CanuckInUSA

Ultimately it comes down to personal choice. One ultimately must choose one's own risk tolerance based on your realistic experience and skill level. But education is the key. Why do this sport by trial and error? It's too dangerous to risk making stupid mistakes that can be avoided through education. Knowing what you are doing up there, being a pro-active skydiver and not just letting shit happen by chance. Over confidence is bad, but confidence is good in this sport. And confidence comes from knowing what you're doing because you haven't done this sport by trial and error. You've listened to the people who know more that you do. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I hope to jump there with you guys one day soon. I've seen some of your video and it's a nice location. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

A while ago I learned to stay away from the tandems. Not long ago after a high altitude hop n' pop, I was setup over our swoop course and a tandem was directly below me over the entry gates. I aborted the swoop of course and wasn't happy at the lost opportunity (people shouldn't be over flying the swoop course). But in that time I learned that I wasn't innocent on this lost swoop. It was my fault for not timing my entry into the pattern so as to ensure myself and tandems are not in the same sky low to the ground at the same time. One skill people need to learn especially when they are jumping at large turbine aircraft DZs is to look at who is getting on the airplane, what sort of jump are they doing, what sort of canopy do they fly and what kind of landing will they make. Sometimes it makes sense (for those of us jumping high performance canopies doing high performance flight) to be the first one down. Sometimes is makes sense to try and hang in brakes. And sometimes it makes sense to find your window somewhere in the middle. Being a proactive canopy pilot is the name of the game. Don't just let things happen up there. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Yes so guys like me (so called experienced fun jumpers) do need to give the tandem the right of way. But Superman0710 did the right thing at his entry level experience level not doing a panic low turn all because the tandem was above him. I'm glad you didn't pound Superman0710. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Not that it's all that important, but I just realized that my 900th jump when I jump my Velo for the first time was actually my 835th skydive. I just added my 65 BASE jumps to make 900 (I've done 135 or so jumps on my Velo already). My brain wasn't working all that well last night. But in the big picture it just doesn't matter. It's just a jump that I survived and had fun on. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I had over 700 skydives before I made my first BASE jumps at the span in Potatoville last year. Of course I didn't get into skydiving to start BASE jumping. BASE jumping just found me along the way. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I have no desire to see someone bounce. I'm sure sooner or later I will see it. But I don't wish for it. I already know the risks. I don't need to see someone bounce to feel more noble. I almost watched a friend go in on a BASE jump last November. Plus I worked as a ski patroller for four years in the early 90s. Seeing a close call or someone messed up is not a pretty sight. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'm no mentor. I'm still a student of BASE jumping myself (albeit someone who's now cleared to jump solo). But I'm still a lowly "ASE"er with no cool BASE # to flaunt and I've only hucked myself off of 8 different objects so far. Not even close to BASE jumping mentor status. I just happened to meet the author of this article at last year's Turkey boogie in Moab and he called me up last week to ask some questions. Plus I did stress to him that he needed to talk to other more knowledgeable people about the subject (which he obviously did talking to Jimmy). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Cool I'm glad he didn't misquote me too much. I was a little worried when he first started talking to me at the Moab Turkey boogie about this topic. He did get one thing wrong though. I've been jumping almost three years, but only BASE jumping for a year now. But the whuffos don't know that. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I love it. You say "No swooping for me EVER!" and then turn around and say "and perhaps someday in the very distant future work on high performance landings". Never say never in this sport. There are so many cool disciplines. But the successful canopy ride is the only mandatory requirement if we want to keep jumping and make that next load together. You know I wasn't supposed to be a swooper and now I am. Where did I go wrong? Be smart. Seek canopy training. Learn how a wing flies. To me a panic low turn is just as bad as a bad hook turn. There are still a lot of people who weren't hook turning when they messed themselves up. They just didn't know how to fly their canopy. I see you're in NM. Come up and visit us here in Colorado. We have a canopy control school now where we teach you basic skills that could save your life if you find yourself in bad situations. Plus it will give you confidence because you will have an idea as to what you are doing up there. We've got an Otter for the summer, King Air and Cessna 206. Plus there's a boogie in June. The atmosphere here has been getting better. I've made the drive to Belan. It's a little over six hours. I jumped my first rig, doing my own first unsupervised pack jobs at my first boogie when I visited Skydive New Mexico in the fall of 2002. I had a good time and met some good people. Anyway I digress. If you've got the time and money you should come visit us here in CO. Get some canopy training and jump some turbine aircraft. Back on topic ... High Performance canopy flight is an incredible way to expand your canopy control horizons. But it requires hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of jumps on lighter loaded canopies before one gets down to high wings loadings. Knowing when to get off of the risers is just as important as being able to setup your hook. And this is only built through experience. Some people are better than others. But there are no short cuts. It still requires hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of ... well you get the picture. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

We jump from 12500. 14000 would put us into class "A" airspace. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

The DZO should ground him. I would like to add a disclaimer to what I said earlier about me start double fronts at 75ish jumps. First off I was on a large docile 7 cell. Secondly I wasn't trying to generate speed for a swoop. I used the double fronts between 200 and likely 50ish feet AGL in as I said the bizarro way to not over shoot my targets (I guess I could have used a little canopy coaching back then as there are other ways to not over shoot targets). It was just that over time I got used to this technique, got used to some speed and it set me on the unplanned road towards swooping. LearnTOfly is on the bounce list if he continues this foolishness of trying to be a swooper with 35 jumps. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

My 100th was a biggish event ... blah blah blah ... My 200th was a fun 2-way freefly (Dave B), but not special. My 300th was a fun 2-way freefly (Someonesneaky), but not special. My 400th was ... I can't remember. My 500th was anticlimatic thanks to my 1st reserve ride on jump 498 trying to do 500 on the sunset load. My 600th was a fun 2-way freefly (Matt H). My 700th was a fun 3-way freefly (Jim H/John H) My 800th was likely a hop n' pop. My 900th was the 1st jump under a cross-braced canopy. My 1000th is likely to happen not this week, but next week. It may even happen on a Wednesday/Thursday training jump. So it may not be "the big hype" jump. Oh but don't forget to celibrate your 666th Devil jump. I took a wingsuit out of a hot air balloon at 5400 feet and pulled at 2500 feet and got a 30 second delay above Longmont CO. To date it is the most incredible jump I've made in my life (not even my Moab BASE jumps were as good). So do something devilish for your 666th. Got to go, I'm late late for volleyball making this post, but I'm still writi........ Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You're a pilot. That's cool. You know about flight and how a wing flies (so we can skip that speech). You also know about weather, density altitude and how it effects a wing. I too was a pilot before I started skydiving and I believe it gave me an edge over the non-pilot. I started doing double fronts on a Triathlon 220 somewhere in the 75 jump range (mainly as a bizarro way to compensate for not over shooting my targets) and progressed from there. But the stuff you're talking about at your jump experience is ... well ... voodoo ... just don't fuck up. Also seek qualified canopy control training ASAP if you're not doing that already. Otherwise we're going to have to put you on the bounce list for this summer. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Wow ... can I use that to describe myself? I couldn't have said it better to describe how I currently feel about the sport. I would like to add that I do actively jump different canopies other than my cross-braced swoop machine. I like all aspects of canopy flight. There's a cool BASE jump in Moab which is 400 feet to impact but a 1000 foot canopy ride to the landing area. It's a choice location and a super fun canopy ride. Just don't mess up because the site is remote. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I am happy to report that after a long 6 month Ground Launching lay off, I'm back. Myself and five other friends ventured into the hills today and we found a short Level I slope to launch from. It's nothing more than a intro to GL training hill, but we still got to launch and we launched many times. One of our guys did suffer an ankle sprain (LOL ... after he told me he knew what he was doing and that he'd be fine when I commented on his running shoes). But fortunately it's not a serious injury and he did get some nice launches in before he twisted his ankle (so he knows the joys and thrills of the sport ... oh and I think now he realizes it's dangers as well). The jury is still out on the performance of my Samurai 136. It didn't perform as well as my Spectre 150 did when I was at the GLC Camp #1. But the brake settings are way way too long as it was hard to get much lift at times. But I'm not going to give up on the Sam until I get the brakes adjusted and get more launches in on it. Also a couple of times I popped up high enough to go to my rears but the canopy was kind of ground hungry. It's possible that the slope wasn't long enough for rear riser flight as it starts to flatten out near the bottom of the short Level I hill and it's also possible that the winds weren't as good at the bottom of the hill as they were up top (this site isn't as choice as the training hill at the GLC let alone all the other stuff at the GLC). Or maybe I just sucked today. Some of the lowish-timers did better than the two more experienced canopy pilots at times. Good for them I say. Everyone did well and we all had fun even though I'm sure one of us is in some pain as I type this. But one of the really cool things is that since I'm not working right now and neither are these guys on Mondays and Tuesdays, we will be going back or seeking other sites. It's good to be back. But my toes are sore. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Smart ass. How'd the GA CPC event go? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

How's FL treating you? How about your flying? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

My Suunto is attached to a belt that I wear around my waist. This way I can look down at the course as well as look at the Suunto at the same time. I've seen others wear their altimeters on their mud flaps or on one of their leg straps. Still others use the audible features of the Neptune in their helmets. Of course all I need now is for someone to flame me saying that this is wrong that I need to keep my eyes open for traffic. Well I'm going to save you the post. Well Duh!!! No shit Shirlock that you need to look for traffic. I do all of the above. #1 priority is to watch for traffic. From there I monitor my progression towards my setup point by watching my Suunto and gaging my progression towards my setup point above the swoop course. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Originally I thought that I needed to dial in my setup altitudes to be in the same part of the sky at the same altitude all the time, jump after jump. But every jump is different and you'll never be at the same part of the sky on every jump. So I've been taught to use a digital altimeter to help me get to my setup point where I have a range of altitudes to work from. And the digital altimeter helps me to know if I've arrived a little lower than optimal (meaning I need a fast turn rate) or higher than optimal (time to whip out my toolbox of tricks to help me get down). But of course once the turn has started, it's all visual and experience knowing when to get off of the risers. I'm sure that once I've made thousands and thousands of jumps that I will have my site picture dialed in. But my instrument (a Suunto) has helped me immensely with setting up my swoops. One only needs to look at the progression I've made in the last six months (thanks first to advanced coaching, but also using my instrument) to know what I'm talking about. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I worn 20 lbs of weight during our last CPC comp. I didn't hurt me, but I don't think it really helped me that much either. Then days after our last CPC comp I read Kevin Gibson's article in this months parachutists about wearing weights and the last few weekends I've been jumping without the added led (and doing just fine). I likely will add the 20 lbs of weight back on in the not too distant future, but not until I start feeling like I've got my rear riser swoops really dialed in. I had a good weekend this week. I got 23 jumps in and several of those set new personal distance records (in the 350 foot range). I still have plenty of hard work to do, but I'm very happy with most of my swoops this weekend. But 40-70 lbs seems very excessive. Then again most of you guys have no idea what it's like to be swooping at altitude here in Colorado. 40-70 lbs here is likely asking for it. But it sure would be nice to see the pros come here one day. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

0:23:0 No humps. Granted my weekend started on Thursday, but I managed to get 23 jumps in since then (including several of my longest swoops ever in the 350 foot range). Got to like those rear risers swoops and the fast landings here in Colorado. Only two more weekends until the next CPC comp.

Marry me. On second thought, maybe that isn't such a good idea. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Most of us had 10 jumps at one time or another. I'm approaching quad digits and I still have issues in certain areas. But I figure it's nothing that 10,000 jumps can't fix. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I guess you didn't watch the news today. Yes the shit is poised to hit the fan. North Korea is talking of testing a nuclear weapon very very soon and the USA is talking of bombing them either before or after this test. And GWB didn't want to be remembered as a war president. Right ... Oh and for the record, I do NOT support North Korea. But I also don't support the USA bombing them if they do conduct these tests. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over