Ed says "You walked away. Good Job. But.."

[Michele 1]

Getting back into the flow, after being on the ground with one exception for the last 7 months. I know I am not current, despite getting recurrent last month - I am not in practice...I feel rusty, creaky, and not exactly "ready" for this; nervous, and scared. I practice my touches, deal with the fear, manifest, and climb on board. Knees-in-the-breeze kind of jump, simple: out the door, stable, prct's, hold headings, 360's, nothing adventurous. Simple. Easy. It's time to Skydive!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's a load of students, two groups, and three solos - me and two others. We figure out how we are exiting, and that means I sit across from the door. For some reason, when the door opens during the climb (which usually scares me), I peek out and admire the desert floor. Beautiful spring day, blue upon blue skies, and I am not at all freaked by the door being open in front of me. Hey, not bad, I think, and I start to relax. I remember this, and it is wonderful.....
We get to altitude. Goggles on, helmet on, I am getting anxious - not scared, not fearful - but I want to get into the air; I want to fly through the sky, and play - I want to skydive.....and now, the first group - out. Group #2, out...first solo, bye bye....and now, me - - 45 degrees, o.k., one, two, three...out...reach, stretch, tumble, laugh, arch.....
And here I am, in the morning of the day, DZ below me, big circle; the sky is gentle, easy, kind. I track a bit, but can't remember which way the dz rules say I am supposed to go, so I stop...I go 360 one way, 360 the other way, hold the heading, just playing in the sky, dancing in the sun, flying - soaring like a bird through the warm spring day over the desert floor - and remember why I love this. I look down, and the thought flashing through my mind: this shit'll kill me, I am going really fast...which startles me, because I have never had that during flight ever...so I turn that thought off really fast...but now, I am a bit scared.
5K, find the Sleeping Indian...4.5, and time to to pull, check airspace, all clear, reach with my left arm to the Sleeping Indian, right hand back, tug, ugh, nothing, hand off, replace hand, grasp firmly, and puuuuullll....and bang, pilot chute away, upright, and I get my head back to watch the canopy. I see it, it's blooming above me in a pretty green and purple...line twists...maybe 6, slider tangled, all the way to my risers, but not including them. I am not spinning, my body is still facing the Sleeping Indian mountain, so I haven't lost heading. Spin, shape, float, well the shape's a little weird, more like a hard arch rather than flat-ish, but that's because of the line twists, pulling the corners down, end cells not open yet...I know what to do. I've had line twists before, although not this bad. Yeah, no issue...
I reach up, grab the risers, and press outwards. Press harder. Kick like a bicycle. Nothing. WTF? O.K., again. And again, nothing. Grab the risers, and pull...kicking all the while...nothing. Hey, what is with this - Nothing? Not even a little? Not a damned thing...and the thought crosses my mind: time to cut away? Nah, these are stupid line twists...I can handle these. I look really closely, looking for knots, looking for something which is preventing these things from untwisting....nothing I can see. Just twists, nasty, but twists. OK. If I had to land this canopy like this, I could. No steering, no flaring, but I could do this, if I had to. You cut from line twists in, say, a Stilleto 97, but not in a Spectre 230 loaded wayyyyyyyy under 1:1.....
Back to the fight, squirming and twisting in the harness like a snake on a hot concrete street, pulling and pulling and pulling....and nothing. More. Cramp in my back. Brief rest. And then more. God damn it...I am very angry at the canopy and a little scared now. Still more...fuck off, canopy, I am gonna win this...there, a little give, a little movement...and there I go, untwisting, flopping like a rag dool, a little dizzy, but now the canopy opens fully, no more end cell closure, good shape, still floating. Handle the slider. Pop the toggles, surge forward. This feels right. Relief pours through my body, making me shake a little. Thank God...the ground looks close, though. Check my altimeter....
1400.
1400.
1400.
WTF? No way. But I have a job to do. Check canopy control, right left flare, look aghast at my altimeter. 1200 now. O.K., time to set up for landing. Big circle, find the spot, remember Captain Stratton's caution that it will be fast, there are no ground winds...so I get ready to PLF, because my legs are still shaking a bit, and here comes the ground, fast like he said......touch down, roll, and back to my feet.
Off the field. Canopy to the packer, and asked her to check it out. She says it's all good, lines are even, everything is fine. Must've been my body position...but I was rock steady - that's why I use the Sleeping Indian; to check position and to gauge what's going on when I deploy. No matter. Shit happens.
I need to work this through, so I go and talk to Ed. I tell him what happens, and he said "You walked away. Good job. But you made some serious mistakes". He points out that line twists are serious when they are like what I had. He points out that my decision that I could land that canopy in the condition it was in was flat wrong - I could have drifted onto the freeway, into the power lines, and whatever else the wind (what little was there) decided to put into my path...I fully understood that I had royally screwed that decision up. I hadn't thought about it, hadn't considered the potential problems of that decision. I made the wrong choice.
Ed, knowing me well, asked me what altitude had I made the decision to not cut away...and I told him I didn't know - I hadn't looked at my alti until I had a good canopy...at 1400...
"That was your biggest mistake" Ed, says..."what's your decision altitude?"
"2500" says me.
"So you blew through your decision altitude - by 1100 feet - fighting a problem that finally cleared, but that may not have cleared, right?"
"Yup" (me knows I am getting chewed, and me knows I deserve it).
And then he points out something I didn't realize: the shape of the 230, bent down at the ends as bad as it was, was similar to a flare/stall...and that I was likely dropping a lot faster than what I was used to - more like being under a much smaller canopy than the 230....
Ed, being Ed, hugged me and says - I'll bet you never do that again. At your level, if the thought crosses your mind that you need to cut, don't hesitate. Just do it. Don't fight it that long and that far. And never forget to use your alti.
And he was totally, undeniably right. 1100 feet under my decision altitude, I look at my altimeter. Fuck me, that was close to fatally stupid. To be honest, at the rate I was going, and because I decided to fight the problem, and because I had made the decision (wrong) to land that canopy, I likely would not have cut away, and been in a really bad situation, has it not cleared...and now, I am scared, really scared. I walk away, wondering if I am just too stupid for this, and should I take up bowling...
Winds get really freaky, and keep a tandem up for 30 minutes or so, making the passenger vomiting sick. They get caught on the top of a nasty dust devil and gain altitude... which is a really unnerving sight, to see a canopy rise rather then desend...and then, at about 250 feet, the canopy inverts and collapses....Kai, the tandem master, yanks the toggles down, and the canopy re-inflates...and they land well, and everyone came down without injury...but I thought I was watching two people die.
The dust devils are flying, the wind is huge and nasty suddenly, and students are put on hold. I still follow the student rules: if they are on hold, so'm I....and then, by the time the hold is lifted, I have decided I am not jumping again today. If my head is so far up my ass that I didn't look at the altimeter during my canopy ride, I need to stay down and rethink this. I talk to Vinnie (another JM) about this, and he agrees - if I don't feel like jumping, don't jump. I can jump another day.
I spend the rest of the evening with Team Symmetry (Lt. Diver, Albatross, and Capt Stratton and the others), just hanging out, watching their tapes, getting hugs and reassurance from good friends. And they are truly good friends.
And so I will jump another day. I hurt today, my body is sore and achy, I can't lift my arms, my back cramped badly last night, but it could have been far far worse. I can jump another day.
Yeah, the learning curve spike....
Ciels and Pinks-
Michele
If you really want to, you can seize the day; if you really want to, you can fly away...
~enya~

[ChromeBoy 0]

That same thing happened to me on my cutaway. However, I could not get the twists out by 2k and I was going into a cloud so I chopped. Some people thought I was crazy for chopping it. The instructors said it was the right decision though. I knew I wasn't going to land that twisted mess.

[Viking 0]

Glad your still alive girl. I think i will start opening facing a certain object to see how much i turn in deployment.
I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver

[gale 0]

I'm really glad you're OK. Sounds like you really learned something, and by sharing it with all of us you've given us a reminder that it's easy to forget some of the most important things we've learned, like altitude awareness and decision altitude. I hope your next dive goes well, and yes, like was said "I bet you'll never do that again".
Gale
Life's not worth living if you can't feel alive

[Sebazz1 2]

Michele if you learned and walked away it's all good. Don't beat your self up. Also I recommend getting back up in the sky ASAP...... Chin up! Go back and kick some ass.......
SEBAZZ.......

[KATO33 0]

Same thing happened to me 5 or 6 line twist up to the slider it took me about 3 seconds to
decide Keep fuc**** with me and I'll chop your safire 189 ass so fast Icarus wouldn't
recognize you.

[FallinWoman 1]

Michele,
As usual, thank you for sharing your story...
First, Don't beat yourself up too much. You will never make that mistake again, you can be sure. scary way to learn lesson, but a powerful one.
Second, I have a confession to make. I made the EXACT same mistake. Only I had over 100 jumps and was very current. I had line twists, checked my altitude, then fought them fought them.....The next time i checked my alti I was under a fully open canopy right at 1000ft. Bad.
One of the JMs, who does not give unsolicited advice, came over and "chewed" me out. He was quite gentle and nice about it, but the message was clear...I had f****d up.
Lesson learned, though...I check my alti constantly now.
You will soar again, and soar safely.
Blue skies,
Anne

[Billy 0]

Hay Michele,,
Thanks for sharing so we all learn an really glad your ok,, enough said,, how's your eye anyway?? Did I miss something there? I had an opening weekend before last,, opening was a diveing right turn before the canopy straightened out and flew straight,, had a couple line twists,, but the momentum kept my body spining,, I put my feet out in front ta slow an stop the spin and had like 6 twists,, was able ta start the spin the other way an lowered my feet ta help,, then raised them ta slow my spin now going the other way,, ya know like an ice skater slowing and speading up there spin,, just thought I'd share that so when it happens again ya maybe have a lil more control with that aspect of it,,, Hugs Sweety!!
Now like ya been told already,, get your ass back up there!!
Don't read this,,,

[Michele 1]

Viking said:

Quote

I think i will start opening facing a certain object to see how much i turn in deployment.

Hey, Arthur. I figured that would be a good way to judge any radical deployment wiggles, and so far, it hasn't shown any (and I have never had line twists like that). Although I am not sure about the more minor things, like a dropped shoulder or knee, though. Someone said that I should have been spinning like a helicopter to have that bad of line twists, but I dunno. And not knowing still bothers me.
Billy said:

Quote

how's your eye anyway?? Did I miss something there?

nope, just skipping out on the Dr. and trying to play in the sky.
You know, Billy, you hit on something important. And this may be what's still getting at me. I did everything I was taught -outward pressure on the risers, bicycle kicking, and nothing would budge the twists until the end. I only know one way to handle them, and I think what else is getting to me is that specifically - I didn't know another way to untwist once it wasn't working like I expected, and that I kept trying the same thing, even when I knew it wasn't working.
I am glad to hear that others have cut away from line twists who weren't in a tiny main, and especially glad to hear that Anne also had the same experience...makes me feel less stupid and fit only for bowling.
Hopefully, I will be going out again soon - depends on my schedule, though. Should be before I have to get the operation, at least.
And yes, the sooner the better. I agree.
Thanks for the support, you guys - I am still an "airweenie", and got myself really good and scared yesterday. I am still scared, you know? Sigh. So what else is new?
Altitude awareness...man, that was something I never thought I'd have to deal with, because I am so altitude aware during freefall - fixated, even. I just got caught up fighting the problem that I didn't play it safe - and didn't even know it.
Ciels and pinks-
Michele
If you really want to, you can seize the day; if you really want to, you can fly away...
~enya~

[AndyMan 7]

Quote

You know, Billy, you hit on something important. And this may be what's still getting at me. I did everything I was taught -outward pressure on the risers, bicycle kicking, and nothing would budge the twists until the end. I only know one way to handle them, and I think what else is getting to me is that specifically - I didn't know another way to untwist once it wasn't working like I expected, and that I kept trying the same thing, even when I knew it wasn't working.

Michelle, of course you now know two ways to handle line twists. Your second option is to cut it away. Seems obvious now, don't it? Many, many, many canopies get chopped because of line twists. This is especially true when the twists are caused by one toggle being popped, once the lines twist up you can't correct the imbalance in the canopy, now only will it not untwist, but it will actually wind up on you. You know this. It's more common on high performance canopies.
My only comment is that you said you were kicking like you were riding a bicycle. The idea of kicking out of them is to swing your body around in a circle so that they'll unwind. I've found kicking like pedaling a bicycle won't do this much, but swinging my legs in a circle underneath me does. The idea is to try to build up momentum in your body. Try dancing "the twist".
I was in a similar position once, except I was in heavy line twists directly over the Fox River that runs besides Skydive Chicago. Like you, I chose to kick out of the twists. Like you, my canopy opened full around 1400 feet. The only difference is that my personal decision point IS 1400 feet, because I'm an advanced jumper. I was prepared to cuttaway, in fact I had my hands on my handles when it finally started to unwind. Suffice it to say that I was seriously not looking forward to cutting away my beautiful canopy and watching it float over the dam and into the rapids that make up the Fox River! Surprisingly, I not only cleared the trees at the edge of the river, but actually made the edge of the landing area. Here's a picture.
I can guarantee in your skydiving career you will have many more line twists. I don't mean to scare you, I just want you to understand that these are relatively common causes of malfunctions, and they will happen again. But, like you found out today, they're relatively slow speed malfunctions, and relatively easy to deal with. Either kick out, or chop-chop-chop. The only lesson you learned today is to keep aware of your altitude, and respect your minumum cuttaway altitude.
ICQ: 5578907
MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com
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[ltdiver 3]

Michele,
Thanks for repeating here for others to learn and share with you their experiences. Yes, a large, lightly loaded canopy can have line twist right out of the bag. My first cutaway was on a PD170 (loaded at .94:1) that had line twists from risers to canopy, pinching off the right 3 cells. I chopped. Think that was jump #65.
And girlfriend...you can come and hang out with the team anytime! Glad to have you sharing and caring the way only -you- can do. You're an asset to this sport and have many friends here. Bowling be damned!
ltdiver
____________________________________________
LightDiverCam

[crazymel 0]

Michelle, thank you for sharing that. As a newbie myself, it reminded me how important it is to follow the procedures that was drilled into me during AFF. As I was reading your story, I could see myself doing the exact same thing. I dumped once while I was on my back (during a bad tumble and all logic left my mind) and besides for bruises all over my body, I also had bad line twist, but I managed to get out of them pretty quickly. But sometimes (like while reading your story) I wonder whether I would have chopped after that bad tumble. I guess I'll never know, but I do know that the more I reinforce the cutaway situations/decisions etc. in my mind, the more likely I am to do the right thing when it happens. As for altitude awareness during freefall....hehehe....did I ever tell you guys about the time when my instructor kissed me? So, there I was - did all my "stunts" to pass level four and had some alti left - next thing my instructor kiss me and I was like dumbstruct for a few seconds, then started to giggle, and then I see this huge grin on my instructor's face and him giving me the "alti" sign!!! And it freaked me out, because I was almost on pull altitude and the word "altitude" didn't even enter my mind at that moment!!! That scared the crap out of me, because I realized how quickly one could get distracted and loose alti-awareness. But so we learn!!!!

Life is for the LIVING!!!!!

[Billy 0]

"My only comment is that you said you were kicking like you were riding a bicycle. The idea of kicking out of them is to swing your body around in a circle so that they'll unwind. I've found kicking like pedaling a bicycle won't do this much, but swinging my legs in a circle underneath me does. "
AndyMan,, good point,, funny how some of that shit ya aren't aware of when doing it,, but you are right on,, pedaling doesn't do squat,, it's the out an around motion that gets ya turning along with the pulling on the risers,, my point I guess is that when ya have that many twists ya get close to the end an,, well I knew I had ta slow the spin down or I'd wrap it up the other way,, the feet out in front helped with that,, the whole thing took maybe 15 secs, I knew I opened at 3,500,, but like Michele I never looked at my altimeter,, during any of that,, so take it with a grain of salt,, it was with a sigh of relief I got the twists out and with 20 mph winds knew I had ta set up for the landing asap,,
Hay you all rock,, Thanks
and now,, for something completely different,,,

[cptnstratn 0]

Hey Girl!! It was really good to see you on Sunday. I enjoyed hanging out with you at the end of the day. The best lessons are the ones that slap us around and step on our toes. Remember it's all part of the learning process. I know that you'll be aware of your altitude from now on. Lesson learned. Now, don't be too hard on yourself any more. Knowing you, you've beat yourself up enough already. Stop it, and start looking towards your next jump. You do know what you're doing, and you're doing fine with the whole sport. All of us, at one time or another have made a mistake that made us say, "What an idiot I am!" It happens. If you didn't see anything wrong with it, and didn't think about it afterwards, I'd be worrying. But that wouldn't be the Michele I know. Keep us posted on the surgery, also.
Steve

[rogue108 0]

Don't let it get you down and get back in the air as soon as you can. We all make bad decisions, but ones that you can walk away from are ones can learn from. From now on you will be more altitude aware and know a situation you will probably want to cutaway from. Chalk it up as a good experience and enjoy some more jumps.