NWFlyer

Near San Francisco your best coastal views are probably going to come at Skydive Monterey Bay. You may want to call ahead to see if they're jumping (coast = fog much of the time). However, if you want a busy up-jumper scene, you'll probably want to look at the other, somewhat less scenic, DZs in the area. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Not a joke. Here's the link to the previous discussion. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2670064; "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I think that's the right call. I donate regularly but try to make it a point of doing it on a Monday or Tuesday if I know I'm jumping on the weekend. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I know there are many other visually stunning movies out there, but that's the first one that came to mind. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Taking Lisa & Keith's canopy course is by far the best way I can think of to spend your Saturday at Skydance... no matter what your level of experience. You'll get stuff signed off on your card and learn invaluable survival skills. I now have one task I do need to accomplish during the day, but we'll definitely sit down at some point (maybe end-of-day) to talk about what's still left on your card. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

See ya at the DZ in a few weeks! And I can totally relate to moving with cats - my trip was a lot shorter than yours and just involved a car (my company moved the rest of my stuff) and it still stressed me the hell out! "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Got to jump the Otter this weekend. It may be old, but at least it's slow. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Good to see you back. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I'll be out for sure on Saturday, possibly Sunday, but since I'll need to drive home to Oakland I'm not sure if I can partake in too many of your shots. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

David - if you're at Skydance on Saturday, find me and I'll be happy to help you plan out the path to an A and do a coach jump or two with you if that's part of what's needed. I've got nothing specific planned other than to be there and fun jump this weekend, and for me, fun jumps include coach jumps and jumping with newbies. If not this weekend, I should be back up Labor Day weekend. As for the general thread topic - I try to say hi to newer jumpers, even away from my home DZ. Usually it's pretty obvious - they're on student gear and wearing DZ jumpsuits and helmets. I hope that even something as simple as asking "how was your jump?" as we're walking into from the landing area might help them to feel more a part of the overall DZ culture. DZs that take the time to provide opportunities for newer jumpers to connect with other people to jump with will reap the rewards of a loyal and enthusiastic community of new jumpers who are willing to give back. As Lisa mentioned above, Skydance does a good job with regular events - I've attended scrambles or organized days several times since I've moved down to CA and it's been great for me to meet more people and improve my own skills. Elsinore's Excel camps are another great example of a DZ that's embraced newer jumpers. Boogies are another place where DZs can really help bring younger jumpers in. I was at the Skydive Pepperell boogie this past weekend and they had four LOs working with people of varying experience levels. The LOs did a great job of putting people in the right group and moving them around if the original fit wasn't right or if they could comfortably go with different groups. Everybody got to do skydives that were challenging and fun for their level of experience and skill. That helps not only to make people newer to the sport comfortable, but also to make people new to the DZ (like me) feel welcome. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Just got the registration email this past weekend (sent to people on their mailing list). Info below and registration form attached: "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Squirrel! "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Nunya:13:2 owed for first jump at Skydive Pepperell, and first jump on my brand-new PD Pulse. Great boogie! "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

That kind of shit pisses me off. If anyone questions how you dealt with a malfunction just remind them that you were the one under the parachute saving your own ass. It's one thing to talk through other possible ways of addressing something, but to question a decision to cutaway a lineover at your decision altitude ... not cool. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

At 7 jumps, perhaps you might put aside the idea of building a better mousetrap and focus instead on being a better mouse. Students flare high. It happens and it's why students are put on large, forgiving canopies. The overwhelming majority don't break themselves - so take this as a learning opportunity to figure out why you did. What did you do when you flared high? Did you hold it or let up? (What were you taught to do?) Were you prepared to PLF? Did you PLF? If you didn't, why didn't you? (What were you taught to do?) "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I do three-ways and larger all the time. Oh, wait... we're not talking about skydiving, are we? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I'm sure he'll take you out on an AFF recurrency jump. Maybe if you're lucky, he'll let you do it with just a single jumpmaster. Welcome back. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

20-something. I worked with my instructors to identify an appropriate canopy size and to put together a list of canopies that would be appropriate, and then a rigger gave me a list of containers that she would recommend considering. That helped me to know what names to look for in the classifieds as I did my search. You may wish to do this since there are many containers that would be appropriate besides Infinity and Dolphin, and you will limit your options in the used market if you consider just those two. I found my container/reserve together (both used) before my main (also used), so I made sure that I got enough info to ensure that the container would fit the main size that I was looking for. I think all that info was in the ad that I looked at, but if it's not you should be able to get the container serial number from the seller and/or the container size and confirm with the manufacturer that it'll hold appropriate canopies. All this assumes that you fit into the general description of "average" body type. If you're unusually tall or short, you may find it very difficult to find a container on the used market and may end up needing to buy new. The key is to be patient; it's possible to piece together rigs on the used market, but make sure that you're getting a good deal - if you find an ad or ads that look great, be sure to run it by someone you trust at your DZ; they'll be able to give you a good idea of the pros and cons and limitations of certain gear. And of course, read the articles on here about choosing gear: http://www.dropzone.com/safety/Gear_and_Equipment/index.shtml "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Since the August issue usually arrives at the very end of July or the first couple days of August it's very unlikely you'll get an August issue. Depending on when your application gets processed and when mailing lists get sent off to the printer you will probably get September. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

As a relative noob who can still remember my initial training pretty well, I think "Yes." When the actual incident upon which Lisa is basing her hypothetical happened, I actually did a search on "collision" in the SIM to refresh my memory on what was included in there (assuming that it's a decent proxy for "what's trained"). Personally, I can't remember learning much more than what's in the FJC part of the SIM (excerpted below), at least not in formal training. Collision avoidance gets mentioned in several places in the ISP outline, which is good. But there's not much on what to do if you end up having a collision anyway. Perhaps an appropriate level of detail for the FJC; but then ... is it covered elsewhere? It is, but it's in the "advanced" sections that, frankly, many people probably only review if/when they're going for an advanced license. Hell, I took the D license exam the day before the incident at the American Boogie and didn't review the CRW section (and missed the one question about that on the test, of course.) I sure reviewed it when I got home. From the Category A (FJC) training: From Section 5-1 (Skydiving Emergencies): In the section on RSLs, RSLs are mentioned as a complicating factor in cutaways from canopy collisons. And of course, Section 6-6 on CRW gets into quite a bit of detail. The most specific "what to do" instructions fall in paragraph F: "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

is there a deaf-gay record ? I'm sure Mark's done a solo at least once. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

See here for winners: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3643437 "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

The huckleberry ice cream that the kids sell at Lost Prairie. Of course, that could also have something to do with time & place, too. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Lyle Lovett. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

American Idol, maybe? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke