0

Events

    An Adventure in Mexico - Puerto Escondido Boogie

    After a grueling 38 hours in the car to Puerto Escondido Mexico, via Central Texas, (mostly brought on by a bad sense of direction and a belief that I could plan a better route than Google, the real drive should have only been around 21 hrs.) We arrived in the quaint coastal town of Puerto Escondido, OAX, for the new years boogie put on by Skydive Cuautla.
    Puerto Escondido is a small ocean town on the pacific coast, known for its beautiful beaches and friendly people. Puerto Escondido means “hidden port” because it has remained relatively untouched by commercialization that so often takes over tourist destinations. While not as well known as its neighbor, Acapulco, Puerto Escondido has been a longtime favorite vacation destination for the locals, allowing this town to hold on to a truly genuine feeling.
    As we descended from the mountains south of Oxaca, our first sight of the small Mexican town was of a picturesque beach, bright sun, gentle sea breeze, and blue sky, punctuated with the bright colors of the canopies soaring through the crisp ocean air. We quickly followed them to the landing area, a white sanded beach with deep blue water dotted with small umbrellas and sun bathers, and inquired as to where to find manifest. Everyone was more than happy to point us in the right direction, maybe a half a block up the street we found their buses out front of a beautiful traditional style Mexican patio, surrounded by a wrought iron gate, draped with banners urging us to come, "jump in paradise". Just a few steps inside this oasis-esque courtyard stood a thatch roofed cabana, with a set up of tables and computers.
    We quickly made our way over there, and after an attempt to comprehend my limited knowledge of Spanish vocabulary in regards to skydiving, an English speaking staff member found us and pulled us aside to help out. We had our gear checked, a safety briefing, and then told us how to purchase jump tickets, and informed of the white party that was set to occur that evening. We told them we would probably not jump that day, as we needed to find a hotel, shower (most importantly) eat and then come and jump. The organizer then immediately got on her phone and helped to find us a room at a local hotel. EVERYTHING was booked up, and she spent close to an hour of her time calling the hotels around us, until finally she was able to send us in the right direction. We ended up getting a room at the Caracol Plaza, which was the best hotel I have ever stayed at in my life, but that is a review for Hotels.com (but if you want to be treated like royalty, for the price of a pauper, definitely look them up).
    We washed up, grabbed some food, and headed back to manifest. We decided to do a warm up little two way jump, though we received a warm welcome and invitation to jump from everyone there, we made our way to the bus, and headed off to the airport. The loading went smooth, and their shuttles were clean and comfortable. Which made for an enjoyable ride to the airport.
    The Airport was located just 5 minutes up the road on the mountain top overlooking the city, where we were unloaded, geared up, walked out onto the flight line, loaded into the otter, and then airborne lickety split! The climb to altitude was as quick as it was beautiful, and we even got up to 14k AGL on this jump. The Otter was in tip top condition, clean and maintained better than most planes I have seen in the states. The other jumpers on the plane were helpful in describing the landing pattern again, and helped to make sure we had a good spot.
    We had a Great Jump, nice soft landings on the HUGE beach landing area, and headed back up to the manifest area to pack. The packing area was a large shaded area right across from the manifest hut, with tarped over floors, and a large grassy area behind the manifest hut. We had ample room to pack, and they even had some packers on hand to help with any overflow.
    As sunset load came down we headed over to the beach to watch everyone come down, where we were greeted with beers, and everybody took pictures and celebrated a good day of jumping while a Fire orange sun sank low into the into the sea, casting a warm glow upon the smiling faces of the jumpers.
    We retired to our hotel to prepare for the New Years Eve white party. I was skeptical at first to spend 700 pesos a person on a party (roughly $60 USD), but after we arrived at the party every ounce of doubt was removed from my mind. They had paper lanterns and sparklers for us to light off on the beach, the paper lanterns floating skyward like fireflies into the cool night air, while we drank sangria, and took group photos, before walking up to a restaurant courtyard area. There we sat at long tables, surrounded by friendly people, a DJ spinning music, skydiving videos playing on a projector screen, and the smell of food grilling floating through the air.
    The Beer was cold, the conversations warm, and many new friends were made that night, (shout out to all of the Canadians that came out to escape the winter weather!). Some speeches were given, translated into both Spanish and English, and then food was served; And let me tell you, we ate only local food the entire time in Mexico, and the food they served was the second best we have had in all of Mexico! They passed out party favors, hats, tiaras and horns for everyone, as well as champagne and grapes, which might not have been the best idea, because it was a large group of skydivers, and we just can’t have nice things, so it took less than a minute for grapes to begin whizzing through the air followed shortly by tortillas and paper plates!
    At the stroke of midnight a firework show kicked off, and the party jumped into high gear! It was a beautiful moment as the moon shone brightly overhead, fireworks cracked in the sky, music floated through the air, and everyone was happy and together, not separated by culture, country or language, but united as Skydivers doing what we love. We enjoyed the festivities, hailed a cab, and retired to the hotel for a night of finally sleeping on a real bed, and not curled up in the seat of a car.
    Our second and final day there, Manifest did not begin operating until around noon, so we had the morning to experience the town, visit the small tiendas, enjoy the food from roadside vendors, and visit the beach. There was much more to do in this little town, and beauty was everywhere you looked, from the fantastic landscapes, architecture of the buildings, to the street art plastered on the alleyways and building around town.
    We were invited on more jumps, and had more wonderful experiences with the staff and fun jumpers at the boogie. We ate in the cafe on the manifest grounds, our home DZ still has the best kitchen in the world, but the food and service here was a close second. We had awesome jumps that day, and even got to see the awesome staff in action when I landed off on a tracking dive (surprising right?), and saw a cutaway on our jump. Someone was in a boat and grabbed the main and free bag right as they hit the water, and a bus and people on ATV's were there to check on us and give us a ride back to the manifest area before I could even stow my brakes. We made it back, packed, and then set out for a night on the town before we left for home in the morning.
    EVERYTHING about this boogie ran like a well-oiled machine, the staff of Skydive Cuautla and their volunteers did a phenomenal job of organizing this boogie. The people, all over Mexico, not just at the boogie, were friendly, the facilities were top notch, both the Super Otter and the Sky Van were in incredible condition, loads went up fast, and the altitude was always generous. We have definitely found a new years tradition, and will sing the praises of this boogie to all of our friends. I will be there again this coming new year with bells on! This is one boogie you MUST attend at least once in your lifetime, as you are surely missing a big chunk of your skydiving life if you do not!

    By admin, in Events,

    African Sky Blue - Skydive Diani’s 3rd Anniversary Boogie (Part 2)

    Continued from Part 1
    Steady and organic as it has been for three years running, the growth for this particular event is a little more along the “exponential” lines. The biggest boogie Diani had seen before this particular crowd descended was made up of around 30 people; today, almost a hundred jumpers are thronging about the place. They’re poured out in ones, twos and threes on the pillows heaped on princely carved daises. They’re queueing up for smoothies at the bar--a converted Volkswagen bus, painted a cheerful robin’s-egg blue. (The van’s side roof has been removed to reveal a seemingly indefatigable blender and its winking operator--Jimmy, a Kenyan with light eyes, a quick wit and international schooling who’s just about to start on his helicopter pilot’s license.) Two dropzone dogs chase wayward monkeys up the treetrunks. A local taps an endless stack of coconuts with his practiced machete, revealing the restorative nectar inside for the jumpers rustling back in from their beach landings. A dozen packers, tidily kitted out in their official Skydive Diani shirts and swoop shorts, busily compress a steady stream of nylon under thatch roofs. It’s busy here.
    Not too long ago, this wide lawn would have had a population of perhaps four, give or take--and, reliably, one of those residents would be Ingvild Finvåg.
    Ingvild’s Viking-blue eyes and honey-blonde, Disney-princess locks announce her provenance with rigorous clarity, even if the mildness of her Nordic lilt does not. Her polished manners and peach-cheeked smiles belie the steady, bulldog resolve that has placed her squarely next to Gary at the heart of the Diani operation.
    Ingvild did a handful of skydives in her early 20’s, but it didn’t quite take. Seven years later, she moved to Mombasa from Oslo to work the volunteer circuit; this time, it snagged her thoroughly. She landed from her first Skydive Diani jump and essentially never left. Ingvild started her AFF in earnest a week later, logging a hundred jumps within that first season, then quickly going on to earn her TI and AFF instructor ratings. As it turns out, hers was one of the first tandems Skydive Diani had ever done.
    “I just hung around, jumping all the time, and built up jump numbers,” Ingvild remembers. “I just wanted to be around the drop zone.”
    Ingvild initially picked up a gig as the dropzone’s marketing liaison; now, she’s General Manager. On this particular afternoon, she’s ensconced at the front desk, working out the details of the catering for tonight’s Christmas party as she scruffles Bonbon, her roly-poly, lambswool dog. Next to Ingvild, Aaron Kitchener--an old friend of Gary’s, who co-runs his Kenyan security firm--is pitching in to run the manifest and make sure the bottomless coffee and tea urns stay full. When the final load goes up, Aaron ambles out from behind the desk, summoning the ground crew to help him unbox, unwrap and light dozens of oil lamps, all in the DZ’s signature blue. By the time the sunset load comes whooping down, the lamps are casting warm pools of light at the feet of the lawn’s tall palm trees, guiding the way to the free beer.
    If this isn’t paradise, I don’t know what is.
    We hear the Christmas party before we see it.

    Kenya Defence Forces Parachute Display Team by Joel StricklandAs we stroll down the long driveway towards the boutique hotel Gary and Ingvild have arranged to host the shindig, the happy chitter of a hundred giddy skydivers comes through the trees to announce that we’ve come to the right place. When we enter the venue, we’re stunned: this is an actual-factual Christmas party, not a cobbled-together skydiverly simalcrum. It’s a pressed-tablecloth affair, with roses and candles and African-themed Christmas crackers at every place setting. Skydivers swish about in showy dresses and ironed collars. Solicitous waiters work their way through the constellation of tables like fish in a reef, wine bottles dipping this way and that. We’re seated with the Kenyan Defense Force parachute demo team, a decorous foursome who, as we draw them out, set about showing us smartphone photos of their farms and families. We work our way together through a splendid little buffet, watching luminarias twinkle around the pool as we tell our stories.
    As we tuck into our Christmas pudding, a representative of the Kenyan Civil Aviation Authority makes his way to the front stage, attired in what must be his full traditional kit. As he sings the dropzone’s praises and hails the rich future of Kenyan airsports, jumpers pepper his speech with happy hoots and hollers. The phenomenon seems a little new to him, but he rolls with it, eventually passing the mic to Gary, who delivers an emotional brief history of the place before introducing a live band.
    In a handful of minutes, the dance floor is pumping and the pool is splashing. At one point, Jarrett Martin takes advantage of a suitable path to take a flying roll into the deep end. By the time I call it a night, I’ve already written off tomorrow morning.
    Fair play.

    Image by Mikael Soderberg It’s certainly not the only morning that we happily write off over the course of the ten-day event. Gary and Ingvild have planned get-togethers for every night we’re together there, and none of them are missable moments. From the outdoor cuddle-puddle movie night to the jump-in “invasion” of the island at the far border of the marine reserve, these are one-event-per-boogie special, but they’re happening every time the sun goes down.
    There’s the pizza night at the fancypants resort down the road, for instance.
    After we pass through the massive wooden gates, staff in crisply pressed uniforms with crisply pressed hellos lead us past a succession of rose-petal fountains. Somewhere back beyond the second or third swimming pool, we’re established family-style at long tables and presented with pizzas that would pass the muster of any Italian expat. Someone unfurls a projector screen and hits play on the day tape, which revolves on the axis of some gorgeous flying by Airwax--the French team--as they spin around the tropospheric ballroom with consummate grace. The dazzling footage has the knock-on effect of reminding us that we’re here for skydiving, after all. Several of us immediately order water.
    On another evening, we pile into the Dornier for sunset inhopps to the Tiwi rivermouth. The takeoff timing leans heavily towards the late side for this strictly VFR airstrip, so we hardly get a peek at the low, golden sprawl of Mombasa and its interwoven estuaries before we’re scrambling out the door.
    The exit rush and the sudden fall of darkness has me a little discombobulated when I land, so I’m nowhere near prepared for what happens next.
    As I’m scrabbling up my lines and putting together what just happened, a group of Kenyans marches up from the treeline, surrounding me and the jumper I landed with. Dozens of them. Before I can respond to their sudden arrival, they start singing. And hugging us. And hugging each other. And dancing. And suddenly, we’re spinning in a vortex of big gospel voices, heads thrown back, pouring bouncing, burnt-sugar Swahili into the twilight sky.
    They eventually let us go after hauling us back in for just one more selfie; just one more enforced nuzzle into a rotund grandmama’s rooster bosom; just one more high five for somebody’s shy preschooler. They wave until we’re hundreds of feet farther on our way towards the barbecue Gary and Ingvild have set up on the banks.
    As I tromp through the rivermouth dunes towards the glow of headlights and smiling faces, I can’t help but thinking there’s no place like this one. I can’t help counting the days until I return.
    And next time, I’ll order extra toast for the monkey.
    Originally published in Blue Skies Magazine

    By admin, in Events,

    African Sky Blue - Skydive Diani’s 3rd Anniversary Boogie (Part 1)

    “Hey!”
    The monkey freezes, holding two pieces of toast overhead like semaphore flags.
    For a moment, nothing happens. We just stare at each other across the patio table: two primates who want breakfast and are a little startled to find that someone with overlapping priorities has added complications to the goal. For a moment, I think he’s going to set them back down, pat them reassuringly with his long, delicate hands and cast a fulsome grin over his shoulder as he saunters bipedally into the bushes. Instead, he lets loose with a cowabunga screech when I start to rise, tucking both slices under one lanky arm as he uses the other to facilitate an impossible leap to the roof above my head. Once up, he pops his face back over the edge. I’m quite sure he winks. He then chitters his way into the enormous baobab that overhangs the packing huts, clearly satisfied with himself.
    My companion at the table pours himself another cup of tea, orders more toast and pats his forehead with a napkin. The first load of the morning is on a 30-minute call, but we’re already tugging at our collars. Diani snuggles the equator, so the seasons don’t dance a spring-summer-fall-winter foxtrot; it’s either pretty hot or really hot, and it’s pretty darn hot already before 9AM on this early-December day. The pressing swelter is making us pay for last night, which was spent at the beach bar next door, with several bottles of Tusker and an ill-advised shot of tequila or two, chasing crabs through pools of lamplight on the velvet sand.
    The heat blossoms up, up, up from where we sit in the sultry seaside jungle, pressing long thermal fingers through the troposphere, summoning a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd of cumulonimbus calvus. These puffy troops stand a daily watch along Diani’s ribbon of powdered-sugar sand; along the impossible blue of the Indian Ocean. Similarly reliable, Kenya’s coastal wind system pumps as reliably as a healthy heart. It pushes consistently and directly down the twelve-mile-long line of the beach, day after day after day.
    When the ten-minute call goes up, I set my remaining toast back down and smile. It’s time to go play.
    My companion and I wiggle into our gear and make our way to the dropzone bus, relishing the little puffs of air conditioning that emit from the ceiling vents. Once our motley bunch of boogiers have boarded, we’re underway: two French freefly medalists, fresh from the Mondial; a South African dropzone owner watching his clever daughter giggle her way through AFF; my curly-haired companion, a beguiling Briton who has taken national gold in freefly and freestyle alike; a Russian instructor who has probably never once frowned; Diani’s resident TIs, who look like two different artists’ renderings of Peter Pan; an international assemblage of fun jumpers, representing a comprehensive gamut of languages, disciplines and gear loyalties. As we cobble together an exit order, we scratch down the gravel road from the stately white house and grounds that comprise the dropzone, starting what I can only properly describe as a ten-minute summary of the African experience.
    The road between the dropzone house and Diani’s Ukunda Airfield is about four and a half kilometers long. That four and a half kilometers starts in earnest with a paved, two-lane road, lined by crayon-box craft stalls and criss-crossed by vervet monkey families. Exuberantly painted tuktuks (“JESUS LOVE! WU-TANG 4EVER! BIG DADDY!”) blast past the bus, signs proclaiming their three-passenger capacity partially obscured by passenger number five’s arm, leg or shopping bag. When we negotiate the sharp turn onto the airstrip road, we’re greeted by a gaggle of tiny children in baggy school uniforms, howling and waving at us through the windows as we bump along. Shiny babies peek shyly from the backs of their mamas who, draped fastidiously in the sherbert wraps of their kikoy, walk with the lulling, rolling cadence of hips that have never been parked at a desk. Imminently pregnant cows march, at their kid shepherd’s behest, to match our forward movement as we pass a series of crumbling tin-roofed shops selling peanuts and airtime; a mission schoolhouse; a braiding salon comprised of a single pink lawn chair; a toilet plumbed directly into the middle of an open yard; a throng of shoeless teenagers in Chinese G-Star polo shirts, singing. The bus driver tries to hurry. I want him to slow down.
    Once we’ve passed the stern-faced airport soldiers and have bundled out of the bus, I lean down to firm my shoelace ties. I’m jostled by a woman dressed in her shiny-shoed Sunday best, as is often the case in Kenyan airports. She has wandered over to poke at the rig on my back.
    “Is this a parachute?,” she asks, as I weave to avoid a more comprehensive probing. When I answer in the affirmative, she shakes her head and smiles the wide, crinkle-eyed, hakuna-matata smile that seems to be the Kenyan default.
    “Say hello to God for me,” she says as she wheels her carry-on through the doors of the tiny terminal.
    As I try to figure out exactly what she meant by that, I hear the Dornier spin up. Another Diani day has officially begun.
    Skydiving, as you can see in the faces of the locals, is a relatively new addition to the list of activities on offer at Diani Beach. In fact, as of my first jump at the dropzone, it had been three years almost to the day since Skydive Diani first opened its doors. Though the country’s history in skydiving goes back a decade, Kenya’s skydiving scene had been categorically temporary--a week-long belly boogie, here or there, hosted from borrowed safari bushplanes in different parts of the country. In 2012, a square-jawed British expat named Gary Lincoln-Hope ended up at one of these boogies--which was, fortuitously, taking place in Diani.
    Gary did his first tandem at age 16. He joined the British army soon thereafter, as a commissioned officer in the parachute regiment, traveling extensively in the process. Though circumstances and conflicting responsibilities prevented him from going through his AFF while he was in the army, it was his first priority when he matriculated. The new skydiver founded a London-based security company and jumped faithfully all weekend long, every good-weather weekend. When he decided to expand his security business to Kenya--a country he’d fallen for during the course of several army training jaunts--he didn’t want to stop jumping.
    “I had been in Kenya for a little when I happened to come to that boogie,” Gary explains, “And I really enjoyed it. It was a huge buzz. I just knew that there should be a drop zone here in Diani. It didn’t hurt that I was really missing skydiving, because there was nowhere to do it in Kenya and I was based in a place with nowhere to jump. Luckily, I was quite entrepreneurial back then. I didn’t really know anything about skydiving, but I had set up a business here and in the UK, and I reckoned I could make it work.”
    Within months, Gary found the house, sourced a 206, rushed through some documentation, put the proper requests through to a somewhat baffled aviation authority and--four weeks later--found himself the proud operator of an active dropzone. By the time 2012 was out, it was all systems go. At the time Skydive Diani opened its doors, Gary himself had 300 jumps. Several thousand jumps and all their instructor ratings later, Gary and the team find themselves flying multiple aircraft from the cute to the huge.
    “Skydive Diani was always intended to be a place to go to jump for fun,” Gary insists, “Fun is now and has always been at the top of the agenda.”
    “I didn’t do it to make money,” he continues “I did it because I wanted to skydive on weekends. But I got a couple of willing tandem instructors to come over. Business was slow at the start, because the difficulty in Kenya is you are not selling tandems; you are selling the very idea of jumping out of a plane.”
    “During that first four months,” he continues, “I was jumping every single load, just to build up my own experience and jump numbers so I could through the rating courses. It’s been a long road, but it has steadily, organically grown to what it is now.”
    Continue reading part 2
    Originally published in Blue Skies Magazine

    By admin, in Events,

    85 Way CRW World Record Set

    A view like no other - until you have flown up next to 81 multi-colored parachutes, all hooked into formation, flying briskly
    through the sky, its hard to explain the sheer beauty of it all. A diamond of parachutes, more than 250 feet tall, weighing in
    at over 8 tons, yet flying quickly and effortlessly through the sky. Its large enough to show up on local air traffic radar,
    visible for miles around - yet consisting merely of 85 individuals flying through the sky as one. You fly up next to it, watching
    people dock, encouraging them on while waiting your turn. Listening to radio calls as the size the formation has built to is
    being announced. Flying in flat and level from the side, coming to a stop right before you dock on the formation, and inching in
    the last few feet. Looking across the formation at your mirror image, and seeing them docked and flying well. Knowing that the
    formation is of record size, feeling the breeze in your hair and the wind on your face, Waiting for the starburst call, and
    shortly after break off the air is filled with whoops and hollers as everyone can now celebrate. The feeling of accomplishment on
    finishing the 85 way on our first attempt. Especially knowing that their were a few jumpers on the load, who albeit very
    skilled, had never been on anything as large as a 25-way. The awe-inspiring view of seeing a formation this size - especially for
    the first time - is something that is so difficult to explain. Pictures just don't do it justice.
    The view from the inside would be just as spectacular. After you dock, people continue to dock all around you. Every direction
    you look is a parachute, and everywhere you look is a person who is arched and looking up. Hearing the radio calls, knowing that
    the formation is building well, mentally cheering those on who have yet to dock. Absorbing all of the waves and bumps that pass
    through the formation as it builds, yet knowing without looking when each point of the diamond comes on as you can feel the
    formation lean over and fly. Looking over your head at a tower of canopies as far as the eye can see - with nowhere to run to if
    things go wrong.
    In the daytime, the formation glowed in the sunshine - so many bright colors in stark contrast to the ground below. Flying so fast
    in the center that the outsides are cupped back. Anyone who got behind would not be catching back up. On the sunset loads, the
    colors all fade in the dusk sky, silhouetted against the fading sun, the local lakes still shimmering on the ground. All canopies
    look the same, making the formation appear whole, instead of 81 individual pieces... That is until the starburst call occurs,
    and all grips are dropped and the formation looks like fireworks going off in the sky.
    It takes teamwork to build something as spectacular as what was built over Lake Wales last week. Everyone must have a good jump,
    no malfunctions, or miscues can occur or the formation won't build. Break offs are carefully coordinated, with everyone leaving at
    their assigned times, so that everyone can separate safely from the diamond just built. Much gear was swapped without thought -
    canopies weights, connector links among many other things were freely traded as needed because everyone knew we had to work
    together. Rusty Vest worked tirelessly doing repairs and repacks as need be over the week, as did other riggers. We had a whole
    team of people just working on getting the radios working well and set up correctly so that everyone could hear as needed. The
    video crew did a great job of filming all of the dives, both big and small, and sharing with us the film for debriefs. Our
    pilots did a great job as well - unlike free fall loads where all planes fly in formation, our planes fly by at different
    altitudes, needing to match not only the altitude of the ever-sinking formation but also while maintaining a slow airspeed for
    exit.
    Our leaders did a good job encouraging that teamwork - having wings work with their teams so everyone knew how to fly, to having
    safety seminars so everyone knew how best to handle emergencies. They kept the team encouraged while fighting issues at the
    beginning of the week, and engineered a beautiful formation that was so solid it was never in danger of having problems.
    The formation seemed to grow more solid the larger it built, leaving no doubt in anyone's minds that a 100 way will soon be built.
    It was only in 2002 that the organizing committee - Chris Gay, Mike Lewis, Dave Richardson, Chris Balisky, and added for this event,
    Brian Pangburn broke the then world-record of a 53 way with a 57. That had stood since '96, and since 2002, we have grown the
    record by 50%.
    The dives are carefully engineered - from a VERY fast base - the top canopies are using micro-line, trailing pilot chutes, and
    removable sliders, to faster, more heavily loaded canopies down the center line, to smaller canopies on the outside - this
    formation was designed for speed, and fast it did fly. When building a formation of this size, everything from canopy size, to
    body height to wing-loading to jumpsuit style must be considered to keep the formation flying well. If the formation
    slows down, the outside canopies - those who only have one grip taken on them - can start to out fly the formation and when they go
    too far forward, can wrap around the formation. We've never built a formation this wide before - it was only in 2003 that
    we added the first row 9 wings, and now we've added row 10's.
    It takes experience among the participants as well - the pilot of the formation - Mike Lewis - had to step down from piloting for
    personal reasons, but Chris Gay stepped up to the plate, donning 90 pounds of lead plus gear so that he could jump the 193 up top
    and keep the formation flying fast. 5 second splits were what were needed in between docks to have time for us to build this,
    and people came through. Steve Sassetti and Liz Godwin, both with ankle injuries, continued to jump because they were
    needed on the record. Steve hobbled to the airplane on crutches while taking the ashes of two of our former CRWmates - Scott
    Fiore and Joel Zane, on the record with them. They died in a skydiving accident the previous year, but they flew on the record
    with us.
    The week was a spectacular one - skydivers and old friends coming from all over the globe - from as far away as Australia and
    Russia. Listening to Aussie Sarge yell "Arch and look up" into the radio in our ears all week created quite a lot of chuckles
    and a lot of imitations. I love the Australian Cane Toad I now have mounted on my rig, although I'm a bit hesitant about the
    Vegemite I received as well. After Sarge was goaded into trying a southern delicacy - pickled pigs feet - he got his revenge by
    forcing Chris to eat some Vegemite on toast. Judging by the expressions on their faces, I think Chris got the better deal!
    Watching Chiara, a skydiver tot who is everyone's favorite, run around with Eugene's blow up doll was a source of great amusement.
    The rubber band fight at the banquet where some of the judges seemed to be facing the most abuse luckily didn't sour them on us as
    they still awarded us the record the next day. Remembering Marylou spraying champagne on everyone as her very poor poker face gave
    away the fact that we had gotten the record. The celebration Friday night wasn't enough to keep us from breaking a record the
    next day, but luckily for us, we didn't have to jump on Sunday, as the party at Ernie's house Saturday night probably would
    have. Watching wrap videos, drinking beer, and eating well provided a spectacular celebration to end a most festive week.
    The fun, the views, and the friendships are things never to be forgotten at an event like this. So much knowledge is spread when
    you get a hundred of the best CRWdogs from around the globe together to accomplish a common goal.
    Click here for more Photos and Videos of the Record

    By faulknerwn, in Events,

    5th Dubai International Parachuting Championships Underway

    Image by Juan Mayer The Dubai International Parachuting Championships began yesterday with the opening of registration, arrival of delegations as well as the first series of practice jumps. Registrations will continue today, Thursday the 27th November 2014 with the addition of the first series of meetings and conferences for the judges, and managers taking place. Final (late) registrations will take place on Friday, as well as the first series of competition jumps which will begin at 09:00. Later in the evening the opening ceremony will take place. The competition will continue on until the afternoon of Friday the 5th of December, with closing ceremony, award presentation and farewell dinner in the evening. The last two days of the event will see the departure of delegations as well as an air show.
    The DIPC first began 5 years ago and has since become a highlight of the annual skydiving calander, playing host to the best skydivers in the world. They will be competing for a total prize pool in excess of $400 000.

    Dr.Rainer EXI Hoenle, chief judge of the 5th DIPC recently published a bulletin to the Emirates Aerosports Federation (EAF) website detailing some of the technical aspects and rules of the competitive categories, which can be viewed on their website.
    The weather forecast for the next 10 days is mostly positive, with only a chance for rain forecast by some weather agencies on the Monday. Otherwise everyone is holding thumbs for a jump friendly period, with winds hopefully remaining below the limits.
    Dropzone.com will be bringing you updates throughout the event over the course of the next 10 days, so be sure to check in regularly.
    Video footage from the 2013 Dubai International Parachuting Championship

    By admin, in Events,

    4 Upcoming Halloween Boogies

    Skydive Arizona - Halloween Boogie (25 - 27 Oct 2019)

    No registration fee - discounted $22 lift tickets
    Organizing by Arizona Dream, AZ X-Force and Arizona Airspeed
    Crazy 8s event brought to you by Arizona Anthem
    Canopy training by Justin Price
    Nightly Entertainment and Free Boogie Beer!
    Annual costume contest with Epic prizes! Free Curv container for Best Costume!
    Sugar skull face painting, Hot air balloon jumps, DC-3 jumps and more!
    Skydive Sebastian - Halloween Boogie (2-3 Nov 2019)

    NO registration fees!
    What you'll get:
    *Wicked FF, RW, Angle, and WS organizing
    *costume jumps
    *tricky contests
    *spooky games in the air & on the ground
    *treats from our sponsors
    So book that flight or make it a roadtrip, and don't pay any registration because its all on us!
    Keep an eye out over the next two weeks while we announce all the s͏p͏o͏o͏k͏t͏a͏c͏u͏l͏a͏r details about LOs, events, sponsors, and prizes!
    Spaceland San Marcos - Halloween Boogie (24-27th Oct 2019)

    "Two Otters and a Super Caravan to keep your happy butt in the air!!! We're filling in our list of organizers.
    Here's what we have so far....
    Freefly - David Lange, Carly Barto, Konstantin Petrijcuk, Tyler Perkins
    Belly - Louis French, Scott Latinis, Doug Feick, David Bowen
    Wingsuit - Anthony Kimball Zoo dives, contests, shenanigans - Brian Casserly (AKA Pussfoot)

    Saturday night entertainment - Derek Lewis - https://www.facebook.com/FiveMinuteParty-116054008418316

    Saturday night - Costume contest!! It's easy to play! 1) dress up 2) show up 3) impress the judges....you can win free jumps!

    Register at https://sanmarcos.skydivespaceland.com/shop/event-registration/2019-san-marcos-halloween-boogie/
    West Tennessee Skydiving - 28th Annual Halloween Boogie (25-27 Oct 2019)

    Inverted Biplane Jumps, $100 a slot, $50 for video Michael Mullins Super King Air, 7 min to 14,500ft -$26 a slot (half price early bird special if you manifest before 8 AM)
    -Helicopter Jumps Coach Jumps are always free to students who are trying to acquire thier USPA "A" License
    -Balloon Jumps
    - $150 Rental gear is not available for balloon jumps. Must have USPA A license
    Registration will be $35 this includes 5 raffle tickets (you can purchase as many additional tickets as you want) Dinner, free beer, and free Jell-O Shots!!
    The winner of the costume contest on Saturday evening will receive one weekend of free jumps courtesy of West Tennessee Skydiving (does not include gear rental) Mark your calendars guys and don't miss out! Let's have us another amazing boogie this year!!!

    By Administrator, in Events,

    2nd FAI World Cup of Wingsuit Flying

    The TOP Wingsuit flyers from around the globe will get together at Skydive Fyrosity℠, Overton, NV to compete in one of the most challenging skydiving competition – 2nd FAI World cup of Wingsuit Flying.
    Nov 1-9, 2017 50-70 athletes from over 10 countries and five continents will test their mental and physical strength against each other in two disciplines – Performance Flying and Acrobatic Flying.
    For years, wingsuit flying has allowed humans to realize the age-old dream of personal human flight - Zipping through the air like Superman. With the invention of the modern wingsuit, growth of pilot skills and wingsuit technology in the last 2 decades, now this dream is a reality.
    Today, we live in spectacular and adventurous new era of aerial sports and Wingsuit flying history – World level competition!
    The 2nd FAI World Cup of Wingsuit flying will crown the best wingsuit pilot – the fastest, the toughest and the most accurate one will take the gold.
    The Event
    2nd FAI World Cup of Wingsuit Flying 2017 will be held at Skydive Fyrosity℠ . The skydiving Drop Zone is located at Overton-Perkins Field, NV only 60 miles NE of Las Vegas directly east to the Valley of Fire and North of Lake Mead National Park.
    The official bid to host the Event, was presented by Randy Connell – Director of Competition USPA and an Alternate USA Delegate to IPC on behalf of USA / USPA (United States Parachute Association) and Skydive Fyrosity℠ at the 67th IPC (International Parachuting Commission) meeting held in Faro, Portugal – Jan 25 – 29, 2017. The bid was voted and approved on Jan 29th, 2017 - http://www.fai.org/parachuting.
    IPC (International Parachuting Commission) is the world governing body of competitions skydiving under the umbrella of the FAI (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale).
    50 to 70 of the world’s best wing suit flyers and competitors, plus head of international delegations, judges, FAI / IPC officials USPA Officials, family, friends, skydivers, and guests from around the world are expected to descend upon Overton, NV from Nov 1 – 9, 2017 to compete for the gold in one of the most physically and mentally challenging sporting competition – Wingsuit Flying. Overton will be renamed to “Wingsuit City” for the duration of the event and will forever be recorded into the skydiving history as the home of the 2nd FAI World Cup of Wingsuit Flying - 2017.
    Marilyn Kirkpatrick, the Clark County Commissioner for this area, is so excited to have Skydive Fyrosity℠ as part of the Clark County family and sees great potential benefits for the northeast area as this thrilling sport continues to grow.
    Wing suiting development and Las Vegas have a long history together going back to 1996 – 97, one of the original developers of the modern wingsuit is a local Las Vegas resident and current Drop Zone owner of Skydive Fyrosity℠ – Sammy Vassilev.
    “It is an incredible honor to have been part of the wing suiting from the very beginning and now to be able to host the 2nd FAI World Cup Wingsuit Flying at our home DZ here in NV is just the most incredible feeling”.
    One of the original modern wingsuit designs is on a display at Skydive Fyrosity℠ and is available for anyone to see.
    The Disciplines
    The 2nd FAI World Cup of Wingsuit Flying consists of 2 separate events: Acrobatic Event and Performance Events.
    The acrobatic competition event consists of team of 3 people, 2 acrobatic performers and a 1 camera man capturing the performance on video. The team of 3 will exit the aircraft at 12,500 above the ground and the performers have a working time of 65 seconds to demonstrate to the judges their ability and acrobatic skills, consisting of flyovers, flips, turns, relative flight. The Artistic event has 7 rounds (jumps) and is judged for accuracy of performance, artistic performance, completion of the formations, grips, and quality of the camera work. The camera man and the image the competitor camera person delivers is part of the acrobatic performance. Each jump is considered 1 round, 1 round is considered complete when all competitors have successfully completed the jump for each round including re-jumps.

    The Performance Event is an individual competitor event consisting of 3 tasks – Speed, Time and Distance. Each task consists of 3 rounds (jumps) for the total of 9 competition rounds (jumps). The performance event does not have aerial video, however ground-to-air video can be used if such equipment is available. Therefore, the performance event is judged by state of the art GPS system which records the performance of each competitor delivered to the judges after each jump for evaluation. Once the data is downloaded into the software and evaluated the person going the fastest, furthest and spends the most time in the air is declared the winter in each task. The aircraft exit altitude is 12,500 above the ground up to 4 miles away from the landing area and the beginning of the performance evaluation starts at 3000 meters / 9,842.5 ft above the ground and ends at 2000 meters / 6,561.6 ft. The competitor performing the best within the 1000 meter / 3,280 ft evaluation window gets the gold medal.
    2016 World Champions of Wingsuit Performance Flying:

    1. Chris Geiler – USA - View profile
    2. Travis Mickle- USA - View profile
    3. Espen Fadnes – NOR - MView profile

    2016 World Champions of Wingsuit Acrobatic Flying:


    1. USA TEAM
    2. USA TEAM
    3. RUSSIA

    The History of Wingsuit And How It Is Related to Las Vegas
    An early attempt at wingsuit flying was made on 4 February 1912 by a 33-year-old tailor, Franz Reichelt, who jumped from the Eiffel Tower to test his invention of a combination of parachute and wing, which was similar to modern wingsuits. He misled the guards by saying that the experiment was going to be conducted with a dummy. He hesitated quite a long time before he jumped, and was killed when he hit the ground head first, opening a measurable hole in the frozen ground.
    A wingsuit was first used in 1930 by a 19-year-old American, Rex Finney of Los Angeles, California, as an attempt to increase horizontal movement and maneuverability during a parachute jump.
    These early wingsuits were made of materials such as canvas, wood, silk, steel, and whalebone. They were not very reliable, although some "birdmen", notably Clem Sohn and Leo Valentin, claimed to have glided for miles.
    Las Vegas
    In the mid-1990s, the modern wingsuit was developed by the French skydiver Patrick de Gayardon, adapted from the model used by John Carta. Patrick loved Las Vegas and few people know that he did a lot of jumps testing his suit and prepping it for the Grand Canyon flights in Las Vegas.
    In 1997, in Las Vegas the Bulgarian second generation skydiver Sammy Vassilev a.k.a (Popov) designed and built a wingsuit which had a larger wing between the legs and longer wings on the arms. His prototype was developed at Boulder City, Nevada. Testing was conducted in a vertical wind tunnel in Las Vegas at Flyaway Las Vegas. Vassilev’s (Popov's) wingsuit first flew in October 1998 over Jean, Nevada, but it never went into commercial production. Vassilev’s (Popov's) design was a great improvement in creating lift; it was able to slow the vertical speed to 30 km/h while gliding horizontally at speeds over 200 km/h.
    Today exactly 20 years later Sammy Vassilev is one of the co-founders of Skydive Fyrosity Las Vegas and will be hosting the 2nd FAI World Cup of Wingsuit flying!
    The original wing suit built by Sammy Vassilev will be exhibited during the World Cup at Skydive Fyrosity℠. The suit was jumped during the World Championships of Wingsuit flying from the test pilot for INTRUDAIR - Benedikt Hovelmann and it is still flying fast and stable.
    More history:
    In 1998, Chuck "Da Kine" Raggs built a version which incorporated hard ribs inside the wing airfoils. Although these more rigid wings were better able to keep their shape in flight, this made the wingsuit heavier and more difficult to fly. Raggs' design also never went into commercial production. Flying together for the first time, Popov and Raggs showcased their designs side-by-side at the World Free-fall Convention at Quincy, Illinois, in August 1999. Both designs performed well. At the same event, multiple-formation wingsuit skydives were made which included de Gayardon's, Vassilev’s (Popov's), and Raggs' suits.
    Commercial era
    In 1999, Jari Kuosma of Finland and Robert Pečnik of Croatia teamed up to create a wingsuit that was safe and accessible to all skydivers. Kuosma established Bird-Man International Ltd. the same year. Birdman’s "Classic", designed by Pečnik, was the first wingsuit offered to the general skydiving public. Birdman was the first manufacturer to advocate the safe use of wingsuits by creating an instructor program. Created by Kuosma, the instructor program's aim was to remove the stigma that wingsuits were dangerous and to provide wingsuit beginners (generally, skydivers with a minimum of 200 jumps) with a way to safely enjoy what was once considered the most dangerous feat in the skydiving world. With the help of Birdman instructors Scott Campos, Chuck Blue and Kim Griffin, a standardized program of instruction was developed that prepared instructors.[4] Wingsuit manufacturers Squirrel Wingsuits, TonySuits Wingsuits, Phoenix-Fly, Fly Your Body, and Nitro Rigging have also instituted coach training programs.
    The Host
    Skydive Fyrosity
    Located at Overton- Perkins field Airport about 55-minute drive from the Las Vegas Strip, North-East of Las Vegas in one of the most beautiful locations in Nevada, Skydive Fyrosity℠ offers the most incredible views of Valley of Fire, Lake Mead, Grand Canyon, Moapa Valley Indian Reservation, Mormon Mesa, Mormon Peak, Virgin & Colorado Rivers, Zion National Park, City of Las Vegas, City of Mesquite, City of St. George, UT and 3 US states, Arizona, Utah & Nevada. The most breathtaking view of your Las Vegas tandem skydiving experience are at Skydive Fyrosity™.
    Skydive Fyrosity℠ is the only full-service Drop Zone in Southern Nevada and the Las Vegas area. Offering the best skydiving facility and state of the art tandem skydiving equipment in Las Vegas. Skydive Fyrosity℠ specializes in 1st time tandem skydive students and complete skydive training to all looking to learn to and become skydivers. Skydive Fyrosity℠ is the only certified Skydive Training Center (TC) by USPA in Nevada. We provide the most exclusive, personal and exhilarating tandem skydiving experience to first time tandem students, licensed and experienced skydivers, athletes, skydiving competitors, students, life lovers, adventurers, thrill seekers looking to live their lives to the fullest.
    Skydive Fyrosity℠ offers the most advanced and complete skydive training via the exclusive AFP Training program, (Accelerated Freefall Progression Program) and skydiving education for the active and extreme sports adventurers looking to become licensed skydivers.

    Skydive Fyrosity℠ welcomes all licensed skydivers, pro skydiving teams and athletes from around the world to enjoy our beautiful year-round Las Vegas Drop Zone.
    More: www.SkydiveFyrosityLasVegas.com

    By admin, in Events,

    2nd Annual Royal Gorge Go Fast Games

    DENVER, CO (November 5, 2004) – The Royal Gorge Go Fast Games returned to the world’s highest suspension bridge in Canon City, Colorado October 8-10th, to showcase athletes in B.A.S.E. jumping, "highlining" and big wall speed climbing – the only event in the world that combines these breathtaking extreme sports. The invitation-only event drew athletes from around the world – including Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, Spain, Australia and the United States.
    Highlights of the three-day Royal Gorge Go Fast Games included hundreds of B.A.S.E. jumps and aerials from the world’s highest suspension bridge and the world’s longest single span tram; as well as "highlining" demonstrations by Outside Magazine’s 2003 Man of The Year, Dean Potter, as he walked thin nylon webbing stretched between two cliffs, with nearly a thousand feet below.

    "The Go Fast Games are the ultimate in extreme sporting exhibition/competition, and this year’s event was a huge success for both the athletes and event organizers," said Heather Hill, VP Communications, Go Fast Sports & Beverage Co. "The Go Fast Games provided spectators a site they wouldn’t see anywhere else, and offered the athletes a venue like no other in the world at the Royal Gorge Bridge."
    New to the Go Fast Games for 2004, the big wall speed climbing competition brought some of the top names in climbing to race up the 1,000-foot pre-set route for the $2000 cash purse. 1st Place and $1,000 went to Team Mad Rock (Brian Gallant and Michael Johnson) of Colorado Springs, with a time of one hour and twelve minutes. Only one minute behind, 2nd Place and $600 went to Team Go Fast! (Clayton Reagan and Wayne Crill) of Ft. Collins, and Team Sharp End Publishing (Alan Lester and Fred Knapp) took home $400 in 3rd Place with a time of one hour and twenty-two minutes. The course record was set by teammates Dean Potter and Adam Stack with a time of 42 minutes, 13 seconds; however, their "simul-climbing" (i.e. not changing lead climbers) disqualified them from the standings.

    Requests for invitations to the 3rd Annual Royal Gorge Go Fast Games are already in demand as athletes once again hail the world’s tallest span bridge as a "must-do jump. " This year’s venue accommodated three times as many B.A.S.E. jumpers as last, and event organizers are positive that "The Games" will continue to grow. "Safety was clearly the No. 1 priority—dangerous jumpers were reprimanded making the atmosphere responsible and non-competitive, " said BASE jumper David Royer.
    "This is one of the holy grails of B.A.S.E. jumping," says Chris Pope - an eight-year B.A.S.E. jumping vet that said this year’s opportunity to jump the Gorge was too good to pass up.
    To view more photos from the 2nd Annual Royal Gorge Go Fast Games, see Mark Lichtle’s Gallery on dropzone.com.
    What is B.A.S.E. jumping?
    B.A.S.E. jumping is an acronym for the four types of fixed objects that are utilized for these foot-launched skydives: (B)uilding, (A)ntenna, (S)pan, and (E)arth. Unlike parachuting from airplanes, B.A.S.E. jumpers typically use only one parachute, as the generally much lower altitudes don’t normally leave time to use a reserve parachute. The Go Fast Games feature B.A.S.E. jumping from the Royal Gorge Bridge and from the world’s longest single-span aerial tram.

    What is Big Wall Climbing?
    Big Wall Climbing is the most complex, endurance-testing discipline in the sport of rock climbing, and generally climbers will take several days to ascend a wall – carrying all supplies with them and spending multiple days and nights on the largest rock faces in the world. The Go Fast Games feature Big Wall Speed Climbing, where teams ascend the steep faces of the Royal Gorge in record time, and in plain view for the spectators to see.
    What is Slackline/Highline?
    Slackline is a fusion of balance, strength, and concentration. From its beginning in the early 1980s as a way for climbers to hone these skills it has become a sport of its own. Slackline can be done thousands of feet off the ground, or 3 feet off the ground – it is similar to walking a tightrope, but without the use of a weighted bar for balance. The Go Fast Games feature highline demonstrations over 1,000 feet above the Arkansas River.

    About Go Fast Sports & Beverage Co.
    Go Fast Sports & Beverage Co. is the producer of Go Fast Energy Drink and Go Fast Sports Apparel. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Go Fast is involved with sports and athletes of all kinds – from triathlon, parachuting and mountain biking, to B.A.S.E. jumping, climbing, skier-x, motocross, kiteboarding and more. For more information, please visit www.GoFastSports.com , call 303.893.1222 or email [email protected]

    By weegegirl, in Events,

    2014 USPA Nationals - A Weekender’s Perspective

    Photo by Ori Kuper | USPA | SDC This was my 4th year at USPA Nationals (and my 3rd at Skydive Chicago), so when I rolled up to Skydive Chicago on September 12, the day before 4-way FS was scheduled to start, I knew the drill. Get there early in the day before the registration lines get too long. Receive and dispense hugs from your friends from around the country, some of whom you only ever see at Nationals. Manifest for a couple of low-key “get the butterflies out” jumps with your team before chilling out until the briefing and draw that night.
    Except this year, Mother Nature had different plans. The first two days of Nationals had brought the miserable weather the Midwest is sometimes known for. The dropzone was full of maudlin vertical formation skydiving (VFS) and mixed formation skydiving (MFS) competitors, so some of those hugs were of the “Awww, I feel your pain” variety, as friends who’d trained all year were facing the possibility of weather truncating their competition to only a couple of jumps.
    The only competition going on was on the ground, with a friendly game of Four Square taking place outside, and a more competitive ($5 buy in) game of Corn Hole inside the hangar. Practice jumps on Friday were out of the question, so we went to bed with those butterflies holding strong, with their only to be exorcised on the first competition jump.
    Never fear, though, both Mother Nature and the meet management delivered on Saturday morning, with skies dawning clear (and pretty cold), and five Twin Otters ready to go to get not only the 10 4-way VFS and 10 2-way MFS teams in the air, but also get the Nationals’ largest event, 4-way FS (with its 56 teams) rolling.

    Photo by Ori Kuper | USPA | SDC Pausing for a moment to acknowledge what it takes to keep five Otters turning for two days straight, it’s hard not to be impressed by what the host DZs (and the supporting meet team from USPA) pull off every year, even with perfect weather. It’s a massive undertaking, and each time I compete, I’m impressed with how seamlessly it all seems to work (at least from the competitors’ perspective). I know that behind the scenes there’s a giant group of people working long hours to make sure that every part of the operations, from the judging stations to the fuel trucks to the toilets are working as they need to.
    Five Otters doing two passes per load means a jump run roughly every 2 ½ minutes. Skydive Chicago has a giant landing area, and the winds were favorable for parallel jump runs that still put most if not all of the jumpers in a good position for a safe on-field landing every time. Over my 10 jumps there, I only recall one or two times that we had a delay on jump run for traffic and spacing, and only one off landing (and that might’ve had as much to do with a slightly low pull as with the spot).

    Photo by Ori Kuper | USPA | SDC Saturday and Sunday brought two near-perfect days of weather, providing Meet Director Bill Wenger with almost enough of a window to complete the full competition for 4-way VFS and 2-way MFS. There was a heroic amount of scheduling Tetris taking place to alternate rounds of the two disciplines, especially considering there was quite a bit of competitor overlap. The vertical flyers competed at an atypical pace for Nationals, collectively agreeing that they’d rather accept shorter-than-required calls for the opportunity to get most or all of the competition rounds in. Saturday ended with MFS finishing five of its scheduled six rounds, and VFS finishing seven of eight, with the winners recognized at a medal ceremony Saturday night.
    At the same time, all of the 4-way FS competitors got through half their scheduled 10 rounds on Saturday, setting the competition up for an easy finish on Sunday with the predicted great weather. Sunday dawned clear and a hair warmer and a great day of weather allowed the 4-way FS competition to finish up. As Sunday’s jumps wrapped up in the early afternoon, both in the Open and Intermediate categories the race for Bronze came down to the final jump, with a crowd of competitors gathering around the monitors in the hangar to watch the judging of Round 10 live to see who would go home with a medal.

    Photo by Ori Kuper | USPA | SDC Speaking of medals, one of the best parts of Nationals is the awards ceremonies, which are scattered throughout the event as each discipline finishes up. There usually aren’t any surprises in the medals – the standings were set as soon as the judges finished their work, but it’s a chance to be recognized in front of your fellow competitors for a job well done.
    This year’s 4-way FS medal ceremony Sunday evening brought a special opportunity for USPA Director of Competition Jim Hayhurst to recognize someone that anyone who’s ever competed in 4-way has admired – Mark Kirkby – who is retiring from full-time competition with Arizona Airspeed after this Nationals. Typical of Mark, he won’t slow down much as he steps back into the alternate role on Airspeed, and will continue to coach and organize in Arizona and around the world.
    The enthusiastic and extended standing ovation for Mark showed just what an impact he’s had on the competitive 4-way world in the 20 years since he was a founding member of Arizona Airspeed. I’ve been privileged to jump with and be coached by Mark several times at Skydive Arizona, including my 1000th jump in late 2012, where I managed to talk three of the then-current members of Airspeed into joining me for a 4-way! Like so many of the top names in our sport, he remains ever helpful and humble as he passes on his wisdom to the next generation of skydivers and being part of the crowd that honored him was a great way to end my 2014 4-way experience.
    About Krisanne Combs:
    Krisanne Combs is a weekend warrior who has logged 1450 jumps in her 10 years in the sport. She competed in 4-way FS this year as part of 5th Wheel, a Northern California-based team. Krisanne lives in Oakland, California, where she has a paid job for a large health plan, and an unpaid job as staff for two freakishly large male cats. When she’s not in her local skydiving haunts of Skydance Skydiving or iFly SFBay, she’s probably planning her next skydiving trip.
    More of Ori Kuper's photography can be found on his website and Facebook page.

    By admin, in Events,

    2000 Skydive America Palm Beach Space Games # 8 Report

    Space Games # 8 took place at Skydive America Palm Beach Florida, from the 28th January to the 6th February. Everything went very smoothly with all the Games. More precision and control was requested for the Races and as expected everybody's flying skill level was much higher then previous Space Games. Beautiful. Once again a big thank you to our sponsor Skydive America and Larry Kerschenbaum for hosting the event at its beautiful location and putting up all the prize money for the events and developer of the Space Games, Olav Zipser! Here are the Results:
    Atmosphere Dolphin Challenge:
    Started with the Atmosphere Dolphin Challenge this time, 31 competitors from (USA, Italy, UK, Germany, Finland, France, Canada, South Africa, Macedonia, Venezuela) Double elimination One on One Tournament style event. Names were drawn randomly the day before starting the competition. Believe in fate or not, to me it is one of the must fun part of the all Games: the Drawing from the hat. He He, it gives you the chills and butterfly and is kind of magic that moment where they pick your name and now they pick the next name..apprehension, phew!!, who is it gonna be ??? It's funny how the Fate Plays it's own game and make you meet specific persons along the Race !!
    2 racers exit the plane with the ball master who is filming the race. They need to perform specific maneuvers in a specific order next to the spaceball and in between each maneuver, point at the spaceball at grabbing distance.etc This time even more precision was requested to all Free flyers in order to get their points: be in the picture with full torso, head and hips, pointing to perfection, don't cross over the other competitor airspace. Fast yes.but super precise that was the winning key decision on who was the winner was first left to the competitors themselves no matter what the rules would say. If the racers could not decide between themselves who was the winner, the decision was then left to the judges who would apply the rules systematically.
    Everything went smoothly and most of the times competitor would find the winner by themselves. Judges ended up being called only for very tight races. The nicest way to actually understand how the Competitors get along during the races, basically see who had to meet who and so on would be to see the bracket itself.
    These are the final results!
    1st Place : Jon De Vore 3000,-$
      2nd Place : John Matthews 1500,-$
      3rd Place : Steve Utter 900,-$
      4th Place : Filippo Fabbi
      5th Place : Mike Ortiz, Stefania Martinengo
      6th Place : Olav Zipser, Eli Thompson, Bruce Graybill, Mike Swanson
      7th Place : Jim Oreilly, Rob Silver, Matt Nelson, Kevin Sabarese, Mauro Tannino, Janine Hill 8th Place : Teppo Heikinnen , Timmy Wardensky, Goran Lazarovsky, John Skinner, Max Cohn, Francisco Neri, Emannuelle Celicout, Joe Josephs
      9th Place : Lucky Mike, Dave Brown, Stan Gray, Micheal Sandner, Dave Padijasek, Nathan Gilbert Special special Thanx to all the people who helped so much to get this Game going without whom this race would have not possiblytake place :
    AD Challenge Space Ball masters cameraflyers : Timmy Wardensky, Francisco Neri, Steve Utter, Teppo Heikinnen, Stefania Martinengo, Janine Hill, John Shoffner, Filippo Fabbi, Mike Swanson, Mauro Tannino, Bruce Graybill, Olav Zipser, John Matthews, John Skinner, Jim Oreilly, Rob Silver, Stan Gray, Lucky Mike

    Outside cameraflyers : Brad Chatellier, Steve Utter, Larry Kerschenbaum

    Judges : Roger Nelson, Gordon Craig
    Freefly Indy 500:
    32 Competitors. Actually a few of them left the Competition after the 1st round giving a forfeit as the AD Challenge the Freefly Indy 500 is a double elimination One on One style Event. Again winning key was: super fast but precise and more than anything aware of how your track was set. As a matter of fact some of the fastest people lost their races as being very fast but didn't take enough precautions in making sure that they got the gate or the eclipsing of the ribbons attached to the foot of the Pylons. Other people had different approach in the game sacrificing some of their speed to make sure to get the gate and eclipse the ribbons in a clear way. As the race is judged through the 2 pylons camera views, racers had to consider carefully the different perspectives of the shooting angles, in case the 2 pylons would have not be perfectly on level.
    In this Game, as in the AD Challenge decision on who was the winner was first left to the competitors themselves, no matter what the rules would say. If they could not come up with a winner by themselves accordingly, then judges were called to make the decision applying the rules systematically.
    A new element in this edition of the Free fly Indy 500 compared to the previous Space Games Events was that for each single race the 2 competitors had to flip a coin to decide which direction to go around the track: left or right.
    The final results!!
    1st Place Olav Zisper 3000,-$
      2nd Place Jon De Vore 1500,-$
      3rd Place Mike Swanson 900,-$
      4th Place Steve Utter
      5th Place Colon Berry, Mauro Tannino
      6th Place Rook Nelson, John Matthews, Teppo Heikinnen, Brad Chatellier
      7th Place Max Cohn, Michi, Janine Hill, John Shoffner, Francisco Neri, Filippo Fabbi
      8th Place Dave Padyjasek, Stefania Martinengo, Jim Oreilly, Dave Brown, Lucky Mike, Tim Wardensky, Bruce Graybill, John Skinner
      9th Place Emannuelle Celicout, Joe Josephs, Larry Kerschenbaum, Rob Silver, Goran Lazarovsky, Kevin Sabarese, Mike Ortiz, Nathan Gilbert, Special Special Thanx to all the people who helped so much in getting this Game going, without those friends this race would have not possibly taken place:
    Pylons Cameraflyers: Kenny Cosgrove, Brad Chatellier, Timmy Wardenski, Francisco Neri, Dave Padyjasek, Stefania Martinengo, Max Cohn, Kevin Sabarese, Mike Swanson, Filippo Fabbi, Dave Brown, John Schoffner, Janine Hill, Teppo Heikinnen, Michi Sandner, Mauro Tannino, Steve Utter, Olav Zipser, John Matthews, Rob Silver, Larry Kerschenbaum, Nathan Gilbert, Bruce Graybill, Emanuelle Celicout.

    Outside Camera: Brad Chatellier, Steve Utter, Olav Zipser, Larry Kerschenbaum, Filippo Fabbi
    The Bermuda Triangle Tracking:
    Here the race is a One on One Single elimination style event. Anyone is welcome to test their tracking skills in this event and the race is judged by
    competitors as to who was ahead at opening time. The only fast rule in this event is that competitors have to be open by 3000 ft!
    The final results!!
    1st: Olav Zipser $ 500
      2nd: Dave Padyjasek $ 300
      3rd: Dave Brown $ 150
      4th: Rook Nelson, Mike Swanson
      5th: Bruce Graybill,Teppo Heikinnen, Lucky Mike Pantall, Kevin Sabarese 3 way Freefly Open:
    11 Teams. For the 3 Way Freefly Open teams had to present a video of their best Compulsory Round and a video of their best Free Round. Compulsory Round consisted of 9 basic moves to be repeated in order in the 45 seconds. The moves were: 360 turn, 360 loop, weedeater (done simultaneouslyby the 2 team members without the camera) Under over, 3 carves, 69, Foot to foot, Mind warp, Vertical Compress. Best Teams performed 18 points in the 45 seconds.
    Free round was judged on Camera Work/ Photography, Technical Skills, and Artistic Overall Impression. Most of the Teams presented very technical flying combining it with Artistic Choreography. Very Nice and Interesting stuff: speeds changing from belly to vertical to fast tracking to fast transitions and difficult docks.
    Flyboyz won with a very nice Choreography and excellent interactive team flying, the musical rhythm and perfect synchronization is what characterizes this team.
    Team Skyfly (Olav Zipser, Rook Nelson and Mauro Tannino) and Team Modern Skyflying (Mike Swanson, Filippo Fabbi, Olav Zipser)both presented very technical dives showing all flying dimensions in a nice fluid combination, which didn't lack rhythm!
    2 teams distinguished themselves presenting 2 dancing style routines mixing free flying and freestyle together in a nice Choreography: French Connection (Emanuelle Celicout, Max Cohn and Steve Utter) and team Sky (. Both Teams presented a nice fluid and elegant Choreography with
    technical speed changing and new original moves. Again, all teams distinguished themselves for different elements, technicality and originality of certain moves.
    1st Flyboyz (Fritz Pfnur, Mike Ortiz, Eli Thompson) 4500,-$
      2nd Skyfly ( Rook Nelson, Olav Zipser, Mauro Tannino) 1800,-$
      3rd Modern Skyflying (Mike Swanson, Filippo Fabbi,Olav Zisper) 900,-$ Best Camera : Fritz Pfnur (Fly Boyz) 180,-$
      Best Tecnicall Tied : Flyboyz, Sky and the Juice 60-$ per Team
      Best Artistic : Flyboyz 180,-$ Special Special Thnx to the Judges in the 3 wayFreefly Open as we know is a very tiring and hard job.
    Camera/Photography : Janine Hill, Tim Koranda, Roger Nelson

    Technical : Kevin Sabarese, John Schoffner

    Artistic : Chad Jonosky, Joel
     

    By admin, in Events,

0