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Kalrigan

What is it exactly that you love about the discipline you chose?

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First 200 jumps- RW
The next 225- FF

I've been a full time CRW dawg since October of 2010.

I like canopy formation because: you get more air time for your jump ticket dollar (you're not burning a hole through the sky for 60 seconds or less), we get to build beautiful formations that have high visual impact, and the people are very welcoming and always sharing knowledge (for free) to help each other become better.
diamonds are a dawgs best friend

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Primary: 4 way FS (500 jumps)-
I love the challenge of it. Mental, physical, team aspect, all of it. I like the purpose of each jump. The drive to get better, the competitiveness, always pushing and trying to improve. Focusing on training makes everything else go away. And when it clicks, and your killing it, and starting to check your alti at the end of the dive because it feels like you've turned way too many pages, awesome feeling.

Secondary: CRW (30ish jumps)-
First, the people. Yes, they are crazy, but the Dawgs are the best collective group I've ever met. CRW scares me every jump. It has made me a safer and better canopy pilot. I'm more aware, I'm comfortable close to others, I'm prepared on how to handle a wrap or entanglement properly, and I know my parachute better. It takes a lot of skill and control. As terrified as I am, hitting my slot in a 20+ way and floating around as a part of this beautiful, colorful, living, breathing, formation is incredible. Did I mention it still terrifies me every jump? There is enough beauty and positiveness though that I find myself still coming back for more.

I plan to fly and try everything eventually. Great thing about this sport is no lack of options. Big way is out, I've decided I don't like being with that many people. Never wil swoop either.

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I've seen some crew dogs around, I have a couple of friends who do crew and you are right, they are very welcoming. Crew scares the hell out of me though, I think that and swooping are the 2 things I will never really be able to get into in skydiving. It is incredibly beautiful to watch though from the ground. Any scary or thrilling experiences you could share?

Time for dollar though, didn't think of that haha. Nice.

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skydivecat

Primary: 4 way FS (500 jumps)-
I love the challenge of it. Mental, physical, team aspect, all of it. I like the purpose of each jump. The drive to get better, the competitiveness, always pushing and trying to improve. Focusing on training makes everything else go away. And when it clicks, and your killing it, and starting to check your alti at the end of the dive because it feels like you've turned way too many pages, awesome feeling.



So do you jump with the same 3 other people all the time? Like a legit team kinda thing or were you speaking in general? Do you guys compete or do it for your own personal satisfaction?

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Classic precision accuracy, solo style, freefall formations, canopy formations, instructing: S/I, IAD, PFFand tandem students, BASE and wing-suiting. But dag nab it, those young punks keep inventing new disciplines faster than I can learn them.

Enjoyed classic precise landing because it is a simple test of individual skills ...... that takes decades to perfect.
Solo style is another solo challenge to turn as fast as possible, but still stop turns precisely on heading.
While instructing, I share the feeling of success with students as they master a new skill.
These days I mostly jump tandem with the ocaissonal wing suit jump to challenge me to continue learning.
But the best is tandems where they pay me to get "tight" with pretty women ...... some only 1/3 my age.
Hah!
Hah!

Whichever way ... I just enjoy flying around the sky.

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I've enjoyed everything I've tried,and there is so much more to learn - this winter I'm going to learn FF.

I have the most experience working with SL students (500+jumps) and tandem students (100 jumps now). I love watching someone push through a difficult skill/situation and succeed, all while sharing the sky that I love so much.

FS is the next most experience. 400 jumps and 4 hours tunnel. I love the camaraderie, especially when jumping with the same group, setting a goal, and achieving it. That group synergy when you fly together and communicate without needing to talk, look, gesture, or anything outwards is amazing.

CRW dogs are the best of all. 50 jumps jumps & one amazing boogie. Tons tons tons to learn, safety is constantly and actively brought up and enforced, as is gear knowledge - a huge plus for me for all of skydiving. If I understand how things work and why they work, and what the rules are, I'll totally go play within those rules. Something about CRW jumpers over all other disciplines: they support and seek out new CRW jumpers. Loads of coaching and loaning equipment are common.

For anyone who doesent want to do creward I say: ok. You don't have too touch other canopies to learn a lot. A crw coach with an in-helmet radio (they have them all over the place) can help you learn about inputs on your regular
canopy. On crw canopies you can simulate a side by side, biplane, and downplane malfunction so you get an idea how canopies fly together before you're in an emergency. Lightnings are also really similar to PD reserves so you get to experience fliight and landing characteristics of a reserve-type parachute.

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dthames

I started jumping so that I would fly wingsuits. I have not considered anything else very much.



That's fair, you knew exactly what you wanted. I got into the sport not really knowing where I'll end up.

skydivecat

My team is the same group of people and we commit per season. I moved cross country so i am with a new to me group this year. We compete in the local National Skydiving League meets and will be participating in intermediate at Nationals.



That's so awesome, good luck man.

sammielu

I've enjoyed everything I've tried,and there is so much more to learn - this winter I'm going to learn FF.



Right? I had that feeling too. Every time I've tried something new, it's like learning how to fly all over again and it's new and exciting like all the way at the beginning.

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Cuz it's the one I can do. :P

Seriously, I belly fly. Smallish groups. 10 or so is as big as I like to go. With a bit over 400 jumps in almost 14 years, I'm never going to see 5000 jumps.
I don't/can't jump often enough to be really good at it, but I am safe, reasonably competent and it's fun.

I'll never be a champion, but I can get a few jumps in on my free weekends and have a ball.

I doubt I'll ever be much good at freeflying, mainly because I don't really have the time (or energy anymore) to do enough jumps to get good at it.

Most of the 'crusty old guys" are belly fliers, and while they are much better than I am, they are very welcoming and fun to jump with (and I'm slowly realizing that I am becoming a "crusty old guy").

The new jumpers are usually looking for someone to belly fly with. The joy and enthusiasm that they bring is awesome And the look in their eyes when they realize someone actually wants to jump with them is pretty cool.

Not interested in any sort of swooping. My bones don't heal very quickly anymore.
I might try wingsuits one of these days. But I've been saying that for a couple of years.

Besides, the belly groups are out first. I'm often the one sitting by the door when we open it on the way up.

Best seat in the house (even if it's a bit scary).

Arguably the best seat in the whole world. A few years back, I was at Summerfest. The first load of the day was not full. So another jumper and I were able to sit with our backs to the opposite bulkhead, with our feet at the edge of the open door. It occurred to me that there probably weren't too many people anywhere in the world doing that at that particular time. It's a fun memory.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

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Kalrigan

So do you jump with the same 3 other people all the time? Like a legit team kinda thing or were you speaking in general? Do you guys compete or do it for your own personal satisfaction?



So I am not the person you were asking, but I basically did nothing but 4- and 8-way from jump 100 or so until jump 1100. Training, competition, training, competition...

The last couple of years I did almost exclusively 4-way with the same three other people, mostly training for UK nationals.

Now I have lost the desire to compete completely, but I still love getting up and doing a fast, tricky 4-way jump more than anything. The understanding and communication you get from knowing the way your other friends fly so intimately is still, to me, one of my very favourite parts of skydiving. But our team is all doing different things now.

4-way with strong strangers is also pretty great. Actually 4-way with whoever is still awesome.

Not wanting to compete any more is a sizeable problem though in the search for hot 4-way skydives. I am having a period of soul-searching now where I figure out other kinds of jumps that could be good. Fortunately? It's skydiving. It's full of interesting disciplines that have deep knowledge to acquire over many jumps and years, I know I just need to pick one and I'll never get bored in my one short life.
--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

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JohnMitchell

I do tandems. They pay me. I like that. . . B|



Haha, fair enough.

wolfriverjoe

Cuz it's the one I can do. :P

Besides, the belly groups are out first. I'm often the one sitting by the door when we open it on the way up.

Best seat in the house (even if it's a bit scary).



Hey man, who cares about numbers. Jump when you feel like jumping and enjoy it. Doesn't matter if you won't ever reach 5000, that's not the important part of skydiving.

You and I feel the same way about sitting by the door, I absolutely love it, a bit uncomfortable because funny enough you're scared to fall out but yeah. I loved that when I was on belly still, always by the door, chill, relax, enjoy the wind if the door is open. Then when I started freeflying I ended up getting stuck in the middle of the plane or sometimes at the end, hated it so much haha. Now that I'm doing pretty much mostly angle flying, I tend to leave the plane first so I'm happily back at the door. I literally had the same though at Summerfest last year when I was sitting by the door and it was open, thought to myself: Oh man, not many people in the world get to do this, just sit on the edge of the airplane with the door open.

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Wow, that's a lot of competitive jumps. What made you lose the desire to compete? Was it boredom or the insane amount of work you need to put into it and the sacrifices etc...?

I agree though about the tricky jumps and communication. I love having those difficult jumps with 2-3 other friends and we nail them in a very reasonable and solid way. It feels extremely rewarding and satisfying.

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Kalrigan

What made you lose the desire to compete?



You know? I'm not even 100% sure. I think was a lot of things... even maintaining the level we were at was really expensive. The competitions themselves started to feel samey - training jumps are still great but the events themselves didn't thrill me any more. The comps scene also just... I dunno. Some great people but I fell out of love.

Comps are a bit of a small pond as well. The gossip, the horse trading, the coverage, the big fish and the (necessary) politics. All those things were exciting for a while and no longer are, plus a couple negative personal experiences in there.

I had eight good years though! And in the UK, I would totally encourage someone to take it up. The support for new players is very strong, and the opportunities for them to level up year on year are great. Just because I got jaded doesn't make it less awesome.
--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

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Getting my pro rating to do demo jumps has been my primary goal since i did my 1st jump. Dont have it yet but its so close i can smell it. Done a whole lot of fs jumps mainly for licence requirements and to have fun with friends. Couple of freeflying jumps but realised its gonna take more jumps that i can afford to do, to get reasonable good at it so thats also put asside. During all this i have developed a new love for camera work, which is now all i do and want to do (Except for pro rating). My friends and my wife dont even bother to ask if i wanna join them in a fs jump coz they know my answer gonna be, "i'll take the camera slot". The satisfaction i get to be there in the right spot to video them is more satisfying than anything else i have tried in skydiving. Next step is tandem cam which is also like in 20 odd jumps away to fullfill the requirements. And the best part is i get to sit in the open door most of the time to altitude and to be on the outside barely hanging on the outside of the plane for exit.

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FS has always been fun, though I never was interested in progressing beyond "Tell me what to grab in which order, and I'll try".

I've always wanted to get into CReW - even before I actually started jumping. That maybe because the first skydiving vid I ever saw was the then world-record 85-way. When I finally got to try it, I decided to stick with it for pretty much the reasons others have listed above.

My other main discipline is static-line instruction, which I find very rewarding.
"That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport."
~mom

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