EirAnne

I am pleased to announce that United Parachute Technologies has generously stepped forward along with Performance Designs and Cypres to provide sponsorship for the event. This means that we can pass that sponsorship along to the people who will be attending. The original price of the event was 1295 Euros. Each person will now save 120 Euros each to bring the cost down to 1175 Euros. For this price each person will do 20 coached jumps (3 on 1), video is included, dinner on the final night and entry to the prize draw. A big thanks to PD, Cypres and UPT. Blue skies Anne www.innerrhythmcoaching.com

Of course not, it is the rig that has the TSO.

This happened recently when I was doing a reserve repack. the owner had purchased used equipment and had no idea that the Cypres was a 2 pin model. A call to SSK revealed that there was no real issue, however, the individual container manufacturer must authorize the use of the 2 pin in the container, as it was TSO'd for a 1 pin. They suggested altering to a one pin at the next opportunity and marking the reserve card as authorized by manufacturer and date.

Forgot to mention that a coach will jump with each group, to make this a 3 on 1 camp.

I think that there are several factors. 1. Because of the price of new AAD's, when people sell their equipment they are tending to hang on to their old AAD. 2. There is still a lot of gear for sale from 1996 and earlier, quite a lot of this never had an AAD. 3. There is still a mixture of people out there, people who have jumped for a long time, some of which don't jump an AAD, who still have gear for sale, combined with the new people to the sport, who invariably won't jump without one. 4. There is the first wave of expired AAD's in the past few years. All of these factors keep the price of older AAD's high, since demand far outweighs supply. I don't think there is an easy solution, unless gear stores consider instituting a short term leasing program, rent to own or something along those lines.

Now it could just be me and a suspicious mind, but the new ad today in classifieds looks like a very good scam. (I have contacted Sangiro). The ad provides lots of details, but also lots of mistakes. 1. PD don't make a 181. 2. Spectra lines on a reserve? 3. HMA on a stiletto 190??? 4. $1950 including a Cypres 2????? 5. Who talks about a molar freebag??? 6. NO user profile and no posts. Since these ads are getting more sophisticated and using more skydiver language it is only a matter of time before it is difficult to distinguish from the real thing. Maybe it is time to make the site safer. Our community has a very good network system. On suggestion is to make it mandatory to have personal information in the User Profile, including a home dz. For those who don't have a current dz. they could use the dz where they did their student training. It is difficult to fake this information, and would not require a lot of checking to see if it is true. I don't think real skydivers would have a problem providing evidence of someone who knows them in the sport. Any suggestions?

The Project 2008 Inner Rhythm Coaching presents, this years’ “Project” from 24 – 27th July 2008, inclusive of all 4 days. Sponsors for the event include Performance Designs and Cypres. We are currently seeking additional sponsors. The event is a 4 way skills camp incorporating world class coaching and will be held at one of the finest drop zones in the world, Empuriabrava, Spain. As in 2007 this year the coaches include Pete Allum, Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo. Additional top-level coaches will be added as necessary. For information on The Project 2007 please check out the following link: http://web.mac.com/peteallum/iWeb/Site/Project 07-08.html Each person will make 20 coached 4 way jumps with video included as part of the package. This is a fantastic opportunity to receive sponsored, expert coaching from World-class 4 way coaches and competitors. The event is open to beginner and expert skydivers who will be paired with others of similar ability. The only requirements are good basic skydiving skills and a desire to learn. The event will have a limited number of participants to ensure the perfect coach/player ratio. Current pricing is 1295 Euros per person to include all slot/video/coaching costs, the end of camp dinner and entry into the prize draw. If we receive further sponsorship this will be reflected in the price. Travel and accommodation are not included. To register please send us a short bio including full personal contact information, jump numbers, tunnel time, time in the sport and the reason you would like to take part in the Project. http://www.innerrhythmcoaching.com

In the past few months there have been a few postings from Italy of ridiculously killer deals usually for almost new Mirage/PD reserve/Sabre 2 and Cypres 2 deals. Less than $2000 for everything. This has been discussed in depth on UKskydiver.co.uk and when contacted goes down the Western Union road. None of the people selling gear had any profile listed and when asked about local dz's and skydivers who could verify their identity, they could not come up with anything and did not return emails anymore. There is now a posting from the UK, same MO and no user profile. The seller is asking $1850 for gear worth $4000. PLEASE BEWARE. If it looks like it is too good to be true, it probably is. I have flagged with Sangiro. Blue skies Anne

We just spent the whole summer in Empuria running the FS School, it was fantastic. The first language on the dropzone is English and the staff and jumpers are incredibly friendly. Easiest airport to arrive is Girona, but there are no direct flights from the U.S. Flying to Barcelona is easier from the U.S. but can be pretty expensive. Getting a cheap deal to London is often easier and then look for flights to Girona. www.ryanair.com (from London Stansted and London Luton and www.flythompson.com from London Gatwick (it is spelled Gerona on the Thompson website). Bear in mind that when you start using low cost airlines, their baggage allowance is tiny. If you are travelling with a rig, book a sporting bag allowance (about $30) will get you up to 32kg in one bag and will save you tons of money at the airport. If you are there for a week, rent a car on the airport at Girona www.holidayautos.com or www.travelsupermarket.com it is very cheap an easy drive (45 minutes) and you will enjoy having transport.

The original posting for this discussion was a pretty vicious rant about how Natasha bought her team, US Nationals and a world meet ,and how unworthy that was of any accolades let alone the Skydiver of the Year Award. It also addressed the issue that she had made no other contributions to the sport, nor would she in the future and that this was not the purpose of the award, therefore the committee who selected her should be hung, drawn and quartered. This skydiving award is for Skydiver of the Year. It refers to the previous 12 months and seeks to recognize an individual for a significant contribution that affects people on a national or international level. I think this criteria naturally narrows the field. Within that group, Natasha's selection is not so surprising. The award is a subjective choice and there were only a few people who qualified. She had as good a chance as many, better than most. As with most things, not everyone is going to agree with the final choice. And so to the money issue............ how sad that it all is portrayed so black and white. If you have money you win, if you don't ...boo hoo to you. You could have been a contender, if only for the money...... How could it possibly be that simple, how many people with money have tried and failed? Any National Team and some very good teams seeking to become National Champions have sponsorship. Do you think Airspeed, The Golden Knights, The Norwegian and French National Teams, or the Russians pay for their jumps? Of course not. Did it make any of their victories any less spectacular? No. Why does it matter that the jumps of DeLand Fire were paid by Natasha Montgomery rather than Larry Hill, the French Federation or in terms of the Golden Knights, the US Government. For some reason, the fact that she was willling to finance her own team is seen as impure and tainted, whereas all of these other teams who also have had funding are seen as virtuous and that their victory's are not marred by filthy money. There is an argument that because she was willing to spend her own money maybe the victory was even sweeter. I don't believe that, but the argument is just as valid. Natasha's achievement was to break an invisible barrier. Prior to her victory, it was always believed impossible to achieve a gold medal in 4-way without many years and an investment of huge numbers of jumps, yes even with the advent of the wind tunnel. When she set her sights, no one had done it before. They had tried, even people with money. Tried and failed. Like Roger Bannister breaking the 4-minute mile, in the future, this will happen more often because people now believe it is possible. I see someone who had a dream that very few people in the world would either understand or recognize, the courage, determination, means and talent to see it through, (broken vertebrae and all), and the ability to take the victory when it came. I find it easy to find that inspiring.

Skydive University will be running it's popular event 'The Search' from 12 - 18 March, 2005 at Skydive DeLand, FL. The event is aimed at newer skydivers who would like to immerse themselves in a high energy learning experience covering all aspects of skydiving training. The event kicks off with canopy training from the Flight-1 team of Scott Miller and the PD Factory Team. Skydivers can then choose between formation or freefly coaching. Formation skydivers participate in 20 coached skydives progressing from one on one to 4-way skills. Freeflyers complete 17 one on one coached skydives with video. Each group participates in a mini tunnel camp with a minimum of 30 minutes of coached time (freeflyers do 40 minutes). Dr John DeRosalia will be on hand to offer peak performance coaching, seminars will take place each evening and at the end there will be a prize draw. Registration and further information can be found at www.skydiveu.com. Coaches taking part in previous years have included all of the British skydiving team, Danish National Team, Rob Laidlaw, Robert Chromy and Julianna Se. Although we are currently promoting the event, we can honestly say that this is one of the best events in the world for new, enthusiastic skydivers.