There’s nothing quite like a sunset jump on Dec. 26th to make your holiday spirits even brighter!
As I mentioned last week, one of the weekend’s goals was to head out to the DZ to share in some beers and laughs with the crew. Well, lucky for us, the skies were blue and the winds on the ground were tame enough to allow a jump!
We were surprised to find out that there were only two sport jumpers packed and ready to go – Rick and me. But, the DZO was feeling the Christmas spirit and took us up anyhow. You rock, Cecil!
The winds aloft were moving at a good clip, and we were prepared to get out above the water tower – about a mile past the DZ.
Well, on this sunset load, we were having a rather difficult time spotting. Needless to say, we got out a mile from the DZ – but a mile in the wrong direction.
The skydive was a simple belly fly with one point and some fun spins before we attempted to link back up. My Dytter went off early so, you’ll notice, I waved before we could link back up.
As I tracked away I realized the dropzone was no where in sight. So I stopped tracking and pulled.
Turns out we were incredibly far north. When I turned into the wind I wasn’t penetrating well. I did my best to follow Rick down, but ended up landing in a field 1/4 mile or so down the road. If you look carefully in the video, you can see the square field I landed in as Rick is doing a 360 to lose some altitude.
Thankfully, I was close to the road and the first passerby put on his brakes and backed up to give me a lift back to my home base. From there I jumped in a car with the pilot and drove around in attempt to find Rick. Little did I know that he’d hitchhiked back as well and was driving around in search of me.
Needless to say we found our way back and had a beer in hand in no time.
There’s something quite invigorating about winter jumps. It clears your head in more ways than one. Aside from not being able to feel my hands, and the subsequent pain when the feeling returned, it was a great jump.
New lesson learned: in the winter, when winds are squirly at altitude, jump with a cell phone!
Blue skies!
Ashley
Tags: beer, hitch hike, landing off, Lessons Learned, RW, winter
Ashley 
