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bazzfreefly

Does it get better?

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Skydiving is a fun social sport to do with your friends. You get to fly arround in three dimensions. The scenery is great. It's not a rush.

Your first few wingsuit jumps, skysurfs, etc. are exciting and then it's just like the rest of skydiving. Wingsuit formations and docks are fun. Without any one to play with I found skysurfing boring.

High performance landings stay exciting, but you need hundreds of jumps and training to develop the judgement and experience to stand a good chance of survival.

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in reply to "The main reason I'm still doing it is, so I can fly a wingsuit. Is that enough to stay in the sport? Please any advice would be great. "

If you really want to fly wingsuits then YES it is worth it . There are not many other options anyway except perhaps BASE.

The thing is even flying a wingsuit can get boring if you're the type that craves/needs 'real' excitement.
I've met quite a few people who've thought skydiving was just a big joke compared to a lot of other sports.
Motor-cycle racers in particular wonder what all the fuss is about. Base jumping can also provide a whole new level of 'rush'.

Once you've dodged a few bullets skydiving sort of gets boring very quickly if you're looking for it to provide a rush. There are a lot of cheaper ways to get a rush...sometimes you can even get payed.

Once you get fairly competent at skydiving it becomes more of a relaxation type sport.

Wing suiting can really deliver here as each flight lasts more than twice as long as a skydive usually does.
There really is nothing to compare to flying around in a wingsuit with people you like on the ground as well as in the air.

If you really want to do this then hang in there but instead of doing what lots of other skydivers do (eg try and be world champs, instructors and such)
use your time to hone the skills that will come in handy to make your wingsuiting more enjoyable
eg do heaps of tracking dives .

A large part of the call of the air is the persuit of excellence.(i wish I could spll that)
Any sack of potatoes with an AAD can skydive but it takes a lot more to be able to fly.

Have fun trying and before you know it you'll be doing it.
:)

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Quote

[Now it's more like we have a 3D playground that has no walls, no floor, no boundaries at all and the juice comes from pulling off precision skydives in that environment. Then of course ws flight takes things to a whole other level! ;)

Well actually there is a floor, and it's coming up really fast.:P

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Cheers everyone, thanks for the words of advice. I'm in Oz, not 100% but I thought you could fly wingsuits after 100 jumps? I realise that there is a whole bunch of things to try, CRW,RW, FF etc. I might end up trying them all, who knows but my goal is to fly with wingsuits. Thanks again.

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I have just received my "A" license yesterday. I can not say that I have ever been bored. I was done with my card expectations and even my check dive on number 17. So yes, I did many solos, (relative to my total jump numbers) however, I also threw in several coach jumps. I really don't know what discipline I will be motovated to call my own, I am thinking freefly and photography, but I try to remember that I am never alone in the sky. Even on a solo flying flat, dumb and happy I try to remember to stay focused on what I can learn. Can I pick out the jumpers in freefall around me? Can I slow my fall rate dramatically or really speed it up? I may, at my stated deployment altitude, practice a fast pull as if I saw trouble below me. Can I get stable quickly from an awkward body position for that fast deployment when I need it? I practice tracking dives away from the jump run. How far can I get from my initial spot? Hard to judge for me sometimes, but not inpossible. All of these basic challenges excite me when I do well and challenge me when I don't do well. My "A" license gives me the right to jump, it does not make me a good skydiver, my excitement comes from the continued education. No matter the discipline I choose, I believe it is paramount to have a good understanding of the processes involved in them all so I can keep those around me, and myself, as safe as possible. Then when I pull a whole other learning environment is open to me. At your jump numbers can you get pumped by flying a safe pattern and nailing your landing? I do...everytime I do it right.

As a new skydiver, I think the greatest compliment I can get from experienced jumpers and instuctors is a positive comment on my approach to safety. Yea, I love to hear that I am progressing well with my newbie skills, but to hear that they recognize my desire to be safe at the DZ is what makes me smile on the way home. Why? When my skills are solidified, those jumpers will want me with them and in all probability I will get to die from something other than my sport.

Skydiving boring? Never.

IMHO

Erik

_________________________________________
I married the right one......it just took me 2 times!

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EEEK dude, you have not even begun to experience skydiving and the various aspects of the sport.

You need to work hard in getting past the initial progression programme stuff, which is essential in ensuring that you are a safe skydiver amongst other skydivers.

We all had to do that, so we don't kill our friends.

In skydiving, nothing will happen unless you make it happen.
Once you can jump with a coach, do it. It is essential to ensure that you jump with the best person you can so you can learn.

Moving into various dicsiplines is fun.

Wingsuiting is great, but there are other avenues to explore as well.

I have done so many different and wonderful things in this sport, from breaking records, Big way formations, world meets, canopy piloting, wingsuiting and trying to learn freeflying :P

But you need to ask people to get you involved. The more you are part of the scene and can actually perform in the sky, the more gratification you will get out of the sport.

Out of the 18 jumps I did this weekend, I can remember each one! Every jump had something special and I learnt something from each one!

Don't ever think that you know all there is to know about the sport, you really have not even tasted the tip of the iceberg.

I hope you stick with it!
Will be nice to see you at a world meet someday and chat about this!!

;)

I think true friendship is under-rated

Twitter: @Dreamskygirlsa

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Talk about digging up a dead thread....

It's basically the post qualification void. You've had an intense learning experience, have been pushed lots for several tens of jumps and learnt a lot. Now, after a few 'heyyyy, no instructor' jumps, yer bored! Which is understandable as once the 'WFT' factor wears off, it's like getting of a bus.

Decide what you want to go into next (FS? FreeFly?) and pay for good coaching. Yep, more money... that way you'll keep pushing yourself as you did during intitial traning until you're good enough for fellow jumpers (and you!) to keep pushing yourself and developing.

I started dabbling in freefly and wasn't particularly impressed or amused by the whole thing. All of a sudden i would up at a boogie doing organised 8 ways (yeah, no FF1 B|) and the end of week 2-plane-25-way was mindblowing and put those first jump jitters right back into me! Now, i'm ever so slightly very hooked on it. But without trying to get into those situations, you won't get into them, and will get into a cycle of solos, crap jumps and dives that require no effort at pusing yourself further will go on forever, until you quit. Or take up base! :P (stupid idea by the way, if that's the motivation).

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Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club
www.skydivebristoluni.com

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