Skydiving: A global community

One aspect of skydiving that I have come to realize, is that it’s a global community. It’s one of the things I’ve come to love most about the sport.

(It’s like a bunch of wingsuits, holding hands!)

At every drop zone where I’ve jumped, there have been a number of people visiting from different countries. Here in Ohio, we have a couple guys who are originally from Russia. They’re two of the nicest guys around and will sit and have exchanges in Russian between jumps.

In Florida I met a couple guys who were traveling together from Sweden on a skydiving vacation. Again, great guys.

Regardless of gender, age, race or cultural background, almost everyone I’ve met so far has been quick to welcome me into the world of skydiving. I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of this world-wide community.

No matter where a drop zone is located, once that airplane door opens and you’re out in the open air, skydiving is a universal language. And so is the fun that comes along with it.

If you’re not a part of it already, I highly recommend taking a leap into the skydiving community. You won’t regret it.

Blue Skies!

Ashley

An Educational Sport

(A shot from a demo I worked this weekend. One of my favorites!)

Skydiving is a sport of learning. Each time you exit the airplane 12,000 feet up and plummet to the Earth at 120 mph you learn something new. Whether it’s about the sport or just yourself.

This is especially true as a newbie. Everyday is a learning experience – and retention is key. This is exactly why things like safety (look, grab, look, pull, pull) are drilled into your head from day one.

As you progress in the sport and muscle memory is built, additional pieces are added. First with starting and stopping turns, maintaining headings, tracking, docking…you get the idea. Not to mention all the work on the ground, like packing a parachute.

Of course, with each new lesson there comes a time where it sticks and you just ‘get it.’ These are the ultimate victories because you did it yourself. That’s the great thing with skydiving, no one can do it for you, but once you’ve nailed something down, the credit is all yours.

This is how I felt with my first couple of docking skydives. I was lucky enough to get in the air with a great new coach over at Skydive Tecumseh in Michigan. After walking through the skydive on the ground, Jeromy and I were able to execute the jump at 14,000. Twice. 

Watching this video for the first time I felt so proud that I was able to adjust my fall rate so easily. Who knew I could arch like that! It’ll sure come in handy when I’m jumping in 3, 4, and 8-ways one day!

I’ve since been able to take advice that I was given on the ground that day and clean up my tracking too.

But the lesson I’ve learned lately is this: patience. Not all skydives are going to go well, and you learn best from the ones that don’t. Reflect on what happened and take away lessons from those who were in the air with you that day. Next time, fix it.

Most importantly, take your time, learn, absorb, and be safe. In this sport, you’re always a student – whether you have 5 jumps or 500 – so it’s important to always keep learning. Besides, isn’t that half the fun of it, anyway?

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Weekend happenings

All week I’ve been nervously watching the weather forecasts, hoping the rain would let up just in time for some Friday afternoon jumps. It looks like my wish came true!

Today I’ll be using some of my vacation time to head down to Canton Air Sports and take advantage of the Caravan they are flying.

Saturday in Cleveland looks pretty miserable, but Sunday might be a perfect day for a couple hop & pops that I need for my license.

As always, if you’re in NE Ohio, come jump with me! If not, here are some fun skydiving activities happening this weekend.

• 7/24 – 8/2; Skydive Chicago‘s Summerfest Boogie – They have it all. RW 100 ways, Freefly 100 way record attempts, Bigway Birdman, Great Night Life. Don’t miss out!
• 7/25-7/26; London Parachute School – Come on out on Saturday for BBQ and Beer. Then jumps on Sunday!
• Of course, I can’t recommend Skydive Tecumseh highly enough if you’re in Michigan, or Skydive Miami if you’re in Florida.

Where ever you end up - 

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Stepping down

Last week I mentioned on Twitter that I’m stepping down my canopy size. As an AFF student I was jumping a 260, but as a 120 pound person that’s become too large. I’m in the air too long for my liking.

The dilemma I was running into was that the next size down at my home DZ is a 190. Upon Tweeting this, I was overwhelmed with the responses concerned for my safety.

Thanks y’all. Talk about making a newbie feel cared about! I’m all about the love.

Luckily, my presence was requested back home in Michigan this weekend, and I was able to jump at Skydive Tecumseh where the variety of student rigs was much greater.

I was able to get in a couple good jumps on smaller canopies and ended on a Pilot 210 that I loved! I’ll definitely be looking to get a Pilot when my budget allows for the purchase of my own rig. Anyone know of a 170 that’ll be going on the market this year?

This weekend I’ll be back at Canton Air Sports in Alliance, OH, jumping with some of my favorites. Fingers crossed that they have something in a comparable size. I really don’t want to jump that 290 like last time.

Oh, but wait. Just when you thought I was wrapping up. I want to back up to my time at Skydive Tecumseh. What kind of blogger would I be if I didn’t give my two cents on this DZ?

This was my 4th drop zone (Skydive Miami, Cleveland Parachute, Canton Air Sports and now Skydive Tecumseh). Other than the fact that it’s incredibly convenient when I’m headed home to see my family, it’s a great little community in itself.

In the day that I spent there, we had a few weather holds that allowed me to meet some great skydivers – and new friends. I also had the pleasure of being the very first student of a new coach on the scene.

Jeromy (check him out over at SkydiveBlog.com) did a great job and any student would be lucky to have him. He really helped me with my docking and tracking. I can’t wait to show off my new skills this weekend!

Check out my jump here!

On top of all that, the DZ is really organized. And they fly an Otter full time to 14,000 feet! Can’t beat that kind of altitude.

Needless to say, I’ll be heading back there every time I’m in Michigan. 

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Mystery Wounds

There’s a phenomenon in skydiving that I like to refer to as mystery wounds. 

Your body is in near perfect condition when you exit the plane, but 14,000 feet later you’re bruised, sore or bleeding, and you have no idea why.

You think back through the skydive, did you hit the plane on the way out? No, I don’t think so. Anything out of the ordinary in free fall? Nope, pretty routine. Hard opening perhaps? Not really.

So then why is my finger bleeding profusely?

Of course, we can’t forget about those days when we come home and see the latest bruises that mysteriously appear.

For the about three weeks another jumper and I had matching bruises on the inside of our left knee. It was a huge, deep bruise. Neither of us had any idea how we could have acquired it.

Maybe it’s a newbie thing, but I’ve ended up with multiple bumps, bruises, cuts and soreness that are a complete mystery. 

Secretly though, I kind of enjoy my little war wounds. (Shh, don’t tell.) They’re conversational pieces if nothing else. 

(#1 – Mysterious skin missing incident from this weekend. That knuckle had skin before I jumped! #2 – The not-so-mysterious elbow injury of jump 11. Canopy stall and hard landing. #3 – Bruised knees after my first AFF jump and ground school. Climbing in and out of a wooden Cessna for six hours of practice takes is toll on your knees. And those are just a few of the wounds I’ve captured on film.)

As a friend said this weekend, I don’t want to go to my grave in a perfect body. I want it to be scraped and scratched to know I lived a full, active life.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

What mystery wounds have you ended up with in the past?

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Weekend happenings

This week I’m posting the events that are taking place in the skydiving community a little earlier that usual. It’s going to be a great weekend and there are lots of things going on. So take a look at your calendars now and plan for your trip to the nearest drop zone for some fun events and jumping, of course!

This weekend I’m headed up to Michigan and will be stopping into Skydive Tecumseh to take advantage of of Girl’s Weekend. Who can pass up $18 rides up in an Otter, right?

Fingers crossed that the weather holds out!

For all y’all who aren’t in the Midwest to take advantage of this great deal, see below for some more skydive happenings:

• 7/17-7/19, Skydive Milwaukee. Brian Germain’s canopy control course. More information here.
• 7/17-7/19, Skydive Moncton. They have a twin otter for the weekend, live music Friday, toga party Saturday, world class organizer onsite all weekend. Will be working on a regional pops record, 20-way sequentials. 
• 7/17-7/19, Skydive Midwest. The 2nd annual Tandems for Troops Boogie.providing free tandems to disabled veterans and raising money to support veterans charities. There will be raffles throughout the day, live radio broadcasts, and the DeLand SKYVAN. 
• And much more. Find out what’s going on near you at Dropzone.com.

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Down to Earth

Speaking literally and figuratively, actually.

The one thing I love most about the drop zones that I’ve been to is that the people, for the most part, are extremely down to Earth, even the experts. 

It’s been rare that I’ve encountered elitist attitudes from even the most talented skydivers. As my experience has shown, these jumpers are not only willing, but happy to jump with you, provide advice, or just talk you through an area where you might be struggling.

(With Tom and Bob. The two best AFF instructors and skydivers I will always look up to.)

As someone who’s not the most confident canopy pilot, I’ve been given a lot great advice from jumpers with years of experience that has helped me get safely to the ground.

In fact, I have Larry and Dan at Cleveland Parachute to thank for teaching me the spotting and landing skills I have today. If there’s one skill I’ve acquired, it’s landing close to my target.

These experts just love talking about the sport, recounting memories of their best and worst jumps, and teaching newbies the tricks of the trade. 

Of course we all know how much I love talking about it – I have a blog devoted to it, after all. I’m thankful that I have great mentors that will help keep me level-headed as I progress in the sport. 

(My mentor, coach and friend, Lonnie!)

In my short time as a part of the skydiving community, I’ve come to cherish this attribute and I gravitate toward the experienced skydivers who welcome me with open arms. One day I hope to be as skilled and just as humble as they are.

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Relative Work

As I’ve grown into the sport of skydiving, I’ve come to realize how much I enjoy being in the sky with other jumpers.

This weekend was filled with new skydiving experiences, starting on Friday with my first solo jump out of a caravan.

Let me just say this, there’s nothing like a plane that can take 17 jumpers to 13,500 in 10 minutes to get skydivers excited. You should have heard the cheering and hollering at wheels up.

Given that this was my first time at a new drop zone and with a different rig I was a little nervous. But once I was free falling my head was right back in the game. 

I jumped with an experienced skydiver (and base jumper, I found out) who showed me the ropes of a caravan exit. Once I was under canopy I looked around and saw 10 others in the air with me and it was a beautiful site.

The second jump of the day was from 8,000 feet since it was so close to dark. But I had fun with barrel rolls and turns before dumping.

And that’s when I got into a little trouble. 

Flying a 290, I had lots of time to mess around under canopy, but apparently not enough. I ran with the wind a little too long and ended up taking a little trip off the DZ to a nearby field. I landed a few feet from the tree line.

No big deal. But I do owe a case of beer the next time I’m in Canton.

Sunday included more fun jumping, where one of my girlfriends and I performed a couple linked exits and face-to-face flying. It was nice to jump with someone who has a similar fall rate for a change. We’re both fairly new to the sport so we were testing this out together.

Both our skydives were on fun jump loads, so we had some other jumpers flying around the skies, watching us chase each other down, tracking, attempting to dock – it was great fun.

We both felt really great about what we learned and I’m pumped to get out there and jump with her again soon.

And, given that this was my first two-way, it looks like I’ll be buying beer for my home DZ too.

Too bad it’s only Monday. I can’t wait to get back into the sky.

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Weekend Happenings

This weekend will be filled with skydiving adventures, if I have anything to say about it. 

Tonight I’ll be headed over to Canton Air Sports for a ride up to 13,500 in the caravan they have on loan. If you can’t make it out today, don’t worry, the caravan will be around through August.

Sunday will be another day at my home DZ, Cleveland Parachute Center, working and jumping with my skydiving friends.

For those of you outside of the Northeast Ohio region, here’s what’s going on in the skydiving community elsewhere:

• 7/11 – Skydive Burnaby, Ontario. High altitude jumps from 20,000 feet. Come out and add a new altitude to your log book. Click here for more information.
• 7/11 – Skydive The Farm, Georgia. Georgia Skydiving League 4-way Competition. More information on Dropzone.com. 
• 7/11 – CSC, Hinckley, Illinois. Sunrise balloon jumps. Come out at 5:15 a.m. for pre-manifesting and jump at sunrise.
• 7/11 – Connecticut Parachutists, Inc – Helicopter jumps from 4,500 and 5,000. More information on Dropzone.com.

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Pure Addiction

This week more than others, I have become acutely aware of the fact that I’m completely addicted to skydiving. Not only does it consume my conscious thought, all day every day, but my subconscious and even my unconscious, are constantly reliving experiences in the sky.

There’s no doubt that the adrenaline rush is highly addictive – this is something you’d know even if you’d never jumped from an airplane. But for me, there are so many elements of the sport that have me dreaming about my next jump.

As I’ve mentioned before, the camaraderie of the drop zone is a huge draw for me. This is by far the number one reason I’m so loyal to Cleveland Parachute. We’ve got a great group of solo jumpers now, so the weekends are consumed with story swapping and learning lessons from one another. And I’m convinced that our coaches and jumpmasters are the best around.

Jumping just wouldn’t be the same without this guy!

Or these guys!

Of course, we can’t forget about the challenge that’s involved with skydiving. Each and every time I dive head first from that airplane and save my life 5,000 feet above the Earth I learn something new about myself and my abilities. 

Skydiving has pushed me to become a better person. I challenge myself every day knowing that, come the weekend, I will face even greater challenges. When I approach a problem now, I just think to myself, “I jump out of airplanes. I can handle this!”

All these elements combine to make for one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my life. Hard as I try to explain it, the feeling of taking that 10,000 foot leap is nearly impossible to describe other than pure, raw, adrenaline – and in my case, addiction.

This is what passion feels like.

Are you other skydivers just as addicted? What else are you passionate about?

Blue Skies!

Ashley