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Two years ago, I posted criticism of the numerous major problems with the way Skydive Arizona ran the 2006 Nationals. I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the changes they made this year. The most serious problem last time, in my opinion, was the decision to put out four 4-way teams per pass. That resulted in safety hazards and and an unfair, unlevel playing field. This year, instead of the traditional 4 teams per plane, 2 teams per pass, they went with 3 teams per plane. This vastly improved the spotting problems, so everyone could make it back. And thanks, guys, for the light loads! Another major mistake in 2006 was the failure to provide award ceremonies after each RW event. They corrected this and did a great job with the 4-way ceremony, which was the only one I was around for. This is one of the most crucial elements of Nationals. I was delighted to be able to to cheer for my erstwhile colleagues, especially the kids on Fury, whose years of hard work finally paid off when they defeated the Golden Knights with a spectacular round 10 to take a well-deserved silver medal. Great job, guys! The registration fees were the same as last time, but the drop zone reduced the jump prices at the last minute to reflect recent changes in fuel costs. That did not go unnoticed. In short, kudos to Larry Hill, Brian Burke, and the scores of other people who worked their tails off to put on a great meet. Thanks for listening!

I live in south/central Denver and need a repack before Monday Sept 29. Is there a rigger in the area, preferably closer than Longmont, who's willing to take a new customer? Thanks, Billy (407) 617-2361

Larry Bagley forwarded my letter to the competition committee, and I've been told it will be reviewed at the next board meeting in January. I approve of that process; what I didn't approve of was the refusal to publish the letter, as a valid reason was not forthcoming. It smacks of reluctance to face criticism. Regarding the question of who was involved in the meet planning decisions, I don't know who all of the people were. Amy Chmelecki was one, as it turns out, and she contacted me immediately after my post, showing a genuine concern for the consequences of the decisions. I am optimistic that this year's errors will not be repeated, but a big part of ensuring the improvement is to hold the management accountable in the USPA's primary public forum, namely the Letters section in Parachutist.

Everyone who attended this year's Nationals is aware of how poorly it was run. Not too surprisingly, the USPA prefers not to present discussion of this in a public forum. I submitted the following for the Letters section, and the USPA politely declined to publish it. My first USPA Nationals as an intermediate jumper years ago was a life-changing experience, and one of the top few highlights was standing on the podium with my team before hundreds of peers to receive our medals for all the hard work we'd done over the year and at the meet. At that moment, I knew I'd always come back. This year's competitors had no such moment to take home with them. This year's meet management decided that award ceremonies after 4-way and 8-way were unimportant, and that anyone who wanted to receive the medals they'd earned had to spend an entire week's vacation waiting around for the closing ceremonies. This is an outrageous travesty, and the worst, though only one, of many unnecessary, poor decisions made by this year's organizers. Next on the list was the decision to put out four 4-way teams per pass instead of two. The meet director told us this was necessary in order to complete the meet on time. I fail to understand how this can be, since every Nationals since the hurricane-plagued 1999 meet has completed 4-way on time, including the last meet in Arizona, with the same number of planes, doing two teams per pass. This is especially curious given that this year's meet had by far the fewest 4-way teams in recent history. Due to this decision, the first and fourth teams of each load had poor spots for almost every round, saddling them with an unfair distraction that created an uneven playing field. Furthermore, it was a serious safety issue. Next came the question of money, and what the competitors got for what they paid. We don't need the spectacular opening ceremonies that Perris put on, or the frequent, sumptuous banquets provided at Perris and Lake Wales, but how do you justify charging a full hundred dollars more per person than at the prior meets, without providing any benefits other than a beer truck and a closing banquet which the meet management knew full well would be missing many of the 4-way jumpers? On the up side, the speed with which the judges posted scores during 4-way was truly impressive. Hats off to the judges' accomplishment, and thanks as always, guys, for your under-appreciated, long, hard hours at the buttons. In the end, though, Nationals is about recognizing the hard work and performance of the people who pay for it all. I understand a drop zone is a business, and if the business has to charge more and deliver less to make the event feasible, that's their call in the end (and will hopefully be remembered next time they bid). But holding awards ceremonies would have cost the drop zone nothing, and the meet management's refusal to do so is inexcusable. Billy Andrews A-29342