CanuckInUSA

So war is better than dialog and diplomacy? What's wrong with such a debate? What would it hurt? Iran is not innocent, but maybe it's time that the American public wake up and realize that Prez Bush is a very dangerous person. The world is a whole lot more dangerous ever since that idiot took office. But it's all good. America is in control of Iraq's oil and Iran's is next right? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Yes I'm thinking about BASE. I'm thinking about the 8-9 people who've died since the beginning of this year for a variety of reasons. BASE can be fun when everything goes right. But it sure isn't safe and it can be as dangerous as you want to make it. Do yourself a favor and build more time under a skydiving canopy before you try your first BASE jumps. To some this is a game. But it really shouldn't be. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I've had 3 mals in 1500+ jumps and I jump very high performance canopies. So I'm looking at one every 500+ jumps. Not too bad. Oh I do touch my handles and practice my EPs multiple times before each jump. You just never know when that bitch (the canopy) is going to try and kill you. Body position is the biggest factor at pull time. But never forget, it's a parachute, it wants to open. It just may not open on heading and it may open in line twists. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I wasn't allowed to carry my skydiving rig on board with me when I travelled from Vancouver BC to Denver CO recently. But I was allowed to carry it on with me on the return trip. In otherwords, there is a good chance the Canadian authorities will NOT let you carry it on board with you. But you'll never know if you don't try. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

This is what happened to some of us last weekend in CO during the last distance round of the CPC Championships. Load #1 had downwind conditions, then the winds did a complete 180 and Load #2 was swooping into a strongish headwind. Then they shifted again this time to a crosswind for Load #3 and all this wind shifting cost Tom Dellibac 1st place (he was on Load #2). But what can you do? It wan't the organizers who were messing with the weather. It was that bi-otch Mother Nature who was messing with us. By the way ... congrats to John Zuliani. He was fast last weekend in CO and he obviously didn't lose any speed this weekend in Europe. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Dude, that is soooo yesterday......make it challenging already. Throws a wingover, cowboy, lazyboy, ghostrider into the swoop as they land in the peas. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

If altitude and a decent landing area would permit it, I would consider it as my main and reserve canopies are often not compatible. But it's easy to say "what if" down here where it's safe. The question is would you do it in the heat of the moment? Then again my main and reserve are likely to go into a downplane no matter what. So I better be ready to chop it. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

If the purpose of your survey is to ultimately enforce bans on certain types of gear like the use of cross-braced canopies and/or using an RDS, banning things like swooping or forcing everyone to use an AAD on all jumps, then expect no help from people like myself. I don't need some statistical dweeb telling me what I can and can't do up there in the skies. The rules that were paved in blood need to be followed and respected. But to force people to change their ways because of a stastical survey is just plain crap. Expect no help from this camper if/when you go on your crusade to force the sport to adhere to your ideals. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I buy the best reserve on the market right now and trust that it won't blow up on me. If seas part and it does blow up on me, then I'll dump my main as I get close to the ground, get ready to PLF and hope for the best. We jump because it's fun and we can. Sometimes it's worth the risk. But I trust that my PD143R isn't going to blow up on me. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

That was a cool vid. I like our version of pond swooping better. But those pilots are pretty bad ass for being able to drag a toe. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

D'oh!!! That could be a problem. But back on topic, swooping baby ... swooping. It has a chance. I'll likely be retired from competitive swooping by the time it does happen, but there is hope. Swooping is growing in Europe and South America, South Africa and in time the far east. As soon as it becomes more of just an American thing, swooping has a chance at the Olympics. Also, remember the World Swooping Meet is going down right about now. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I didn't have as much luck when my end-cell snagged the 10' entry flags on this practice run. Of course this chow was all my fault as not only did I enter the speed carving course too close to the inside gates, I was also practicing making 5 footers on a 10 foot course. For a split second after I entered the course I thought I got away with it, but before I could think too much I was chowing hard into the pond. If I may add to the excellent advice that both Tonto and Ian have given Peej about learning to run gates, I would also like to add that it's best to learn this ever so not so easy skill of running gates in practice first before you attempt to run gates in the high stress realm of competition. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Okay maybe I was thinking more like 2 1/2 hours to Ogden not Salt Lake. My bad. Tack on an extra 30-45 minutes to Salt Lake City. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

When? Saturday night or something? What time? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You have a car? It should only take you about 10-12 hours to get from Vancouver to Twin. Then only another 2 1/2 hours from Twin to Salt Lake. Of course do you want to get to Denver the fastest from Twin or do you want to take the scenic route? If you want to take the fastest route, then turn east after Ogden Utah on the interstate towards Cheyenne WY and travel through Wyoming all the way to Cheyenne before turning south towards Denver (this is the way we travelled to and from Denver and Twin Falls). But the scenic route is through I-70 and the mountains (don't forget to stop at Moab). But this route will take about 3-4 hours longer than the northern route. PS: I guess your move is just around the corner. We should get a few people together before you leave. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

you can count jess from the southeast to. she rocks!

My AAD is turned off when I do hop n' pops but is turned on when I jump with others. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

All too often it appears that man-made religions only exist in order to control the masses and this incident is a perfect example of this. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

He was swooping way too fast for me to see the Maple Leaf on his pants. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

It's nice to know that someone with 8 jumps has everything you need to know about this sport already figured out. I'd bet you think you're a natural up there right? That they do and you know the saying? "Stay in this sport long enough and you too will know somebody who's died and/or it may just be you". Has it ever occurred to you that the reason this forum exists is to learn from the mistakes of others. Plus with your attitude, it sure sounds like you're on the fast track to becoming one of these incidents. Hey I've got a JVX 96 for sale. You interested in it? Yes anyone of us can be next. But hopefully we learn from the mistakes of others to prevent us from becoming the next incident. It's not the number of breathes we take in life which counts. It's the number of times our life takes our breath away. But to die because we did something stupid by not learning from the mistakes of others hurts the image of the whole sport. If you continue to think that we are retards in this sport, might I suggest you take up another sport (like racing crotch rockets on busy highways) because we don't want careless people up there in the skies with us. PS: to all the others reading this, my comments about being stupid and dying are not directly related to the deceased in this incident. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Canada did very well this last weekend. There were 5 of us in the field of 30 total competitors with ties to Canada (only two of us live up in the Great White North though) and Canada now has 5 new pros on the tour for next season. 3 Canucks in the top 6. 4 out of the top 10 were Canadians and all 5 Canucks placed in the top 15. Now I didn't know that John Zuliani was a Canuck until after the comp was over, but Brent Henderson who lives in Ontario flew very very well and of course Keith McBeth and Greg Chopiuk have ties to the Great White North. PS: Some of us need to talk to immigration lawyers now. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

The canopy will stall at a higher air speed if you remain on your rears. Whatever happened to Aerodynamics 101? This is basic stuff. Any wing can stall at any airspeed and at any attitude. Staying on one's rears the entire swoop (obviously something which is doable) will not make you go further. But you will stall at a higher airspeed. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Here are a few pics from the event. courtesy of Chris Bazil. Yes that's me chowing in practice. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I never got to see Tom because he was always exiting on a seperate pass before me all comp long. But I was told that he was ripping it up (and let's not forget the cruel trick Mother Nature played on Tom's last distance run). But I did get to see the speed that John can generate and the precision of how JR and Keith Macbeth also flew. The talent this year was outstanding. The best of the best of the new pros are going to give the old timer PSTer a run for their money next season. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Only two more days ... and not a peep from anyone around here ... especially Denise who seems to have gone AWOL from these forums. Well I'll be getting on a commercial airliner very very soon and as long as the airlines don't #### up with delayed/cancelled flights, I will be in CO very early tomorrow morning for a day of practice before the big comp. See you all very very soon ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over