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Currency in off season
As I sit here looking outside at what meteorologists across the Midwest are referring to as Snowpocalypse, I can’t help but dream about those sunny afternoons spent in free fall.
If you’re a skydiver living in a place that gets all four seasons like I do, then you understand the inherent challenge of staying on top of the sport throughout the long winter months.
Time off of this magnitude can not only be detrimental to your spirit, but to your ability to keep your body and mind in tune with the sport. Regardless of what the title says, this post is about more than just having enough jumps to not have to worry about recurrency skydives come spring.
But, that’s a great place to start. According to the United States Parachute Association, “skydivers returning after a long period of inactivity encounter greater risk that requires special consideration to properly manage.”
Lucky for us, they provide strict guidelines of this “period of time” so that it’s not left up to the individual skydiver to determine the meaning behind this subjective statement.
Students: Students who have not jumped within the preceding 30 days should make at least one jump under the direct supervision of an appropriately rated USPA Instructor.
A license: USPA A-license holders who have not made a freefall skydive within 60 days should make at least one jump under the supervision of a currently rated USPA instructional rating holder* until demonstrating altitude awareness, freefall control on all axes, tracking, and canopy skills sufficient for safely jumping in groups.
B license: USPA B-license holders who have not made a freefall skydive within the preceding 90 days should make at least one jump under the supervision of a USPA instructional rating holder until demonstrating the ability to safely exercise the privileges of that license.
C and D licenses: USPA C- and D-license holders who have not made a freefall skydive within the preceding six months should make at least one jump under the supervision of a USPA instructional rating holder until demonstrating the ability to safely exercise the privileges of that license.
*This could be a coach or an instructor.
You can get more details about recurrency requirements here under section 5.2 of the Skydiver Instruction Manual.
Okay, so now that that’s out of the way, let’s take a look at some other fun tips to keep your head in the game in the off season:
1. Travel – this is the obvious one. There are so many winter boogies to attend, like Everglades in Clewiston FL and Puerto Rico and Skydive Arizona’s Easter Boogie. Not to mention all the tunnel boogies that are popping up. Of course, you don’t have to go to a boogie, even though they’re so much fun! You can always just take a quick weekend trip somewhere warm to get in a few skydives. The best way to stay current!
2. Snow jumps – of course, if you can’t afford to make a trip to warmer climates, there’s always the option to jump in the cold and snow. This, of course, assumes that there’s a dropzone within driving distance that’s flying year round to take you up. I promise you, altough it sounds bad, we did this a handful of times last year and it wasn’t that bad. Stay covered and you’ll be fine. It’s worth it to stay current and to get that free fall fix. Yes, the feeling does eventually come back to your fingers.
3. Google it - seek out every skydiving resource you can online. Use Dropzone.com to stay informed with articles you haven’t read yet, discussions on forums, incident report, even take a look at the latest used gear for sale in the classifieds to get you jazzed up for the season. Seek out articles on canopy piloting, wingsuiting and other disciplines you might be interested in tackling this season. Skim the SIM online (here) in preparation for Safety Day – officially March 12 this year. If you can’t stay current in the sky, at least keep your mind current with all the information that’s out there to consume.
4. Read, write, watch. You’re in the right place for this tip! Don’t feel like you have to spend all your time reading the hardcore articles and incident reports, you can learn from the fun stuff too. Pick up the latest issues of Blue Skies Magazine and Parachutist, see what they have to say. Find your favorite skydivers on YouTube and watch some videos to get you really jonesing.
There you have it, a few tips for staying sane and current in the off season. Of course, keeping in close contact with your adrenaline junkie friends around the world helps…misery loves company as they say.
Good news is Safety Day is just around the corner, though I do have to say it’s hard to believe with 6 foot snow drifts in the Chicagoland area right now. Here’s to a safe and quick winter.
Blue skies!
Ashley
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I’d Rather be Skydiving
It’s been a while since I’ve written one of these posts; mainly because I’ve spent all my free time jumping this summer and haven’t done much else. What can I say, I’m a lucky girl!
Unfortunately, the weather hasn’t cooperated much these past couple weekends, what with fall arriving at a much faster clip than I’d prefer. Don’t get me wrong, I love the fall. So long as it’s sunny and the weather is jumpable. There’s always a catch, isn’t there?
It’s been difficult going two weekends without skydiving. This weekend some friends and I even headed down to a local dropzone – after hearing that the plane was grounded at our home DZ – without a single jump to show for it. Sad, really.
Luckily, I slipped in a jump last Thursday when the weather was perfect! It was a fun freefly jump with friends Nick and Rick.
We did a three man rolling train, releasing once stable and transitioning into a sit. (Turn up the audio if you want to hear some fun commentary on the ride up.)
Nick is on the bottom with me in the middle and Rick on top (shooting video for us).
This was the only jump of the day as the sun was already setting once we packed up. Still having a hard time getting used to these shorter days.
Blue Skies!
Ashley
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A video montage
Skydivers love to have videos of their jumps. Not only do they come in handy when you have a great jump and want to show it off to your friends but they are key in learning from your mistakes – especially when you’re just starting out.
Reviewing video footage of yourself free falling, observing body position, hand signals, and seeing the skydive from start to finish can really help you see where changes need to be made.
What I’ve found is that even videos of other jumpers can be quite helpful. In a quick YouTube search I came across a number of video resources for the newbie and experienced skydiver alike.
The first one is of a student skydiver, working toward his license. He’s on his 22nd jump, still getting the hang of body control in free fall. I like this video because it shows those who aren’t as familiar with the sport that it’s not as easy as it appears. But, it is way more fun than it looks!
The next video is of a much more experienced duo, pulling off some pretty amazing aerobatic tricks.
And just for kicks, here’s a video of a tandem HALO jump from 30,000 feet. Notice the amount of time they are in free fall. This is definitely something that’s on my bucket list.
If you have time to browse YouTube I highly recommend searching for skydiving videos. You’ll find everything from one-time tandems to student jumpers, to wing suits and team jumps.
Blue Skies!
Ashley
Posts tagged as "Skydiving Videos"