The snow ball effect....

[froggie 0]

well, it happened today. NOt a malfuction, but a loss of eagerness. The ride to altitude was good exept that i couldnt get my helmet tightened enough, my nose was running cause of this nasty cold that i have, and i just couldnt consintrate on running thru my jump. We reached altitude. in the 20 seconds before it was time to jump i started gagging cause the chin strap was too tight and the whole cold issue.(no tissues= suck the snot back in :( and my goggles fogged up. So i freaked. Didnt want to jump. I needed a few seconds to defog myself and spit or somehow clear out my throat. didnt have those few seconds. so my JM had to get us out the door. I seriously was not ready to jump. Got into position in the doorway and the wind almost overtook me. didnt like that. But she did "in out,and before i knew it we were in freefall. I had no option but to try and get stable. got stable. did COA. did alti check again while waiting for her to come in front of me. didnt happen. My heading wasnt right so when she let go i got unstable. We did some Unintentional turns. FInally i just locked on to my altimater and thought to myself "screw the turns, its not happening." locked on at 6 grand. waved off right under 5,200. Pulled at 5,000 on the dot. Under canopy was okay. did my check ((square, steerable, slider down) , located the dz, and headed that way. Got into my holding area and played around there for a little bit. Started my downwind leg a little too early, had to compensate for that. went crosswind, then headed upwind, had to turn (luckily light to no winds then) and landed crosswind. But it was a stand up landing so im glad. flared completely this time.
Moral of the story: i learned that its not smart to jump when youre congested/have a cold. learned the importance of having all the equipment ready to be jumped (no fumbing wiht the damn chin strap, it takes away from the mental preperation) . Learned how vital it is that i allow myself the time during the ride to alti to review the whole jump sequence. learned that i have a door deamon, it just came out for the first time though. Im sure it will be back again, but now im better prepared to handle it. I learned alot. Now the only thing left to do is get back there when im feeling better and manifest for the first available load. Time to go and jump this one right! Dont worry, im not done wiht the skys just yet. Give me about 30 more years :) then maybe ill be ready to stop. ah, i love the skys, hate the colds
froggie

[Dutchboy 0]

Froggie, know that you are not alone here. I've totally screwed up a student (and non-student) jump before. One of my friends that just got off student status had to do his IAF6 5 times. I know it's hard, but try not to push yourself to finish your student training and end up jumping when it isn't ideal.

[Albatross 0]

froggie
Take the advice that everyone has been passing on. When you are going to jump as a student or later, plan the jump, reherse it in your mind, check and then double check youe equipment, and then have fun. If at any poin in time the jump doesn't feel right review it until it does. NEVER let anyone make you jump not friends, not money, not even your instructor. You wouldn't try a medical procedure on someone that you were not confident in so don't jump unless your are good with it. Make the extra pass, take the ride down. JUST be safe and keep it fun.
Blue Skys and Safe Landings
Albatross

[wingnut 0]

froggie,,
sorry to hear it wasn't a good time for ya today. just a little note to you and everybody else: if you have a head cold, don't jump! if your sinuses are cloged your ears aren't going to survive very long. (low pressure inside with a high pressure outside=bang) i made a jump once with a head cold before i knew this, lets say the pain between my ears when i was under canopy was almost dibilitating. i was told i was lucky my eardrums didn't rupture! please don't take some decongestants though, drugs have a funny way of messing with the body.
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[fruce 0]

Kelly, what you experienced today was actually good for you in several ways:
1. Good in that nothing serious happened to you (selfishly, we haven’t even had sex yet….. ya know?)
2. That you just learned in real time what skydivers talk about when they say “it’s never one thing, but a series of events that leads to an accident”.
3. That although you were in distress, you maintained your awareness “screw the turns, it’s not happening”…… that tells me you were totally aware of the situation and made a safe decision.
4. More jump experience, most probably, would have kept you on the ground. Having a head cold can make a jump uncomfortable for some and painful for others.
5. Could you have decided to abort the jump prior to getting in the door? I’m sure there are many opinions on that decision. However, you made the decision to jump. You then had the responsibility to deal with the situation.
6. I don’t think you have anymore or less of a “door demon” than any of us did at your level. Fear is healthy, understand and respect it. Pretty soon you will be hanging out on the camera step thinking about how long it’s taking those fat asses in your 8 way to squeeze out of the door………….
It’s all good………….
fruce

[froggie 0]

fruce et all.
youre right. today was benificial. Im one of those people who believe strongly that every situation we face gives us a few lessons learned. I needed to experience these things today, cause it will only lead me to become a better skydiver. I dont have a head cold, just a cold. I cant imagine having jumped wiht sinus' bothering me on top of the runny nose and all. I want desperately to jump tomorrow, but doing that would just be ignoring what i learned today. So instead im gonna head out to the dz, go over Mals more, maybe hop in the harness and practice cutting away and pulling my reserve. Also want to watch more landing patterns. when the cold goes away ill be okay to jump again. prolly be by wensday, latest friday id imagine. Even if i cant jump, doesnt mean that i shouldnt be out at the dz. still got so much to learn, and i have so many things that i learned that i still have to get SOLID on. lessons learned = a good day.
kel

[jumpergirl 0]

Even though it wasn't a great jump for you, you learnedsomething, and that is even more important. Just don't give up! Since you have the eagerness to jump, you'll be fine!! Besides, I'm still planning to jump with you sooner or later!!
BLUE SKIES!!

[jumpergirl 0]

Even though it wasn't a great jump for you, you learned something, and that is even more important. Just don't give up! Since you have the eagerness to jump, you'll be fine!! Besides, I'm still planning to jump with you sooner or later!!
BLUE SKIES!!

[Iflyme 0]

I agree with Fruce, Froggie... chalk it up to learning. You're not gonna win the gold medal every time - this time you just "got thru" without wrecking yourself. So just hang in there, and apply your new knowledge to the next jump.
Frank

[SpeedRacer 1]

Froggie, I know how you feel. I went skydiving when I was just getting over a cold & still a bit stuffy. Everything was fine until after I exited. At about 7 Grand I felt this sharp pain in my sinuses. Not fun. I didn't jump again that day.
Speed Racer
"Blue Skies, Red eyes, Sore thighs!"

[Greg 0]

I have had a jump that was a learning experience, I guess. It was just a few weeks ago, I felt the beginnings of a head cold (its still kinda lingering around like the Michigan funk!) and decided I would jump anyway. My nose started running just before jump run, I did like you and just kinda held it back a bit and exited. By the time I was @ 10k the snot was already streaking up both sides of my goggles, by 7K the right side of my goggles were full. It somehow comprimised the seal between my face and the goggles and worked itself between like right by where the goggles touch near the bridge of the nose. I could not see my formation and ended up flying almost completely blind. Not to mention, I had to breath through my mouth until under canopy. I learned not to jump with a runny nose.

[cloud9 0]

Well Froggie
One of the breaks of skydiving is you can't do it anytime you want, so sometimes you find yourself there when your not really sure you do want. You handled it and learned. In the future there will be days that your not at your best but can still make the best of your day. Hope this makes sense. I guess what I'm saying is on the off days you can still have fun, just stay in control (which you already did) but when you say the hell with turns just enjoy the FF. Or the canopy ride. Make the best of what you have.
Some fun eh!
Larry

[freaksister 0]

I made a jump when I was actually congested and it hurt a lot. My ear throbbed and I couldn't hear for three hours. Bad plan.
Hang in there, froggie! We're all here for ya!
Sis
"What we're all really seeking is something where we can feel the rapture of being alive."J.Campbell

[skybytch 259]

kinda gross but... I remember jumping one cold day (I wasn't sick, it was just cold); did a four way and as we were turning about the fourth point my nose cut loose and "decorated" my goggles. Luckily it wasn't much, I could still see my jumpmates all laughing at me so hard we couldn't turn any more points...
pull and flare,
lisa

[skybytch 259]

You handled that well frogs... keep that attitude of wanting to learn everything you can and you'll be in this sport for a long time. Your next jump will be better! pull and flare,
lisa

[Stacy 0]

skybytch-
that happeneed to me this winter too! I've worn a full face on cold days ever since... =c)
Stacy
http://astro.temple.edu/~sweeks