A little on downsizing

This weekend Rick and I headed to Start Skydiving in Middleton, Ohio with our friend Joe for a weekend of “all you can eat” skydiving as we were calling it. They were running a special, $210 for all the jumps you can make in a weekend. We had to take advantage of that!

The first day we made 10 skydives, so Sunday we jumped for free! That’s good stuff right there.

We also were able to make night jumps for our D-license requirements. This is a great dropzone to do night jumps, the LZ is huge and the hangar lights shine into part of the designated landing area so if you’re accurate you can see your feet as you land, making it pretty cakey if you ask me.

Lots of great freefly jumps were made this weekend, too! More docks than I’ve ever made in a single weekend, and my partner and I realized just how much we’re getting it together. Fall rate is less of an issue than it’s ever been and we spend most of our jumps face to face, docking on each other. I LOVE skydiving with him!!

I also was able to demo a “new” canopy this weekend. On the first jump of the weekend we were teamed up with one of the local freeflyers who mentioned that he had a Sabre2 for sale. This got my attention as that’s what I’ve had my eyes open for lately – but when he mentioned it was a 120, I was hesitant.

After a few conversations with trusted friends and fellow jumpers, I felt confident that I could fly it. So I took it for a spin on a hop ‘n pop. I went without a weight belt, or even a jumpsuit, just to get a flavor of how it flew. It opened like a dream…definitely a different story than my Sabre 1. The responsiveness is incredible, pull a toggle and it goes! Landing was a breeze too – the flare is nice and strong, so even coming in a little hot I’m able to get it to slow up enough to tiptoe out.

So, I decided to take it for a full-altitude skydive on the next jump, weight belt, jumpsuit and all. Sure enough, I loved it just as much on this jump too!

I continued to use this canopy throughout the weekend – even through night jumps. It finally feels like I’m in charge of the canopy and I can make it do what I want…and I’m not staying in the sky for 10 minutes! So I brought it home for my rigger to inspect…fingers crossed.

Now, here’s my disclaimer. For anyone who is counting, I skipped a step in the canopy downsize process. I started on a Triathlon 160, downsized to a Sabre 1 150 and now I’m on to a 120. As I mentioned earlier, I was hesitant when he said 120, I even mentioned that “it’d be great if it was a 135,” but given that I’m about 130 pounds out the door, those with much more experience than me advised that I’d be alright.

Normally, I wouldn’t recommend people skip steps in downsizing like this, but every person is different and it all depends on your flying ability and what you want to do with the canopy. After almost 10 jumps on it, I definitely feel confident. This canopy gives me room to grow. There’s so much I can do with it over time. And for right now, as a pretty conservative canopy pilot, it gets me to the ground quickly and safely.

So when it comes time to downsize, demoing is a good idea. You never know what you might be getting yourself into, so try before you buy and see what’s right for you.

Blue skies!

Ashley

Summer heat and skydiving

This is one of those “learn from my mistakes” kind of posts. Don’t let this happen to you!

Remember growing up and having your mother preach to you about staying hydrated on those long, hot summer days?

Yeah, so do I. And I wish I would have listened closer.

This weekend was a busy one at the dropzone – between milestone celebrations, demos and packing in the heat, there were enough distractions to make me forget about eating and drinking properly.

And I paid for it dearly yesterday with a trip to the emergency room. Chills, muscle spasms, dizziness, increased heart rate and chest pains – not a good combination! I wasn’t about to wait the 4+ hours they were anticipating to get me in, so after speaking to a nurse who suggested I was “just” extremely dehydrated, I took her advice, bought some Gatorade and headed home.

Sure enough within a few hours of guzzling the electrolyte-enhanced sports drink my symptoms were starting to subside.

So after a miserable day yesterday I’m doing my best to quench my thirst before it arrives.

Lesson learned: sometime you just need to stop and take care of yourself – especially on hot days at the dropzone. Proper nutrition and hydration are extremely important – not just in sports, but in life. If you’re not consistently careful, it’ll catch up with you…trust me!

From now on, I’ll be sure to have extra sports drinks on hand….you should too!

Blue skies!


Ashley

Jump for Diabetes Update

It’s Friday, and it’s beautiful out! This weekend is looking incredible for some quality skydiving .

So I’m going to keep this short and sweet. Here’s what’s up for Jump for Diabetes:

• We’ll be out at Skydive Pennsylvania this weekend, selling PD Canopy Raffle tickets for $100 and allowing people to pre-register in person, rather than online. Cash or checks made out to Jump for Diabetes are accepted. Pre-registration for skydivers is $30 and guarantees you a t-shirt, goodie bag and raffle ticket for he general raffle (which includes thinks like a FREE Freak n’ Suit, a Bonehead Helmet, a pair of Gatorz, FREE freefly pants from EG Suits and much more)! If you decide to register the day of the event it’s $35 and you’re not guaranteed a goodie bag.

• Grand Prize Raffle Tickets recently went on sale: $5 each or 3 for $10. Find out more here: http://jumpfordiabetes.com/blog/?p=21

Those are the big updates for Jump for Diabetes this week. If you’re interested in purchasing any of the tickets, registering for the event or donating to the cause, email JumpforDiabetes@gmail.com and we’ll get you set up!

Blue ones!

Ashley

Purchasing Gear

This is something I’m starting to feel like I’ve become an expert at: buying skydiving gear.

Last July I bought my first rig off dropzone.com. I just happened to be surfing online at 2am when it popped up. I was one of 5 people to respond within the first few hours. But luckily, I was the first and had dibs. The entire rig had 70 jumps on it. I thought for sure I’d keep it a long time.

Fast forward to Safety Day this year when a student, who is also a small girl, overhears me saying that I’m planning to downsize and want to sell my canopy. She was all over it. So I just happened to mention that my rig might fit…so she tried it on. Sure enough, she fell in love with it.

That’s when I realized it was time to start looking for new gear, again. Wait, didn’t I just do this?

So, being the mildly obsessive girl that I am, I went home and printed off at least 20 Infinity container order forms, pulled out my markers and colored pencils and went to work designing the perfect rig. I’d told myself I was going to get away from the electric purple and blue color scheme, go with something a little more “me.”

I tinkered with Spartan colors (green and white) but it just didn’t do anything for me. I tried my hardest to find a way to use their blue violet color, mainly because it was unique, but I still just wasn’t pleased. So after weeks of playing with colors I finally settled on a design.

And guess what: my new rig is blue and purple (and black). Turns out that color scheme was me after all.

Naturally, after placing that order it was time to get a matching freefly suit. So I called up my new friend Angela over at Freak n’ Suits and gave her a rundown of what I was looking for – but ultimately I wanted to give her creative freedom to make it look how she thought would be best.

Less than a month later my suit arrived! It fits perfect, and the colors are incredible! I highly recommend the electric blue for any suit that Angela makes for you. I couldn’t be happier with mine!

(Hard to tell just how bad ass the suit really is in this photo.)

Of course, the ordering process still is not complete. I need to get with Performance Designs to order my PD reserve – though that shouldn’t be too difficult as I’m just going to get stock white. And of course I’ve spent plenty of hours on PDs online canopy designer trying to find the perfect colors for the Sabre2 135 that I’m thinking of purchasing.


As you can see, purchasing gear can be a very involved process, especially when ordering new. But, in the end, when everything fits you like it should because it’s custom made for YOU, it’s worth it!


Needless to say the buying is never complete in this sport. Just when you think you’ve got it all, there’s the newest toy or shiny object you just HAVE to have.

My rig is scheduled for delivery in mid-July. When it arrives you can be sure  to find pictures of my newest toys right here!

Blue skies!

Ashley

Officially a “home owner”

Well it’s official, Rick and I bought a home.

At the dropzone.

And for anyone who has spent any amount of time at a skydiving dropzone, you know what this means. We bought a trailer in Safety City!!

Oh, I mean, be bought a camper. It’s not a trailer, we’re staying far away from that terminology.

We’re the proud owners of a camper. Whoo!

(This is not ours, nor does it resemble ours, but it’s a cool picture)

This was our first full weekend staying in our new weekend home. And let me just tell you how fantastic it’s been. We no longer have to worry about hotels or bugging someone to stay with them. We can go out on days where the forecast doesn’t look super promising, knowing that at least we’ve got a place to crash after hanging out all day. And when those mid-day naps are calling, there is a bed awaiting my sleepy head.

We’ve even got a small refrigerator to house our necessities like juice and extra bottles of water.

There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done on it, like some roof repairs, but it’s in relatively good shape.

I’d say it’s pretty official that Skydive Pennsylvania has become our home dropzone, or at least as close to a home DZ as we’ll get, given the amount of time we spend traveling.

Hopefully we’ll get this thing road-ready one of these days so we can travel around to other dropzones with it! Now that would be convenient. We’ve got our work cut out for us, but I like a good challenge.

Looking forward to many more weekends spent in our DZ home.

Blue skies!

Ashley

Doing it for yourself

This post has been a long time coming, but I’ve been struggling to find the words to tie all my thoughts together. So bear with me, if you please, I’m doing my best on this one.

I’m a big believer in the idea that the most important relationship you have on this planet is the one that you have with yourself. My reasoning for this is a whole different story in itself, if you’re curious, we can chat later . That said, there are some things you just need to do for yourself to keep that relationship healthy. Over the last year, skydiving has become that “thing” for me.

Skydiving has always been something I’ve done for myself. It’s my stress relief. It’s my zen minute. It’s my own personal challenge, and a pursuit I continue for me.

Now, don’t get me wrong, having Rick right there with me, passionate traveler, willing to hit it hard with me anywhere, anytime is huge – I love that this is something we can share together – but in the end, it’s a passion I pursue for me.

Something I’ve never fully understood is the constant need to prove oneself to others in this world we live in. We’re all out there with a common interest, shouldn’t we be supporting each other rather than trying to one-up our fellow jumpers?

Sure, I’m all for healthy competition and pushing each other to improve, ribbing one another when we cork out or just can’t manage to stick that sit – after all, that’s what friends do – but above that, shouldn’t the skydive be for yourself?

It’s so freeing, so enlightening. The last thing I want is to get back on the ground and feel as if I’m not good enough because someone else is criticizing, or worse, making someone else feel as if they are not a good enough skydiver. (Editors note: this goes beyond helping others improve in the sky. We all know the difference between talking out a jump and working on fundamentals with your fellow jumpers, and being the asshole who is condescending and talking down to other jumpers as if they’re not worthy).

We’ve all got something to prove in this life, but who is your target audience? Yourself, or everyone else.

As my mother used to preach to me growing up, you can’t please everyone. So, I don’t try to. Maybe I’m different in that respect, but things like traveling and wingsuiting and even this blog, all those things are fulfilling a passion of mine – and no matter what happens with the other aspects of my life, I can know that these experiences were for me, and be proud of myself for these accomplishments.

So to all those jumpers out there stressing about which point to prove next (like how many jumps you have or how great a skydiver someone told you that you are) ask yourself this: are you really in this sport for yourself or is it to prove that you’re this awesome, cool skydiver to everyone else? And in the end, does it really matter what everyone else thinks?

Food for thought.

Blue skies!

Ashley

Skydive The Ranch

(This is why they call it the Blue Sky Ranch)

For my 26th birthday, my wonderful freefly partner took me out to The Blue Sky Ranch in New York for a weekend of skydiving.

I was excited to be in a location where they have three Twin Otters and a bi-plane (which, let me spoil this for you right now, I didn’t get a chance to jump…even though it was my birthday).

Regardless, we still had an incredible time! Our friend Tom was out there on Friday with us as he was passing through town for work and headed to the East coast for a wedding. Our first couple jumps at the Ranch were with a familiar face, which was nice.

I was nervous on that first jump about finding the dropzone. The arial maps were hard to see and given the location of the LZ I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to find it, but turns out we got out pretty much right overhead so it worked out well. Not difficult at all.

One of the first things I noticed from 3,000 ft was this:

There’s a story behind it that I’ll leave for the Ranchers to tell, but I will say that it’s a cemented imprint from a guy who impacted the ground and left a 4″ crater. Enough said.

As the day progressed the spot seemed to get longer and longer. The last jump of the day was a little hazy and we’d decided on the load that we were going to have the pilot do a go-around so that we weren’t completely screwed. Well turns out, the spot did end up screwing us in the long run. We landed about 2.5 miles off in a development that looked like this.

Thankfully they found us quick and we got a ride back to the dropzone. A warm welcome over the PA system from Sarah was what we heard as we walked back into the hangar.

The next couple days were a blur of jumping and socializing – but needless to say it was a great time. We made a few new friends, promoted Jump for Diabetes, and Rick got in his first wingsuit jump!

Aside from not being able to jump the bi-plane, the only other bummer was that there weren’t people swooping the pond. Guess I was under the impression this took place all the time…

If you’re passing through NY and are jonesing for a jump, stop by The Blue Sky Ranch – be sure to tell Sarah and Lauren I said hi .

Until next time, I’ll leave you with a few more pictures that I took from this weekend:

(Sky was stunning on Saturday)

(The infamous swoop pond)

(More of  the pond)

(Lone skydiver heading to the loading area)

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Jump for Diabetes update: Pledge Jumps

It’s about time for one of those updates on how Jump for Diabetes planning is coming along.

I’ve got one word: Incredible!

We have more than 15 skydiving manufacturers who have donated and/or are going to be in attendance. This is much more than we ever expected – and it makes for a pretty great raffle drawing as well.

Should be a great event.

One of the thing I’m doing to help raise money for diabetes research is participating in pledge jumps. From now until the event I’ll be collecting pledges for the jumps I make that weekend from those who also want to support the cause.

Donors can pledge anywhere from $1/jump on up and no money will be collected until after the event – after all, it’s per jump, and I haven’t made those yet .

My goal is to make 10 jumps each day, for two days of the event. This is going to be quite the challenge, but I think I’m up to it! After all, it’s for a good cause, right?!

So who out there wants to pledge me to make these skydives? C’mon, you know you do! Help a chick (and the diabetes community she supports) out. It’ll push me to reach my goal and it’s something you can feel good about!

Email me if you’d like to be a part of my pledge team! (theskydivechick@gmail.com)

Also, be sure to check out the web site to enter the PD canopy raffle, submit donations and pre-register for the event. Skydivers who pre-register for $30 will be guaranteed a goodie bag including t-shirt, raffle ticket and other skydiving goodies.

How do you plan to take part in the event and support this great cause, even if you can’t physically be there?

Blue skies!

Ashley

Wingsuit Weekend

Between last weekend spent at the Ranch for my birthday and the long Memorial Weekend spent back at home (Skydive PA) I’ve got a lot of catching up to do – blog wise.

Today I want to touch on the event that was most exciting for me this weekend. (I promise, soon I’ll get to talking about The Ranch…but this just has to come first while it’s fresh in my mind).

Upon arrival at Skydive PA on Friday evening, I was prepared for a long weekend of freeflying, but that all changed when the beer light came on and my rigger brought out his wingsuit for me to try on.

After hooking it up to my rig and donning the suit, I’d decided that this was the weekend to give wingsuiting a whirl.

Saturday morning I went up for a solo jump to practice some head down moves, then went up again to prove to Rick that I can stick a head down out the door . Just as an aside, this was an incredible skydive. I went head down and he stood to keep relative – when I flipped out we were right there the whole time. We’re really getting it together!

So after a couple warmup jumps, it was time to get suited up for that first wingsuit flight.

Yes, for all those who are screaming “beer” in your heads, that case has already been purchased and drank.

I am extremely lucky to have Moe Viletto as my wingsuit instructor – and that he also had a wingsuit to fit me. After a few hours over the course of a couple days chatting about that first flight, the emergency procedures and how to go about find the “sweet spot,” it was time to become a bird!

Exiting last was strange. I’m used to seeing the tandems on my way out the door, not watching them go before me. It is nice, however, not to have to stress about the spot so much. When you’re a bird, especially one who is pulling a little high, making it back isn’t much of an issue.

Anyway – back to the first flight. So I’m crouched at the door, wings all tucked in and I huck myself out. That first jump I was nervous about opening up too soon and hitting the tail, so I stayed balled up a little longer than necessary, but when I came out of it and caught that first lift, I couldn’t believe what I was experiencing. The forward speed is incredible.

I had a flight path figured out and after doing my practice touches to make sure I could find my hackey with my new set of wings, I looked to my right to see him gliding next to me. What an incredible sight! For once I’m flying next to someone instead of looking down, hoping to get my speed up enough to catch the group.

Wingsuiting is an entirely different experience than a typical skydive…you’re actually going somewhere other than just down.

One of the things I’ve always said I love about freeflying is the speed, and that’s no exception with a wingsuit; difference being, the speed is horizontal, rather than vertical.

The rest of the weekend was spent obsessing over the wingsuit jumps. A couple sunset loads made me realize just how much my eyes have been missing during freefly. The sky is so beautiful, and the clouds are your friends. This is definitely something I want to continue experiencing.

Hopefully in the not so distant future I’ll feel comfortable enough to strap my camera back on my head and give you a little perspective of what it’s like to be a bird!

Until then, here are some pictures from the ground, captured by the lovely Sandy Weltman – love having you out at SPA Sandy!!

(Suiting up for the first jump)

(Sipping up our legs and getting to booties situated.)

(Beyond pumped from that flight…amazing!)

(Running it out with wings is a little more challenging!)

(Coming down from a beautiful sunset flight)

(If I look exhausted it’s because I am…but it’s worth every second!)

Blue skies!

Ashley