CanuckInUSA

My whole approach to when to enter the pattern is very much influenced by the weather (winds) and existing air traffic. One area which I think we can improve on with the instruction is to get people to think about the dynamic flow of air we fly our canopies through and how our setups are influenced by these conditions. Being too high shouldn't be an issue once we as canopy pilots learn our respective canopies and recognize how they fly in the existing winds and how to linger upwind until it is time to entered the pattern and fly whatever approach we plan on doing. I don't want to tell an AFF instructor how to coach someone down under canopy. But maybe they need to help their students recognize (both ground school and with a radio) the upwind holding areas and when to enter the pattern based on the existing conditions. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

If I could keep up my 375 jump per year average, I'll need 24 more years and 8 months to reach 10000. That will make me 65 years old (retirement time for the whuffos) when I make it. But I doubt this will happen (without cutting away) as I can't see myself having that sort of income to spend on skydiving for all those years. But who knows, if I do some fixed object jumps with my skydives, I can keep my averages up high where they've been so far. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Dang I was there and had a great time. But I'm sorry to report that I wasn't paying close attention to the actual competition and I forget who won the "Pro" event. Two new "Advanced" guys competing in their first PST event (Doug from CrossKeys and Brian from FL) tied for first place. But Mother Nature wasn't always kind to us and the "Pros" only completed 6 of 9 rounds while the "Advanced" guys only got in one day of competing. Maybe someone like SkymonkeyOne will see this and fill us in on the results details. Yes there was a bird strike. I didn't see the bird strike but the thing did get caught up in the lines and broke it's wing. So I would suspect that that bird will be a goner within the week. I did see it hanging around the pond afterwards (stupid birds, we'd scare them off and then they'd just come back). In fact I came close to taking out several birds as well on one of my swoops (I wasn't competing). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

0:17:3 No humps ... 17 jumps made at the Wildwood NJ PST Beach Boogie. 8 jumps out of the skyvan, 5 jumps from the Porter and 4 helicopter jumps. I had a great time and met many cool people (predominately from CrossKeys, but also from other places as well). 1 case of beer owed for jumping onto a beach for the first time (great visuals all weekend what with the beach, the boardwalk and the amusement parks) and another case of beer owed for jumping with bare feet for the first time. And of course one final case of beer owed for attending my first PST event and getting to see the best high performance canopy pilots in the world do their thing (even though I didn't see that many PST rounds because I was busy jumping myself). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

As a new jumper, I need this bridge (all 20 of my jumps to date are from this site with many more jumps anticipated). Please people don't do stupid things which would jeopardize such a great location. We have been given a gift which should be respected. And to people like Meghan and Don. I want to thank you very much for being such great ambassadors for us towards the town of Twin Falls. See you soon Meghan (and I hope your jump the other week went well). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Can you post the text of the article here? The link to the website asks us to register and I'd prefer not to go down that route just to read some article. R.I.P. for the jumper involved. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Fair enough. To misinterprete ... hmmm ... it's one of my favorite past times. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Tonight I’m jumping on a red-eye flight from Denver and arriving at JFK around 5:30 am eastern time. And I’m sad to inform all the fine folks up at the Ranch that you will not get to see my ugly mug over this July 4th long weekend. But I am happy to report that unless I don’t get lost, I will be passing through Crosskeys tomorrow on my way to Wildwood NJ for the PST beach boogie. And the ultra cool thing about this trip (besides making new friends and renewing old ones) is that I will be staying with one of my younger brothers who is in the Wildwood area working for the summer. In fact his place of employment is on the corner of Cedar and Boardwalk, which is within stones throwing distance (1/2 a block or so) from the Splash Zone and landing area for the PST and boogie. It should be fun. I hope to see a few of you out there on the beach. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You will NOT live forever. You will DIE and the sooner you come to grips with this reality, the better off you will be. Too many people out there in the world are totally consumed with living to a rip old age and not enough people are actually living their lives to their fullest. Too many people are just going through the motions of getting up, going to work, going home to watch stupid TV shows and then going to bed (repeating this day in and day out for years on end). If you mean living within your means, then yes I agree with you. Too many people get caught up in the materialistic traps and then are forced to work for the MAN just so that they have income to pay off all of their debts. I too at one point in my life was chasing the Jones's until I realized that the Jones's are a stupid, ignorant, arrogant self-consumed group of people who were not worth trying to keep up with. Having some savings is good. But are you going to be one of those people who pinches and saves every penny just so that you think you can have all the $$$ in the world to spend in your old age. Well there are two things you may or may not be aware of. 1) Most people who save all their lives are not going to all of a sudden change to become spenders. Once a penny pincher, always a penny pincher. My grandfather (still kicking at the rip old age of 98) was a saver his whole life. He has a net worth somewhere around a million dollars, but he won't spend any of it. His whole life he's scrimped and saved and all of a sudden you think he's going to change? Nah, when the time does come for him to check out, he will still have plenty of $$$ in the bank and all of it will be going to relatives (I'm way down the food chain here and will likely see nothing and that's okay with me). The guy should have been spending this money years ago, but he didn't. 2) Are you naive enough to think an illness or an accident won't end life the way you currently know it? Are you thinking that without a doubt you will be alive and healthy in the golden years of your life? Are you willing to sacrific all the fun and cool things you can do now while your body still works and instead take the risk that your body will be up to the task when you are old and retired? Do you think your body will be able to handle jumping out of plane, or off of a cliff or even if that's not your can of worms, will you be able to ski, hike, climb and ride a bike better when you are an old retired fart? Dang ... call it a mid-life crisis if you want. But I want to do all of this stuff now while I still can do it as I know when/if I'm old that physically things will be a whole lot harder. I want to travel Europe and jump it's many fine fixed objects before my body and mind become too old for such activities. Putting your family first is a good thing. I think? But what you just said sure doesn't sound like something a skydiver would say and more like what a whuffo would say. I don't know ... Ultimately this is what counts for you. If you are truly happy with how you are currently living your life, then who am I to say that you are doing it right or wrong. But rest assured when you're at home (or at work) tending to your chores and planning your future, some of us will be off playing (jumping of course from airplanes and from fixed objects) and living our lives to it's fullest because I honestly would rather live NOW in the present rather than to HOPE that my future will be there for me. It's not the number of breathes you take in your life that counts. It's the number of times your life takes your breath away. These breathes don't have to be just from jumping. But jumping sure is a neat thing to do. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

A little "Office Space" inspiration here? 1) Tell the people I care about that I care about them. 2) Find a classy woman to (hopefully) make love to one last time. 3) If all else fails (which it likely will), find a nice object and start jumping from it. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Definitely HOT!!! Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Unfortunately we are involved in a dangerous sport and even when people try not to do stupid things, they continue to occur. So we're likely to see many more incident reports (despite some people claiming that they won't mess themselves up) in the coming weeks and months. And some of the people who mess themselves up could be ourselves or people we know. I'm off to jump in Wildwood NJ this weekend (jumping onto a beach ... not your normal DZ environment) and because of this I will need to do what I need to do in order not be stupid out there. But I'm only as good as my last jump and who knows what will happen on my next jump? But really ... if something bad does happen ... very few would notice and even less would care. That's just the way it is nowadays. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I've got one of those ... I can't remember what jump # it was, but somewhere around 60-70 jumps, I jumped my Triathlon 220 in 25+ mph winds, and got blown all over the ground once I landed and my ass was dragged through a cactus field and I picked up a couple of hundred of those prickly things along the way all over myself. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Thanks for clearing up a few things. I now see where a lot of people's frustrations are. I still hope to visit the site in the future and will do what I need to do to jump ($$$ ... aghh ... if need be). But I guess if man can taint Everest, we can taint Kjerag. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

No this is more of a question and also an observation of some, far from all experienced jumpers. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Is this comment made in reference to the fact that a helicopter was brought in and thus made jumping at Kjerag more of a business? Unless I'm mistaken, for most of the summer months, aren't people hiking up to the exit points and isn't it just during these sort of heli-boogies that this DZ like business shows it's face? Or am I mistaken? I am concerned if your comments about Kjerag have anything to do with new(er) BASE jumpers wanting to jump at this site. I could be mistaken, but there seems to be many older BASE jumpers which do NOT like newbies like myself getting into their sport (or was that their lifestyle). It's one thing for a new jumper to burn a site that a more established jumper put effort into building (I see that as an issue that newer jumpers need to consider). But why is it that many more established BASE jumpers do not like people who are taking up the sport, period? Are we newbies at fault for wanting to jump? Ultimately the gear manufacturers will go out of business if new blood is not allowed to get into the sport. Hey I could be saying something inappropriate here (it's not like this is the first time I out my foot in my mouth). So I'm just curious as to why you say Kjerag is going downhill as it is absolutely a location I would love to visit and jump from before my time is up on this planet or ours. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'd have to look at my logbook to figure out what jump this happened on, but somewhere in the 175-250 jump range I came off of a solo head down jump (which was going well) and missed my 4500 break off ProTrack warning. So I misinterpreted the 3000 foot pull warning as my break off warning and found myself hauling ass at 3k. The video shows me doing a 180 and looking at my wrist mount altimeter (it showed 2200), I wave off and pitch. Snivel ... snivel ... snivel and my main canopy opens. But unknown to myself, my Cypres fired as I was deep in the saddle and due to this circumstance (and the fact that the container was considered tight for the reserve) the reserve never came out of the container (the reserve PC was left dangling), and I then executed a 180 front riser carve and landed in the peas and saw this reserve PC flop down in front of me ... thinking ... this isn't right. I easily could have been killed on that jump had my reserve come out of the container and entangled with my main while I was in the middle of my 180 front riser carving turn. Lessons learned ... when I find myself at 2k with nothing over my head, go for my reserve. Some old time belly fliers may be thinking what's wrong with pulling at 2k, but when you are coming off of a head down jump hauling ass in the rarified air of CO, going for one's reserve is a better option. Oh and the 750 foot Cypres altitude we've all been told about is for a "belly to earth" orientation. The Cypres will fire much higher when you are head or foot first towards the planet. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

And you'll miss me by two days as well. I'm off to the Wildwood PST boogie for the July 4th long weekend and will be passing through Crosskeys on the 1st and the 5th. And one of my younger brothers and one of my nephews are in Wildwood working this summer (serving all the tourists their drinks and food). I probably won't see very much of them as they'll be busy working, but myself and likely a certain DZ.COM bad-ass freeflying diva will be in the Wildwood area trying to corrupt those two poor young whuffos (and of course getting some jumps in and watching the PST guys and gals do their thing). It should be fun!!! Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Joe ... the fact that you are thinking about flexing your 3 rings and wanting to clean you cutaway cables tells us you are aware that your gear needs a certain amount of maintenance. Good job!!! I use a silicon spray to clean my cutaway cables (just cleaned them the other day). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Dang ... I haven't been Burked yet (knock on wood ... great man to talk to though), but I seem to recall being Pixiefied at the Holiday boogie. Or did I just get off easy? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I had some mandatory Relative Work to deal with and didn't even get close the the DZ (of course it was also raining part of that weekend as well). And yes I do think that there should be a seperate "Canopy Control" forum so that "Swooping" and canopy control are not confused and people looking for canopy control need not worry about sifting through the swooping posts. I still think swooping rocks!!! But it's very unforgiving of errors. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You just can't seem to get Winnie to jump without her wingsuit huh? Also, it sounds like those of us who were NOT there missed out on a lot of action. Maybe next year? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'm with you on this one. Recently I sold my Crossfire2 139 to someone from Perris Valley and I did take the time to ask them about their experience and hopefully their response was truthful (for their sake). This person told me they had 600+ skydives (enough jump experience to jump this Crossfire2 139) and then they actually thanked me for asking the question. Now if this person was telling a lie, then what am I to do? Make a trip to Perris Valley to ask questions? Some might say that I could always call the DZ and ask about a certain jumper, but at a big DZ like Perris Valley, is the DZO, ST&A and/or manifest expected to know everyone who jumps there? People need to be held responsible for their own actions. We don't need babysitters in this sport. Skydiving is not for everyone. It takes a special breed of person to handle the dynamic environments we jump in. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You've been given some good info on packing and yes try to talk to several people about packing as what works for one person may not work for another. But here's the low down (important stuff) on packing: 1) Lines to the inside, fabric flaked to the outside. 2) Lines taunt. 3) Slider all the way up to the canopy line attachment points. If you follow these rules, you're well on your way ... Now getting a new ZP canopy into the dbag can be a bitch. But there are tricks that can be taught that most people can catch on to. Packing a skydiving main canopy need not be a huge affair. Oh and once your new gear arrives, you'll have something to practice with. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Pull altitudes for many airplane wingsuit fliers is generally in the 3k-5k ranges (depending on the person's experience and willingness to be extra safe or to have a little extra time flying their wingsuit). I am nowhere near experienced enough with wingsuit jumps to say that I can go low on every jump and still be able to handle the potential malfunctions. But I have learned in the number of wingsuit jumps that I have made is that I don't eat up as much vertical altitude after I pitch my PC (a certain amount of horizontal distance is used on wingsuit openings) and my comfort levels have allowed me to pitch at 3k and still be fully unzipped and flying my canopy before I hit 2k. But we're all different with our comfort levels. Some people pitch higher and I know a few who are willing to go lower than myself. The reason why I mentioned not to confuse BASE jumping and skydiving in an early post was because maybe some people do not understand the differences between the two and the differences between the gear. There's no way in hell you'd want to pull as low as this guy does when you are using skydiving gear. It wouldn't work, you'd bounce. But it is obviously doable with BASE gear. The person pulling low still has to have balls of steel and accepted their fate if something bad does go wrong. But it's still doable using BASE gear. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over