Over the course of the summer, Canton Air Sports has quickly become my home away from home – as is the case for most skydivers and their home DZ.
It’s a place that you look forward to visiting after a long week. A place where you find peace, tranquility, and happiness. A place where you’re all family – an often crazy, dysfunctional family that likes to throw themselves out of airplanes at 13,000 feet and marvel at the video footage after – but a supportive one none the less.
I cherish my home dropzone just as much as my real home. Between the bonfires, stories and advice shared, and great memories built in freefall with like-minded people, who wouldn’t look forward to a weekend at the DZ?
The friends I’ve made this season alone are some of the most incredible people I’ve ever met – and this weekend, I was lucky enough to celebrate the 35th anniversary of our home DZ with most of them.
It was a 5-jump weekend for me, four on Saturday – starting with a dead sprint to make the first load – and one on Sunday. What can I say, it was a long night and a very cold day at altitude. So, I might just be a freeze baby. What of it?
The weekend was filled with freefly jumps, lots of sit practice with my freefly partner and some excellent coaching opportunities with one of the most incredible freeflyers around. I feel more than fortunate to have been in the air with him and learned so much just from one-off conversations on the ground. Thanks, Joe!
Throughout the weekend we got to jump, eat, drink, and chat with those skydivers who share in the love of a great dropzone. The cookout was delicious, and after a long day of jumping, cracking open that first beer around the bonfire made for the perfect transition to a night of debauchery. I’ll spare you the details. What happens at the bonfire, stays at the bonfire.
(Diane and Rodger, Rick and myself hanging out with the rest of the crew at the bonfire.)
Though it’s all in good fun. Work hard, play hard. Right?
Come Sunday most of the experienced jumpers were moving a little slower than usual, but what’s a better hangover cure than a brisk 60 seconds in freefall?
This was one of the best jumps of the weekend for me. Two-man rolling train into a sit. I held a pretty decent sitfly – enough to participate in a two-man freefly with Joe as he went head down. This was also, by far, the best landing I’ve had with my canopy yet. Perfect braked approach into a landing where I wouldn’t have cracked an egg shell – and perfectly on target. Looks like I’m starting to get this 7-cell thing down. About time!
Due to the cold winds at altitude and the caravan having to leave earlier than expected, I called it a day after one jump. The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning up from the night before and reminiscing over the hundreds of pictures that Sandy took over the weekend.
She was even nice enough to burn some onto a CD for me. Here’s a small blip of the events from the 35th anniversary celebration of Canton Air Sports. (Big thanks to Sandy and Lonnie Kirk for these amazing photos.)
(Dirt diving the 6-way hybrid. I was part of the 4-man base with Rick and Joe as hangers.)
(Sandy took lots of great shots of the sport jumpers under canopy!)
(Couple of freeflyers, always wanting to ‘hang’ around.)
(Now that’s what I call dirt dive concentration.)
Blue Skies!
Ashley
Are you a professional journalist? You write very well.
Very interesting and amusing subject. I read with great pleasure.