Nabz 30 #1 Posted November 2, 2018 Hey everyone, Greetings from Canada. New skydiver, started off with a tandem jump in July 2018, to become a SOLO jumper by September. I always had a fascination with skydiving and basejumping and now "we here". I jump at GoSkydive in Ottawa. I am glad I took this step as that is the only thing I daydream about constantly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeJD 0 #2 January 5, 2019 A belated welcome to you, Nabz, and well done on taking your first steps in the sport. I'm guessing it's pretty cold in Ottawa at this time of year! Are you taking a break over the winter, but planning to get back in the air come Spring? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nabz 30 #3 January 8, 2019 Thanks Mike !You got that right, very cold at the moment, will be going back in the spring, meanwhile going to the tunnel once or twice a month to stay on top of things. I find myself daydreaming about jumping all day Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Greebo89 0 #4 February 24, 2020 Hey Nabz, How did you skydiving journey go? Achieve everything you wanted to? Sorry to hijack your thread, but i think im headed over to Ottawa (from the UK) at the start of April and wondered if you had any advice? Start times/how busy is the DZ this time of year etc? - Not a complete beginner at 280 jumps! But would be my first jump abroad! Thanks Greebs Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nabz 30 #5 February 25, 2020 On 2/24/2020 at 5:33 AM, Greebo89 said: Hey Nabz, How did you skydiving journey go? Achieve everything you wanted to? Sorry to hijack your thread, but i think im headed over to Ottawa (from the UK) at the start of April and wondered if you had any advice? Start times/how busy is the DZ this time of year etc? - Not a complete beginner at 280 jumps! But would be my first jump abroad! Thanks Greebs Hey Greebs, The journey is still going and loving it. 110 jumps in so far. There are 2 DZs in Ottawa, one that is about 45-50 mins away called Parachute Ottawa, it is brand new, the fly a skyvan however their schedule was very limited last year due to it being new, I will be going more this year. The other one is GO Skydive, my home DZ is about 20 mins from downtown Ottawa and has a very friendly vibe, they welcome fun jumpers and they have organizing and all kinds of events and boogies. We have a regular caravan, loads are pretty consistent on the weekends. There are a lot of tandems however its no where near a tandem factory, the best way I can describe it is Zhills, where you always have either room on the plane for fun jumpers or dedicate a fun jumper load only. Both DZO's jump, coach and do tandems. The time of year you have chosen however isn't ideal. Ottawa gets pretty cold (up to -40C) and 1 foot of snow fall in one night isn't unheard of during winter months, which means no jumping from mid October to end of April. Another thing to consider is it is still in the low digits at that time of year, anywhere from -5C to +15C and once up in altitude it is freaking COLD AF, ive done jumps at the end of April and it was an easy -20C up there, fingers are painful (even with gloves) visors fog and freeze when under canopy, easy things to do with your hands become pretty hard, another thing to consider is how wet, muddy and damp the LZ is from all the snow over the winter, so better land on your feet if you dont want mud on your rig. As a Canadian used to all this crap, I really dont mind especially after a 5 month break. If your dates are flexible aim for mid to end of may. September is beautiful, all the trees changing colors and all are amazing to see from altitude. Hope this helps and if you do come by hit me up and we can meet up at the DZ :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
