Beachbum

have to agree that it depends on the kind of skiing you want to do ... For my money, Steamboat is too crowded ... went there midweek, and asked the girl at one of the info kiosks where we could go to get away from the crowds we were running into on all the runs ... she looks around, and says it's empty ... LOL! I like to ski off trail, so the back bowls at Vail are fun for me ... they also usually have a few black runs groomed, if you like to ski GS or downhill. Copper also has some decent off trail areas. Night skiing at Keystone is always a hoot too. Beaver Creek has always been enjoyable for me ... the new section they opened a couple of years ago has some nice blue cruisers that are usually pretty empty. Another option that nobody mentioned is Wolf Creek ... small place, but some good powder skiing in the trees if you're into that ... and with the new lift, you don't have to wait for a cat to tow you back up anymore. I've only skied Utah once, but liked Jupiter Bowl at Park City. Deer Valley also has a couple of pretty fun bowl areas. We didn't make it to Alta, tho the locals told us that was the place for powder up there. Have fun!!

can totally sympathize ... had to do that before myself, and was one of the hardest things I've had to do in my life. Even tho you know it has to be done, actually taking the life of one who you raised and has been your friend for that many years just rips your insides. The pain will eventually subside, and you'll be able to remember the good things without it popping back up too much ... hope that happens soon for ya'll.

well ... am in the middle of Innocents Abroad right now (Twain). I'm partial to the suspense/mystery things lately .. Clancy, Follett, Grisham, LeCarre are all good in that vein. If you've never read Lonesome Dove .. is a good semi historical western sorta thing. As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

Got by Skydive Dallas yesterday afternoon on the way home from my folks for a quick one. I didn't run into any DZ.com'ers that I know of, but had a good time anyway. Non-second jump out of a caravan .. SHORT door!! I like that place tho ... VERY wide open .. can see why it's a good place for record attempts. They've got a great facility also .. tons of packing space, a good snack bar, etc. I guarantee you would NOT mistake their otter for anyone elses ... BRIGHT yellow beast (they ferried it in right before I left). Only bad part was that I somehow broke part of the face off my digitude (explained/question in General Skydiving forum). Any of you other folks within driving distance .. I'd sure recommend a trip by there. As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

I use a digitude, and somehow managed to break a good sized chunk of the face off the cover yesterday. I didn't hit it on the door during exit or anything, because I know it was still intact during freefall. I can't SWEAR to it, but am also fairly certain it was ok after opening, because I did look at it a couple of times under canopy, and think I'd have noticed it then if it was already broken. Landing was normal .. stood it up just fine. I get my helmet off and hooked to chest strap to start daisy'ing the lines, and notice the missing chunk. It's the first time I've used it when it was really cold at altitude ... does the plastic they use on them get brittle when cold? Only thing I can think is that I may have hit it on the helmet in the process of putting the helmet on my chest strap and done it. Any ideas?? As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

Well ... can't really single out one person ... Lisa for all she's done and her canopy nazi-isms ... Clay (or should it be the sheep?) for entertainment purposes and general post whoring ... Bill, Hook, and several others for their informative posts ... Skreamer's premature exit HAS to have been the funniest jump video I saw all year ... many, many others just for being on here and making it the place it is ... I nominate everybody!!

Ok ... looks like SDD is the closest (Whitewright, right?). I have to do it friday, since I'll be heading home straight from the dz. Hope to see some of ya'll out there. I'm also tall (6'2") ... skinny ... will probably try to get there around 1. As of now, NWS is still predicting sunny .. but haven't seen a wind forecast yet - hope to see a few of ya out there! As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

Hey all ... at my folks up north of Dallas for Christmas ... brought the gear ... friday weather MAY cooperate ... anybody loose then? Also ... which of the nearby dz's would ya'll recommend trying? THANKS! (oh ... and Merry Christmas!!) As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

As is the case with most other things ... a matter of personal choice. In my case, I had a few instances of losing alti awareness, and using it as an alarm seemed to me a bad idea ... I wanted to feel comfortable with myself that I was making frequent checks of my altimeter. As stated by yourself and others ... it IS a backup .. and ONLY that. I have to admit tho, that I also see the NEED for a backup now ... a borrowed Altimaster showed me at 0 right after I opened (based on other's info, I think I was actually at about 3400) - it SAID I was at 4000' when I threw out ... but I have to wonder about that now ... LOL! It's moving to a helmet mount shortly. As for your "use your eyes" ... another thing that most of those with low numbers are likely not comfortable with ... tho I do feel like I'm getting much better at the visual judgement. As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

I saw the same post ... and tho I'm sure not the expert on that sort of thing with my low #'s, I have experienced it ... going from about 50' ground elevation in the Houston area to Lost Prairie at about 3200'. I had problems getting myself to flare early enough in spite of having been warned and making a conscious effort to do so ... the elevation definitely DOES make a difference. I felt a little better tho, after watching many much more experienced folks have the same problem (tho they DID seem to make the adjustment much quicker!). As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

sure glad it didn't turn out worse for ya, and hope you heal up enough to make those turkey jumps! I'm glad you posted this ... just shows that in spite of all the talk about downsizing cautiously and being conservative under a canopy that is new to you, even someone with several hundred jumps can forget the advice while in the throes of the joy that a new toy brings ... hopefully will save someone else doing the same or worse ... thanks! As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

BTDT ... at Lost Prairie this year ... woke up after dreaming my friend went in ... then, the next day we jumped the DC-3 ... got under canopy and couldn't find his ANYWHERE in the air ... talk about getting worried ... got to the ground and immediately scanned the sky ... BIG sigh of relief when I found his canopy. It turned out he was almost straight above me while I was making turns with my head on a swivel ... had a shorter track, and a lot less snivel than I'd had .. said he watched me wondering if I was ever gonna totally inflate ... As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

I too had concerns about becoming dependant on it while still early in my "career" .... but wanted to have it to work on fall rate (tall and skinny ... S L O W .. ) ... so carry it in my jumpsuit pocket .. logs the jumps just fine, and I still have to maintain alt. awareness .. I'm just about comfortable enough with myself maintaining awareness that I am considering moving it to my helmet soon. As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

dunno where he found it ... sent to me by a prof up there with you!! .... sorry for the repeat ... didn't see it As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

.... or is it you with a mask on? ... (I THINK I got the jpg attached ... can't really tell in the preview) As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

another "lame" ... but all I have and true ... LOL ... hadn't been in the forum since middle of last week .. no clue you were in town!

hmmm ... I'm concerned here ... what kinda psych school teaches you that sheep adoration (being nice here) is normal?? As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

no shit!!! ... at least 3 weekends in a row now .. I'm gonna try to get out mid week even if it's just a quick 182 ride up .... lloking like thursday we may actually get a break from this mess As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

don't worry about those turns ... my instructors told me that I would reach a point where I just thought about it, and I'd turn ... did so pretty quickly ... and you end up doing them with your legs/feet more than your arms/upper body .. I wasn't even aware of making the transition until someone pointed out that I was turning using my feet ... LOL. As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

that is one thing I have noticed that a lot of folks do sometimes ... and I agree ... does NOT seem like a good idea to leave leg straps loose and/or chest strap undone on the way up ... As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

what worries me here ... you haven't even reached puberty yet ... hmmm ... wonder what Clay's skybirthday is?? ... GOT to be an Aries ... As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

sure right about that ... or tomorrow either from the look of it ... Sure hope the performance went well Dave ... football team kicked BUTT today ... new offensive coordinator is sure making a difference! As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

I'm SO glad ya'll did it ... what an accomplishment! Congratulations to all you ladies on a super job!! I can't wait to see the pics ..

My guess would be that most jumpers are like me, and know little about aviation procedures/responsibilities. Until reading your post, I could not have told you if it was the pilot, or who, that is responsible for ensuring sufficient fuel for a jump flight. At the dz I go to most frequently, I have observed several different (non pilots) fueling the plane between flights. Jumpers DO have some knowledge about canopy flight, so can feel like they have something to say .. most likely know little about the airplanes, so are silent .. ?? I agree that training would be the correct response, and I think this discussion has brought up some great possibilities. If you or anyone else wants to organize a program, I'll sure lobby my dzo to get his pilots involved. As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

I agree with Bill that the different programs meet the different needs. I would probably never have started if I had to do tandems or static lines. I wanted the freefall, and I wanted my own rig ... so AFF was the way for me to go. I DO agree that it may be too much for some people, but I really feel like if you aren't fairly on the ball, you might should consider something else as a sport anyway. As to SkyDiveMonkey's comment ... I have seen that also, but I think that depends on the AFF program. I had to do at least one hop-n-pop prior to "graduation" .. and admittedly, it was scary for me since I was accustomed to much more altitude. I have also seen the reverse of that ... static line students who are unsure about going to full altitude and having HOW MUCH freefall time?? BUT .. part of the draw of this sport IS the fear factor, right? It's all relative to experience, for sure. Last year at Lost Prairie there were two 500 or so jump people who had never jumped a Cessna, so they sent one up ... I got on the load and had a good laugh as they tried to climb out ... first one sticks a foot out the door reaching for the step, and it immediately blows into the doorframe ... BIG eyes!! They ended up taking nearly a minute to climb out and exit, resulting in a landing well down the valley from the dz. I waited in the plane for the go-around ... LOL. As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?