snowy clouds?

[bloody_trauma 2]

any one here ever jump into a cloud that was trying to make ice cream? When i did my tandem jump thats what happened, and apparently its very rare and i was just wondering if you guys had any input on it

Fly it like you stole it

[SWATcop 0]

You were probably hitting rain, it stings and could easily be mistaken for ice.

Kevin

Muff Brother #4041
Team Dirty Sanchez #467

[bloody_trauma 2]

well it is possible that it was rain, but on the ground it snowed a little before we went up and then stopped, it was cold as all get out above the clouds and when we got into the cloud all i felt was me getting pelted in the face and ice formed on my goggles, we then deployed the chute just below the cloud, and it was like i was in a snow globe with snow swrling all around us, i looked at my arms and i had snow all over me on my arms and gloves and legs, unique experience fun though, my face and lips hurt like the dickens after we landed

Fly it like you stole it

[jakee 1,254]

Yep, I've fallen through rain clouds and light snow clouds, they may look all fluffy and pretty from above but they do sting. From what I've heard it's the hail clouds you really need to watch out for, but luckily I've got no first hand experience of that.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[narcimund 0]

Quote

any one here ever jump into a cloud that was trying to make ice cream?

Many years ago at a DZ with a LOUSY culture of safety, four of us did a high altitude hop&pop into 10,000 feet of dense clouds. We flew in close formation (so we wouldn't lose sight of each other) until breaking out at about 2,000 feet.

We flew through heavy snow on the way down. The flakes came up at us from below (or so the flight angle made it appear).

Under canopy the big fluffy flakes didn't sting and they were amazingly beautiful.

And yes, now I know how stupid it was. And of course we ended up MILES away from the DZ. But it's still a great memory

First Class Citizen Twice Over

[bloody_trauma 2]

yeah so please enlighten me divng into a snowy cloud is dangerous or falling at such close proximity

Fly it like you stole it

[shermanator 3]

huh? wuh? hail clouds? .. i thought hail occured when rain freezes while dropping or something. different than snow. I'm too lazy to google.

CLICK HERE! new blog posted 9/21/08
CSA #720

[mdrejhon 8]

Quote

any one here ever jump into a cloud that was trying to make ice cream? When i did my tandem jump thats what happened, and apparently its very rare and i was just wondering if you guys had any input on it

I did - once. The ice crystals hurt. It was just a drizzle's worth.

It may have just been supercooled rain, but it was below freezing at altitude on that jump and there was a few frozen droplets of ICE on my goggles when I opened.

[narcimund 0]

Quote

yeah so please enlighten me divng into a snowy cloud is dangerous or falling at such close proximity

I think what you were trying to say was "Please enlighten me as to why diving through clouds is dangerous."

If that's actually what you were asking, just remember that clouds contain rocks and airplanes.

First Class Citizen Twice Over

[matt1215 0]

Rocks?

[narcimund 0]

Quote

Rocks?

Yes, rocks. Except in Kansas. There are no rocks in the clouds in Kansas.

First Class Citizen Twice Over

[skycat 0]

ok, so this wasn't a skydive it was a hike to the top of a 14'er (which is actually higher ASL than some people jump from) but it's very surreal being in a cloud that is full of snow.

Fly it like you stole it!

[JohnMitchell 14]

Quote

yeah so please enlighten me divng into a snowy cloud is dangerous or falling at such close proximity

It's illegal to jump through clouds in some countries, including the USA. There are many safety concerns the FAA has about jumpers going through clouds, the biggest being that a bunch of jumpers landed in a lake and drowned doing that. However, it can be done relatively safely, especially with todays modern navigation equipment. However, it's still illegal.

[Snowbird 0]

Hail sucks.

Planning a two-way sit. The odd cloud around, but nothing in our way. We had no idea what waited below...

About 8000ft we hit hail. Our sits turned into canonballs as we both tried to reduce our surface exposure and protect our faces. It lasted about 3500ft, we slowed down, tracked, dumped and landed.

From above you couldn't see it. From below you couldn't see it. But one look at our skin, mottled and raw (my jump buddy was in shorts) and there was no question. For days, I looked like someone took a meat tenderizer to parts of my legs and arms.

No one else hit it. Just us. No fun.

Snow? Been pelted by that while on the strut at the bottom edge of winter clouds. Not nice, makes me wish I had a full face helmet.

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
-Robert A. Heinlein

[billvon 2,400]

> But one look at our skin, mottled and raw (my jump buddy was
>in shorts) and there was no question.

I went through rain a few times and thought it was hail. Got a few bruises. Then I went through hail one day at Rantoul. Ended up bloody where my suit wasn't covering me, and with bruises where my suit _was_ covering me. (And this was with a full face helmet!)

[sundance 1]

Two summers ago Jay Stokes was conducting new Tandem and AFF Master courses at our dropzone. I think it was July or August. One day there were intermittent rain clouds about but enough blue sky to fly loads. I was on a load with him and I remember him spotting, looking back at the rest of us and shouting, "you're going to get wet" and he left. Our three way group was out next and we assumed it was just rain, but it was Hail for the about 6000 feet of freefall and then rain. We didn't execute the points we had planned, just sat and looked at each other mouthing "oh shit, damn, f---, etc."

I can assure that the hail stung like hell, left red marks all over our bodies even under our jumpsuites, but especially on our necks and faces... no blood however. At lower altitude the rain didn't hurt a lot less. I don't want to repeat this experience.

To add insult to injury, some smart ass on the ground suggested we could have avoided the beating by rolling over on our backs. Didn't even think of it at the time.

One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

[billvon 2,400]

>some smart ass on the ground suggested we could have avoided the beating by rolling over on our backs.

On my jump several people did, which meant that not only were we being hammered, there were now people all over the sky. I ended up with most of the damage on my neck and the fronts of my upper arms - the people on their backs ended up with bruises on their calves and the backs of their necks.

[ScottyInAus 0]

The reason the rain hurts so much is beacuse you are hitting the pointy ends at speed.
See pic.

Cheers,
Jason.