sarahh

family, home, country, sanity... yup

Two of the the best swoopers I know do not use fronts at all. I learned from them how to swoop using harness only, mainly because I lack the upper body strength the hold the fronts down on a high degree turn without the risers being snatched from my hands. It all depends on what you learn and who from. David Ludvik - great swooper, no front riser input.

Several pieces that I received. 1) get your turn right high, than bring it down. You learn more from being 50 feet too high than 50 feet too low - Jimmy T 2) no, you can't downsize, dumbass! And the next time you think you're ready, wait 200 jumps! - V

Around three months. Getting back into it was an issue, especially when the only canopies available were almost double the size of mine.

I've jumped into my fifth month for my oldest daughter and my third month for my youngest. For my oldest, I started to lose my depth perception, which is obviously and issue, and for my second I started to get leery of full time skydiving after a terminal reserve ride right

I came to WV about a year ago, and found this place about 15 minutes away from my house. I am an experienced jumper, used to work in Georgia, used to a fast paced work environment. Initially it's frustrating to come to a smaller DZ and adjust to the differing environments and the more family feel, but I am glad that I found WV Skydivers as they have really opened my eyes to a slow paced but wonderful skydiving experience. I have found that the staff are helpful and informative, really eager to make sure everyone has a great time. All of the staff are invested in the success of the place, no bickering or squabbling that I have seen in some of the bigger places. Overall it's a great place to jump, great visuals over the Ohio river ( can be unnerving at first, but gorgeous under canopy) the facilities are great, the packing area is great and the people are top notch :)

if you are earning money for the jump, yes. i pay $5 per pack and $20 at the end of the day. i rarely get more than 10 jumps. If (having been there) you are part of a 4 way team and vid, and one of you doesn't stow brakes slider pc... you are asking for a malfunction. if you do a training camp somewhere with a windtunnel and you have a day off in the middle pay and tip for the first half. before your day off. Pay and tip your packers. Most of the time they only wanna jump.

i am an Australian of british heritage, married to a russian american and man the tension between americans and british can be embarrassing! At a bar in rural Surrey, i had a crowd of people telling me how awful America was nad American were twats and all sorts. When i asked which parts they had visited... NONE of them had been. WHen my husband and i travelled to london, then porlock, he was treate awfully as soon as people heard him speak. I ended up doing most of the talking to stop the inevitable attitude towards him. As far as the Americans towards the British, it's mostly bemused, where oh, that one guy... Andy.. or Shaun... frigging crazy bastards is just the anomoly

yep, there really are.. think about it.. you work at a small local DZ.. you have no delusions of granduer, no intention of going anywhere or being noticed. So that guy who will buy your equipment.. who gives a crap about him, the effect of cheating him or your social "status" within the sport. a fella sold a friend a camera, on a payment plan. Weeks later, another friend asked where the fella was because he still had to pay him for a camera... guess where the camera was? on my friends helmet.. people will do it without blinking an eye. I have had mostly good stuff happen on here, and used a rigger as an escrow service. EFF NO, you can't trust anyone.. EVER

to Mr Mike G at Chuting Star getting ready to take home my new rig ( in 2 weeks, but it's a great countdown to have) and i am super excited about it! the rig exactly what i wanted and then some, and i appreciate it more than you know :D so, there's my shout out to a top bloke, a wonderful company and great friends :)

and thanks to all for the kind words. just would be nice if we could look at someone and judge based on their merit and personality rather than the rumor mill, KWIM? LOVE that people in the sport are mostly good people who want to see it go forward with integrity

it's the pissy nonsensical rants that i have no time for. And not caring for an idiot's POV doesn't meant i can't have an opinion. i never said people weren't allowed to have an opinion, just that i could care less for them. :)

my point was exactly that they do a great job. no need to get your knickers in a twist lol.

hey, i would also keep in mind that all you need is an "overall" improvement from jump one. i am by no means "experienced" but i find there are weeks that i just can't get my shit together and everything i do sucks. I try to remember that each thing that goes "wrong" teaches me something, and that the wheel will turn eventually. it's really easy to get discouraged when you see such incidents, but if you look closely, there is something to be learned from each one. EVERYONE makes mistakes. When i had 25 jumps, i was nearly wiped out by a D-Licence holder who had target fixation and didn't see me.. There is ALWAYS something to learn, and ALWAYS someone who knows something you don't . be proud that you are intact... every jump you do which allows you to jump again is a good one :) Good luck, and keep following the path you are on. And don't be afraid to track down a pilot to help you out with spotting and aircraft balance and safety. THey are a largely untapped resource that are more than willing to help in most cases

lol.. you guys.. so nit picky :)