Interested in Learning how to Skyboard

[akaGQ 0]

OK yeah yeah I know I dont have many jumps yet but as time goes by theres no doubt I will but either way I was seriously into wakeboarding until I took up skydiving. However I get an adrenaline rush just watching videos of people doing it. Im asking to try and figure out what all Ill need to do in order to get to that point and who Ill need to talk to. And what DZ offers training. I live right in the middle of georgia and its about the same amount of time to get to any of the surrounding states. HOwever Im gonna be taking up sit-flying soon which from my understanding is something you have to be good at before you should even consider takeing up skyboarding. Ive had some people tell me that its dying out and some people tell me that its too much hassle but that means nothing to me.. Not gonna let that stop me from accomplishing something Im interested in doing. If anyone with any knowledge or experience could give me their input it would be a lot of help Im not saying this is something Ill be doing right around the corner it would be cool if it was this easy but thats not the case. Im just trying to figure out where I am at and where Ill need to be.
Thanks for any help that you can offer.
Peace and Blue Skies
GQ

- GQ

... it was the love of the air and sky and flying, the lure of adventure, the appreciation of beauty ...
-Charles Lindberg

[SkydiveMonkey 0]

One of the reasons I got into skydiving was cos I thought skysurfing looks cool, but as I learned more about it (and heard a guy at our dz died about a year before I started - passed out due to high g and went in), I got put off the idea. STill, that's just me.

Your profile says you're on student status - you're going to need quite a few jumps after you get qualified, and I think you're going to have to be good at freefly, both head up and down.

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Say no to subliminal messages

[akaGQ 0]

Well Ive tryed to figure out how to get back into my profile and change that...Ive been off of student status for quite a while now I just dont know where to go to change that and such.

- GQ

... it was the love of the air and sky and flying, the lure of adventure, the appreciation of beauty ...
-Charles Lindberg

[SkydiveMonkey 0]

Just click the "Edit profile" tab at the top of the page

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Say no to subliminal messages

[PhreeZone 15]

Freefly skills are a must... the ability to have the stand be your recovery position from any unstability is another. You will start pulling in a stand on the board before too long. I've seen great freefliers tumble and toss their first times with a board. I thought it looked cool too until I saw how many of the great skysurfers went in on a board. I've heard a board is the most dangerous thing you could strap on from others. Jumping with a board also limits how many people you can jump with... not many people will follow a board out to dock on it and fewer will build formations with a board like freefliers are doing.

Skydive Arizona has a school if you are really interested in learning.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[Cornholio 0]

Me too me too...

I also want to learn to skysurf...one of these days or years...

Before I attempt to launch myself out of a plane with a board on my feet, I will want to try this in a tunnel first. That way, I can get the basic maneuvers down before passing out or other scary shit while in actual freefall.

Butthead: Whoa! Burritos for breakfast!
Beavis: Yeah! Yeah! Cool!
bellyflier on the dz.com hybrid record jump

[nathaniel 0]

I dunno about skysurfing. I think one of my instructors from AFF put it best,

"skydiving is exciting enough as-is. you don't really add much to the sport with a three foot piece of plywood."

...but maybe he was just trying to keep me kosher



Nathaniel

My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

[bbarnhouse 0]

May suggest contacting Kieth Snyder of US Skysurf?
You can view his thoughts and teaching methods at www.skydiveaz.com click on Arizona boarding school.
Hope that helps.
Cheers

[quade 3]

You -can't- get any better instruction than THIS.
Click on the link for prerequisites.

Tanya is the current female world champion.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[jtval 0]

I Didnt look at any of the links yet this may be in there..
I believe you need a minimum of 300 jumps to purchase a board to begin with. I am interested in it but I am not in a rush. I have another 40-50 good years left to jump so i Will take my time and progress as needed til I am comfortabel with all other forms of skydiving ...then I think strapping things to myself in freefall is the last objective!

My photos

My Videos

[quade 3]

Ahhh, the link has the requirements for the school on it.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[hobbes4star 0]

can't get much better then keith, the guy is great at coaching, tries to save you money when ever possible, talks you through every single step. he helped me to get to a intermediate board in 17 dives. he really knows his stuff.

if fun were easy it wouldn't be worth having, right?

[LawnDart21 0]

"The Lonely Skysurfer" by - Lawndart21 (aka Tom)

It's true the life of a skysurfer can be a lonely one in the air, so you'd better get used to jumping by yourself. :-) Sure, it's possible to jump with others, even dock, etc, but there are so few of us jumping boards, that it's very foreign to fun jumpers, and most, rightly so, elect to stay as far away from us in the air as possible. It's dangerous too "There are alot of dead skysufers" was the comment of my S&TA when I ask about skysurfing at 100 jumps, "Are you sure this is something you want to do?" Well, ever since seeing Patrick's Reebok commercial for the first time, my answer has always been "YES." Is it the most dangerous discipline out there in the sport? Probably. But like anything else, if you think things through, get great (just adequate won't do) instruction, and prepare yourself mentally and physically for the unexpected, you can miminize (not remove) the risks involved. Why skysurf? For all the dangers and preparation that skysurfing involves, it is arguably (in my mind anyways) teh greatest singular accomplishment that a skydiver can experience. The feeling of being on a skyboard is unlike anything else I have ever expeirenced in the sport. Catching a 14,000ft "Air Wave" is the most exhilerating experience one can ask for in this sport on a singular level. While big ways and 4 way teams all provide excitement and accomplishment, this is really the most singular of our disciplines, and what you can and cannot do on a board rests solely with your own ability. Is skysurfing worth all that risk? In my mind, yes. You need to have that same conviction if you choose to pursue this, without question, you need to believe it is worth the risk. There are too many other fun things to do in skydiving without as high a risk, if your gonna skysurf, be %100 committed to it.

It has been said/recommended that a beginning skysurfer should have 200-500 jumps before jumping a board. (It's not a finite answer, and everyones opinions differ.) I made my 1st board jump at jump 129. Should I or could I have waited? Probably, but my flying was solid (as solid as it can be for 128 jumps I suppose) and I researched as much as I could, before making that first jump. I took to skysurfing quickly and was very successful in my progression, thanks in no small part to having a former X-Games skysurfer as a friend and personal coach, day in and day out. In retrospect, could I have waited a few hundred more jumps? Sure. Knowing what I know now, I would have waited till 500 jumps to start. The extra experience would have benefitted my training, in stead, I had to learn alot of things about my flying in a much shorter "on the fly" (literally) time frame.
Take the time to get 100s of jumps, (in a Yoda voice) "The experience will serve you well young Jedi."

And finally, I am by no means an authority on skysurfing, these opinions are just my personal observation over the last year and a half or so. It may be expensive, but pay for the best coaching available. Go to Keith or any of the other (few) world champion caliber skysufers out there, they are the ones to learn from. It will keep you safer in the long run. Best of luck with your progression in the sport.

--
My other ride is a RESERVE.

[PLFXpert 0]

Quote

I will but either way I was seriously into wakeboarding until I took up skydiving.

ME TOO! I started skydiving to learn to skyboard...that was before I knew about ALL OF THE OTHER things you can do. Like most whuffo's, I thought, you either fell and hung out on your belly or you skyboarded. That's all they really show on t.v. so that's what I thought. I still wouldn't mind trying skyboarding one day but now I'm stoked on freeflying and perfecting head down.

Did you ever compete in wakeboarding? Maybe we met before. I toured w/ team Liquid Force briefly.