One Feb 11th, 2011, I flew from Denver to Austin to attend the Skydive San Marcos (SSM) Speed Star Scramble. Upon my arrival to the Drop Zone, a staff member, Stacy Velasquez, immediately greeted me with a smile and above average professional demeanor. The staff and fellow jumpers made me feel welcome. As a new jumper to SSM, there was an immediate friendly vibe about the organization; I was ready to jump. Another staff member, Kailea Schirmer, arrived to the reception area give me a thorough and knowledgeable tour of the facility. The tour of the facility revealed an awesome reception area for jumpers to manifest and get questions answered, a large foyer for jumpers and spectators to mingle, and a café with pretty darn good food. Adjacent to the foyer was the Rental Rig (with a big selection) and Tandem prep room. Beyond the prep room, was another staff area where packers were busy repacking Rental and Tandem Rigs. Across for the main area was the Instructor and Staff area. An Instructor and Student were planning the next Accelerated Freefall Level. As I watched this, the Instructor was very attentive to the needs of the student to allow the student to gain the most amount of experience from the skydive. Through a covered corridor, where at least 5 people said ‘hello’, was the USPA lounge for Licensed Skydivers to come together and talk, hang out, plan, or review a last jump on SSM’s big screen TV. Beyond the lounge is a pool; yes, a pool for cooling off from the Texas heat. Adjacent to the pool was the packing area. The packing area is a covered building with plenty of room for jumpers to pack and hang out as well as for teams or ad hoc groups can plan dives. The landing area was as familiar from the air as it was on the ground. Past the white fence, is a shaded area for jumpers to congregate prior to getting on a lift and for spectators to view what’s happening in the air without the sun in their eyes. The loading area allowed for waiting jumpers to dirt dive next to the loading area with SSM’s two mockup’s. As I waited on the aircraft, I met Henry Prewitt, aka “Hank” who provided me with more information on the Drop Zone such as Landing Pattern, Direction of Flight, and other information about SSM that makes it an awesome Drop Zone. Saturday (Feb 12th) – I arrived to find event organizers, Christie Staffa and Jerilyn Cordova, making easy work of organizing the teams for the Scramble. Jumpers came from Houston, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Baytown, and (of course) Denver. There were quick turns of aircraft and non-muffled manifest calls that kept the Speed Star Scramble going as well as getting fun jumpers, tandems, and students up in the air. The day ended with an awards ceremony, Chili dinner by Doc D, and stories from the Speed Star Participants. Skydive San Marcos is a top notch organization that made my trip worth the travel. I had an incredible amount of fun, certainly learned a lot, and left feeling like I was part of the family. Blue Skies
