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First Annual Dropzone.com GatheringPosted Saturday, November 17, 2001By Ted Biggs The Internet is a strange and wonderful thing. I had been thinking of trying my hand at skydiving for quite some time, and about a year ago, I decided to take the plunge, so to speak. Having been on the Internet for approximately 9 years, I did what any self-respecting Netizen would do... I found websites dedicated to skydiving and read everything that I could. I also managed to find a couple of message board sites, one of which was Dropzone.com, and began lurking first, posting later.
During that time I came to know quite a few jumpers from Houston and around the world. I became very good friends with many people who I only knew by an online nickname and writing style. We discussed not only skydiving, but personal problems, political issues, everything that close friends discussed. If a person had a skydiving problem, people offered helpful advice. If a person was having a problem in a relationship, we offered support and encouragement. I soon met most of the Houston area jumpers. It was quite nice to finally put a face on all these people with whom I had been corresponding. But there were many others who I knew for almost a year, and felt a very tight bond with, but had yet to meet in person. BeginningsThe first (BEER!) "official" Dropzone.com formation record, a 4-way, was built in Texel in the Netherlands in July 2001 (Wingnut, Skreamer, BenW, Huffermoose) This was shortly followed by a 5-way in Deland in August 2001 (Watcher, Mouth, Aviatrr, Skymama and JTval). Not to be outdone, the Houston skydivers decided to try to attempt to break the record. The first attempt never occurred due to the organizer's (i.e. my) disorganization.About a month ago, Slappie happened to mention that one of his instructor's friends from Chicago, Chicagoskydiver (oddly enough), was planning to come down for a visit. We started corresponding with Chicagoskydiver, Merrick & Pammi in the Dropzone.com online chat room (hosted by Slappie). Merrick & Pammi also expressed interest in coming down from Oklahoma. The idea of a full blown get-together was born. We couldn't call it a boogie, because invariably all Houston boogies are rained out. So it was dubbed a "gathering". The incentive was to allow people to finally meet each other face to face and attempt to break the Deland formation record. Slappie set out to recruiting attendees online and making arrangements with Skydive Spaceland's management. He also offered his apartment to any dz.commer's that needed a place to stay. In fairly short order a large number of people expressed enthusiastic interest in attending. The date of the gathering was set to the weekend of November 10, 2001. Everyone looked forward to finally meeting all the friends that they had shared so much with online for so long. Nov. 10, 2001I showed up bright & early Saturday morning at 8:30. Pammi & Merrick had driven in the night before and stayed at Slappie's place. Chicagoskydiver was hosted by Spaceland's DZM, Kris Bagwell. Cloud9 and AggieDave drove down from Beaumont and College Station respectively. The first day consisted of mostly fun jumps and drill dives. Ramon took Pammi out for a head down jump, Scotty provided coaching services and myself and AggieDave had a two way sit jump. Around noon, jumpers gathered to help Pammi and and Chicagoskydiver get their SCRs. This was a special jump as I got my SCS and Pammi got her SCR. It was also the first jump where I was able to help someone else get their SCR. We managed to get Chicagoskydiver his SCR later in the day. Midway through the day, Jumperpaula, myself, Pammi, Merrick and Cloud9 managed to tie the Deland record with a 5 way. Unfortunately, a big enough group was not assembled to perform the record-breaking attempt so the effort was postponed until the following day.After the beer light came on, Scotty provided food for the hungry skydivers. This was immediately followed by the SCR pouring ceremony for Pammi and Chicagoskydiver. Our maggots first faced California and then promptly turned toward the Alamo, as required by Texas tradition. The maggots took their initiation like real troopers. Once the ceremony was complete, everyone retired to the Rabbit Hole for more festivities. AirAnn and Cyberskydiver managed to make a very welcome guest appearance. Nov. 11, 2001Sunday started a tad slower, as everyone filtered in recovering from the previous night. Even though the record had been tied, the attendees were determined to break it. Under the guidance of Scotty Carbone, the goal was set to attempt an 11-way during the mid-afternoon. Merrick, Pammi, Chicagoskydiver and AggieDave participated in some drill jumps with Scotty. On one jump, we all had a scare as three of our jumpers landed off. Fortunately no one was injured and the attempt was still on.The jump was planned and dirt-dived, and around 3pm everyone boarded the plane. This was going to be our one and only full-out attempt as many folks needed to begin their trips home. As we reached jump run, everybody crowded the door, the count was given and attempt was launched! The base was quickly established with Scotty, Chicagoskydiver, Conwayjumper, Antimike and AggieDave. Jumperpaula, Hookit and Ramon (both dedicated freefliers) soon followed suit to complete the 8-way star and lay claim to the new all-dz.com formation record! EpilogueThe first gathering of Dropzone.com members, while smaller than expected, was a tremendous success. Fun was had by all. Skills were honed. New friendships were forged. Plans are already underway to make the gathering an annual event.Many thanks go out to Slappie for all of his hard work in recruiting attendees, making necessary arrangements with the Skydive Spaceland management and making his apartment available for our visitors. Also a big thanks to all of the Skydive Spaceland staff for providing a wonderful facility with good vibes for our guests. Thanks also go out to Scotty Carbone for providing load organizing, big way coaching and his always wonderful Cutaway Cafe food. And last but certainly not least, huge kudos to Sangiro for all of his hard work in making this great forum available to us. Without him I never would have met all of you wonderful people. Blue skies! Zennie More Event News (45)
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