Great to be back

After nearly 5 months on the ground I was finally able to get back into the sky this weekend, and can I just say that it’s so great to be back!

As you can imagine, there were some pretty intense butterflies going on, but given that it was sunset load and I did a simple 2-way freefly I was confident it’d be a good jump.

Sure enough, once that door opened my adrenaline took over and we had an incredible freefly (sorry kids, no video this time, what with my new BoneHead REvolve and I don’t have a Contour to mount…yet).

I have to admit though, my muscles are a bit out of practice. Sure, the sitfly came fairly natural and my brain was firing on all cylinders (until the landing, but we’ll get to that) but I couldn’t help but think to myself that the wind seemed stronger than usual. The triceps are definitely feeling it, though I’m guessing it’s a combination of the freefly and packing a virtually brand new parachute, which is always a slippery struggle.

After separating from an awesome 2-way I tracked and dumped around 4 grand, just to give myself plenty of time to get adjusted. My opening was beyond perfection so the extra time wasn’t exactly needed, but better to be safe than sorry.

The winds were a bit breezy up top so I turned in around 700 ft to start my downwind, performed a beautiful flat turn to get myself lined up perfectly where I wanted to land.

I was coming in all excited when, at about 15 feet, my brain stopped. Completely froze right then and there. Which means that my toggles made it to half brakes and stopped. Needless to say, what could have been a nearly flawless skydive ended in not-so-graceful fashion and a leg strap that needs a thorough scrubbing.

So I walked away pumped about the freefall and a bit red faced from the tumble. But, it solidifies my need to get in a canopy course stat. My confidence under this new 120 isn’t what it was with my previous Sabre 150 and Triathlon 135. I went through this once before in my skydiving career, being a bit of a headcase on landing, but this time I refuse to let it get the best of me. I know what I’m doing, or what I should be doing, so seriously, what’s my deal?!

(Note: Sometimes, giving yourself regular pep talks is all it takes to get your head out of your a$$ and get with the program.)

Regardless of the minor stumbles in the road, I couldn’t be more excited to get back into the sport that I’ve become so passionate about. I walked away that evening not only with a huge smile on my face, but feeling the weight of 5 months of stress on the ground slipping away. It was as if it I left it all in the airplane just prior to exit.

Sometimes, there’s just nothing better than a good skydive to make you appreciate your life. Can’t wait till the next one!

Love and Blue Skies!

Ashley

Overcoming Butterflies

For most of us involved in adrenaline sports, butterflies are a natural part of the game. They can be fuel in some instances. After all, what’s a good adrenaline high without pre-jump butterflies?

That said, when too many flutters start happening in your belly, that can spell disaster. Not only could too much nervousness prove to keep some people firmly planted on the ground, but if you do make it up, it could be detrimental to your skydive.

Don’t let butterflies get the best of you. If you’re new to the sport and doing your first tandem or are starting AFF, you might feel like you’re going to throw up before every skydive (I know I did in the beginning) and that’s totally natural to have those feelings. Skydiving is anything but natural, so when you tell your brain that you’re about to jump out of an airplane at 14,000 ft and plummet to the ground at 120mph, your body wants to send every signal that it can that this isn’t right.

Believe it or not, it’s not human nature to want to put yourself in danger. Of course, our higher brain function does allow us to understand the safety of what we’re doing and the thrill that we know will ensue, even when our bellies might be telling us otherwise.

So how can you overcome nerves that may seem dibilitating at times in order to pull off the kind of skydive you want? Here are a few tips from yours truly:

1. Visualize the kind of skydive you want – this goes more for the experienced skydivers than those who have never jumped before, but if you can take a couple minutes before every skydive and envision it going the way you want, then you can take those butterflies and apply them to make what you want to happen, happen. You might be surprised how powerful this foreshadowing might be.

2. Breathe – this seems to be a theme. Take a couple deep breaths before you jump, and don’t forget to breathe on the way down. This is the best way to ensure that you stay relaxed in the skydive. Easier said than done, yes, but all it takes is a little practice.

3. Talk it out – this kind of goes along with visualizing the skydive. No matter if this is your first ever skydive or your 10,000th, talk it out with those you’ll be jumping with. It’ll help give you a better sense for what is expected from everyone on the jump.

4. Keep jumping – the more you skydive the less your nerves will get the best of you. Success breeds more success. You’ll learn faster and be able to figure out any issues you encounter. Practice makes perfect, as they say.

So tell me, fellow skydivers and adrenaline junkies, what are some of your rituals for keeping your nerves from interfering with your sport?

Love and blue skies!

Ashley

Yoga and Skydiving

Over a year ago I did a post about yoga and skydiving, so consider this the second, more elaborate installation.

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For those who have been following along, you likely are aware that I’m extremely passionate about yoga. As someone who has had a personal practice for 8 years, I’m a firm believer in the power of yoga.

Injury prevention and self-reflection, among other aspects, can truly be achieved through regular practice. What I’ve also found, in the 2 seasons I’ve spent skydiving is that, when I’m practicing yoga regularly, my skills in the air improve as well. There are a number of reasons why this might be – given all the facets of yoga that have the potential to improve quality of life.

I’m sure there are a number of you out there rolling your eyes at all this, but hear me out, you might be surprised how much a regular yoga practice could help you in skydiving. Check this out:

* Muscle memory and strength - If yoga and skydiving have one thing in common more than anything else, it’s muscle memory. The more you practice, the easier it gets. With both sports. In yoga, you’re elongating and strengthening your muscles which helps make the “postures” in skydiving that much easier to attain. Manipulating the air to get into a proper sitfly position is exponentially easier after hours spent in Utkatasana (Chair Pose).

* Mind/Body Awareness - yoga presents an opportunity to free your mind through meditation while practicing a set of physical postures. It allows you to focus your attention on you, to generate a greater sense of self and meld your mind and body into one during your practice. This can come in very handy in the sky. Lots of times all it takes is thinking about moving in a direction and then it happens. Knowing how your body reacts in each situation and/or posture you throw at it can only serve to benefit you in skydiving, as everything is happening so fast and there often isn’t time to give too much thought to your next move.

* Reflecting – that said, yoga helps not only to strengthen your body, but to strengthen your mind. Anyone who has practiced before has likely experienced the last pose (typically) of any yoga session called shavasana – also known as corpse pose. It’s often referred to as the most difficult pose of the practice, even though it’s the least strenuous. I know, right, doesn’t make sense. But in yoga, it does because it’s the time where you’re supposed to take everything you learned in the 60 or 90 minutes of practice before that and reflect on it, learn from it. Quiet your mind and soak in what you learned about yourself while letting all other thoughts pass out of your brain. This comes in very handy after 60 seconds of freefall that seemed like a whirlwind. When you’re tuned into your senses on a higher level, it’s much easier to reflect on what took place and have a legit discussion with your fellow jumpers. Of course, GoPro playback also helps.

*Flexibility – this may not seem like a priority for most skydivers, but if you’re little like me, any belly jumps you do will require you to virtually fold yourself in half when arching to stay with the group. It also helps if you’re considering dipping your toe into the world of freestyle.

*Awareness of Breath - okay how many times have you heard instructors telling their students (or how many times were you told) to breathe, it’ll help you relax in freefall. Well, this is another area where yoga can help. Each posture and flow is determined by the breath, that’s your focal point for most of the practice. If you take a few moments before every jump to breath deeply, bring your attention to your breath just as you would in a yoga practice, you might be surprised how much easier the exit comes off. Relaxing into the skydive is just as important for your performance as relaxing into a yoga pose.

So how about that, did you think yoga and skydiving could have so much in common? From my point of view, for what it’s worth, practicing yoga in tandem with skydiving can be beneficial for both your skydiving and your yoga practice.

Of course, you don’t have to take my word for it, here’s an article from Nadene Bayerbach over at Dropzone.com that delves a bit deeper into how specific aspects of yoga can be beneficial to your time spent in the sky.

Love and blue skies!

Ashley

Complacency can kill

It might be a bit dramatic, but it got you reading…and sadly, it can be very true.

For most, this goes without saying. As skydivers, awareness and attention is pounded into our brains from day 1 in AFF (or Static Line, or whatever training program you pursued).

But as we progress in the sport and become more comfortable – as with most aspects of life – we tend to have a element of complacency about us.

Expectations that things are going to work out the way they “should,” that our main is going to work perfectly, that everyone will fly the landing pattern, that the winds will stay steady for us to tiptoe out that landing, even that our packer will be having a good day so we can get right back up and do it all over again are not uncommon.

Of course, it helps to think this way, to visualize that everything works out the way it should, so you can focus on the tasks at hand. In fact, there’s actually an element of safety in doing so. But you can still do that while remaining an active participant in the safety game.

Doing small things like practicing your emergency procedures in the plane (touch those handles before every jump, just to remind yourself), working out and sticking to a dive plan with your fellow jumpers, and keeping your head on a swivel under canopy are a few good habits to get into to keep yourself, and those around you, safe.

One of the other things I do is try to stay as educated on the sport as possible. Read the incident reports and why things happen. Watch videos, learn from the good and the bad. Use your downtime (literally) to keep yourself aware. The more your head stays in the game when you’re on the ground, the more you’ll be with it in the sky.

Remember that muscle-memory stuff that was pounded into our heads as students? Same goes for your brain. Keep it active in the sport, even when you’re not jumping for one reason or another. That way, you won’t have to work so hard on that next outing to remember the little nuances of the sport (“is it normally a left-hand pattern?” “wait, do I turn right or left when approaching another jumper under canopy?”), it’ll all be fresh in your mind.

The take away here is that, no matter how skilled a skydiver you are, accidents happen. Luckily for us, there are a number of things you can do to help prevent these accidents from happening. What I mentioned above are just a few of the things you can do, recommendations that I’ve learned from my experiences. What other safety habits do y’all have?

Stay safe – and aware- out there!

Love and blue skies!

Ashley

Cravings

Freefall cravings are hitting hard these days. I haven’t been able to get any time in the sky since the end of the season and it’s eating away at me.

Over the holidays I lived vicariously through my friends who traveled to Florida and other exotic places (yes, when you live in Chicago, Florida is considered exotic) for skydiving, which I worked long hours to fill in for my colleagues who were also gone on vacation.

Last year at this time I was ramping up for 10 days in Florida for the Everglades boogie. That seems like ages ago now. This year we have nothing planned – though we did just talk about taking a trip the other day, whether it’s a quick road trip somewhere a little warmer or even just a weekend at a local dropzone that’d be willing to throw us out of an airplane. I’d take hop ‘n pops at this point.

Anyone know of any dropzones within driving distance of Chicago that fly on sunny winter days?

Until then, I’m continuing to live through those of you who were able to get out and skydive this Christmas. Any stories you have to share are welcome.

Blue ones!

Ashley

It’s all custom!

Well it’s official, my brand new custom rig is complete thanks to the recent addition of my Sabre2 120. It came last week and I’ve been so excited to see it – even more so to fly it!

Custom teal with black ribs, one white and one black cell. LOVE!

Thankfully, CSC has plenty of riggers on staff that don’t mind helping a girl out. Though I’ve seen slinks put together a couple handful of times, I’m still not confident to do it myself. What can I say, I like to have someone who really knows what they’re doing make sure I’m squared away.

Between Doug (the dzo) and two rigger friends it was hooked up in no time. The hard part, was that first pack job. Ugh! Even though I was packing a 120 into a bag and container sized for a 135, it was still a bitch to get in there. It took me 2 attempts to get the slippery ass canopy into the bag, and another three attempts to get my container closed. But let me tell you what, it was worth the struggle.

That first jump was a three way freefly fun jump with Rick and Stephanie. We did a knee lock exit, of sorts, and broke off into a campfire sit. I have to admit my head wasn’t totally in the freefall as I was anticipating deployment.

I was going to pull a bit high, but by the time we broke off and I felt I’d sufficiently tracked away, I was at 3 grand.

The opening was a bit squirrely, with a long, long snivel but sloppy pack job could have lots to do with the weirdness. Once I got situated under canopy I was in heaven. Once again I had a canopy that responded to my direction and I managed to get to the ground in a decent amount of time. The flare was nice and strong…light winds and the landing was tip toe.

I couldn’t be more excited about this canopy. Thanks PD!

It’s too bad that the end of the season is so near. I just might have to plan a warm weather trip for the near future…any suggestions?

Blue skies!

Ashley

The New and Exciting

One thing I’ve come to see in my short time in the skydiving world is that skydivers are the ultimate live-in-the-moment creatures. This is something that I love, mostly because it’s taught me how to live in the moment more in the other aspects of my life…which, I think, makes life more enjoyable.

But of course, playing that devil’s advoate role that I love so much, we can’t forget about the other side of that, the one where we have a tendency to seek out the novel…to only really enjoy the things that are new and exciting.

On the surface, that doesn’t sound so bad, but when it comes to things like progression in the sport, being ADD (ooh, look, shiny new wingsuit, I want to try that) doesn’t bode so well for your desire to improve those freefly skills.

Think of it this way, you can’t bitch and moan about not sticking that head down when you only practice it every two months because your attention is constantly drawn to other elements of the sport. It takes practice, and determination. Muscle memory can’t be built without regular repition, so unless you’re a natural at everything you do, this tendency to trail off can harm your progression in skydiving…heck, in any sport really. For anyone who has been paying attention, can you tell this is a mini-lecture to myself?

I’ve noticed my tendency to be distracted by these shiny skydiving objects too. Going back to my first few months in the sport, freefly showed it’s pretty little face and pulled me away from RW. Then came camera flying, then wingsuiting – and it’s only been a year and a half…so you can see how this could carry out in my skydiving career. Ha!

The good thing is, when it comes to skydiving at least, no matter what you’re doing in the sky, every jump teaches you the art of manipulating the air in order to do the things you want as you’re falling toward the Earth. Each skydive gives you roughly 3,000 ft. to practice your canopy skills. The key is, taking advantage of these opportunities, by living in the moment and using every second to your advantage.

Which brings me back to my first point, that skydivers are some of the best when it comes to living in the moment. Wow, this came full circle. Not sure I started out with that plan, but that’s where it’s ended up. This was going to conclude with a life lesson, and I think it still can — one that’s geared mostly toward the skydiving community and it’s this: live in the moment, enjoy each and every second while you’re doing it, and be sure to take advantage of the time you’re given. But, don’t let your need for novelty ruin what you’ve spent so much time building.

Ohh…check that out. Maybe it’s not so skydiving focused after all. “Don’t let the need for novelty ruin what you’ve spent so much time building.” — that can apply to any aspect of life, relationships, career, sports…you name it.

Hope this was as an enlightening of a post for you as it was for me.

Love and Blue Skies!

Ashley

Transition Time

Apparently I’m back on this title alliteration thing…I probably like it less than you. I’ll work on it.

Anyhow, life has been busy lately since Work Stinks! There are a lot of things in the works and lots of exciting new changes coming up quick. All things that have kept me busy enough and poor enough to hinder my skydiving funds. But let me tell you, it’s worth every extra second I’ve had to spend on the ground.

Aside from the obvious upcoming wedding, we’ve got a trip to the West Coast in our near future for Chicks Rock at Skydive Elsinore. Okay, so not just for that! Actually, the original plan was to head to LA for an extended weekend to visit my uncle, aunt and cousins who I get to see once every 10 years. Well, it just so happens that it falls on the weekend of this incredible boogie and I’m beyond pumped to get to not only jump at a new dropzone but to meet up with some incredible people in the industry (I’m looking at you Gail). It’ll also give us a chance to start letting people in the industry know about the 3rd annual Jump for Diabetes!

Once we’re back from Chicks Rock and what will hopefully be a (much needed) relaxing vacation, it’s time to pack up and head out…for good. That’s right, we’re moving! A couple opportunities have come our way that just couldn’t be passed up, so we’ll be finishing out this season at our new home dropzone – Chicagoland Skydiving Center. As you’ve heard me say before, this is an incredible dropzone and one that we’re proud to call home…well, as much as us jet setters can call any place home I suppose.

(Check out those Blue Skies!)

As you can imagine, my spoiled ass is thrilled to have a full time Otter and PAC less than an hour from my door. Wee! Can’t wait to see everyone in October…it’s coming up fast!

So I guess all this is a lead up to a note that I might be a little absent for the next couple weeks. At the very least there will be an update after Chick Rock…cuz that’s pretty damn important, but don’t hold you breath for much else until we’re able to make our way over to Chicago and get internet access.

Hope y’all have some fun skydiving plans for the weekend. Live it up a little for me!

Love and Blue Skies!

Ashley

Night Jumps

Note: the post below includes facts about night jumps along with a significant amount of personal opinion from someone who didn’t enjoy the experience so much. Though I do still recommend people do them, especially if you want to get your D license, but more for the experience of it. You never know, you might be at the opposite end of the spectrum in that group of people who can’t get enough of them.

Something I will never fully understand is the love that people have for night jumps. Sure, they’re kinda cool in their own right – getting to see everything from a different perspective – but they’re also a bit scary.

I’m not a huge fan on not being able to clearly see where everyone is in the sky around me. That canopy collision last year really opened my eyes to what can happen if you don’t have a view of everyone under canopy. Even with the required lights and strobes you can’t always tell where your fellow jumpers are on these nightime adventures.

When talking about night jumps, let’s clarify a few things first.

Any jump between sunset and sunrise is considered a night jump…however, if you’re doing these to meet license requirements (two night jumps are required in order to get your D license) or to establish any type of world record, these jumps have to take place at least one hour past sunset and one hour before sunrise. In other words, it has to be dark dark, not just after official sunset.

Given that these jumps are special, they require special equipment that isn’t necessary during the day. Aside from the obvious – clear goggles, lighted altimeter – the UPSA BRSs require a light visible for at least three statute miles displayed from opening until the jumper is on the ground and sufficient on-the-ground lighting so jumpers can see where they’re going as they get close to the ground.

Side note here, that was the scariest part of it all for me. Though I was able to land in a lighted area, shadows and darkness still very much affect your ability to judge distance to the ground and speed at which you’re coming in. I was thankful to walk away with both my ankles in tact.

Every dropzone has a different method for illuminating the landing area. We had hangar lights that provided a nice little target to hit…if you landed in it, you could see your feet and the ground clearly. Other dropzones have cars parked out on the runway with their lights on, or there are flares on the ground or they have flood lights in the LZ. I’m sure any combination of those would work nicely.

Anyway, though it’s not noted in the SIM, most dropzones also require that you wear a red light and a yellow light (red on the front, yellow on the back) so that people can know if you’re coming toward them under canopy. This is pretty smart, and it works…so long as everyone sticks to the rule of turning right if you’re coming toward each other.

For your D license requirements, you’re expected to do two night jumps – the first solo, the second in a group. Rick and I did our night jumps together at Start Skydiving earlier this summer. For us, the solo jumps were hop ‘n pops..from 6 grand. We had a group of 3 jumpers, each taking a shorter delay out the door than the next…5 second, 3 second, 1 second. Given that I was the lightest jumper in our group, I went last, with the shortest delay out the door. So essentially I pulled at 6,000 ft. The worst part about it was that you’re not allowed to play around under canopy, so needless to say I was bored. Sure, I got to watch the lightening storm that was taking place to the north of the DZ, but other than that it was total snoozefest for me. That first night jump sorta put a bad taste in my mouth.

Though the next jump was better. Our group jump was supposed to be a 4-way RW skydive, turning points and all that nonsense. But, after bugging our instructor, he let us do a two way instead. So Rick and I jumped out linked, did a little kissy kissy in the sky and spent the rest of the time doing 360s and checking out the scenery. In hindsight it was actually pretty awesome. Though I still can’t say I crave night jumps. In fact, I’d be completely okay if I never did another one.

To me, they’re boring and dangerous. That doesn’t seem possible to be both at the same time, I know, but that’s my opinion of them. As I noted earlier, there’s a good chance that if you haven’t tried them already, you’ll like them when you do. As for me, I’ll be happily watching you on the ground, with beer in hand.

Blue skies!

Ashley

How Skydiving Changed My Life

This is one of my favorite columns in Parachutist Magazine and one of those things I make time to read in every issue. Some of these people have incredible stories of how they got into the sport and how being a skydiver has completely changed their lives.

Looking back over the year and change that I’ve been a part of this sport and a part of the community, I can add myself to that list of people who feel like their lives have been completely turned upside down since skydiving entered their life. I can also say that my life has changed for the better, and in some ways, I feel like it saved me.

Though my story is sort of ho-hum when you look at those featured in Parachutist, so instead of submitting to the magazine, I thought I’d share right here on the blog .

For those who have been following along since day 1, this may not come as much of a surprise, but for those who have picked up in the middle, you might pick up a thing or two about my journey in this crazy world of skydiving.

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Skydiving has changed my life in so many ways, it’s hard to know where to begin. I suppose I’ll start at the beginning (that would make sense…right?).

In my early 20s all that mattered to me was my career. My friends from college were scattered across the country and none of us were making enough money yet to visit each other, so rather than spend time building a new life, I spent it behind a computer, working my way to the top. My efforts did not go unrewarded. Promotions happened frequently and I earned my position in social media marketing through hard work and dedication to my company and my clients.

No regrets there. I worked hard for my successes and am proud of where those efforts have taken me. But something was missing. I wasn’t passionate about my life. I got up in the morning because I knew I had to in order to get ahead, in order to pay the bills, in order to save enough money to take trips to see my friends that I missed so dearly. I worked hard to find myself again, blogging about life and the “adventures” I had meeting new people and traveling for work, but in the end, these corporate trips were not sufficiently scratching the itch that the travel bug was constantly giving me. So 3 years into my career I took my first real vacation, one in which I made my first skydive, and had my eyes opened to what life really has to offer – what it means to truly be alive. It showed me what I was missing, that there’s more to life than getting ahead in the corporate world, that life needs more facets than just career success.

Skydiving presented a new personal challenge, and a new challenge is just what I needed…something to keep me on my toes, something to remind me that I’m alive! It showed me just how strong I am, just how much I am capable of overcoming – it showed me that I can do just about anything I set my mind to. Never did I imagine that I would learn so much about myself in such a small amount of time. Skydiving freed my soul from the confines of those things that are proper in life, the boundaries and the you shoulds that are forced upon you throughout your childhood and into your adult life. Skydiving showed me that you never really have to grow up!

Though it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, let me tell you that. Skydiving presented some hard lessons along the way too. I quickly learned what it means to not be invincible, that bad things can happen to anyone if you get complacent. These lessons presented themselves in the sky and on the ground. The community surrounding the sport taught me the importance of heightened awareness – keep your eyes and heart open, be prepared for the unexpected, you never know when a fellow jumper might make that wrong turn under canopy, but you might be surprised with whom you make deeper connections. For me, I was able to meet, fall in love with, and get engaged to my best friend and the love of my life because I was involved in skydiving and open to new experiences. I’ve also been able to meet and connect with a number of incredible skydivers with hearts larger than even SkyGod’s ego. Experiences I wouldn’t trade for the world!

Above all else, skydiving has taught me the importance of being a part of something greater than myself. It’s shown me how critical the community around you is to your well-being. There needs to be a sense of trust and understanding with those whom you share the sky. As skydivers, we inherently understand what makes each other tick, our common bond is one that the majority of the world will never understand. I’ve found that this sense of togetherness is strengthened when the community joins to support a cause that goes beyond that of the individual skydiver and truly tugs at your soul. Coordinating Jump for Diabetes this year gave me a glimpse of the immense generosity of the individuals within the skydiving community. It was so incredibly heart-warming to see so many manufactures, skydivers and their family and friends come out to support a cause that is greater than all of us combined. It speaks volumes about the type of people the sport attracts, and further solidifies why I continue to be drawn to the skydiving community.

What all these lessons from the world of skydiving have in common is this: be passionate. Having passion for something, anything (whether it’s skydiving, or tending a garden, or raising a family, or a multitude of life’s treasures) makes life fulfilling. Passion gives you something to live for, it provides motivation, it gives you a better sense of who you are as a person; a living, breathing human being who is on this Earth for a reason. Since I started skydiving little more than a year ago, I’ve found that I live my life with purpose. There are numerous facets of Ashley that I’m proud to admit have all become priority – friends, family, travel, career, new experiences, photography, writing, health & wellness, and of course, skydiving – these are all things for which I have great love and passion. Skydiving continues to teach me about the person that I want to be, and one step at a time it’s helping me get there.

So tell us dear readers, how has skydiving changed your life?

Love and Blue Skies!

Ashley