inearnest

Yeah, 10. Right. Sorry. --- "Once you jump. you'll never look up at the sky the same way again." Peace

I just wanted to repeat, no matter what she did wrong in the air or what others perceive as her mistakes since this incident... it's rather a gift that she survived this. With all the surrounding drama, this girl is very lucky, and we should all be grateful she's still here. Good luck, Shayna. 5 fingers, 5 toes, 2 eyes, 2 ears and a mouth. Here's to the health of your child. --- "Once you jump. you'll never look up at the sky the same way again." Peace

The best part about this post is thinking, "I'm at work, what... a boobie thread... well I'll just glance through." One hour later... "Wow. I hope I don't get fired for this." This is the greatest thread EVER!!! --- "Once you jump. you'll never look up at the sky the same way again." Peace

GogglesnTeeth, working at a magazine, this really pisses me off. After a year in which we saw our industry have it's legs pulled out from underneath it due to reputable institutions (CBS News, Newsweek, NY Times) run with stories that were irresponsibly inaccurate, you would think all of us in this industry would work even harder to make sure what we put out there is defensibly accurate. Your executive producer is exactly why people think of the media the way they do. That sucks. --- "Once you jump. you'll never look up at the sky the same way again." Peace

"I have tried to explain to these people but lets face it, we might as well be speaking a different language to them." I'm of a mind that this stuff is our responsibility as jumpers to explain in the clearlest possible language what happens at drop zones and in situations when errors occur. As all of us have, I've had exhaustive conversations with family/friends/co-workers about our sport, almost always when something like that comes up. But I've always felt that this is my habit, my hobby, my love, and it falls on my shoulders to educate those around me when questions arise. I even went so far as to bring a friend down to Cross Keys after a friend there died this past year so more experienced jumpers could explain what had happened and why, how pilot error plays a role in the majority of accidents. I'm sure years down the road I will become massively frustrated by the constant hounding, but this is our sport and our responsibility. If it's portrayed wrongly, we have to correct those assumptions. --- "Once you jump. you'll never look up at the sky the same way again." Peace

I don't have the kind of experience in this sport to make this kind of assessment, so I'm going to ask the question instead of make a proclamation. It sounded on the video like the guy was screaming "pump your breaks, pump your breaks" the entire way down. It doesn't appear that she was attempting to steer her canopy. Perhaps it got away from her. I know I had a spinning mal that I had to punch one time and one of my toggles came loose as I reached for them, but the velocity of the spin made it impossible for me to reach the lines and kick out and unhook the other toggle. Still, from what I understand (and much of it has come from reading here, which could mean I'm buying into speculation, and maybe this should be asked in the incident thread) wouldn't this situation have been better handled if she had said, "The equipment was fine. I had a malfunction, paniced and made a few wrong decisions as a pilot. This was jumper error." Of course, a lot of this depends on how the news pieces have been edited. She may have said that very thing. I hate even speculating like this, because in the end the more important thing to me is that we did not lose another jumper. But wasn't this pilot error? I'm asking, not judging. --- "Once you jump. you'll never look up at the sky the same way again." Peace

As someone who works in the magazine industry, the way to rectify all of the "misinterpretations" that get handled in the press about our beloved sport are many, but one key one is this: When a news agency gets the story/details wrong, it is up to us, as skydivers and potential gatekeepers, to not simply write letters and e-mails pointing out supposed inaccuracies, but to correct the wrong impressions and to ask, politely, that the news agency correct the factual errors in their piece. We cannot bombard news agencies calling people who are relating what was probably an emotional experience they are not 100% sure on "liars" and "money-grabbers," but we can certainly correct the factual basis on which their stories were built. "Actually, it is not correct that there was a parachute malfunction." And then explain to the news WHY this is so. Many of the people who work in the dreaded media bust their asses to get stories right 100% of the time, and when we get them wrong we will go out of our way to correct our mistakes. If skydivers were as passionate about helping reporters (the majority of whom are WHUFFOS who've never jumped before) become more educated when accidents happen, it could have an overall cumulitive effect. This would be overall positive for our sport. They may be small victories, but a victory nonetheless. We are a sport of unique individuals, and we take so much responsibility for ourselves nad our friends, but, it seems to me, in the limited time I have been a skydiver, that we are more guarded and less proactive about helping people define our sport when accidents like this happen. If they are selling their story... that's a pretty craven act. But thankfully we're not all reading another "skydiver goes in" story. At least she survived, and her baby as well. --- "Once you jump. you'll never look up at the sky the same way again." Peace

It's like a foreign language. You know your getting fluent when you start dreaming in them. I started dreaming about skydiving about 15 jumps in. But until these last two they've all been blissful serenity. These scared the crap out of me. Woke up thinking... "soooooo not good." And then I wanted to jump. Badly. Stupid stress fracture... --- "Once you jump. you'll never look up at the sky the same way again." Peace

So I haven't jumped since August; mainly because I was training for a marathon over the summer, running mad long distances, and then suffered a stress fracture that's been healing over the past few weeks. I'm still a few weeks from being healed and getting back up in the air, something I'm antsy as fuck to do. I've recently had these two very vivid skydive dreams. Nightmares really. Both started out exactly the same way. I was down at Cross Keys, leg healed, first day back at the DZ. Saying hello to everyone, passing out hugs and daps like gold. Taking my refresher (holy crap will I need a refresher), and then giddy in the plane the whole way up to altitude. These start out as really, phenominally, orgasmically, happy dreams. The jumps are brilliant, true air baths. And then I throw my pilot chute. In the first dream I have a horrible spinning malfunction, and I, for some reason, cannot reach my cutaway handle. I just plummet and spin and then get gripped by this realization that things ain't going so good. The second dream I throw my pilot and nothing happens. I look over my shoulder to see if I can't get a burble loose to pop my bag open, and nothing. So I cut away and pull my reserve. And nothing. Freaked me out. I'm not taking these as premonitions. They are bad dreams. Nothing more. It's been a damn long time since I've been up, so of course I'm a little nervous. But it begs the question... skydive dreams or nightmares anyone? --- "Once you jump. you'll never look up at the sky the same way again." Peace

I think it's one of the cooler ideas out there. Flip the script on the guy, take the opposite angle. No one said you have to wait for him to pull his head out of his ass. When you know, you know. And why not, anyway? --- "Once you jump. you'll never look up at the sky the same way again." Peace

Ow? If I ever call and you are saying "Um," "Uh," or "Ow!" I'd hang up in an instant. I promise. Pinky swear. Just don't disconnect the line.... Erm.... --- "Once you jump. you'll never look up at the sky the same way again." Peace

Far as I can tell she's in there a number of times, from beginning to end. Someone who knew her better could probably confirm or alter that, but I believe I saw her 3 or 4 times in there. --- "Once you jump. you'll never look up at the sky the same way again." Peace

I first met Sara last winter. Yonatan was taking my best friend through AFF, and she would come up, sit down, smile, and give the two of us endless amounts of shit. While I did not know Ron, Sara was one of those people who have made Cross Keys my second home over the past year. Right now I have two images of her stuck in my head: One was this thing she does when filming a tandem, in the plane she would take out a handkerchief, rub the lense of camera clean, then peer in with one eye before pulling the camera into her mouth. The second is watching her swoop down, anytime, so clean and smooth and graceful. Sunday, as my best friend and I were leaving, she tackled both of us trying to get out Twix bars. I did not know her long, I could hardly count her as a friend, but she was definitely a member of my chosen skydiving family, and that is something sometimes different and sometimes better than friendship. She would always sit down and talk, always had an approach to skydiving and life that I admire, always seemed comfortable in the air and in her skin. My heart bleeds for you, Yonatan. But I promise you Sara is one of those people impossible to forget, even by those of us who did not know her as you did. I am so very sorry. Heart broken.... --- "Once you jump. you'll never look up at the sky the same way again." Peace

I did not know him, and am sorry I can't say anything, but she was one of those people who made Cross Keys the place I have loved to spend my weekends at for the past year. Just a remarkable human being. I don't have any words, but Yonatan, I am just so very sorry. It's just wrong. Just completely fucking wrong. Heartbreaking.... --- "Once you jump. you'll never look up at the sky the same way again." Peace

Many, many thanks. I appreciate it, guys. Hasta. --- "Once you jump. you'll never look up at the sky the same way again." Peace