started the 1st point, this same person *COUGH* *COUGH!* Sorry bad cold…
Turned the wrong way.. apparently he doesn’t know right from left 😛

So he ended up face to face with the person next to him, being an open circle, we lost balance with the relative wind and split up again. Well he did, the other 3 of us stayed together… hahaha

Great landing again 😛

Another friend showed up to wish me a happy birthday, she surprised me as I was walking back with my rig on my shoulder from this jump. She came by to simply do one jump with me then continue on her way.
So we did a 2 way, also with a head down exit as before.
During freefall, I turned to my right, she gripped my sides, then went around gripped the other side, then came in front of me, she turned, I gripped her sides, went around, gripped the other side, then went in front of her.

Golden landing, she then went on her way and I planned to do one last jump with the same person as earlier.

6th jump was a solo, practiced for my B license series.

7th jump was a sunset load, I did another 2way with my buddy from earlier, we decided to do some back flying. we basically just spun around in circles for fun for the last jump.
Under canopy at 1 km in the air (3000 feet) while the sun has just finished setting is one of the most amazing feelings ever!

Afterwards, we were all hanging around the DZ trying to figure out whether or not to go out for food or to order pizza.
I broughts out the keg, others cracked open some bottles…
We then realized that there were no cups to be found… SACRILEGE!
I put the keg down, turn my back to talk to someone, turn around to see one of the tandem masters as he says bye to me to then look down and see that he’s hiding something under his shirt.
His statement: “What keg?”

Similar jokes were cracked over the next 20 minutes.

The DZO set up a bonfire and then ordered pizza for everyone. We all sat around the fire, drank, laughed, etc… Until about midnight when people started leaving.
I went to an after hours with my friend and partied till the sun came up… Litterally 🙂

I’m still sore 😛

My Factory Diver should be in this week. I also ordered a Protrack so reviews should be up soon 🙂

Blue ones everybody!

-Adam

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It’s my birthday and I wanna skydive…

WOO HOO!!!
25th birthday today, skies are blue, weather’s warm, I’ve got a rig for the day and a bunch of friends meeting me at the DZ… Gonna be a fun day!

Damn I should’ve gotten more sleep! 😛

Blue ones!

– Adam

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From Whuffo to Licensed in 12 days

First and foremost, I apologize for not updating this page as often as I wanted to. I had initially planned on updating it after every single jump, but things happened extremely fast. As the title describes – I made 25 jumps in just under 12 days time, while still working 45 hours per week. But I can honestly say it’s been one of the greatest 12 days of my life.

Along the way there have been some very notable jumps, here are my favorites:

Jump no. 7

Obviously my first Free Fall jump would make the list. I already wrote about it in “Not Bad, for a Wednesday” but I have to reiterate it here. Freefall is breathtaking. The feeling of just letting go from an airplane is unforgettable, and so is this jump.

Jump no. 9

Two days after my first free fall jump, I started jumping my own packjobs. For someone who can barely fold a shirt, packing a parachute scared the living hell out of me. That first jump – all I could think about was “Will this open?! Will it?!” and totally lost focus on the jump itself. We went out at 6.5, and I was only able to do two 90o turns before I pulled- at 5,000 feet. My coach, Cora, landed next to me laughing, she knew exactly why I did it.

“See? It opened. I told you it would. Now you get to do two more 90o turns plus 180’s and 360’s on the next jump. You’ll have to pull even lower to get them all in on time.”

Jump no. 13 (lucky no. 13!)

This was the second spot I made (a stressful event in and of itself) but this was also my first tracking jump. For those of you who don’t get to routinely fall at terminal velocity, I’ll enlighten you.

Tracking is the art of removing yourself from the arch that was so painfully drilled into your skull during your first jumps in order to move rapidly across the sky. When doing formation skydiving (relative work) it is important that you are clear of the group you exited with when you pull your parachute. Tracking works by placing your hands on either hip, cupped down, while rolling your shoulders down, and pushing your feet together. This allows you to really haul ass away from people, it’s also INSANELY fun. The thing I love about it is the sound. Freefall is loud, but a rather gentle “swish”-ing sound as the air goes by. When you track, you accelerate even faster, which makes a “WOOOSH” sound. Every time I track for more than a few seconds, I feel like Ironman™ breaking the sound barrier.

Jump no. 18

This was my check dive. At 18 I had completed the entire Skydiver’s Information Manual (SIM) manual, and just had fun jumps til I could get my license. I loved this jump because I really feel like I nailed it. For those of you who don’t know, the last 3 or 4 jumps in the SIM are swoop & dock jumps, meaning you have to approach and grab your coach in the air – much trickier than it seems. I always had trouble falling fast enough to keep up with my jumpmaster Paul, so I blew it a couple times.

But no. 18 was different. I jumped with Cora, who’s about the same size as me.  I got to do some backflips off of the step, which were ridiculously fun, and then completed my turns, and then I saw Cora above me. I was able to get back up to her and dock with almost no effort. It felt great to finally get that satisfaction. I was so excited I did another backloop, then tracked and pulled. Awesome.

Jump no. 19

Jump 19 was a fun jump, I had a ton of fun because I got to dive out after Paul. Dive-out exits are awesome. Jump 19 was crazy, because I had also just taken apart and reassembled a 3-ring system with our FAA certified Rigger, Mike. Mike was so concerned that I was putting my side together correctly, that he accidentally put his side on 360o from where it should have been. This caused a line twist about midway up that in effect stopped the end cells on my right side from opening. It was my first true “fast” malfunction. I immediately began spinning, and was about to cutaway when I saw the single twist, and remembered that we had just reassembled that 3-ring system. I twisted at the base of my risers, and that transferred the twist from the lines to the risers, and flew the rig home. Cora was impressed that I didn’t cut it. Teddy wanted me to cut it, because that would be 3 cases of beer I’d have to owe.

Jump no. 20

This jump almost made me poop myself. Paul, Cora and I did a 3-way from 10,000. We planned on exiting in a circle, breaking and turning 360o, then reconnecting and doing it again. Our exit was great, but once we turned, Paul fell under us and I started to side-slide while holding onto Cora. Paul backslid and was starting to come up, but I was side-sliding too fast. He flew directly under me, putting me in his “burble”. I immediately dropped on his back at 8,000 feet into an inadvertent “Rodeo” – it was crazy. Once on the ground, Paul thought it was just the funniest thing.

“I’ve never seen anybody hop off a rodeo so fast, you weren’t quite ready for that, where you?”

Nope. Not at all.

Jump no. 23

This jump went well, Teddy and I exited, but rotated head-down and held it. According to his audible altimeter, we travelled at 190mph as a top speed. The crazy part though, was deploying. This was a chute I had packed, and I had the most insane pilot-chute burble ever. I literally pulled at 4,000 feet and finally came under canopy at 2,800. It wasn’t until I rotated to reach for my cutaway handle that the parachute finally deployed. Crazy.

Jump no. 24

Under this one, in my logbook I wrote “PERFECT” in big, capital letters. Cora and I went from altitude, on the way up we changed our dive plan 3 times (She said it made me a real skydiver.) We started with grips, I then released and went sidebody. Cora held her heading, I side-slid around and got the other side, then back to front dock. We did this twice. I was so incredibly jacked. This was the first jump I did that I really feel like I nailed RW on the first try.

Jump no. 25

Graduation! This jump wasn’t all to spectacular, same plan as 24 only I would have to fall faster because it was with Teddy, who is bigger than Cora. I was only able to get around him once, but then I tracked for 15 seconds at full speed. Landing felt great, I had put the feet on target for the 8th time that day.

What are some of your most memorable jumps? Most insane? Best improvisation? Holler at me in the comments.