Nataly

I can't speak for everyone, but there are lots of fantastic skydivers (past and present) that I have never heard of. It's not that I'm ego-centric but I have a lot of interests and I can't/don't know everything there is to know about every single one of these... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

How do you react when you realise you've made a mistake? A big one - you've made a total ass of yourself... Hypothetical... Nothing juicy to tell I'm afraid. Well, nothing recent that I can think of!! Personally, the thing I hate most about being wrong is that I stuck my neck out in the first place (when I should have checked/realised/thought-before-I-spoke, et cetera). It's not the shame of being wrong - it's the shameful way I asserted I was soooooo certain I was right... But I'm not one of those people who thinks they are always right... I speak/react FAR too quickly to be one of those!!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

clicky

I'm embarassed as hell - it was my boyfriend who brought it up... Said this climber he met was friends with this skydiving world champion who had like 27000 jumps and was winning all the x-games and was into base jumping and was the French Federation of Skydiving president... And I'm like "what??? Whatever... Never heard of the guy..." (note: I am paraphrasing from a whuffo who got some of the details wrong but overall wasn't too far off) "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Eric Fradet. Please don't google before you answer - just say yes or no. Then you can google and see who it is. Please no spoilers. And forgive me, but I had no clue... So my vote was no... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Injury causing collisions are not caused by incorrect slight corrections in fall rate. Injury causing collisions are caused by the significant speed differential of a jumper diving toward a formation and a jumper already in the formation. What Squeak said. They can turn on a dime and stop in a milli-second and you need to watch a hell of a lot more tunnel videos to understand just how good these guys are at *not* hitting each other whilst coping with radical changes in position/speed. Like I said, they should not over-estimate their skills in other areas, but some seasoned skydivers would benefit greatly by getting some time in the tunnel. Whilst flying skills are not the only thing you need, it's simply not true that they are an insignificant part of a safe skydive. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I cannot think of a single skydiving injury that could be replicated in a tunnel. Any injury that occurs strictly in the freefall portion of a skydive is the result of a collision, and that takes way more than the 14 or 16ft of space a tunnel affords you to build up speed, and then mis-manage that speed causing a collision. Tunnels make you a better at the easiest, least relevant part of the skydive. Aside from being able to be stable at pull time, the freefall skills required for a skydive are non-existent. Static line proves this as every static line jump is a complete skydive with no freefall of any kind. Wrong, wrong, WRONG. People who spend countless hours in the tunnel are *very* good at adjusting their fall-rate, thus making collision FAR less likely. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

The problem with the Tunnel debate is that it ends-up being an "old-school" vs "tunnel-rat" debate... Whilst the tunnel is no substitute for a "real" skydive, many, many, MANY skydivers would benefit from spending more time in the tunnel to gain "air-awareness"... Correct body position not only allows you to fly better, but it teaches you how to SAFELY get to formations and fly in proximity to others. Controlling your belly/sit/head-down undeniably makes for a safer jump, even though it does not help with your canopy piloting or atmonauti or tracing/tracking. It's an excellent tool for learning skills that you have so little time to develop on a skydive. Excelling at any part of a skydive is a GOOD thing, as long as you don't ignore/overestimate your other skills. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Whilst I think that jump numbers are a good starting point, beyond those minimums there is no substitute for knowing your own limits and having the good sense to realise what you can/can't handle. You will always get people who think the rules should not apply to them. Unfortunately, they tend to be the very people the rules were created for in the first place... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I watched my brother have no reaction at all. He's not the false bravado type. He's strange, so I was not shocked and I'm still not. While it's not common it does happen. Is it possible? Yes. But I hear it again and again and again. From people who actually *were* scared/nervous/anxious, but won't admit it. So forgive me if I am reluctant to believe EVERYONE who claims they are the exception... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Seriously WTF? I haven't been there since 2010 but holy shit that is expensive. Isn't the place owned by a saudi oil billionaire anyway? Yes, but it's my understanding that they are totally above-board now (as opposed to paying people "under the table")... Case in point: pack job before (cash): €5; pack job now (declared and bought through tickets): €7... Plus all those improvements aren't going to pay for themselves... ETA: and unless I'm mistaken, that €5 used to go directly to the packer, and now only something like €3 out of the €7 goes to the packer... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

While I agree that different people react in different ways, a lot of people claim they were totally unphased on their first jump, which I don't believe. I *do* believe that it may not live up to one's expectations, however, and that they were surprisingly calm. But no reaction at all??? Nope. Don't buy it. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I volunteered (thanks for the heads-up

If I had a penny for every person I heard who said "yeah, I was totally calm and it was no big deal, I wasn't scared/nervous/worried at all"... Bullshit. Many people don't get the "adrenalin" rush they were expecting... This is normal... The fact is that people have this (false) perception that skydiving is an EXTREME and SENSATION-FILLED event. It's not. Your fear and anxiety about jumping FAR exceed the actual act of jumping. Jumping in itself is a fairly docile sport, especially in the beginning (especially as a tandem passenger). All you really experience is the sensation that it is very windy, followed by a slow, smoothe, gentle canopy ride back to the ground. Even the landing, in most cases, is not very fast/dangerous. It's pretty small potatoes, when you think about it... That said, the risks are undeniable, and the fear/anxiety is very real (even if you appeared quite calm), and the experience (as underwhelming as you may believe it to have been) is quite the sensory overload. Proof: a beginner's general lack of awareness and memory about several aspects of the jump. This would not happen if you were genuinely unafraid and unphased and totally 100% calm. My theory? You were not as "blown away" as you expected and the skydive was not as "extreme" as you had anticipated. You were underwhelmed. Not hard to believe. You remained relatively calm, despite some apprehension - happens to a lot of people. You were NOT, however, totally unphased/unaffected by the jump. Impossible. You are either bullshitting (to appear "cool"), or in denial (because you think you are so "cool"). Theory #2: you were scared shitless and are now overcompensating with excessive bravado. You may even have peed yourself a little on the jump, and this is your way of feeling like less of a pussy about it. To you and everyone else who claims they didn't feel anything or experience stress or even a bit of apprehension I say: good for you. Total bollocks, in my view, but as someone I know used to say: "it's your life, you can remember it however you want." "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Not that many... Something like 20 (including some coach jumps) plus 1hr of tunnel. I had three weeks, but not an unlimited budget!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I'm not in that video (that I could see) but I am in this one at 0:17 (walking on the left, holding my canopy, wearing a blue/white jumpsuit): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfZLlW0oNNw

I was paying attention, thanks for the patronising command though I don't think it's so patronising... I thought the same thing but held back from actually saying it. I think unlike a lot of media, it is NOT an exaggerated film about "adrenalyne junkies" but rather an honest, intelligent portrayal of a risky sport. I've seen it many times and I like how down to earth Karina is - she describes in a very modest way her love and passion of BASE... It shows that she is living life to the fullest, and yet she is very aware of the consequences / risks in her sport. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Where to even begin... I think I disagree with just about everything you wrote... Did you actually watch the whole thing??? Or are you just stirring up shit??? Hmmmm... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Just to put things into perspective, I have packed this same parachute over 200 times... So for me, I know it quite well, but I thought since it's been 4 years from the last time I packed, my mind was playing tricks on me and I was being paranoid. But it definifetely felt wrong (because it was). If at your level, you have doubts about your packing, don't hesitate to go back to a person who is qualified to teach you to pack (ideally the person you learned from) and show them step by step how you do it, explaining what you're doing at the same time. Do this when you are not manifested so you have time to really focus. When you've only packed a couple of times (5 in your case), chances are you don't yet feel confident about your newly learned skills. This is normal, especially considering your parachute is what is going to save your life!! The only way to feel more confident that it will open ok is to keep packing and keep jumping your pack jobs. When in doubt, ask. And personally, I don't manifest until my parachute is already packed. You might wait longer between jumps, but this takes the pressure off and sometimes you find you pack even faster when you are not in a hurry!! In the long run, I prefer to have a little peace of mind, even if it means doing 6 jumps in a day instead of 7 "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I was always told it was Fucking Owner Real Dumb "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Exactly. I grabbed the risers and shook vigorously. In hindsight, this may have been what prevented it from fully inflating, and the spin definitely started from this point. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I mentioned this briefly in bonfire, but thought I'd elaborate here so more people could learn from my mistakes... The short version: I did not set my brakes. 100% my fault. Here is some background... I am getting back into the sport after a 4-year break. I have 250 jumps, MOST of which I did in 2004 - 2005... Before getting back in the air, I brushed up on my knowledge, planned to do a solo jumps, pulling at 5k, at a DZ I am familiar with. That jump went fine. So I land, put my handles back up where they belong but DID NOT SET THE BRAKES ... I packed, and it felt weird... Like all my lines were "low"... I was not happy with it - something was telling me it wasn't right. So I walked back to the rig (but did not pay attention to the brakes), walked the lines again, shook out the canopy again, and started over. It felt exactly as weird as before, so I told myself I was being paranoid and everything was fine. When I threw my pilot chute, I had a very snivelly opening... I was looking at it and it looked inflated on each side, but messy/collapsed in the middle. The slider had come down (not entirely sure if it came down all the way). I thought maybe I could shake it out (for it to fully inflate). This put the canopy into a teeny ball and me into a RAPID spin - I didn't fuck around, I chopped. It was 2,700 ft when I decided to try and shake it. I chopped almost immediately after this. The next time I thought to look at my altitude (once I was sure the reserve was fully opened) it was 1,700 ft. I let go of my main handle (cursing at myself as I did so), pulled my reserve handle despite having an RSL (don't want to rely on anything that is meant to be a back-up) and kept a death-grip on that one! Landed without a problem. Got everything back within less than 5 minutes

Take a look at the PD Sabre 2 sizing chart here: http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/Sabre2-Flight.PDF As you can see, they do not recommend any of the sizes for a student (**see the note at the bottom). For a student/novice of 140 lb (and let's face it, add 5-10 lbs to the weight any woman claims to be) and you will see a 150 is most certainly NOT a suitable size for your girlfriend. (You will notice their weights are EXIT WEIGHTS - ie: with gear.) I've said it before and I will keep saying it. Small girl DOES NOT MEAN 1:1 loading is perfectly safe... I still jump the canopy I bought when I had 20-ish jumps... It's a Sabre 1, 135. I can attest to the fact that I was VERY lucky not to get injured on my first 100 jumps on it. Smaller canopy = shorter lines (among other things) = more responsive = unsuitable for beginner. Period. Again, cannot stress enough what a BAD idea it is for you to get her anything near a 150. Have a look at PD's recommendations. They are a very good guide. Besides... Personally, speaking as a girl, shopping around for my very first rig was a joy. Not only did I ask a lot of questions to figure out what I wanted, but I learned A LOT in the process and was soooooooo delighted when I finally found what I wanted. Shame I got bad advice about the size - wish someone had pointed me to the sizing charts but this was over 10 years ago, so information was a little less available. Don't rob her of this process - it's good for her to buy her first gear. Just my two cents. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Yeah, but truthfully, my first hint should have been when I was packing... Everything felt strangely low... It was weird enough that after I set my canopy on the ground to fold it into the bag, I wasn't confident so I went back to my container, followed the lines through, shook it out and started all over again. It felt exactly the same (weird) and so I thought you know, I haven't packed in 4 years, I'm just imagining a problem... But no. The problem was there... Shoulda listened to my gut (and even more importantly asked someone for help). When I got my rig back, I packed in front of someone to make sure I wasn't missing a single thing. Jumped that pack job and had a beautiful, normal opening

Yep. Hence why I'm so ashamed of my story... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss