bluesky1977

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I have visited 5 DZs (only visited Skydive OR at Mollala, first tandem at Skydive Snohomish) so far and jumped at 3 (Kapowsin, Eloy and Toledo, OR). The DZ at Snohomish was small and not as cool as Kapowsin (My tandem instructor was a great dude though (Vladimir)). K-pow was my first home and I love the atmosphere there. I used to drive over on Friday nights, sleep over and skydive on Saturday and sometimes drive back on Sunday morning. I was regular for about a year or so before I moved to New Mexico and adopted Eloy as my home. Eloy is simply great. The best DZ for me would be a cross between Eloy and Kapowsin. But I guess they are complementary...

I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. So my adopted home is Eloy Arizona. I drive about 10 hours in each direction whenever I have to skydive (Which is during the breaks...). Last month I drove to the 2004 Holiday Boogie at Skydive AZ...

My experience was similiar. I was not sure whether the winds were up up when I went up in load but by the time I was about to make my final turn toward the Ps I was being blown back. Now to make the situation interesting there were trees about 75 ft behind me and I was about 300 ft in the air. Fearing a tree landing, i decide to move away from the trees. The moment I turn my canopy a bit, wind blows me away... I miss the tops of two small trees and land with a decent flare. (All is good so far...) but then I forgot to leave one toggle and pull the other one down...oops I get dragged a bit (not a big deal cuz I was under 3 layers of clothing atleast...). But then there was a downstep in the terrain ahead of me...I got away with a chipped elbow...but after that I never jumped in high winds...

Thats great to hear. Thanks to everybody else for their replies. This is great info... --Vamsi

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My bro got me a 7cell Spectre 230. I have never flown a 7 cell canopy before. How is this different from a 9cell canopy? (Opening, Flying and Landing, Glide path etc.). Any feedback on this particular brand would be great. The smallest canopy I have flown so far is a PD Silhouette 230 9cell. Should I expect Spectre to be different from a Silhouette? Thanks. --Vamsi

The DZ I go to has a great atmosphere, as I think it would be with any DZ. I have sense of belonging to a community. A great community at that too. I was city born/bred, I never knew moving a few miles out of the city would be so neat.

I am still a student, but I'll be able to pull in my A-license by the end of this summer. I was going through life in a half-dazed manner. And sky-diving changed all that, I have something to look-forward to every weekend. If I miss sky-diving on a weekend the next week is hard to get thro. It has improved my confidence level. And it has given me one incentive to work hard, so I can jump comfortably...

Pink Floyd - Learning to Fly is a cool song.

Hi! I read about prescription goggles on the forums. Are they safe and sturdy? I have a very high myopia (short - sightedness, almost blind without my glasses) Will the prescription goggles do me any good. Could somebody point me to a website where I can learn more about these. Blue Skies,