Pre-Jump Rituals

When it comes to athletes, no matter the sport, there is one thing they all have in common – pre-game rituals. 

Often these rituals manifest themselves as something so minute that bystanders may not notice. Others occur on such a large scale that athletes become famous for them (a la LeBron James and his pre-game chalk throwing).

I’ve become fascinated by the pre-jump routines of my fellow skydivers. Like hockey players, some skydivers have a religious set of pre-jump habits that start the moment they are manifested on the ground. You know, always put your right leg in your jumpsuit first for good luck.

Though honestly, I haven’t encountered many that are quite as hardcore as those hockey players. The skydivers I spend my time with aren’t quite as superstitious. Then again, we don’t have to pray not to get a slapshot to the teeth every time we get in an airplane.

For skydivers, the ride to altitude is when many of these rituals begin.

*Photo by Katya Suvorov, courtesy of SkydiveBlog.com                                                                            

In my short time in the sport, I’ve witnessed a number of these fascinating events:

• Untie and retie the tennis shoes for security
• A squirt of Listerine mouth spray just before the door opens
• Running through the cut away sequence multiple times as the door opens (great safety ritual, really)
• Applying Chapstick around 10,000 feet
• Passing around a tin of Altoids to the entire plane
• Adjusting the Velcro on an altimeter so it’s just right – guilty

Those are just a few of the fun rituals I’ve encountered. 

I even jumped with a guy who sneezed twice every time the plane got to 6,000 feet. Of course, this isn’t something he had control over, but it’s interesting none the less.

And you can’t forget about the standard fist bump as a last good luck, have fun, blue skies gesture.

What are some of the pre-game rituals you have noticed – as a skydiver or other athlete? Do you have any traditions that you’ve adopted over the years?

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Aerodyne Demos and Freeflying

If you live in my neck of the woods and you looked skyward this weekend, it may have seemed like a bust for us skydivers, but for me, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Saturday morning I got up bright and early to make the trip up to Skydive Tecumseh to take advantage of the Aerodyne demo tour that was in town. With the consistent cloud cover throughout the day, the Cessna was only running hop & pops, but that was sufficient for canopy demos.

Though don’t get me wrong, I would have loved a couple trips up to 14,000 in the Otter, but for the purpose of testing out the Pilot, I was completely content with what we got.

When I arrived, I headed straight over to the reps to get myself a rig and canopy to demo. Naturally, we ran into the issue that I’m a small girl with a low number of jumps. So they had rigs that would fit with canopies that were way too small to even consider jumping, or canopies that would fit into a smaller rig, but then the reserve is entirely too small.

But, with some quick thinking and innovation, the Aerodyne team put together a rig for me to test out. I was happily able to jump an Icon with a Pilot 188. It was a great ride. Still a bit too big for real excitement under canopy, but it got me to the ground safely and smoothly, which is all I can hope for at this point.

Now, I’ve always been a huge fan of the Pilot. It packs easy – well, at least the one’s I’ve packed before – and opens comfortably. It flies flatter than some of the other canopies I’ve tried out in the past (you know, those 10+ different rigs you jump as a student) giving me time to get back from a long spot or just to play around a little longer and still know I’ll get back to my target.

I also learned that the Pilots tend to react better to turbulence than some of the other canopies on the market, too. A huge plus for me!

It definitely looks like I’ll be purchasing a Pilot in the near future. After this hop & pop and the great customer service of the Aerodyne folks, I’m sold!

Once it appeared that the clouds were just not going to cooperate, the rest of Saturday was spent back on the road to Cleveland so I could get home and rest up for a big Sunday.

Sunday morning I was back on the road to Canton Air Sports for my friend Rick’s 200th jump. The weather wasn’t looking so great for us this day, either. 

I sat around the drop zone for a few hours, watching BASE jumping videos with the other regulars, while trying to will the clouds away. Just as I was about to leave we got word that the weather was clearing from the North. So I stuck around. After all, I didn’t drive all that way to miss Rick’s 200th.

Around 5:30 we were able to get into the air. Rick decided on a shirtless, shoeless hybrid (him, not me), with our buddy Tod doing outside video for us. So we piled out of the Cessna-182, with me and Nick as the linked base, and Rick hanging from our chest straps.

*Photo courtesy of Bill Ramey. Thanks Bill.                

This is what our hybrid looked like!

The exit was flawless – except that Tod couldn’t see Rick’s count and ended up shooting video a little higher above us than expected. Nick and I kept a steady base from which Rick hung straight down. He even kicked his leg out for a bit and put us into a fun little spin. We broke off at 4,000 and met up back on the ground to celebrate Rick’s accomplishment. 

So glad I got to be a part of your 200th, bud!

Thinking that was going to be the last of the day, I finished logging the jump and packed up my stuff. Naturally, I was convinced to get on the sunset load – really, who can pass that up – and headed back up for a three-way with Rick and Tod. 

We were going to do the hybrid again, with me in the hanging position, but changed our plans on the ride to altitude. Instead, Rick and I did a train with a rolling exit. This was my first true freefly attempt – yes, I know, beer – and was a little bummed when it didn’t go exactly as planned. But we did manage to exit smoothly and stay linked for about 4,000 feet until we spun apart.

With a little post-jump coaching on the ground I completely understand how it should have worked to get us vertical. Next time we’ll get it!

And yes, I did mention that video was taken on both of these. As soon as they are in my possession I’ll be sure to post them. With three jumps, I definitely made the best of what otherwise would be seen as a cloudy, gloomy weekend.

Blue skies!

Ashley

Weekend happenings

This weekend is panning out to be just as exciting as the last. As one that originally started out fairly laid-back in terms of jumping, I’ve managed to quickly load up my skydiving agenda.

Of course, I’m not complaining.

Saturday, Aerodyne will be at Skydive Tecumseh for a demo tour. This is a great chance for anyone who is thinking about getting a Pilot or Triathlon (read: me) to head on out and test their canopies and complete rigs at no cost. 

You better believe I jumped at this opportunity! (cheesy pun not intended)

Sunday I’ll be headed back to Canton Air Sports to jump with my friend Rick on his 200th and maybe even dabble with some free fly. I’ve been dreaming of giving my free fly skills a test for a while and now seems like an ideal time.

If you’re not near Tecumseh or Canton, below are a few other events around the world I recommend checking out. Oh, and if you are in the area, why don’t you come out and jump with me!

• 8/22 – Target Skysports, UK. 50-way formation skydiving and Skyvan weekend event. Click here for more details.
• 8/22 – 8/23 – Skydive City, Zephyrhills. PD demo weekend. Performance Designs will be setting up camp in Z-hills this weekend. Demo canopies and PD swag as expected. Check out Dropzone.com for more information.
• 8/25 - Cross Keys & Freefall Adventures. Swoop club for all canopy pilots. More details at Dropzone.com.

Where ever you end up this weekend…

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Fun Jumps

Before I earned my A license, toward the tail end of my student training, I was told that once you’re off student status the real work begins.

At the time, I shrugged that comment off, focusing on how great it will be to finally have earned my license. And now that I have, I see just what was meant by that statement.

The last skydiving outings have been a lot of work. I’ve started jumping with groups of other experienced skydivers and have been lucky enough to be invited on some big ways with competitive jumpers who have thousands of jumps on me.

As fortunate as I am to be learning from these folks, it doesn’t come without hard work and serious concentration in the air. 

Being the least experienced of, well, anyone I’ve ever jumped with, if a dive goes awry, it likely has had something to do with me. But, when it goes well and you can look back at the video and be proud of your jumping skills, it makes all those little blunders worth while.

Here’s a great example of a 6-way from this past weekend. After a couple of rough exits, we pulled this off beautifully! I can’t stop watching the five of us hold on to this formation perfectly.

It’s a feeling of pure satisfaction to know I was a part of that. Sure, there’s still lots of work to be done, but can’t I just admire what was accomplished for the time being? This jump definitely ranks high on my list of fun skydives.

It’s also been fun to get out and play around in the sky with Jeromy. He doesn’t mind doing these fun jumps with me every once in a while, and honestly, I think he enjoys having me chase him around the sky.

What have been some of your most memorable fun jumps?

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Charity Jump Success

As many of you are aware, I’m extremely fond of jumps for a cause.

Not only do these events bring local skydivers and enthusiasts together for fun jumping, there is also money being raised for a great cause.

This weekend was the inaugural Jump for Diabetes at Canton Air Sports. The turn out was great, many prizes were given away, and thousands of dollars were raised to help support the American Diabetes Association. What more can you ask for?

Oh right – skydiving. That was pretty great too! In fact, there were a lot of firsts for me this weekend. 

Yes, I know, I owe lots of beer at this point.

On Saturday afternoon we were able to organize a few group jumps with the regulars. My first 8-way. The goal for the day had been to jump with Christa, as it had been a few weeks since we’d been in the air together. So the two ladies made up the base of the dive. Our linked exit was a little wobbly, but we kept our grips and ended up getting the group back together for a nice big round.

Only one point on this jump – dang. Almost a two-point dive.

The second jump of the day was also a group jump, followed by a sunset dive from the Cessna-182 with Jeromy. We played catch me if you can, and he won. Looking back, I wasn’t aggressive enough. I’ll get him next time. The main goal of the dive was to take it down to a 4,000 ft. wave off to become comfortable with lower pulls. This came in handy on Sunday…

Sunday brought in a new group of jumpers – some competitive RW skydivers to be exact. 

The day’s jumps took place with a few guys who have thousands of jumps under their belt. They welcomed me into the group and planned fun dives that helped me see quite quickly what areas needed the most work. 

This is another reason I love the skydiving community so much – even the most experienced jumpers are open to welcoming a newbie like myself into a group for some fun jumps. 

I completed four skydives that day before the aches in my body were telling me to quit. Between the overnight camping and little sleep, still learning to get the hang of packing (the 30-minute pack job really drains your energy) and trying to keep up with the boys on 5, 6 and 8-ways (read: arching like I’ve never arched before just to keep up in free fall) I had to call it a day.

It’s always a little sad to leave the DZ at the end of a great weekend, saying goodbye to my family to prepare for another week at the office. But on the way out, friend and event organizer Rick (who did an amazing job with this event – can’t wait till next year, Rick!) handed me a gift basket with two lovely bottles of wine from the raffle. These will go to good use, I guarantee it!

With seven jumps and about the same number of knots in my lower back, it was by far one of the most successful skydiving weekends yet. Lots of lessons learned that will stay with me forever. But I’ll save some of those for another day.

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Oh, and if you have any interest in seeing the videos, head on over to Jeromy’s place where I’m sure he’ll be posting soon!

Jump for Diabetes

As many of you who follow me on Twitter are probably aware – more like irritated, as I’ve crammed this announcement into your TweetDecks everyday – this weekend is the inaugural Jump for Diabetes at Canton Air Sports.

Organized by skydiver, and good friend, Richard Simenc, this event supports a great cause. With a goal of raising $20,000, all proceeds will benefit the American Diabetes Association to promote awareness and find a cure.

This event is more than just jumping from airplanes. We’ll be having bands, raffles, auctions and giveaways including a free skydive or airplane ride every three hours from 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15 through 10 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 16.

If you have interest in helping support the ADA by pledging jumps or buying raffle tickets (you don’t need to be present to win the grand prizes that include a free A-license package, jump credit, and cold hard cash to name a few) e-mail me: theskydivechick {at} gmail {dot} com.

For more details on the event, visit http://www.jumpfordiabetes.com. 

Better yet, come on our to Canton Air Sports this weekend and support this great cause in person, meet some amazing skydivers, and jump with me!

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Skydiving on a Monday?

Typically, I’m a weekend jumper. My week days are consumed by work and errands and, well, life. But this week I found myself in Michigan on Monday and found the time to get in a few jumps at Skydive Tecumseh.

It worked out perfectly as I wasn’t able to jump over the weekend while on vacation in Los Angeles, and it allowed me to get my weekly fix. And I was extra thrilled that the weather worked out for us – it wasn’t looking too promising in the forecast.

The first jump of the evening tested out my group skills with Jeromy and Glenn. This was my first attempt at fly arounds. I dove out the door after Jeromy and we hung out and waited for Glenn to join us.

As you’ll notice, from the moment I let go I floated up. By the time I got back on the same level I was pretty far off and proceeded to finish out the free fall solo. Regardless, it was a fun jump that I’ll be trying again soon (I hope).

(Ignore that high-pitched humming if you can. A couple weeks ago Jeromy cracked the “unbreakable” case on his GoPro. Thankfully, the company has already sent him a replacement case. Talk about customer service!)

The second jump was a tracking practice dive with Jeromy – something we’ve been meaning to do. I definitely needed this practice and am already feeling better about my tracking. 

I’m still amazed at how much you can learn in 60 seconds of free fall. Maybe next time I can perfect my diving exit, eh?

Between the heat and the long day I was exhausted after two jumps – and unfortunately missed out on Glenn’s 200th jump. They did a hoop dive, which would have been awesome.

Oh, and for those who are interested, here’s the video from my first licensed jump last weekend. It was purely for fun – being flung across the sky!

What types of things do you do in free fall when you just want to play around in the sky?

Blue Skies!

Ashley

I'd Rather be Skydiving

The last five days, which were spent in Southern California with my old college crew, was the first of my non-skydiving weekends since I began my adventures in the sky.

As much fun as I had with hiking, beaching and trying to drink like we did in college without ruining my liver, I couldn’t help but look up at the perfect blue skies on occasion, wishing I was playing in them.

The sky is my playground.

Coincidentally, two of my weekend warrior friends happened to be in the area too. However, they were lucky enough to hit up Skydive Elsinore for a fun jump on Sunday – mere hours after my flight departed. Next time guys!

But the five days off were a much needed break from reality and a great reunion with my favorites from college. Luckily, the time off didn’t last long and I was back in the air today with a quick couple jumps at Skydive Tecumseh. More on that later. 

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Weekend happenings

Though I am on a non-skydiving vacation this week, I didn’t forget that all y’all might be wondering what’s happening in the world of skydiving this weekend.

So, I’m here to tell you.

• 8/8 – 8/10. British National 4-way Championship. Hosted by Target Skysports.
• 8/8. Brian Germain Canopy Course at CSC. A can’t miss opportunity for canopy pilots of all skill levels. For more information email manifest at customercare@skydivecsc.com or Brian Germain at bgermain@bigairsportz.com.
• 8/12-8/16 Tony Suits Tour at Casa Boogie. Hosted by Pepperell Skydiving Center. See Dropzone.com listing for more information.

Hope everyone can get out and enjoy these events this weekend. Or do like me and wait until Monday. I’ll be jumping at Skydive Tecumseh if the weather cooperates – c’mon out and jump with me!

Next weekend is a big one at Canton Air Sports where we’ll be hosting the inaugural Jump for Diabetes, August 15-16. Even if you’re not planning to jump for this great cause, you should come out for some great music, food and a chance to win some fantastic skydiving packages.

Check out our Facebook page for more details.

Blue Skies!

Ashley

It's Official

The events of this weekend were so amazing, I don’t even know where to begin.

How about at the beginning?

Friday was a beautiful day and I had a work event to attend that took me well past sunset. At first this seemed like a real bummer, but the event turned out rather fabulous, what with all the drag queens and everything.

Guess you had to be there.

Saturday wasn’t an early a start as usual. I slept in a little, actually ate breakfast, and headed to the drop zone early afternoon to get in a couple hop ‘n pops that I needed checked off my list.

I was lucky enough to be accompanied by Jeromy Alexander – check him out over at Skydive Blog – who decided to come down my way for a weekend. And what a great weekend he picked.

Saturday night we headed to Canton Air Sports to hang out with the crew there and spend the remainder of Sunday jumping, packing and learning. After the hop ‘n pops I had two more jumps before earning that good ole A-license. 

So in the cloudy morning I packed parachutes and Jeromy jumped my pack on the first load while I took pictures on the ground. I can’t tell you how happy I was to see his main flying perfectly through the sky!

Second load we hopped back on and chased a group out the door, and did a couple manuvers in preparation for my check dive. 

I sat out the third and fourth loads, doing more on-the-ground work – changing a main closing loop and all that – then I met with Tom before my check jump. We walked through the dive and he signed off on the rest of my card. At this point I could barely contain my self. 

The jump went well with docking and tracking successes and a beautiful stand-up landing. By the time I was back to the hanger my proficiency card was complete and I became an A-licensed skydiver.

After this I was completely drained, but when the offer of heading up on the last load came my way I couldn’t pass it up. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of being a licensed skydiver on a sunset load.

With a couple of docks and a couple spins with Jeromy it was a great jump to end the weekend.

Sunday was by far the best day I’ve had this summer. The DZ was filled with all the people I love to jump with most and spirits were high. One more reminder why I love this sport and the community of jumpers that come with it.

Blue Skies!

Ashley