Skydiving in Canada

[FFlyer 0]

Hey there,

What does a typical year of skydiving look like in Canada specifically around weather and seasons. What months generally have active jumping, when do things quieten down, and when is there no jumping at all due to the weather?

How long is the off season and what do skydivers generally do to get their fix and to stay current? I see there is a tunnel being built in Montreal so I presume when that's built it will be quite popular in the winter months.

Are there any dropzones which have good enough weather and are close enough to travel to during the off season?

Im specifically looking at the Toronto area and skydive Burnaby, but id like to get an idea of how skydiving in general works of the coarse of a year in Canada.

Thanks

[Remster 30]

There's great skydiving to be had in winter in Canada: at zhill, eloy, etc...

Seriously, it pretty much shuts down in the winter months. The season typically starts in May and ends in October. You may get an extra month or so depending on the weather, but thats about it.

Remster

[pchapman 279]

It's hard to provide a quick answer to what the season is.

It depends a lot on the jumper.

Some people like to come out on winter days and swoop the snow; others don't even think about a reserve repack until the first warm May weekend. It depends on whether one is in the mood to hang out with friends and stick around even if it is just for a couple Cessna hop and pops while all bundled up, or whether one doesn't want to waste time at the DZ unless one can easily bang off a bunch of training jumps from a turbine at 13.5...

Some places in Ontario stay open over the winter, but the turbine aircraft are usually only around early May through late October. I remember great days of skydiving in any month, but there is a lot of variation from year to year in the off-season months.

[FFlyer 0]

Ok thanks.

So there's pretty much 6 months of skydiving. Then if you want anything more than a few hop n pops, it will mean taking some time off work and off on a holiday to Eloy, zhills etc. Or the new tunnel when it's built I presume.

[RMURRAY 1]

if you want to jump in winter we are open at PST Baldwin (just north of Toronto, as you will remember). U206 all year, Grand Caravan May 1 to Oct 31.

R

[FFlyer 0]

What are the currency requirements then? If most people dont jump for 6 months of the year?

[pchapman 279]

Currency limits?

Not a big deal. Everyone is used to the idea of not jumping for a while, taking it a little easy at season's start, and using personal judgment as for any jump.

DZ's sometimes do have spring safety days like in the US, and currency does get talked about then.

I can't seem to see any formal currency rules in the CSPA regs, except for students.

Besides, if you are going to hook it low and skip off the ground at any time during the season, it is best to do it early and get it done with while the snow is deep. Worked for me this year...