Skydive Cross Keys

I found out about Free Fall Adventure from a friend and decided to make my first tandem jump this past summer with awesome video from Art, thank's. I was hooked immediately! Started my AFF program, packing class, A-license, canopy piloting course and just applied for my B-license! The thing that keep's me coming back are the people that work there and the fun jumpers. I've never been anyplace with such an overwhelming positive "Vibe". During AFF my instructors would always ask after the jump how I thought it went, I would usually bring up the negatives and things that I needed to fix and they would jump in and remind me of the positive things first, how well the jump went and then say we can work on the things that didn't go exactly as planned and that at my skill level those hiccups were expected.
The packing area as I said is a little "Seasoned" and the facility on the whole just need's some cosmetic work (paint, window work, fixtures tightened up etc.)
Packer's and manifest also do a fantastic job keeping you ready to jump and shuffling(at my request) you from one load to another so you can jump with your buddies.
Shout out's to Brian, Matt, Peter, Range and Dana who were most involved in my skydiving education as well as everybody else at FFA.

June 30th, I did my fourth jump, but first one at Sky Dive Cross Keys with Brian. He’s a great instructor, made it an awesome experience! Will def return! A+++

Instantly become welcome. Everyone wants you to enjoy your experience. This place has become my second home and recommend this place to anyone. When I hear someone tell me they've been skydiving and it WASN'T Cross Keys, they have NO idea. The instructors are amazing, the videos are VERY well put together. The vibe is what makes this place. If you're a first time jumper, search no more. When jumping has ceased for the day on weekends, be ready to enjoy music, food, drinks and hell of a great time just talking about the days events and laughing your ass off. Love this place!

Been calling SCK my home DZ for over 15 years!!! It's gone through some amazing and startling changes over those years and has re-emerged, with Pico and Nadia running it, as a revitalized powerhouse in the skydiving world! Even at it's low point, the DZ's strong knit community and fiercely loyal core of employees, fun jumpers and support kept it afloat and continue to help usher it back in it's return to greatness! Welcome back SCK!

Came here in 2000 and have never left.

Great Drop Zone, owners care about everything from safety to fun.....

I have been jumping at this DZ for 3 years and every year it just seems to get better and better. I LOVE my skydiving family and they always take time to help be regardless of my skill level.

The owners really care and have done a fabulous job making this place super fun and safe!
I really tried hard to find something wrong but NOTHING…this DZ is open year round. They fly planes all day (depending on the weather) lots of boogie and load organizers. They bring in the experts from all over for training.

It is my favorite place in the whole world….CROSS KEYS MAKES ME HAPPY!

I completed my AFP at this Drop Zone in about 4 weeks. I am working towards my A License and beyond. The staff is super friendly and helpful.

The instructors are patient and spend extra time making sure you understand what is going to happen with each jump before you get on the plane.

I highly recommend that you go on your first tandems here... you'll be hooked and want to jump on your own. The tandem crew makes sure you are relaxed and ready for your first jumps. They let you do some of the work which helps you learn quickly and makes you want to jump again.

The parties are a blast and everyone makes you feel like you're a part of the family.

The owners are adding new planes and making upgrades the hangar and facilities. Happy to call Cross Keys my home!

Professional tandem instructor there i saw, nice and friendly. i did my currency jump there after 3.5 years and the process meted out by Mike is very professional, comprehensive and considerate.

DZ is easy to spot from up there.

Plenty pond swooper there so a great place for canopy swooping.

Driving there is easy on GPS!

Sheetoh
C-34846

Wasted a weekend at Crosskeys. Hoped to get some altitude in a turbine. Found out after I bought tickets to 13.5K (says so on the ticket) I find out the FAA had grounded the Otter 2 months ago.

I love jumping at Cross Keys. Since I've been jumping there I've jumped from a Skyvan, a Caravan, a C-182, a helicopter, a porter, several Otters, a King Air, and a bi-plane.

The aircraft and facilities are always well maintained and clean.

Mostly they run Otters and King air. I rarely have to wait long to get on a load and I always find people to jump with. Theres a LOT of fun jumpers there and they dont just cater to students.

I've never had a bad experience with any staff member there from the DZO to the packers to the manifest folks.

Cross Keys is NOT the closest dropzone to my home, but its where I jump 99% of the time. I might jump other places from time to time just for different experience, but this will always be my main dropzone

After years of wanting to jump, I made my first tandem at CK this past Sunday. The entire experience was amazing!! The staff is very welcoming, exciting and unique to their own personalities. The facilities are more than you would expect in the way of cleanliness and what they have to offer. Huge packing area in the hanger, plenty of clean rest rooms, decent gear store, great snack shack for something to eat or drink, MORE than enough comfortable sitting areas for spectators, which is much appreciated by my wife and young daughter. Anyone working at Free Fall adventures, from the check in ladies, to the instructors, other jumpers or Art over in the gear store, is very knowledgeable, enthusiastic and exciting to talk to. I haven't met a person yet that was too busy to answer a question, lead me in the right direction or voluntarily offer me advice. The people here made me feel like an old friend from the start and I love just hanging around as a spectator, learning something new, or chit chatting with other jumpers almost as much as i love "jumpin' outta them planes" Immediately after touching down on their over sized and easy to spot landing zone, I was hooked and went straight in to pay for another, followed by ground school and my t3 jump the very next day. two days later i was back for my B1 and am heading out in a few for my next jump/s. The student training area is fairly simple and separate enough from everything going on around the drop zone to allow you to focus completely. The instructors Dana and Sebastian are the ideal people to learn from. Everything was EXTREMELY thorough and I didnt leave feeling like I was the slightest bit confused or unsure about anything I had learned from ground school. That continues so far with each jump. They're just altogether awesome people and a hell of a good crowd to jump with. Very safety aware and thorough, as I said! I had the pleasure of jumping with three tandem instructors- Scott, Rob and Richard. you can't pick a favorite. They all stick to the program, yet have a little bit of their own unique style and personalities. I felt completely 100% safe, at ease and confident with every one and felt as though each taught me something new and different.

The prices- i do not want to bash any specific drop zones, and there may be reasons I'm unaware of that cause the price difference... but i researched all the different DZ prices and NOBODY could compare to Free Fall Adventures! I'm excited to finish through to my A license hear and continue jumping Skydive Cross keys!

Been jumping here for a few years now and never wrote a review. Safety is the primary concern here. Staff stresses it consistently. If you ask questions they are willing to help and share information. One thing is you can't expect them to drop everything their doing to help you especially if it is a very busy day in the summer. The local fun jumpers are helpful as well. Also they have a very large packing area. The trick for the packers is to speak to one of them before hand and let him know that you are going to be jumping they'll take care of you. One last thing jump prices have gone up I believe its $25 to 13500ft now.

Went here for some fun jumps with some friends. Fun jumpers beware! People here are driven by one thing $$$ how much $ can be made! I ended up having a bad jump and spraining my ankle here. Not one person asked if I was on or if they could help they approached me swearing and saying how much of an idiot I was for hurting my ankle. Who does that??? I sold the rest of my jump tickets will give them a bad review and never go again.

It only takes one person to bring everyone elses day down and it seems like it may happen here often.This place just does not carry a good vibe. I have observed tandem instructors allowing each other to drag their tandem canopies nearly every time it is returned to the packing station. I am no expert in this sport but I was taught that it was very important that you not put unnecessary wear and tear on the canopy you rely on to land safely. If you ask for assistance you will be redirected to another dead end. If you rent equipment you can not track who packed it to verify that they are qualified to pack. I recommend if you rent pack your own rig and if you are lazy and do not wish to do so good luck finding a packer that is free because they are very busy with the tandem rigs. There are not many of the staff that behave in a condecending manner but there are a few. The facilities are nice aside from the random scattered trash. All the place needs is a little discipline. I have observed a tandem instructor protest against performing a coach jump. In my own opinion he should have jumped at the chance to progress a jumper in this sport so that they may intern bring other fresh faces to the scene. It just seems like it is all about tandems here . I hope someday this dropzone gets away from being the typical tandem factory cliche and gets back to what skydiving is really about, having fun.

I had my first tandem fall on 12 June 2010.It was amazing experience. I found people very friendly and good to approach. The entire fall was an amazing experience and very well organized. One of the best part was the video taken by the videographer Brian. He created an awesome memory for me. I have seen a lot of videos of my friends doing their dive but mine video was exceptional. Folks i would recommend the place its a great place for a tandem skydive.

I really wanted to give this dropzone 5's but I just can't get over the vibe here. First, let me start with the good. The planes are EXCELLENT. This dropzone has tons of different planes to jump, which is a huge advantange and tons of fun (I love the Skyvan). Also, they have great facilites for those camping or just on a day trip. Now the bad. The vibe here is terrible. Here being "cool" overshadows anything else, even safety. If your not flying a 80sqft parachute people will not even talk to you, let alone ask you to jump. One thing that bothers me most about the people is the lack of advise. I've seen people, some of them instructors, walk by individuals acting unsafely and they say Nothing.

I would not suggest jumping here as a student unless you can secure the same instructor for the entire AFF. Many times here as a student I felt degraded and unwilling to continue. Its a shame because I would jump here more often if the vibe would change. If you have a group of friends in which you can jump with than this is a great dropzone, otherwise take a drive and have fun jumping with others.
[I wanted to log back in to update this review.June 2011 This place STILL has a horrible vibe. The other review nailed this dropzones' attitude. So much happens at this DZ I'm surprised they haven't had more accidents. People do selfish and unsafe moves (no separation, low pulls). I have had too many close calls here.

This sucks since this place has the potential to be one of the best NE dropzones. Only reason I'm writing again is in hopes either a manager or owner reads this. Please manage your staff to be welcoming and to observe unsafe behavior. (A student expressed to me "he was yelled at for not bringing the right beer"). Your concerns should be if he was safe and had a good jump. He was looking for a debrief for over hour. I can feel his frustration as this happend to me numerous times during my AFF. Similarly, minor things like not dragging tandem canopies can potentially prevent a tragic accident. I observed a tandem canopy that was so worn the stitching and the lable were completely gone. A slight change in attitude and this place could be a fun jumpers dream. On the other hand, I can go on and on about how unwelcoming and quite frankly rude the instructors and fun jumpers are. The current staff and jumpers makes you feel like the nerd at the cool kid table in High School with the amount of gossip and sh*t talking at the DZ and on the plane. Don't get me wrong, not all the staff is bad. For example, Tandem Rob is a pleasure to be around and what drives people to this sport. X Keys needs to model their staff after him. I feel he truely gets this is skydiving and should be fun. As I stated before, take a drive to a different DZ and have fun jumping. Hopefully someone from X Keys reads this b/c your DZ needs some serious vibe/professionalism help.]

CK has been my home for 2 seasons now.
Although it feels like the vibe and after parties declined since '07, I believe it's the general economy making it's "contribution" to our sport.
It still is a fantastic place to hang, jump, learn, and sometimes waste time at.
People are great, facilities are far above average, loft is great; XK has RW, FF and Wingsuit organizing (WS in the summer at least with 2 best pilots known to man kind - Jeff and Phil ;)), Twin Otter and a Skyvan with possible fleet improvements in '09

Even with almost 2 hours of commute each way, CK is by far my favorite DZ in the North East.
See you on the DZ :)

For those who have been jumping for a while know full well that every dz has its ups and downs including the characters that run the place from those who help in the teekee bar to the pilots and staff.....they can never please everybody all the time but I know from my own experiance of xkeys that there are some really descent, hard working staff who will always go out of their way to help with any questions and problems.

a few years ago I went to xkeys for a couple of weeks and stayed 3 months, that pretty much sums up how i feel about this extra ordinary DZ. john couldnt have been more accomodating, even kicking Selwin out of his little castle for me (cheers sedge)

I found the rigging room to be of the highest standard and ever so helpfull even with my silly questions that had the rigger throwing his eyes up in the air. sorry mate.

Like all dz's around the world, there are characters that stand out and put a smile on your face just thinking about what their next antic is going to be...ranging from putting mgbgt sports car on the benches out front of the hangar doors to laying a 10 pound bag of bird seed on the roof of the trailer for revenge!! That especially goes for those fury faced pilots who give up well paid jobs flying over the pond to being drop zone bum pilots...although the trailer party's were good because the food is always good!

I guess what im saying is, every dz has its moments but for myself and dozens of british skydivers who have ventured to xkeys, its been a blast and some time in the future I will be returning for a couple of weeks with some friends.
all the best to those who remember me and thats includes glenn "alright mate", only cause he never understood me london accent;-)
Don't let the negative points from one individual sway you in your views towards this dz.life is far too short..see ya lee

They seem to have a a high percentage of students having to go to their reserves. Every thing there is rushed, from the training to the packing. If you get your "A" license (25 jumps), using their equipment, and never have a malfunction, you are lucky. To make matters worse, one of the two AFF instructors are very rude and condescending. I love skydiving, but I also love living. I'll never jump there again.

just want to start off by giving a big fuck you to the last post about fun jumpers, there are plenty of fun jumpers, a great number of tandems introduced to the sport each day, and the facility is amazing. freefall adventures without a doubt lives up to its reputation with the best instructors world wide, a friendly atmosphere and great staff and management

I was jumping at cross keys occasionally and the place now only cares about TANDEMS! Years ago there were many fun parties out there which made the skydiving atmosphere one not to ever forget. Now they have a manager there that doesn't even jump and is kicking all the fun jumpers out off the Dropzone. Time for new management and bring the fun back to skydiving at cross keys and maybe get back on the map.

I completed my first tandem jump a few days ago at CrossKeys, and I can not wait to get started with an AFF course! Rob and Seb, we absolutely wonderful to hang with and to have as tandem instructors.

I would highly recommend this DZ to anyone looking to get into an absolutely wonderful environment!

Thanks guys! Can't wait to come back!

Let me preface this by stating yes Cross Keys is my home DZ but as you read you will see that this review is non bias, I’m sure you will agree as you read on. In May of 2006 I approached DZO John Eddows with an idea for a charity fundraising event that would benefit the Special Olympics. Having a brother and sister who are mentally handicapped, who have participated in the Special Olympics, I have a personal connection with the particular charity. Being a Police Officer for 15 years and a member of the Policemen’s Benevolent Association I had the ability, resources and backing of a non-profit organization to organize a charity event using the sport of skydiving. We came up with the C.U.F.F.S. (Cops United Free Falling Spectacular) charity skydiving event. During the charity event we invited the public to come and make tandem skydives with local police and public safety personnel. During the event Freefall Adventures/Skydive Cross Keys made a donation for every tandem as well as each video that was completed that day. The Staff was incredible just about turning the DZ over to the PBA so we could work on raising money for the charity. Marks Menu, the DZ Café donated a portion of its sales for the day and gave all the Special Olympics Athletes a free hotdog bag of chips and icy drink. Square 3 provided lots of giveaway items that were a huge hit for everyone. There were lots of athletes from the Special Olympics at the event and they were greeted with open arms from everyone at the DZ. When the event was done DZO John Eddows provided me a check for over $4,000.00, WOW! I would like to thank everyone at Cross Keys and the Special Olympics for allowing me to organize this even and we will be back at Cross Keys this year July 21, 2007 for the 2nd Annual C.U.F.F.S. Charity event.

I just read a review that I wrote about Freefall Adventures and Skydive Cross Keys when I first started jumping back in 2001 and it made me think about how much better this place has gotten. Those instructors who first taught me how to skydive continue to be some of my closest friends these six years later. Six years ago they did everything they could to help me, a new staff member working in the briefing room, finish AFP. Six seasons later they continue to do everything in their power to keep me current and safe.

John Eddows, the DZO, is absolutely, positively dedicated to maintaining a safe skydiving center. He empowers his staff and fun jumpers to take the initiative and improve safety and develop training regimens that enhance emergency operations. Over the past year I’ve gotten to have a quite a few meaningful conversations with John. I truly see his dedication and love for this place. He has invested his entire life to this place and it is evident in all that is Cross keys. When a DZO cares this much about his business, his fun jumpers, and more importantly, his students, everything radiates.

Since 2001 John has enabled and empowered me to use my long running connections and involvement with local EMS to keep Cross Keys and Freefall Adventures a safe and professional all inclusive skydiving center. John’s dedication is evident in all that he has given me to organize these events between the DZ and local EMS agencies. He’s given me financial support, his time, his airport, his aircraft, his drop zone, and anything else I need.

Skydive cross keys has it all, great facilities, caring, dedicated, and professional staff, fantastic fun jumpers, an awesome restaurant, and so much more. The abundance of aircraft, the full service rigging loft run by a rigger with 15,000+ skydives, the updated equipment, and the fantastically managed, stocked, and geared gear store all add to this already stellar place.

Wander in the rigging loft or the gear store any day of the week and you’ll find some of the most experienced skydivers in the North East and the country for that matter, ready and willing to have all out conversations on everything from humidity to hard pulls. Sit down with these folks and you’ll see quite quickly why they keep coming back year after year. When you come here you will share more than just a ten minute plane ride and the same airspace with us; you’ll share laughs and meals and drunken evenings and sometimes even a tear or two. No matter what is happening this place loves. This isn’t just an eclectic group of individuals; it’s an ever growing, ever welcoming family and we’re always looking for more folks to join us.

During the summer this place jams. Why else would Red Bull come here to break a world record for most number of tandem jumps done in one day? By the way, we set the record at 407. Come out during the week and you’ll find an otter full of regulars, willing and wanting to jump with you, lie immobile beside the pool, or trek around Philly. Whether it’s a promotional night in Philly, an Oscars party, a long escape to Florida or Puerto Rico, or a regular Sunday evening meal at my place, these folks who make up Cross Keys truly, genuinely, and honestly are the best of friends.

I’ve spent 18 months traveling around the country skydiving, rock climbing, and working but I’ve always found my way back here, back home. I love this place so much I’ve moved in next door. You’ll want to do the same, just don’t think you’ll get my apartment! :)

Once you come here you won’t want to leave. It’s the people, the staff and fun jumpers, in combination with the abundance of aircraft, organizers, student and rental gear, nearby cities, good eateries, and countless other things that will keep you coming back. We’ve been dealt some blows these past few seasons but no matter what’s happened the people out here have banded together and somehow come out of it even closer to each other and all that is Cross Keys.

Even if you don’t think my experiences can be your experiences come out here and be proven wrong. You’ll find me bouncing around out front or in the boarding area or the hangar with endless energy, probably greeting you before you step outside your car. I look forward to meeting you.

Rock on,

Kel

PS: email me with any questions about the dz; I’d be happy to give you honest answers. [email protected]