Competition for newbies

[jhh166 0]

Is there a way for young 'A' license skydivers to compete? I was hoping to find competition that would be a learning experience/competition. Where a young jumper can learn to have fun, compete and be supervised in the process.

I was hoping to hear that there may be a amateur competition that was geared with a learning curve or something close anyhow.

As to what discipline, obviously not swooping (tame the flame), but maybe accuracy or some rw stuff. Also, I searched and everything I found is outdated and probably not around anymore.

[missbrz 0]

A bunch of DZ's will host various scrambles events. I think they're so much fun. The teams are chosen to have a balance of new jumper & old jump with a really experienced captain. You get to meet new people & compete in a fun atmosphere.

[Remster 24]

There are several ways about it. It will depend where you are at and what is being done on your area, and what you'd like to try:

Accuracy: traditional, or sport accuracy (I really find that its too bad Sport Accuracy hasnt cought on).

Style (I'm not saying you want to do it but you could! )

Rookie 4 way FS. Look into a NSL league http://skyleague.com/indexX.php in your area and find out if you can get a 4way team together. Some DZs have mentoring skills camps (Eloy has one every month or so where free coaching is available) and that's actually a great way to move from solo to someone who others will want to jump with!

Remster

[jhh166 0]

Thats sounds like fun... Thanks missbrz.

[jhh166 0]

Thanks Remster that is kind of what I'm looking for. I Like accuracy...but to be honest it will be a big challenge for me!

[jhh166 0]

What exactly is a scramble? Not so sure I get it.

[Southern_Man 0]

A scrambles event is the skydiving equivalent of pick-up basketball. Instead of a team that practices together and has a relatively high structure, you just take the people who show up that day, divide them into roughly even teams and go compete. Fun, a bit more accesible than more formal competitions, and a good learning experience (though not as good as more highly strructured competition).

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[missbrz 0]

Everybody signs up by themselves no preset teams. The DZ takes all the people & looks at their jump numbers & tries to make relatively even teams balancing experienced & non-experienced jumpers in each team. That's what makes it a scramble. The rest of the competition is like regular RW competition. But what's nice about it is that you don't have to form your own team. It's a good start into competition.

[jhh166 0]

Nice, im going to keep my eye open for this. Im not to sure my DZ does this but im sure some close by do. Thanks guys, this is exactly what I wanted to here.

[dzdiva 7]

C-Burg does do this, or at least they used to. Just talk to JR or Kathie.

"It's not just a daydream if you choose to make it your life..."

[jhh166 0]

Since we are on topic, can you elaborate on the difference of traditional and sport accuracy. thanks.

[Remster 24]

Typically, scrambles happen during boogies.

On a side note, Getting a rookie team together and finding someone to mentor you (I dont think a rookie team needs a proper coach; just an experienced FS skydiver to offer pointers, etc... ) and just do practice jumps is a great way to learn.

Once you have the basics down.

You should do some 1 on 1 for a few jumps to make sure you have those basics.

Remster

[NWFlyer 2]

Skydive Chicago has held a Rookie Fest event the past couple of years. The other thing to keep in mind is that you can go to USPA Nationals pretty early in your skydiving career, and it's an absolute blast (even if you don't have a "serious" team you can still have a ton of fun).

Here's the eligibility requirements from the Skydivers Competition Manual. As you can see, you can compete in almost all events with just 100 jumps and a B license:

Quote

To compete at a U.S. National Skydiving
Championships and be eligible for nationals medals,
competitors must—
1. Be a U.S. citizen or comply with paragraph B
below
2. Be a current regular USPA member
3. Be at least 18 years of age
4. Have at least 100 freefall skydives
5. Hold a currently valid USPA/FAI license for the
appropriate discipline and event as follows:
a. Freefall Style, Accuracy Landing and Vertical
Formation Skydiving: C License
b. Canopy Formation:
(1) 2-way B License
(2) 4- and 8-way C License
c. Formation Skydiving
(1) Intermediate and
Advanced Classes B License
(2) Open Class C License
(3) 10- and 16-Way B License
d. Artistic Events
(1) Intermediate: B License
(2) Open: C License
e. Canopy Piloting
(1) Advanced Class C License and at
least 500 high-performance landings
total including a minimum of 100
high-performance landings in the last
12 months.
(2) Open Class C License and at least
1,000 high-performance landings total
including a minimum of 150 highperformance
landings in the last 12
months.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[nigel99 143]

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Since we are on topic, can you elaborate on the difference of traditional and sport accuracy. thanks.

tradtional accuracy has large canopies normally modified or designed to be sunk in. Sport accuracy is just people jumping normal canopies.

Earlier this year a couple of us got together and arranged an accuracy competition at the farm. Dzo donated a couple of jump
tickets as the prize. Popsjumper did all the legwork, gave a review of canopy flight and judged it. Honestly it is something you can put together with a friendly instructor at your dz. If the dz wont put up a free jump ticket, get everyone to throw a fiver in and winner takes all. Alternatively give popsjumper about a months notice and I am sure he would put together another one. For our competition there were 2 categories, less than 100 jumps and less than 200.

It is also a fun way to get your accuracy jumps in for your a or b license.

[jhh166 0]

Yes ma'am, I did read over that. I was more thinking of a prep for us under 100 jumps. I do appreciate all the info though.....you guys rock.

[jhh166 0]

Thanks bud, that is what I mean...it would be cool as shit to visit a new place and learn some life saving/canopy skills and compete also. What could be better for a newbie? I would love to compete in other stuff but I feel I should crawl before I run.

[jhh166 0]

Yea bro..I would love to do that. Not just for that fact to whoop some ass in a compitition (joking) but it would be a cool way to meet and greet. I would love to travel down there. I just want to gain somethimg out of it and learn how to handle myself in boogies/compititions and not be a hazard in the air.

[deltron80 0]

Sky's the Limit hosts a scrambles event every fall...East Stroudsburg, PA...always an awesome day

[nigel99 143]

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Yea bro..I would love to do that. Not just for that fact to whoop some ass in a compitition (joking) but it would be a cool way to meet and greet. I would love to travel down there. I just want to gain somethimg out of it and learn how to handle myself in boogies/compititions and not be a hazard in the air.

Well honestly get in touch with Andy (popsjumper) and work something out with him. You will enjoy it and learn at the same time.

If you have leave available, why not try and get a competition arranged for the weekend before St Patricks? You could then spend the week at the farm, then go onto the boogie?

[TriGirl 268]

Z-Hillz does an EXCELLET scramble over Memorial Day weekend. One year we had 22 teams -- this year I think we had 12 or 13?

(Oren -- help me out here).

If you can get leave/TDY to Tampa during that time, I HIGHLY recommend that one. Contact Oren Kalb (info on the Skydive City web page) for more details. Not sure if they take sub-A-license jumpers, but you can ask.

See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus

Shut Up & Jump!

[theonlyski 3]

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Not sure if they take sub-A-license jumpers, but you can ask.

Well... according to the letter of the book, pre-A licensed jumpers can do up to a max of a 4 way so long as there is a ratio of no more than 1 to 1 (d-lic or coach) if cleared for solo.

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[popsjumper 2]

Quote

Yea bro..I would love to do that. Not just for that fact to whoop some ass in a compitition (joking) but it would be a cool way to meet and greet. I would love to travel down there. I just want to gain somethimg out of it and learn how to handle myself in boogies/compititions and not be a hazard in the air.

If you decide to come to the Farm, let me know in advance when you want to get here and I'll set something up for you,
You won't go away without having learned, and practiced, something useful and important.


BTW, great attitude. Keep it throughout your skydiving career!

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[skymama 35]

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Im not to sure my DZ does this but im sure some close by do.

Maybe you should ask the DZO if he could put up a sign-up sheet in Manifest to see if there are others at your dz who might be interested too. You never know!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[bluepill 0]

Many tunnels hold scramble compitiions regardless of experience, which can be a cheap way of learning fast, making new friends and laughing alot.
BP

[davelepka 4]

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Im not to sure my DZ does this but im sure some close by do

Your DZ does whatever you want it to. 99% of activites at the DZ beyond doing AFF/tandem/video are organized by regular jumpers who want to do whatever it is their organizing.

If you want a canopy contol course, contact some people who run them and get the details. When are they available, who can participate, and what's the min $ to get them to the DZ. Clear it with the DZO, and put up a sign-up sheet with the info you collected. If you get enough people, collect deposits and book the coach for the weekend.

If you want scrambles, talk to the DZO and ask if there's a more experienced jumper or load organizer who can help you, and put up a sign-up sheet. Based on the response, pick a date and format and have at it.

Beyond that, if learning is your goal, the bets way to learn is to get 'organized'. You don't need a dedicated load organizer to jump with you, but if you can find an experienced jumper to 'organize' jumps for you and a couple buddies, that's a good bet. Have them go over exits, door positions, the points for the jump, and the break off altitude and procedures.

Make the dive, and then all involved need to sit down after the jump and 'debrief' yourselves. Talk about what happened, what was supposed to happen, and what you could do to be better on the next jump. Then, here's the kicker, pack up and make the same jump with the same jumpers again. Repeat the debrief after the jump, and do that same thing for an entire day. The difference between jump 1 and jump 5 will be huge.

One of the batrriers to learning is that some of the new guys take on too much at once. If you change everythying on every jump you do (the type of jump, other jumpers, the dive flow, etc) each jump starts off with you learning to adapt to the all the new factors, and then you can focus on practicing skills. If you 'level the playing field' and build some consistant factors into your jumps, you can focus on the core skills more eaily and make more progress.

That's not to say you should never jump with new people or do new things, just that a dedicated 'training day' can produce some real results. Maybe 'train' all dat Sat, and then do a 'fun jump' on the sunset load, and then just goof off all day Sun.