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Bignugget

Traveling to a tunnel from the midwest, advice please.

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hey everyone, I am from Missouri, and there are no close wind tunnels unfortunately. The 'closest' one I can find is in Denver which is about a 12 hour drive. Other than that I have to travel to the east coast.....

So, im looking for some insight from anyone from the midwest that has some decent tunnel time. I really want to get started flying in one maybe an hour a month in 2013.

Can you do an hour over a weekend and not be exhausted to the point you don't progress? Im in good shape, do yoga and try to stay healthy. I am also interested in getting some coaching so bear that in mind also.

Again any insight from fellow midwesterners in the same boat, or anyone who has to travel a significant distance to get inside a tunnel is greatly appreciated.

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Fly to Utah or NH and spend a week there. doing a week straight will be much more productive than an hour a month. And you will save a ton on travel costs for the year.

Even if you're in good shape, I find productivity declines after 30 min a day. If you decide to only do one weekend a month, I would try for 45 minutes saturday and sunday.

Yoga alone won't cut it if you want to fly a lot of time daily. You should definitely be in a good weight training routine. You also will probably want to ensure you have a quality fitted jumpsuit.

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Hi,

Here's something to compare to;

I'm from Denmark where the closest tunnel is about a six hours drive away.
There's a group doing regular trips to the tunnel, approximately once a month.
They drive Friday as soon as possible, and fly off peak hours Saturday morning/evening and Sunday morning as far as I know.
Then they drive back Sunday afternoon.

They don't recommend more than two hours for a weekend.
Freefly should be tougher than bellyflying, so keep that in mind too.
But the more tunnel you fly the better shape you will be for flying.
Usually people do 1-1½ hour of freefly.

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Yes you can do an hour in a weekend. Is this for belly or freefly or both? One hour isn't too bad, I know of a few people that tried doing 4 hours during a week and by the end they were so tired, the last few sessions were worthless.

I like the idea of going once a month or so for a few months vs just doing one big trip. This way you can take what you learned and apply during real jumps. Then go back in a month and tell them what you're struggling with and work on that.

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Thanks for the tips guys. I have 0 tunnel time right now, and only 17 jumps so I will be starting at the bottom, but eventually I want to learn to free-fly. I reached out to Denver and Orlando (have friends there) so with any luck I will get out there next month and see for myself how I hold up over a weekend or 3-days style flying. Schedule really doesn't allow for trips more than extending a weekend an extra day or so.... I will just have to see how I feel after a weekend trial and go from there.

I appreciate the strength and conditioning advice, I ran triathlons last year and was in pretty good shape but haven't done any serious training in 8 months or so, I sense I will be back in the pool this week and fire up the old p90x for a couple months. Gotta love Tony Horton.

I have the passion, Ill sell a kidney for the coin, so all I need now is my body to cooperate and the time to get there and back.

Wish me luck and I will be sure to throw a video up next month with some hopefully respectable progress.

Thanks again.

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Good deal. I do not think you will have any problems. The way it is typically done is 10 min blocks, 2 min per set with you and your instructor. All of the instructors at sky venture Colorado are highly skilled. Svco is typically cheaper than most other tunnels. They have a spot where you can e mail the instructors and ask what their rates are. Derek p and Derek v are very good but you can't miss with any of the staff there, they are all highly capable and professional. Good luck send a pm if you have any other questions

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Just a little update:

I went and booked 3 hours of time in the new Austin TX tunnel during the tunnel camp Ari Perelman is running in Feb. from the 6th-10th.

I am suppppper excited.

He has some pretty rad reviews on this forum, and his videos are sick. Im totally stoked to get a chance to learn from him and a tunnel camp sounds awesome as well. Getting to watch others learn is always so useful.

So stay tuned for a 3 hour progression video, I am really hoping to do well!

Thanks to all again for the advice, Ari suggested nearly the exact same, so it seems you guys know your stuff.

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I attended one of Ari's tunnel camps several years ago. He's very good. Let him know at the beginning what your goals are and he'll taylor the drills to meet your goals.

Have fun and get ready to be sore for a few days. 3 hours is a lot. Be sure to take a water bottle with a sport cap on it so that you can stay hydrated.

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So a brief update:

The tunnel camp was unbelievable.

From the Austin staff, to Ari and his wonderful supportive fiance who shuttled people around and made sure we were all fed and taken care of, to the other fliers in the camp. They made me feel at home immediately and really went well above what I would consider the bar of a training camp.

It totally blew my expectations away both in how far I was able to progress and the caliber of coaching.

Ari is a ninja in the tunnel.

I can't speak highly enough about how well his coaching style worked for me (and everyone else from the look of the progression in the camp). I would 1000% recommend him to anyone for anything. Really, the dude is rock solid everywhere.

I for one know I will be a returning student.

I will update this thread once I get all the video chopped up so you guys can see a little noobie progression.

Made it to sit relatively stable off the net. Finished with a sit moving forward to high five Ari. Didn't realize it was my last 1:40 but couldn't have asked for a better way to finish.

To all the previous posters. 3 hours was for sure tiring as all hell! No way I could do 3 hours of sit flying. We mixed in backflying and transitions during the sessions to let the shoulders relax a bit, that stuff is brutal on the shoulders!!

Also, I am now addicted.

!!!!!!!!!!!!

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To all the previous posters. 3 hours was for sure tiring as all hell! No way I could do 3 hours of sit flying. We mixed in backflying and transitions during the sessions to let the shoulders relax a bit, that stuff is brutal on the shoulders!!

Also, I am now addicted.

!!!!!!!!!!!!



You'll find as you get more comfortable in sit flying that you tend to fly it with your back, not your arms. Agree that it is extremely tiring when you first learn it.

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Quote

To all the previous posters. 3 hours was for sure tiring as all hell! No way I could do 3 hours of sit flying. We mixed in backflying and transitions during the sessions to let the shoulders relax a bit, that stuff is brutal on the shoulders!!

Also, I am now addicted.

!!!!!!!!!!!!



You'll find as you get more comfortable in sit flying that you tend to fly it with your back, not your arms. Agree that it is extremely tiring when you first learn it.



I think you are right 100%. Watching Ari and some of the tunnel instructors fly, they are using their arms to tell me what to do, not to fly. I will get there this year, watch it ;].

Already determined no vacations/toys this year only coached tunnel time and skydives to practice coached tunnel time.

My goal is to be flying some stable HD next year.

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