Ive been visiting Xkeys for 1 1/2 years now. Ive only done 3 tandems in all that time but I still go out there on a regular basis. Whether its to get advice, talk about my upcoming AFF lessons (started today!) or to just visit and shoot the breeze, Cross Keys is a place I find myself at often. Theyre staff is great, you can tell their a dedicated buch cause they're always around. Questions dont really go unanswered at Xkeys, cause you can always find somebody to help with any problems. I think today was my best day out there yet, it even beat the day a DZ truck had to pull my ambulance out of a mud hole ( i will never again park any vehical, even if it is an emergency vehical beyond the red lines) I woke up today knowing that they were calling for a huge snowstorm. Still, I hoped to get at least one jump in after ground school. That didnt end up happening, but I still got a lot of new learning experiences. Not only is my AFF coach a extrememly skydiver, but so was his "student", another employee working on getting his AFF coaching cert, who was sitting in on our lesson. So i had the benefit of being the only student, with two awesome skydivers! Everything was explained in a very detailed manner, and after each new lesson, my JM asked me if I had any questions then did a quick verbal check on me, throwing out questions about everything we just reviewed. What i really appreciated was the fact that he was so consistent and insistant that i learn what he's teaching. He didnt just tell me and move on. He made sure I knew what I was talking about, and that I knew it inside out. Instead of lecturing and demonstrating the entire time, he made me show him and demonstrate everything I learned, time and time again. I dont mind that I didnt get to jump today cause of the weather, cause ground school made me feel comfortable enough that I dont feel the need to get up there and jump right out of the classroom. Everything was gone over so many times, its already a part of me. looking around the house, im wondering "where can i practice my exit? where can i practice PLFing?" In any case, im glad that Xkeys is where i find myself starting out. Cant wait to learn and advance.
Skydive Cross Keys
in New Jersey
I think today was my best day out there yet, it even beat the day a DZ truck had to pull my ambulance out of a mud hole ( i will never again park any vehical, even if it is an emergency vehical beyond the red lines) I woke up today knowing that they were calling for a huge snowstorm. Still, I hoped to get at least one jump in after ground school. That didnt end up happening, but I still got a lot of new learning experiences. Not only is my AFF coach a extrememly skydiver, but so was his "student", another employee working on getting his AFF coaching cert, who was sitting in on our lesson. So i had the benefit of being the only student, with two awesome skydivers! Everything was explained in a very detailed manner, and after each new lesson, my JM asked me if I had any questions then did a quick verbal check on me, throwing out questions about everything we just reviewed. What i really appreciated was the fact that he was so consistent and insistant that i learn what he's teaching. He didnt just tell me and move on. He made sure I knew what I was talking about, and that I knew it inside out. Instead of lecturing and demonstrating the entire time, he made me show him and demonstrate everything I learned, time and time again.
I dont mind that I didnt get to jump today cause of the weather, cause ground school made me feel comfortable enough that I dont feel the need to get up there and jump right out of the classroom. Everything was gone over so many times, its already a part of me. looking around the house, im wondering "where can i practice my exit? where can i practice PLFing?"
In any case, im glad that Xkeys is where i find myself starting out. Cant wait to learn and advance.