Safety Day Recap

This year I attended Safety Day at two different dropzones. I’m lucky to live in an area where there are two high-quality establishments, each with their own unique community, but both having incredible staff and instructors.

Last weekend I headed down to Skydive Chicago after work on Friday. I made it in time for the break out sessions, learned about safety and emergency aircraft procedures, sat in on a canopy and emergency refresher and finished the evening with a discussion on planning a dive. The break out sessions were really nice in that it gave you a chance to ask more specific questions on particular subjects that you might not feel as comfortable asking in the larger group. It was also a way to be more hands on, practicing emergency canopy procedures and the like.

After the sessions it was time to hang out, eat, drink, and socialize, which took place right on site in the SDC lounge. They sure to have some nice facilities.

This weekend was Safety Day at Chicagoland Skydiving Center (CSC) at it’s new location in Rochelle, IL. Moving a dropzone is no easy task (not that I’m speaking from first-hand knowledge here, but from what I heard, it was a challenge) but plans for the new facilities are well underway and we have a temporary hangar in the meantime.

The day started with a refresher course led by Barry Williams, the head of Freefall University. Arriving in style (or rather, a couple hours late) I only caught two of the breakouts, but it was nice to see an arial of the new DZ and talk about outs, canopy control, etc.

The “official” safety day presentation was held lecture style, with presentations from a number of the staff talking about the new location, plans, aircraft, wingsuiting, fatalities, and more.

What I found interesting was a look at fatalities and the trends over time. We’re lucky to be at a place now where there are more USPA members than ever and less fatalities. This speaks volumes about the education and focus on safety in this sport. More than that, in the 70s and 80s there were a significant number of deaths due to low or no pull situations. These days, most fatalities have to do with canopy flight.

Looking at percentages from last year, 70% of the fatalities happened when equipment was completely fine. Scary huh. Between swooping and low turn accidents, to canopy collisions and unawareness, these types of issues could have been completely avoidable.

One thing that struck me between the two Safety Days was that there was a large focus on canopy skills. Emergency procedures were reviewed as always, but there just seemed to be this extra emphasis on ensuring safety from tracking away and deployment all the way back to being in the hangar. One of the instructors said it best, “the skydive isn’t over till you’re back in the hangar and packing up for that next jump.” Awareness and landing patterns where discussed and it was stressed more times than not to understand the canopy you’re flying and how to approach scary situations close to the ground.

Personally, a canopy course (or two) are at the top of my to-do list this season. Though I’m a small person, I’m flying a 120 square foot canopy – that’s high performance no matter which way you slice it – and I want to know everything I possibly can about the fabric that’s over my head and how to use it safely.

Having been in the sport for 2 full seasons, spending plenty of time on the ground (I am a wind pussy, after all) at dropzones and boogies around the country, I can’t recommend a solid canopy course enough. You never know when you’re going to need some last minute tips that could save your life, and the lives of your fellow jumpers.

:: off soapbox now ::

Hopefully everyone was able to attend Safety Day this year – or at least a refresher course with an instructor. This time of the year, nerves can get the best of you if you’re not prepared.

Hope to see everyone in the sky again soon.

Blue ones!

Ashley

I’d rather be skydiving: Segway Edition

For my regular readers, y’all are aware of the fact that I recently made a rather hefty life change and moved back to the Midwest (as I grew up a Michigander), to the city of Chicago. Though we’ve only been here two weeks, I can already tell you that I’m loving it!

This past weekend Rick and I decided to be tourists in our new town and go on a segway tour of the city. I know it’s sounds insanely cheesy coming from the mouth (er, uh, I suppose it would be fingers in this instance) of a skydiver, but this was incredibly fun!

This is what a segway looks like, for those who might not be familiar. And yes, we wore the ridiculous looking helmets.

Our reservations were on Saturday, which ended up being the perfect fall day, and we spent three hours on these machines touring the city without breaking a sweat.

We were able to cover somewhere between 8 and 10 miles and catch the Chicago sights, including:

Soldier Field

Grant Park and Buckingham Fountain

Shedd Aquarium and Museum Campus

Alder Planetarium - which boasts the best view of the Chicago skyline

Millennium Park and the most photographed piece of art in Chicago - Bonus points for those who actually know the name of "the bean"

And they even stopped just outside of museum campus to let us chow down on a Chicago Dog:

If you've never had one, they're a must try!

Of course, the weekend wasn’t complete without a trip to the dropzone where, as I mentioned earlier this week, I got my new canopy all hooked up, flew it for and packed it. Maybe in the near future I’ll do a post on tips for packing new canopies…though in the meantime if you know of any, please send them my way, that thing is a bitch to pack!

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