Ski slope ground launching....

[egghead_87us 0]

im just a 29 jump a license. Is it stupid? its an ohio hill, thats right, hill, or maybe speed bump, and i dont even know if i can get it up.....ha.....the canopy anyways...what kind of experience should i have. Seems to me that its much safer than anything else skydiving related. Some questions though.

I own snowblades, skiis, and snowboard. Which should i use if any to get up speed, or should i run?

what about stopping....not too much landing area as far as distance goes...maybe 200-300 very slightly sloping feet.

I fly a Sabre I 190

will the snow hurt my canopy as I would like to skydive with it next year too?

Ive been meaning to ask the instructors at my home dropzone aerohio but havent been up there recently because of a sinus infection.If this should not be attempted at all then shout out and put me in my place. I have no experience with this kind of thing and noone to tell me how to do it. Just looking for some info.

Im also figuring this is a more of a beg for forgiveness instead of an ask for permission typep deal. Has anyone ever done it legally on a hill? thanks .....oh...and Troy Smith for heisman

[marks 0]

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Ive been meaning to ask the instructors at my home dropzone aerohio but havent been up there recently because of a sinus infection.If this should not be attempted at all then shout out and put me in my place. I have no experience with this kind of thing and noone to tell me how to do it. Just looking for some info.

not that it should not be attempted, or that you need to be put in your place. but seek out somone who can teach you what you want to know before you hurt yourself trying..

if you are serious, contact me and i will get you in touch with someone who can teach you to ground launch.

[PhreeZone 15]

Its not worth even trying here in Ohio. The ski area's had a fit when I was asking around about it a few years ago.

You get all sorts or weird airflow off the trees, you get fun obsticles like chair lifts to avoid under canopy.

If you are serious contact Jim Slaton out at the Ground Launch Center in Cali. He can teach you how to do it and how to judge sites, but at least at the 2 ski area's I've been to in Ohio its not even worth thinking about

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[billvon 2,426]

I'd recommend looking into some paragliding lessons. It teaches you to launch ram-air canopies off hillsides, and that sort of experience will be invaluable if you want to launch your skydiving canopy in the future.

It is as safe as you make it. If you go with a paragliding outfit, or with one of the ground-launch centers, it can be as safe as skydiving. If you try it on your own (like I did) it can be extremely dangerous. Remember that injuries in this sport usually happen when you hit the ground, and you do that once a skydive _and_ once a ground-launch.

[stratostar 5]

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and_ once a ground-launch.

Only if you do it right, ever try and stop a full speed sprint down the side of a mountain with a canopy over your head that won't produce lift? LOL, I have.

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[stayhigh 2]

Just do it, in worst case you'll end up getting kicked out of ski slope, in ambulance, I seriously doubt that person can die from ground launch a 190 sabre.

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

[BillyVance 34]

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Just do it, in worst case you'll end up getting kicked out of ski slope, in ambulance, I seriously doubt that person can die from ground launch a 190 sabre.

Although it happened in a competition, one guy broke his back slamming into a cross-path where the slope evens out. Shit happens and there's no margin for error.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[bloody_trauma 2]

just watch dropzone with wesley snipes
were those launches off the roofs real or staged?

Fly it like you stole it

[Martini 0]

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I seriously doubt that person can die from ground launch a 190 sabre.

You're joking, right?

Sometimes you eat the bear..............

[Squeak 17]

The you would be SERIOUSLY WRONG

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[Bengel 0]

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I'd recommend looking into some paragliding lessons. It teaches you to launch ram-air canopies off hillsides, and that sort of experience will be invaluable if you want to launch your skydiving canopy in the future.

I can second that, that's what I did and it was very useful.
Can you give us some more information about the slope? Maybe you can start from a lower spot, where you have only little airtime/altitude. And also, what almost all paragliding schools do, is groundhandling (if there's enough wind).
But go for a school or even the GLC.
-Chris-

I'm a British nanny, and I'm dangerous!

[justinhawxhurst 0]

Here is a great video of flying with skis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZEDNQPMe1o

[shropshire 0]

Nice... Looks like fun.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[SabreDave 0]

I first ground launched my Sabre 230 in 1996 with skis. It was a ton-o fun for sure. I did have about 300 jumps on my canopy then.

As for dying, yeah at my highest point i was about 140 feet off the ground in low visibility due to snow. Winds were not great and it wasn't the smartest thing I have done but maybe on of the funnest.

SabreDave

[steve1 5]

Can anyone give some advice on how this is done? I think I read once that you use back risers to get up. I would imagine you keep your brakes stowed until you are up.

I don't think I'd try this on a ski run, but I'd like to practice this on some bare snow covered hills. I've got an old Falcon 235 that I still jump for a back up rig. It might work okay for this.

Snow is pretty forgiving on bad landings with a big canopy, as long as it's deep enough and not frozen. Maybe this is a stupid idea, but I'd still like to try it....Steve1

[porterhouse 0]

I'd say do it, BUT NOT YET! You can do anything in this sport once. To do it safely, you can't skip steps. If you want to be able to tell the story later, don't skip the steps that will keep you safe. You're still very inexperienced. (Not to say that I am highly experienced either. So please don't take that the wrong way.) I'd strongly recommend formal canopy coaching first. I’ve taken a lot of canopy coaching this year, and I assure you it will open up a whole new world of knowledge for you. It will teach you why your canopy does what it does, and how it reacts to all inputs. Any of you more experienced folks please feel free to chime in here, but I think knowing your canopy inside and out is a very important skill to master before you try to fly in close proximity to a huge rock. This I will say for certain...even though you are "only" flying a Sabre 190, you CAN still die doing this. The moment you think you can't get hurt is the moment you lose your greatest asset to staying alive: caution. Good luck!

[billvon 2,426]

>I seriously doubt that person can die from ground launch a 190 sabre.

Ha!

An ordinary skydive ends with a jumper (usually) landing in a wide open level landing area, with wind socks, no hazards etc. A ground launch involves launching towards/over trees and hills, and landing on a slope in an area of really funky winds (winds are almost always funky around mountains.) It's considerably more dangerous than landing a parachute on a DZ.

[bch7773 0]

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Here is a great video of flying with skis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZEDNQPMe1o

boy that looks like fun. but it does look dangerous too... did you see when he hit the tree... ouch

MB 3528, RB 1182

[FrogNog 1]

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Here is a great video of flying with skis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZEDNQPMe1o

boy that looks like fun. but it does look dangerous too... did you see when he hit the tree... ouch

What I didn't see was the three dozen times they biffed it before editing.

I want to know how many skydives, how many BASE jumps, how much plain-foot groundlaunching, how much skiing, and how much ski-ground-launching experience the people in that video had. Because it looks incredibly cool / exciting / fun, but I know the fine print is in the ingredients list.

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[egghead_87us 0]

somebody asked about the size of the slope, not sure on feet but i would say a whopping 500 vertical max pretty much eliminating the option of starting out low and then wrokinb my way up.. there are . There are wide open (50yds treeline to treeline) slopes with no lifts over them but it is a very small degree slope. I think I'm going to let this one die. But if i do decide to maybe mess around with it at the even lower point on the low mountain, then will the snow ruin my canopy? its ohio "snow" chemicals and stuff...just wonderin

[PhreeZone 15]

If your talking Mad River.. forget about it. They will freak when they see you spreading material out on the slopes since "Its a danger to other skiers"

If you want to stay current this winter the are DZ's jumping in the winter here in Ohio.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[recovercrachead 0]

Get your self a base rig, or take you slider off and get a great big PC. Go as fast as you can go and dump but get video

Track high, Pull LOW!!!

[porterhouse 0]

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Get your self a base rig, or take you slider off and get a great big PC. Go as fast as you can go and dump but get video

That's evil

[stratostar 5]

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then will the snow ruin my canopy? its ohio "snow" chemicals and stuff...just wonderin

Maybe instead of being worried about that, you could figure up what it might cost you in medical bills if you hit a tree, person, ski lift, of just get pounded into the ground by some funky winds.

With 29 jumps are you really that good of a canopy pilot?

Anyway take the amount you come up with to cover your possible medical bills, possible fines, ect and put it aside for nice trip to a warm part of the country to make some jumps or attend a ground launch school.
If you really want to GL why not go learn how to do it the right way from those who have been there, done that, and got the t-shirt.

Then again you could blow off all the good advice people have posted and go ahead try it on your own,
you might get lucky and pull it off as others have done in the past, then again you might learn the hard way as others have,that you weren't ready and didn't know what the hell you were doing, sure would suck to start next season wearing a cast or rolling around the dz in a wheel chair now wouldn't.

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[porterhouse 0]

egghead_87us, at least you have the common sense to ask advice from more experienced people BEFORE you try something you're not sure of. That's exactly what these forums are for: to learn.

This question you asked might have saved your life.

Don't ever stop asking questions. Some people on here may give you a hard time, but in the end we're all here to help, and none of us want to see anyone get hurt.

Hat's off to you egghead. Keep asking those questions.

(by the way, in your profile picture it does look like your head is in the shape of an egg )