Hear it from the Expert – Melanie Curtis

Well, it’s that time of year again. Winter has set in (and a very cold one at that  here in Chicago). So while this skydive chick sits on the ground until things warm up a bit, we’re going to continue to let the skydiving coverstation fly.

So what a better time to start hearing from some of the hottest experts in the community, shall we?

Hot is right, with this first interview! As some may recall, I took a trip out to Elsinore in October for the Chicks Rock boogie and was able to meet and fly with some of the coolest skydive chicks around.

And we’ve got one of my faves right here on the page with us today. I’ll let the interview speak for itself, but I can tell you that she’s high energy and even has a bit of a mouth on her…and it’s absolutely impossible NOT to love her.

So please, welcome to the blog, Melanie Curtis.

(Borrowed this from Facebook, hope you don’t mind Mel)

SDC: Alright Ms. Melanie, let’s start with the basics – when did you start skydiving and what’s your “story” on getting into this sport?

MC: My Dad actually owned a small drop zone in upstate New York for many years called The Verona Skydiving Center.  I was lucky enough to be exposed to skydiving at a young age, could have done it when I was 16, but was scared, wasn’t ready.. when I was 18, something in my flipped and I was ready.  Told my Dad I was going to do it the next day, I did, and so it happened that the entirety of my adult life was spent fully immersed in my love of this sport and community.

SDC: For those of us who have jumped with you, we all know that you do a little bit of everything, even swooping. So tell us, what is your favorite discipline?

MC: Currently, my favorite discipline is 4-way VFS, because it’s still quite a bit of a challenge for me, I don’t feel that good at it yet, and with the bigger gap open for improvement, so is the opening for feeling awesome when you rock it. Outside of that though, pretty much my only personal goal in skydiving now is to only surround myself with awesome, hilarious people I love.  Seriously.  I’m not kidding.  That’s for team stuff– awesome, hilarious, teammates I love, only. Professionally, I love going to/working at/organizing major events– I love that I get to meet and jump with a million new people, ever expanding the connection with awesome hilarious people I love.  Hahaa, but seriously! I’m so so so all about that. On top of the obvious fun of travel, experiencing the country/world, and enjoying the skies and views from so many beautiful places.  Man, I’m grateful.

SDC: Is there anything you haven’t tried yet that you really want to (like, have you wingsuited or BASE jumped)?

MC: I have tried wingsuiting, did about 20 jumps, had a hard pull and a reserve ride, and then hung it up for good.  I tried it because of the awesome organizers (Taya Weiss, Jeff Nebelkopf, Phil Peggs, etc) of the Wingsuit Records held at Elsinore.. but yeah, I don’t like having my limbs restricted like that, and honestly, overall, am a very risk-averse skydiver. As for BASE, I have no desire.  Zip, zilch, nada.  The videos totally turn my stomach.  I get no enjoyment out of increased risk– I like to calculate my risk to a point of feeling as safe as one can feel inside the skydiving environment.  I love my life, so I make choices to protect it, and for me, that boxes out certain things.  Totally appreciate that others love it, that it’s incredible in it’s own right, and that maybe down that line I’ll change my mind.. yeah, all good.. as of now though, I’m happy pushing myself in the competitive arena, and in coaching, very simply, helping people have more fun.

SDC: Aside from Elsinore and the Chick’s Rock boogie (cuz we all know that’s the best one around), what are some of your favorite dropzones and Boogies?

MC: CarolinaFest is amazing!! James LaBarrie and DZO’s Danny and Annette Smith put on a fantastic show, awesome people, great night life, fun extras, awesome organizers (hehee), extra aircraft, all the vendors, Rodriguez Brothers initiations, any discipline of skydiving covered.. everything.  Even though it’s a co-ed event, we’ve started calling it the Chicks Rock of the East.. cause the vibe is just so awesome, welcoming, loving, and fun.  Hell yes.  Other than that, in 2010, the Pimp My Fly Boogie in Hanko, Finland was INCREDIBLE!! What an amazing nearly week-long event these girls put on to inspire the lady freefliers of Finland.  SO grateful to be a part of that one, and can’t wait for 2011!!

SDC: We just missed that event last year, having spent a long weekend in South Carolina only a couple weeks prior. But you’re so right about everyone there – definitely a place we plan to visit again soon…maybe for the boogie!

Any place/event you really want to attend but haven’t yet?

MC: I’ve never been to Empuriabrava.. not sure what’s there really, I guess the draw of the exotic foreign location is appealing to me…. taps into that bug of wanting to see the world.  I guess Dubai is on the list now too!

BASE Week: Rick Simenc

Well, this is the last day of BASE Week, and after an interview with Miles D, how can it get much better?

Let me tell you how…with an interview from my freefly partner! He’s also a former BASE jumper so it ties in .

*Photo by Ashley Mead

Y’all have heard so much about Rick in the past 9 months or so, it’s only fitting that you have a chance to hear the facts straight from him. Some of you may have read the article in the Jan/Feb issue of Blue Skies Mag that discusses diabetes in the world of adrenaline sports – this interview is nothing like that. We’re keeping the topics on the lighter side today.

I struggled with these questions, Rick, as the regular readers pretty much know the basics about your current skydiving career – aside from those days you sneak off to jump without me

That aside, I think I’ve come up with some compelling questions to get your wheels turning and keep the readers entertained. So, here goes nothing!

SDC: Let’s start with the standard question – how did you get your start in skydiving?

RS: To make a very long story short, from day one on this planet I’ve been the epitome of spontaneity and this was one of those last minute choices .  I told myself I was going to go skydiving. So I did a static line jump for my 18th birthday.

SDC: Obviously we know your favorite discipline is freefly, but tell us why.

RS: I guess because I’m the black sheep.

SDC: Ah, “dark side” – black sheep. Makes sense. Regular readers know that we travel a lot, tell us about your favorite trip, dropzone, experience – whatever.

RS: Here comes the cheese….I will have to say that my first date with Beans (aka SkydiveChick, aka Ashley) is my most memorable skydiving trip. We went to the Work Stinks boogie last September. Too much fun! All beer has already been drunk! Our first 2-way head-down, first Heli-jump, Ashley’s first sit-fly, my first otter and our first boogie.

SDC: Aw, that’s sweet! Y’all remember this picture I assume!

*Photo by Norman Kent

SDC: You were once a regular BASE jumper. What triggered the switch to skydiving?

RS: I wanted the dirt to look smaller.

SDC: Alright, now I’m really going to put you on the spot…what’s your favorite part about being my freefly partner? (yep, I’m making this one about me…I know you can respect that )

RS: Reverse cowgirl.. LOL! I love when you ride me out the door!!

SDC: Hahaha! For those who are unaware of what he’s talking about, see the video below!

SDC: We’ve had a lot of great opportunities over the past year, what are some of the things you’re looking forward / hoping to accomplish to this season?

RS: My 500th, D license, coach and pro-rating

SDC: Jump for Diabetes is fast approaching! Tell us a little about where the idea came from and how you made it work last year.

RS: The idea came from another fundraiser that was held at a DZ in Omro,Wi while was still a student. It involved jumping out of planes, raising funds and promoting awareness for Lupus. It was fun for all and it was a good cause. I told myself, when I’m able to stay on my feet when landing, I will coordinate an event like that one and try to do the same as them. And I gave it a shot…WTF, ya know?

I’m really looking forward to this years event. I’m very lucky to have Beans and Apt3 Studios on the Jump for Diabetes team. This years event would not be happening if you guys didn’t step up.. PROPS!!

SDC: What is your most memorable skydiving experience so far?

RS: Probably sit’n relative with you.

SDC: So as one of those freeflyers who falls into that oh-so-subjective “intermediate” category, and the person who taught me how to sitfly, let’s hear your advice to all those aspiring freeflyers out there.

RS: Challenge yourself and don’t give up. When you think you’ve done everything you can to get it.. and don’t, push yourself to keep going and achieve your goal. Once you get it, you get it.

SDC: Anything you’d like to add?

RS: It’s been 3 days and I’m jones’n for some ff (freefall).

Thanks, Rick. This was fun.

For anyone who was curious about something and didn’t find out in this interview, feel free to send questions my way. After all, we do live under the same roof.

Blue skies!

Ashley

BASE WEEK with Miles Daisher

Welcome back to BASE week! Today we’re going to hear from one of the most visible characters in BASE jumping.

If you’rve heard of BASE, you’ve heard of this guy. That’s right kids, it’s Miles Daisher!

*Photo credit unavailable as I borrowed this from his Facebook page. Hope that’s alright. But this is one wicked picture!

I feel so honored to have the chance to chat with Miles and find out more about what makes him tick. So let’s have at it shall we?

SDC: So let’s dive right in with the standard first question: how and when did you get your start in skydiving? Tell us your story…

MD: I became addicted to skydiving September 6, 1995.  I’d always wanted to try it and when my roommate Frank “The Gambler” Gambalie (skydiver, BASE jumper and hero) told me where to go, I booked an AFF (Accelerated Free Fall) course at Skydance Skydiving center in Davis, California. Three days of classroom and coached jumping while passing all of my 7 level jumps to begin hucking my monkey from scareplanes on my own.  Since then I’ve quit all previous jobs I’ve had (a variety of all types) and focused on keeping myself in the parachuting world.

SDC: That’s pretty incredible! I’m a huge believer in following your passions and doing what you love, all the time. Your story is a great example of that. I’m sure a lot of people out there envy that – and I’m sure you hear that all the time

SDC: So when and how did you transition to BASE?

MD: Watching Frank’s BASE videos was always really cool.  When I saw one in particular of a jump from the Troll Spire on the Great Troll wall in Norway where Frank jumped and tracked away from the wall for 26 second before pulling his pilot chute to open his parachute.  He was flying his body away from the wall and this sparked my interest to get involved with fixed object parachuting.  From the EARTH!  I’ve lived my dream and have had the opportunity to jump the Troll wall from Frank’s exit point, the Troll Spire.  This was one of the pinnacle jumps that I’ve ever done!

I started on bridges that were the safest things to jump in case your opening faces a direction other than the heading that you choose.  If you have a 180 degree off heading opening on a cliff or a building you will have only an instant to correct the direction your parachute is flying before you strike or hit the object you jumped from.  With a 20 MPH forward speed on these canopies we fly, things can happen fast and usually do.  Bridges are the safest way to start.  I take baby steps with every goal I have so I may enjoy the ride to conquer each challenge as safe as possible.

SDC: Do you frequently get to skydive these days or are you all BASE all the time?

MD: I still Skydive quite a bit.  I LOVE it.  Compared to BASE jumping, Skydiving is a fun time, walk in the park where you get to dance in the sky with your friends.  Also you can train to do many things for BASE jumping while having a safe amount of time in the air as well as more time to dial in tricks and ways to fly your body more proficiently while skydiving.  I also perform Demonstration jumps with the Red Bull Air Force from aircraft.  I’ve even started a new sport called Skyaking (see picture above) that involves skydiving while in a kayak.  The freefall can be tricky but I think I’ve got a good handle on this now and the landings are really fun.  Swooping into a lake, river or even a ditch while strapped in a Skayak is always a great time!

SDC: That’s incredible – I’ve seen some of the videos of this and you can’t help but smile while watching you having a blast up there, in a kayak! Where do you do most of your skydiving these days – where do you consider your “home DZ” I suppose?

MD: I’ve had a few different home DZs.  I started in Skydance Skydiving then moved to Lodi for years.  Then I learned to do tandems and packed a bunch at Skydive Lake Tahoe when I became a professional parachutist. It is hard for me to call one place my home DZ.  Nowadays I’ll call the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls Idaho my home DZ as I do more BASE jumps than anything else.  Or anyone else, because I can here in this BASE jumping friendly environment.  At 2,669 BASE jumps I’m catching up to the 3,100 skydives I’ve done. Last spring I’d call Sebastian Florida my home DZ.  I must say that I’ve been SUPER fortunate to be able to call Lauterbrunnen Switzerland my home DZ last summer as we’ve (Red Bull Air Force) been shooting a 3D movie called Human Flight for a few months.  Check out humanflight3dmovie.com to see some of what we were up to.  Mostly big wall proximity flying with squirrel suits. I’d have to say it is tough to point a finger at one DZ to call home when I love to visit them all.

SDC: We’ve all seen at least one Miles D video and there’s always one common denominator – you are very high energy! What’s your secret?

MD: The secret to the high energy I have while skydiving and BASE jumping is this . . . When you do things you are passionate about, you do them 115%, or put everything into them.  When you love what you do, you get excited about it.  For me and this instance, I find it really easy to get excited about flying parachutes and my body through the air.  It is super sensory overload for me.  I love it!  Then there is the rest of my life where my mom would always tell me to settle down and stay still which I’m still not truly understanding why and what she really means by this.  As well as the fact that I love the Red Bull energy drink that keeps my vitamin B levels up to where I enjoy them.  Caffeine is good for you too if you like to get after stuff.  I guess the ADD in me is a good thing and I’ve harnessed the power of it and sustained for life with some help drinking the right stuff.

SDC: What is one of the most memorable experiences you’ve had in this sport?

MD: I’ve had many super memorable moments in the air with my friends.  One that really let’s me feel that I can conquer anything and do anything if I put my mind to it as well as enjoy each moment to the fullest, is when I did a 2 way with Shane McConkey (my best friend and BASE partner) from the Troll wall in our squirrel suits to actually live the dream and experience the reason I’ve been driving so hard and learning so much to safely get to where I am today.  We jumped together at sunset after our Norwegian friends showed us the way to the top and flew for what seemed like forever.  Shane shot video of me and I just looked around and soaked it all in.  I didn’t even fly well and wasn’t really trying to.  I was enjoying the moment the entire day!  Shane was yelling at me to Go man Go! and was buzzing around me like a bee trying to get me to fly faster but I just smiled and thought about The Gambler and the good times we’ve all had together.  Then after we landed in a field by the road, I hid behind a hay stack because the jump we did wasn’t exactly legal.  Shane made fun of me and did the most hilarious John Belushi impersonation while in the wide open field, running side to side and diving on the ground to hide.  Then he’d get up again and run side to side and dive on the ground to make fun of how stupidly paranoid I was of getting caught. We laughed for hours on this while we had pizza in the landing area with our Norwegian BASE tour guides toasting a few beers as the sun disappeared on us.

Ahhhhhh the stuff dreams are made of. That’s for sure.

SDC: That sounds amazing. That’s one thing about parachuting I’ve come to love the most – experiencing these moments with good friends. There’s nothing quite like it! Aside from Bridge Day, what are some of the must-attend boogies and events in the skydiving and BASE world?

MD: If you ever get a chance to go to Malaysia to jump the KL Tower, DO IT!  To me this event is the funnest.  That is a word too. It’s a multi day BASE boogie with cultural celebrations and all the jumps you can handle off the 1,000 ft tower.  There is an organized multi week tour that travels the country and has demonstration jumps at many different buildings.  I’d like to have enough time to do this someday but the KL Tower is the crowned jewel of the trip from what I hear.  I’m trying to get myself organized up on this adventure again this year.

SDC: Malaysia has always been a place I’ve wanted to visit. Maybe now there’s another reason…What’s the best piece of advice (related to skydiving/BASE jumping or not) that you’ve ever been given?

MD: The best advice I’ve gotten in my life is “Pay Attention!”  You can learn a lot by observing.  Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut.  Unless you have a question of course.  Many people want to get into BASE and start hucking flips and do cool tricks right away.  Best thing you can do is to get your FUNdamentals dialed in and perfected before starting to get rad.  When you do want to learn something new, break it down into pieces and practice each part so that your motor muscle memory can save you when your brain doesn’t.  Baby steps take longer to do but will get you to your goals safer than going full tilt taking chances and missing out on the Journey that is ever so important and a big part of the whole big picture.

SDC: With the amount you have on your plate you must have a very supportive family?

MD: I gotta give huge props to my wife Nikki and children.  I don’t know where I’d be without their support and trust and faith in me and what I do.  My lifestyle is kinda crazy in the (not so) real world of normalcy.  I have a crazy schedule that is subject to change at a few days notice.  Hard to make every soccer game, gymnastics meet and even birthday party.  We all support each other like a team.  I’m super blessed to have such an understanding and helpful family who has my back no matter what.  The same thing said for me to them.  I don’t take unnecessary risks even when I’m doing the “crazy” stuff I do. There is a method to my madness. I plan on sticking around for years and years to be able to brag up the good times with great friends and give my kids as much grief as possible unless they remain the almost perfect angels that they are for the rest of their lives.  I try to surround myself with good people and abide by the great words of Bill and Ted on their adventures “Be excellent to each other.”  This would be the one moment where my wife would not support me in my cheesiness as she thinks I’m a dork sometimes.  The thing is, she is right and I’m glad she can keep it real too.  I can handle it when I’m right and she can’t seem to appreciate the goodness of a quality movie I believe in.

SDC: So for all those aspiring BASE jumpers out there here’s one you’ll appreciate: If you could give one piece of advice to newbie BASE jumpers, what would it be?

MD: If you would like to learn to BASE jump, come check me out at Miles D’s BASE Camp and learn a safe approach to a dangerous sport. Or at least take your time while you PAY ATTENTION to the do’s more than the don’ts of the sport.  Know what can go wrong and be ready for anything but plant the super positive seed in your head to ready yourself for the perfect outcome of every jump.  Not false confidence but know what you have to do to make the perfect landing happen every time you step off the Earth.  The biggest thing is to know your gear, it’s tendencies and how to make it do the right thing . . . land safe.

Blue skies!  Rock On!

Thanks Miles! This was a treat!

I highly recommend checking out any and all of Miles’ videos – it’s some good stuff.

Blue ones!

Ashley

An Interview with Norman Kent – Part 1

In keeping with my semi-weekly column of Hear it from the Expert, I am proud to say we have quite the expert here to inspire us today.

Last week I was blessed with the opportunity to sit down and chat with renowned photographer Norman Kent. He allowed me to pick his brain for a couple hours and he enlightened me with some of the incredible stories of his life as a skydiver and photographer.

*NormanKent.com

This interview really only scratches the surface of our discussion, which I’m sure only minutely touches on the life that he’s led, but I wanted to share with everyone some of the amazing things that were shared with me through the eyes of this accomplished individual.

Below is part 1 of the interview with Norman Kent. As I mentioned above, we chatted for quite some time and I wanted to capture as much as I could – after all, it’s not often that opportunities like this one come around!

SDC: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview, Norman. After having chatted with you briefly at the Work Stinks Boogie this year I remember saying to myself, “I’d love to sit down and pick that guy’s brain some day,” so this is a great opportunity to do that.

NK: Yeah, that’s awesome. It’s my pleasure to do this for you.

SDC: So let’s start out with the obvious question, when and how did you get your start in skydiving?

NK: I did my first jump on Aug 24, 1975. It was a static line jump. I think this is a very common story. It was meant to be a birthday gift to myself, and I was going to do it only once. Well, I was offered a 5 jump package for pretty cheap, and I refused. Like anything else the first jump was the most expensive, like two-thirds of the cost, and the other four were fairly inexpensive, but I refused because I figured I was only going to do it once. Then I jumped and it was instant love and I knew it was something I was going to do forever. The first thing I said to my friends when I landed was that I was going to do this for the rest of my life. And that’s how it all started.

SDC: Yeah, that seems to be a pretty typical story. Not many people go into their first jump already saying “this is something I’ll be doing for the rest of my life.” It’s a cool feeling when you get back on the ground and all you want is to do it again. So with all the traveling you do, where do you consider to be your home dropzone?

NK: My home dropzone is Earth, that’s the way I look at it. Though technically my home dropzone is Skydive Deland.  Because I had seen other DZs going for records and things like that, I realized that I didn’t want to be in one place only and get involved in the politics in that once place. As you stay in one place long enough you see and get involved in the politics of that place. So I thought, every place I go could be a new place and you always see all the good stuff from the outside and experience the awesome place for these short periods of time. I figured that’s sort of the world I wanted to live in, I really get to see all the good things about all the places I jump. That’s not really how I planned it, but that’s sort of how it played itself out, so that’s when I decided that my home dropzone was Earth.

SDC: I’ve noticed you do a lot of freefly photography for world records and stuff, do you consider that your favorite discipline?

NK: No. And let me clarify that.

When I first started skydiving I was already a photographer. I fell in love with photography the same way I fell in love with skydiving, with a specific event that inspired me. With no training and no schooling, I knew what I wanted, and I wanted to communicate the things I saw and experienced in life.

With skydiving, photography really became the priority for me. I always said if I had to choose one for some reason, if someone said to me, “you can’t have so much fun” and I had to choose [between skydiving and photography], I would pick photography.

With that said, my motivation in skydiving is photography. It’s the visual capturing of the sport. I also feel that it’s a sport that I love so much that provides very unique visuals. I feel very blessed to be able to see and capture light the way that I understand it. And I feel in a lot of ways that skydivers and non skydivers alike miss out on it and that’s what my motivation is, to communicate it. Meaning that skydivers are so focused on the jump, the grips, the formation, the skydiving elements of it, even though they’re enjoying and they understand what an amazing thing they’re doing, which is part of the turn on of it, they’re really missing out on how we look as far as people playing in the playground, Earth.

The second element is that the non-skydiver doesn’t really get to understand that unless they skydive, and then again they only get to understand it from a skydivers point of view. So to me the motivation is to show the world of skydiving to a non-skydiving audience in the form of beauty which they can understand – rather than in the form of “how many points did we have,” well they don’t really care, but they just want to look at it as “wow that’s amazing, that’s a lot of people, and wow look at the clouds, and wow where were you?” and that’s what they care about.

Because of that, I want to shoot everything in the sport - freeflying just happens to be one of the dynamic new elements of the sport, and it actually represents a problem for me in the sense that the sport has diversified and branched off in so many directions that it’s hard for me to keep up with all of it and that’s one of the biggest challenges for me. If I want to shoot all of it as far as the sport is concerned, then I need to do a little bit of all of it, and freefly is one of the most challenging things so I spend a little bit more time doing that. In fact I’m constantly training the in tunnels in order to get better and stay with the dynamics of the sport.

So yes, I do a lot of freefly because it is very dynamic and it’s challenging and I love it, but I love it just as much as any other part of the sport. I just spend more time doing it because I find belly flying really easy. I’ve done it for many years and also, physically speaking, it’s so much easier to do that I don’t need to spend so much time doing it and I can pick it up right away, even if I haven’t done it for a little bit. And the reason is because of the physics of it…for instance, in freeflying, you’re leading with your head, so any kind of head movement to point the camera in a different direction for composition, results in a change in direction in flight, or you must alter your body position drastically to continue your same direction. This is more of a challenge, and you’re also dealing with faster speeds and consequently a higher degree of difficulty and of risk. So that’s one of the reasons I spend more of my time freeflying. I love all of those challenges from that, so you could say it is one of my favorites. But really, a lot of the reasons why I do that is motivated by the photography. I want to do whatever it takes to not let freeflying pull away to where I can’t participate in the state of the art, cutting edge things that are happening like records and things like that.

SDC: That’s great! I was actually going to ask next which came first, skydiving or photography and you beat me to that. Tell us a little about how the two merged…

NK: Photography happened for me the same way skydiving did. I found myself in a situation where I said, “wow, this is what I want to do,” and I was a photographer instantly. It took a long time to really make it pay off in terms of money and all that, but the passion was there and I wasn’t turning back. Then of course when skydiving happened, it was a similar thing.

So there was this passion for shooting and passion for skydiving and I couldn’t wait to merge the two. I remember I wanted to jump a helmet with my static line jumps, and of course they wouldn’t let me. My first [camera] jump was jump 23, and with static line I didn’t have much freefall under my belt, but I was in a hurry because all I could think of was shooting this wonderful world. And that’s how it all started as far as putting the two of them together.

SDC: Who has inspired you as a skydiver?

NK: I’d have to say that I don’t have a specific person who acted as a mentor to me so much as I’m inspired by a specific type of person: anyone that’s willing to go the distance and go all out for their feelings and become a champion on a project or record. These people aren’t necessarily ego oriented, but are in search of a dream.  Of course, I look up to the pioneers in the sport – some of those whose names have gotten left behind in the sport, but people who have helped make it what it is today.

I do have my mentors and the people that made a huge difference for me in photography, but in skydiving it’s almost like I had so much support and I had so many experiences with so many cool people that it’s almost a breed of people [rather than specific mentors].

SDC: We talked a little about your experience with freefly, but tell us, what have your experiences been with other disciplines like wingsuiting.

NK: As I said before, I’m interested in every part of the sport. But I should define what really has worked for me and what hasn’t. Anything that has to do with regular belly flying, whether it’s competitions or large formations, it’s all sorta the same. I’m a certain quality of flyer. I’ve shot some style, but it hasn’t attracted me as much. I shot LOTS of freestyle because I was married to Deanna who was one of the pioneers who pretty much created that. Wingsuit I do also. I shot the 71 way record and if you go to my website you can see some amazing pictures of that. I’m not as current on that as I am on other disciplines, but it’s very dynamic and I love it.

*Photo by Norman Kent, NormanKent.com

One thing that I completely turn my back on for survival reasons is swooping. One of the reasons is because to shoot swooping, you don’t have to be a swooper, a lot of it happens near ground level. So I didn’t want to have to keep up with that. But because of the danger I didn’t want to go that route, especially when I’m not going to be approaching it as a specialization. Something that dangerous should be a specialization, not just as every once in a while visiting it.

And on top of that because my priority is in surviving the deployment with my big helmet, sometimes my helmet weights up to 32 pounds when I’m doing movie work, and so when that happens I need to have a specific parachute and a specific way it’s set up, and it’s completely not consistent with the kind of canopies you need for swooping. So slowly that’s left me behind and I’ve decided not to chase it; the parachute for me is a survival device. But most of the other disciplines I practice and love, both for photographing and participating in.

SDC: I remember thinking to myself at the Work Stinks Boogie, “how does he hold his head up with that camera helmet on, let alone skydive with it.” But I guess it’s something you get used to over time.

NK: Yeah that’s exactly how it is, you figure it out. If you really think about it, the analogy I use is one that most skydivers can relate to which is skydiving is looked at the same way by non skydivers, like “how can you do that.”

And then the skydiver goes “well what do you mean?” To us it’s pretty normal.

What you’ve done is turned something that wasn’t normal into something normal by simply understanding it, practicing it, getting comfortable with it. And at that point it becomes a normal part of your life and what you consider comfort level, and then, it’s really not that crazy at that point. And so the same things happen with a helmet. The reason why it’s considered crazier is just because it’s less common that people have on a huge helmet like that and the size appears to be not as necessary. But you have the same thing, you get used to it, you make it normal, you understand it, then you have a relationship with it that to you makes it not so crazy. That’s sort of the same with any sport and anything else.

To be honest with you, my theory is that that is the addiction in our sport and the addiction of anything like that. Meaning, the addiction is taking something that seems abnormal, you work it out physically and mentally so that it becomes normal, and now you’re living in this world that’s completely extraordinary, but you are in a comfort zone there to a certain extent. And when you do that, then you add something else and start tackling more disciplines to engage your mind.

…stay tuned on Friday for part 2 of my interview with Norman Kent and learn a little more about his career, the practices and techniques he recommends for skydivers, and one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever heard.

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Hear it from the Expert: Traventure Man

Happy Friday, y’all! You know what that means, it’s time to hear it from the expert.

To celebrate the first week back from the holidays, I asked a friend of mine who’s working on an incredible online adventure project to chat with me about what he’s got going on.

As you’ll see, I reversed the roles a bit and made him the interviewee. It’s a long one this week, but I recommend taking a break on this snowy day, curling up with your cup of joe and diving in head first. You won’t be disappointed.

So let’s get to it. Today we’re talking with John Jurko – the writer, producer and creator of Traventure Man (TM).

*Photo by Sandy Weltman

Hey John!

TM: Hey Ashley, first off I want to thank you for all of the support you have given me on your blog. I’ve been keeping up on your posts ever since we met, and you have a great thing going on here. I’m sure there are a lot of skydivers out there that appreciate your perspective, so keep up the good work!

SDC: Thanks John! I really admire what you’ve got going on over at Traventure Man. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about that.

TM: Where to start… Traventure Man in concept is an online interactive Travel and Adventure show. The finished web site will allow viewers to communicate with me through blog comments, Twitter and Live Ustream video casts. The audience will be able to participate in the making of episodes and the asking of questions in live interviews. Eventually I hope to be travelling around the world visiting cities and natural wonders while shooting episodes with a focus on adventure related sports and activities. I want to bring awareness to adventure lifestyles and world cultures. Using social media I want to make the process as real-time and interactive as possible for the viewer.

The three main goals of Traventure man are to inspire, educate and entertain its viewers and participants. I want to show people that anything is possible, and I want to educate them on how they can restructure their lives with a balance that includes the spirit of discovery and a connection with the world around them. Ambitious maybe, but it’s what keeps me plugging away into the unknown.

Traventure Man is still in its early stages, and most of my recent exploits have been more like experiments and test drives than the making of real episodes.

SDC: This is a great idea – clearly it’s something I’ve become a huge advocate for. What inspired you to start this venture?

TM: I came up with the concept of the web show this past summer as a way to combine my interests of adventure and filmmaking. I was inspired by a couple of blogs that I began following in late ’08 – Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV and Nick Campbell’s Grey Scale Gorilla. I realized that the format of a blog would give me the capability to start my own show and iron out things as I went along. I can produce my own content and put together my own web site, and as it becomes more popular I can seek out sponsors and advertisers to help kick it up a notch.

Right now I’m only a couple of months into making Traventure Man a reality. I have already learned a ton. One thing that I have realized is that it’s not a good idea to try and turn a vacation with family and friends into a Traventure Man episode. It never really works out, due to time constraints and the fact that everyone just wants to relax. I’ve also learned that my current equipment setup is not great for keeping things mobile. I’m planning on selling some of my gear and investing in a smaller video camera in the near future. I’ve also realize that I need other people to collaborate with. I originally got caught up in attempting to put together a website that was out of my league in terms of programming. But now I have a great designer who will be putting the full-featured web site together after the holidays.

Despite any setbacks I have had I am extremely excited for the future of Traventure Man. I have the mindset that there can be no failures in this process, only learning experiences. I’ve finally found a way to combine my passions and put them together in a format that I believe will eventually allow me to support myself and grow.

SDC: Can you tell us some of the things you’ve got your sites set on for future posts or is that top secret?

TM: No secrets here Right now I’m hoping to put together a 3 month tour of the United States this summer. I want to focus on adventure sports such as skydiving, BASE jumping, kayaking, rock climbing, surfing, and everything in between. My goal is to setup some great interviews with beginner, intermediate and professional athletes in each of these areas, and then go out with them into their environment and video tape the experience.

Until then I will probably do a lot of blog posts on climbing, which I recently got into, and general adventure news that I pick up as I research and learn. Once the new website is up I hope to keep up three posts per week. Once I’m on the road I hope to be posting new photos, videos and blog entries every day. Right now it’s just a battle between making enough money to survive, putting together the new web site, learning more about adventure sports, and learning how to get my own sponsors and advertisers.

SDC: So let’s ask the question that all the readers are dying to know (ha!), how did you meet me, Ashley, the Skydive Chick?

TM: Great Question! Our first encounter was through Twitter. My first real Traventure was to Bridge Day in West Virginia this past October – which also happened to have it’s own Twitter handle. So a couple of days before the event I Tweeted that I was looking for people that would be willing to do an interview. You agreed to participate and we met up near the Landing Zone on Bridge Day. You did an awesome job answering my questions, and I’m planning on finishing that little episode when I get home from the holidays.

SDC: On a side note, I’m super excited to see the final episode. What a great experience that was – both Bridge Day and meeting John in person. Here’s the link to a two minute teaser that was put together. The initial footage looks awesome! Okay, now back to the interrogation!

SDC: What first sparked your interest in skydiving?

TM: I lived a bit of a sheltered life growing up, but I loved walking through the woods and dreaming about adventure. I think that I always knew one day I would go skydiving, I just never set a date. After meeting at Bridge Day, I thought about your offer to jump with me at Canton Air Sports and that Rick would video it for my website and I realized, no time is better than now. I emailed you and called CAS to setup my first skydive! Wow, was it an amazing experience!!!

SDC: Is it something you plan to do again?

TM: Heck yeah! I definitely want to skydive again. I really want to get my license now, but I need to save up some cash for that. Maybe I will be able to convince some sponsors to put up for a 3 month Traventure Man show about me learning how to skydive I think it would be interesting to see someone go through the process and be able to ask them questions as they go. Your blog has been a great resource in that respect. I read your posts, get excited about jumping again, and learn a lot at the same time!

SDC: That was definitely one of the goals – glad to hear it’s working on converting someone into a skydiver . So of all the adventures you’ve done so far, what has been the most rewarding?

TM: Well, I don’t feel like I have gone on enough adventures yet, but my skydive was probably the most rewarding so far. There is nothing quite like flying up to 10,000 feet and then jumping out of an airplane into the big blue sky! I also had the pleasure of experiencing a cut-away when my primary chute malfunctioned. So I got two rides in one! The only complaint I have is that it went too fast. So yeah, I think I’m hooked. If you’re interested you can watch the whole jump on my Tumblr site.

*Photo by Sandy Weltman

SDC: Yeah, skydiving is addicting that way. There’s never enough freefall!

TM: I also had a great time bouldering in Chattanooga this past week with a good friend. It was my first time climbing on real rock, and what a difference. I had a blast and everyone in the South was super helpful and friendly! Hopefully one of these days I will be able to combine these two sports so I can climb a mountain and BASE jump back down!

SCD: Is that something you plan to stick with, or are you dabbling in everything at this point?

TM: Right now I’m dabbling in everything, but I think skydiving and climbing will be sports that I will stick with and concentrate on in the future.

SDC: What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t done yet that is on your list of to-dos?

TM: One thing… Hmm, there are so many! Right now making Traventure Man a success is at the top of my list. But if I had to pick an adventure, I would say summiting a big mountain. Of course I could say climb Everest or K2, but any reasonably hard mountain would be a great start. The reward of completing such a physical and mental challenge would alone be well worth the effort, but you also get to enjoy an amazing view at the top.

I recently saw video of Dean S. Potter wingsuit BASE jumping from Mt. Eiger in Switzerland for a 3 minute flight to the valley below. That would be an amazing experience! Maybe that’s the one thing, if I had to pick, that I would most want to do. I have a long way to go before I get there, but I’m up for the challenge!

I know you’re asking the questions in this interview, but I’m curious, what’s one thing that you want to do that you have yet to check off of your list?

SDC: Ah, you’re going to make this truly interactive, aren’t you? Well one sport I’ve always considered trying is snowboarding. As a decent skier it never made much sense for me to switch, but this winter my freefly partner, who also is an avid snowboarder, is insisting I get on a board. Hopefully this weekend will be my first experience with that.

Aside from that I’m excited to travel more and skydive everywhere I can. I’d love to BASE jump in Switzerland on day too.

TM: Thank you so much for this great interview, Ashley. Keep up the great work on your blog. I hope everyone will stop by and check out Traventure Man. Right now I’m at traventureman.tumblr.com, but by the end of January my full-featured site will be up at www.traventureman.com. Happy Traventuring!!!

No, thank you John! What a exciting venture you’ve got going. This is a great example of making your own dreams come true.

Hope everyone enjoys the weekend.

Blue skies and snowy mountains!

Ashley