Iflyme

Damn, Bossman, that's a wild case of jet-lag ... Chat time already? It's still only Monday here on the Best Coast...

We don't usually see pix of him with his clothes on... Damn, Wingy, you're butt-ugly!!!

I don't think any of you have ever been to my DZ... the Ultimate High Parachute Centre in Victoria, BC. Small ... 1, sometimes 2 C-182s operating... great instructors, fun people, good times. Safe, too... man, I love the people out there. Skydiving rocks, baby! Speedy is right - I think that crappy DZ's are few and far between... Skydive Kamloops was a blast when I was there, too...!!!

I think you have to ... SKYDIVE lots more!

Thank you, Michele - you are a fantastic storyteller. Your wonderfully detailed descriptions of your feelings and experiences are one of the things that keep me coming back here! Now - I believe you owe us all BEER for writing the longest post ever here on DZ.com!!! Congrats on that "A" .... now have fun with it up there! Frank

Well I have a strong opinion, but I am not qualified to give advice, so there!

Hey, Victoria is a great place to do PFF, too ... Gary Butchart is an excellent instructor! Rod Mack is no slouch, either! As you can probably gather, Shleprock30, I jump in Victoria! There are some Kapowsin jumpers on this forum, so perhaps they can offer up some detail on the program there, too... Rob - are you heading south again for the season? Frank

Michele... From reading your wonderful posts, I think it would be more accurate to say you "were" afraid of those things,

Yes... personally, I don't want ANY equipment that is not essential for the skydive strapped to me... when you release the parachute, you don't want anything attached to you that might catch your lines. We've lost 3 camera flyers recently because of lines snagging during deployment... I remember taking my walkman on a ski run with me a few years back ... when I got to the bottom of the run, I was surprised to hear music -- because I hadn't been aware of the music at all during the ski run! Listening to music is a wonderful recreation, but a skydive is a time and place to concentrate on just one thing - the skydive. Distraction can mean death. I can just imagine it: "...pull time ... uh - malfunction -- oh, wait a sec -- is that Sammy Hagar or David Lee Roth singing that Van Halen tune ???"

Well ... after seeing the video of the 3 people who jumped together -- and 1 person ended up falling onto the canopy of the other -- my advice is to go solo!!!

Party on, Marc! No nude pix, though, please!

For what it's worth, I agree with Spectre and Lisa here... you've got to learn to walk before you can run, and 100/200 jumps simply isn't enough time under a canopy to develop the skills necessary to save your life when you need to. Sure, you can land the thing with a nice surf, and stand it up, but what happens when the shit hits the fan??? A couple of weeks ago we had a guy with somewhere around 500 jumps (that's a rough guess) crash into a woman holding a baby as he attempted a high performance landing (we land in farmer McNasty's big field, and there is LOTS of room for spectators) ... the mother and baby went flying 8 feet and hit the ground -- fortunately no one was seriously injured... but this canopy pilot found himself in a situation that he couldn't deal with, and almost killed 2 people. IMHO you need to put hundreds of jumps on a lightly loaded canopy to build your skills before moving to a wing loading of 1.2 and up ... Sorry, Dan, to hear about your friend... my thoughts go out to her friends and family

Sounds like a dream job for a skydiver ! And I hope you have a great day of jumping getting that "A", Michele!

Wow, Kelly -- sounds like you've got a real adventure ahead! Remember: It's not the destination ... it's the journey! Too bad I'm nowhere near any of the places you are going to... I never did read about your lawsuit -- what thread is it in?

Well -- as long as there are no cameras rolling...

Now THAT I'd like to see! Maybe Ben (what did we ever decide his new nickname was gonna be? I vote for "BenT", as in "bent") Perhaps Ben should forget about sharing Andy's crumpets, and jump his tart instead!

Skreamer, I'm up for it - but as my posting rate has dropped significantly recently, it could be a longggggg time before I have to pontificate!

I caught a glimpse of a jumper hooking it in on a stadium jump on RealTV at work the other day ... it was awful -- he did a low turn, was up beside the canope when he hit, and actually bounced a good metre into the air, sat up, then flopped over. As the volume was down, I did not hear the commentary, but it clear to me that this person was busted up real bad... Does anyone have furthur info on who this jumper was and how seriously he was injured?

Bastard!

I'm so mad about this, Diver123, that I couldn't get thru all the replys before posting myself! First off, this is NOT "DZ Bashing" -- in fact, you are doing all your DZ.com allies a favor by saving us from going thru the grief this dick-head put you and your friends thru... Secondly, it is unfortunate but true -- there are "shiesters" in every business, and skydiving is not immune... this prick is simply taking advantage of tourists. Too bad for those people who suddenly act on their urges to skydive end up doing at this dump. Now - Pammi, that pix of you with the red(ish) hair is driving me crazy!!! (Sorry Merrick -- we're all friends here)... Thirdly -- AARRGGGGGGG ... just need to get that out -- stressful times at work -- here it is Thursday, and I haven't jumped since Monday -- and I need one real bad (to make me forget about work for a few fleeting moments...)

The Beatles Mostly Classic Rock, but XTC, Dave Matthews Band, Midnight Oil, Tom Cochrane, and Playground Hero have been on the playlist recently. There's the jazz (none of that "lite jazz" shit), too, and even a bunch of classical stuff. btw, I saw Alice in Chains in a small club about a decade ago, and they just about blew out my eardrums!

The Beatles Mostly Classic Rock, but XTC,Dave Matthews Band, Midnight Oil, Tom Cochrane, and Playground Hero have been on the playlist recently. There's the jazz (none of that "lite jazz" shit), too, and even a bunch of classical stuff.

This is very disheartening ... my heart goes out to the family and friends of the deceased... Student gear with no AAD ? This doesn't sound right ... here in Canada, and in the USA, I'm sure too, ALL student gear must be equipped with an AAD ... I don't know how an AAD would have affected these 2 skydivers, but certainly it is very unwise to have students jumping without this invaluable back-up device.

There are some great safety articles, particularly on canopy skills, here: http://www.afn.org/skydive/sta/

... and don't forget to feed Fat Freddy's Cat