benbrockwell

Hey everyone, Thanks so much for all of your replies. They've all been incredibly helpful. Given the uncertainty of the whole thing, we'll probably extend the no-fly time another day, or dive only after the week's jumping is over. Also, we might dive Nitrox on the air tables, to further increase our margin of safety. On a side note, I was interested in the comment about diver-heavy flights, like those from Cozumel-Houston, and how they are full of Nitrogen-rich people. It got me thinking: What if airlines were to offer flights from popular dive destinations with the cabin pressurized to sea level, and not the usual 8,000 feet? Divers would no doubt be attracted to this for safety reasons. But are there any disadvantages associated with doing this? Threats to the airframe's integrity? Increased cost? Thanks again, everyone. ben

Hey everyone, My friend and I are headed down to Florida to jump and we wanted to get some diving in, too. We plan to jump the day after we dive. We'd do two dives to the no dec limit on regular air. The diving would end by 2 and we'd be jumping no earlier than 9 the next morning, giving us a no-fly interval of at least 19 hours. So... How safe is this? Thanks, ben

I'm sorry, but you're misinterpreting me. As I said, Though I probably haven't been clear, what I'm trying to say (in #2 above) is this: The person looking to ski with a canopy, like the guy in that video, needs to understand how the skill sets of each of the two disciplines combine to allow them to do different things - skiing over rock, eg - which they would not and can not do in skiing or skydiving alone. I'm agreeing with you: This requires a skill set beyond those of skiing or skydiving alone, as this new sport has us doing different things - skiing over rock, eg - that we do not do when we just ski, or just skydive. I called these different things - skiing over rock, eg - 'mistakes' because they would be mistakes if we were just doing one sport or the other. But my word was misleading, because in this new sport they are not mistakes. Instead, they are things that we intend to do, and doing them requires, as we both agree, a skill set beyond those required for just skydiving, or just skiing. I hope this is more clear... Thanks for the patience. ben

Hey guys, A friend of mine told me that my posts might have come across as cocky, and I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to seem arrogant. I've just seen too many friends make too many bad decisions on skis, and wanted to make sure this guy knew what he was getting into. I'll shut up now. ben

Sorry, 'defects' was probably the wrong word here. I don't mean to say that each skill set should compensate for a lack of skill in the other, but that, in this hybrid discipline, each skill set can compensate for the other such that we can do things here that would be considered defects ('mistakes', maybe?) in skiing or skydiving alone. I put 'defects' in quotes for that reason, though I'm sorry I didn't explain it well enough. They'd really only be defects, properly so called, if we did them in skiing or skydiving alone. We wouldn't ride into rock when just skiing (2:09 in the video, eg), and we wouldn't want our fast-moving, turning canopy dragging along the ground so as to compromise a zero descent-rate landing (2:36) when just skydiving. But the symbiotic compensatory relationship between the two disciplines in this hybrid form allows such 'mistakes' to be made without the usual repercussions associated with them in each sport on its own, because each skill set can compensate for the other. We can ski over rock (within limits), and the canopy can compensate for it; and our canopy can drag like that (within limits) and the skis can compensate for it. Sorry for being misleading originally. No doubt an excess of skill in each sport is needed for this... the guy is good. Sorry for the confusion. ben

Hey kids, I have two observations, as a skier of 100+ days/season. Though I've never flown a canopy on skis, I'd probably recommend both of these things to someone looking to take this up: 1) The guy in this video has a solid skill set in both skiing and canopy piloting. He keeps his skis at shoulder-width, and maintains an equal edge-angle with both skis in all turns. He rides long (180-190cm?) fatties, and looks like he has some racing experience. He knows his mountain well, and is very comfortable riding in these snow conditions. Also, there are rather prime snow conditions on the day he's doing this: It's soft, light, dry, and only a few inches deep, making it easy to set and hold an edge and difficult to sink so deep as to get caught. On every part of the runs he takes in the video, the snow is of this consistency. His canopy piloting proficiency we can each assess on the basis of our own experience, as we're all jumpers here. But notice that he is, of course, very comfortable with his canopy. He's obviously flown it quite a bit, and is rather familiar with its performance envelope. He knows what it can and can't do, and his control inputs seem almost reflexive. My second observation is a bit less obvious: 2) He uses each skill set to compensate for 'defects' in the other. We often see him skiing toward rock outcroppings and into excessively tight areas at high speed, 'defects' in his skiing which no skier wishing to avoid injury would consciously endorse. But to keep himself safe, he compensates for these defects with his canopy piloting skill set: When he's about to hit rock, or enter into too tight an area, he increases his lift and rises off of the mountain surface. We see too that at times, his canopy stops generating sufficient lift to keep him above the snow. It buffets and even slightly collapses, or has too great a roll angle to keep him in the air. The skydiver flying 10 to 50 feet above the ground would never want this. When it happens to this guy, though, he compensates with his skiing skill set: he's back on his skis, at shoulder width, with equal edge-angle, riding out a turn as if he had never left the ground. Again, I've never flown a canopy on skis. But to someone that wants to try it I'd recommend, on the basis of my own experience in both disciplines, being pretty comfortable with 1) your skill sets in both skiing and canopy piloting, and 2) your ability to use each skill set to compensate for 'defects' in the other. Hope this helps. ben

http://www.square1.com/manufacturers/square1/p1065.asp