Tunnel Camp

It’s been a long time coming, a discussion on tunnel flying, but honestly I’m glad I waited until after my second camp to provide commentary on the experience – I learned so much about tunnel training this time around!

The first time in a tunnel was humbling, to say the least. Everyone says that as a freeflyer the first hour or two you spend training in a tunnel is going to be a bit frustrating as you break bad habits you learned in the sky and learn to backfly (as most of us go straight to sit rather than learning the ever important backflying and back to sit transitions).

I learned a lot in January, don’t get me wrong, but this time around I was astonished with the learning curve.

My goal this time was to start learning the fundamentals of head down work. For someone who has only been legit head down in the sky a handful of times, mostly because someone put me in that position, it was a bit of a lofty goal to say the least. I went in knowing that I needed more work on my back and could afford to focus energy on my sit, docking and transitions as well.

To my surprise, I had my head on the net by the second rotation. Getting the feeling for head down and finding your balance takes time, patience and practice. There’s lots of muscle memory involved in this position, and (as was my case) you can expect to do it over and over again until you get the feel for it.

I was amazed how much backflying came into play during this journey, and fully understand why Mickey stresses proficiency on your back before making the transition to head down, or head up for that matter. Back is the bail out position – and if you’re anything like me, you’ll spend plenty of time there before getting your head off the net.

But, once you get there, the feeling is amazing. Pretty sure I squealed like a little girl the first time I got lift.

What was especially valuable about this camp was that most of us flying this weekend had about the same level of proficiency. We were all working to improve our backflying, finding additional comfort in our sit and putting our heads to the net in some head down work. The lessons you can learn from simply watching others in the tunnel, the corrections they make and hearing feedback in the debrief sessions while reviewing flight video is invaluable.

During the camp, our buddy Dave over at Skydive Radio decided it would be great to have a round table about the camp to hear it from the mouths of skydivers who benefit from tunnel coaching and encourage other jumpers to get themselves into the tunnel.

CHECK OUT THE SHOW HERE!

I’ve also shamelessly plugged Jump for Diabetes and the wonderful cause that we are supporting.

For those who have never been to a tunnel, get yourself there ASAP. For jumpers, a camp is extremely beneficial as you learn from everyone else and you get plenty of 1 on 1 time in the tunnel and out (read: debriefs after each session). I highly recommend Body Pilots for your training – Mickey is a spectacular coach. And I really have nothing but good things to say about the instructors and facilities at SkyVenture Colorado. They take good care of you there and even though you’re in a camp, the instructors are there to help, provide additional thoughts and give you tips to improve your flying.

What have been your experiences in the tunnel?

Blue Skies!

Ashley

May excitement

Can I just tell you how excited I am about the month of May? Typically this is the case because, in the Midwest this is the time of the year where weather starts to turn nice, and more times than not I have some fun stuff on the calendar. This year is no different – aside from the fact that now that I’m in the South, the weather is turning HOT instead.

This week I’m headed off to SVCO for some tunnel action. It’s Mickey’s last camp of the “winter season” so I’m going to make the most of it with an hour of freefly coaching. I have a few goals that I’m keeping under wraps at this time (I’m not one for sharing my goals in advance), but mainly I hope to come out a more competent, confident freeflyer. The rest of the weekend is going to be spent in Boulder with a friend I haven’t seen in years, exploring the area and just getting away from the norm.

Then I’m headed off to the mitten for a friend’s wedding. Part of me is excited, part is nervous. I wasn’t planning on attending my high school reunion which will take place this year, but I get the sense that this wedding will be pretty close to that. Convenient that it’s on Mother’s Day weekend and I have Sunday to spend with my family before heading back south.

The week I get back I’ve got something fun and artistic planned. That’s all I’m going to say for now…pictures and maybe even videos to come.

My birthday is in there somewhere as well, but I’m getting a little too close to 30 for my liking so I might just try to pass that one by!

And the last weekend in May is booked with a boogie over at Skydive The Farm. From what I hear it’s going to be the last Good Vibes boogie they host, so I’m excited to take part.

Of course, in the times I’m not traveling or jumping out of airplanes or doing some fun top-secret things, I’ll be planning and promoting Jump for Diabetes, as it’s right around the corner. I’m beyond stoked for what this month has in store.

What are your plans for May?

Love and blue skies!

Ashley

Transcending Fear: A Brian Germain Book Review

Turns out that, though I’m not a book reviewer, this is my second review in the last week. The difference this time is that I was not asked to do so, it’s purely because I think everyone should know about, and read, this book.

Transcending Fear: The Doorway to Freedom, by Brian Germain

It’s written by a skydiver and is an incredible read from the perspective of a skydiver, but even if you’re not a jumper or never plan to be, I believe you should still pick up this book.

It’s a quick read, but even if it wasn’t it would be well worth your time. I found myself reading a chapter, then re-reading it just to make sure I absorbed every last word. For anyone who finds that their actions are driven by fear from time to time (and honestly, I’m not sure anyone can say this hasn’t happened to them at least once in their life) this is a must read. Everything from starting a new chapter in your life, to taking a risk like jumping out of an airplane for the first time, or even making a simple life change can cause anxiety and fear we never knew existed inside us. Brian’s incredibly well-written text will walk you through the process for overcoming your fear by controlling what you can and deepening the connection and trust you have in yourself.

Brian shows you not how to stop your fear, but how to slow down the physiological effects of fear and to channel the energy in a positive, constructive manner. He stresses slowing down, breathing, focusing. Anyone who is active in yoga will find that this is highly relatable to the practice.

I don’t want to go too deep into it and give away too much of the book because I truly believe you should read it for yourself. You can buy it on Amazon – click this here link – and once you’re done I guarantee you’ll have a handful of people you’ll want to pass it on to so they can benefit.

Do yourself a favor and pick up this book. You might be surprised just how much it changes your outlook on fear and helps you manage your responses in daily life.

And PLEASE, if you are going to skydive, you’re a newbie jumper, or even if you’ve been in the sport for years, get this book now! Even if it doesn’t open your eyes to your fear, it will at least help you understand the inner-workings of those around you.

Love and blue skies!

Ashley

Tunnel Time Trip

I just want to brag for a moment that in a couple weeks I will be flying in the wind tunnel, hopefully learning some sick new freefly skills. (Neener! Just kidding, but I am excited to say the least.) Tunnel is one of those topics that I’ve continued to put off writing about, mostly because it’s such a niche topic I find it hard to relate to the outside world – yes, skydivers, there is a world outside of this amazing sport of ours. Shocking, I know.

That said, I’ve done a lot of thinking about it, and the lessons you learn in the tunnel are actually quite easily translatable…let’s start at the beginning.

In January Rick and I took at trip to Raeford for our first tunnel camp with Mickey Nuttall (Body Pilots, look ‘em up, can’t recommend him more). Anyway, given that I’d never been in a tunnel before, I wanted to get my feet wet before diving into a freefly camp, so a few days prior we each did 15 minutes of coached time. It was very beneficial to say the least. It’s definitely a different experience than flying in the sky.

For one thing, you are limited on your range of motion. You’re working in this 16 foot (or 12 depending on the tunnel) tube rather than having the open skies to work with. It comes in handy though, as you work to perfect your skills in a static location – after all, that’s what you want to do in sky so you’re not chasing others, or they’re not chasing you, around the sky.

For another thing, when you’re jumping from airplanes, you really are falling through the air. I know this seems like an obvious statement, but sometimes you’re fighting the winds so much that it doesn’t always feel like it. But, for me anyway, I became acutely aware of this fact during tunnel time, because in the tunnel you really are working to stay up off the net – something that just doesn’t happen in free fall.

But, even though I’ve heard people say it hundreds of times, I was still surprised at how humbling your first time in the wind tunnel is. Essentially, it’s like starting over. Okay, so not really, but you have to take some steps back, break the bad habits you learned in the sky, before you can step forward. First, you gotta get good (or at least competent) on your belly. Surprisingly, belly was the easiest part for me. I spent maybe three rotations there before flipping over to my back. As someone who doesn’t do much RW work, I wasn’t expecting to have so much control. It gave me a boost of confidence in my skills.

Which was good, because as soon as I flipped to my back all hell broke loose.

So for those who are not freeflyers – those who are will probably appreciate this tidbit – but most of us who joined the dark side via the sky didn’t learn to backfly first, we went straight to sit. For me, I stuck my sit on my first try, so when people kept telling me that the tunnel would humble me, I didn’t fully understand the extent to which this was true until it was time to flip over on my back.

Needless to say, a good portion on my first hour was spent perfecting my backfly skills, figuring out steering, direction and being capable and comfortable on my back. Come to find out, this is the go-to rest position when you either cork out or are just thoroughly exhausted from hours in the tunnel.

Moving on to sitfly was incredibly rewarding, I was not only doing things I could do in the sky, but was surpassing them. I thought about where I wanted to go, and went. By the end of the first hour I was working on transitions that I see are going to come in handy with getting to and staying on my head. It makes me so excited to get back there in a couple weeks!

So aside from the humbling aspect, what lessons do you learn in the tunnel? Well, let me tell you, you learn to trust yourself for one. Especially with freeflying, one misplaced input and your ass is hitting that wall, and it’s not comfortable. But, if you don’t trust yourself to do it you’ll never progress and get comfortable with those transitions that will make your progress soar.

You also learn to overcome your fear. Why is the top of the tunnel so scary? It’s really not, it’s just you’re more comfortable closer to the net when you first start out. But, once you come crashing down you realize it’s not so bad.

So how on Earth does any of this translate to “real life?” Well, I’m glad you asked!

It comes down to personal growth. The wind tunnel is known to be one of those skydiver training tools that helps jumpers progress in their discipline faster than they would in the sky. It gives us the opportunity to communicate with the coach “in freefall” and to have more time to hone skills. A 60 minute block of time is the equivalent of 60 skydives, without all the packing, waiting to get on a load, and weather holds.

There are times in life where you are presented opportunities for accelerated personal growth. Often they come in the form of a challenge, so it’s up to you whether you’re willing to dive in and give it your all or not. Sometimes, you don’t even know when these challenges will offer that type of personal growth, you just have to trust your gut. Don’t be surprised when you are completely humbled by the situation, even when you go in balls to the wall, guns ablazin’ and all those other metaphors for giving it your all. Your confidence might wane, but unless you keep plugging along to reach your goals, you may never know how much you’re truly capable of accomplishing.

Have your experiences in the tunnel been similar to mine?

Love and blue skies!

Ashley

4th Annual Jump for Diabetes

Hard to believe that the 4th Annual Jump for Diabetes is right around the corner. This will be my 3rd year coordinating the event and I am proud to say that it’s going to be bigger and better than the last!

We recently launched our website http://jumpfordiabetes.org (thanks to our friends over at nDevix), where you can keep up on the latest raffle items as they come in (we all know that’s what skydivers are interested in, free shit, right?), get the latest information on sponsors and participating dropzones, and you can even donate online!

We are so blessed to have both Skydive Chicago and Skydive The Farm on board this year. We’ll be hosting two events, in tandem on July 6-8th to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. If you’re on Facebook and haven’t already be sure to RSVP to our event. You can keep up with the latest updates there as well.

So let’s get to what everyone wants to know about – those gear donations. We’re still over two months out and already we have seen more generosity from this community than ever. It warms my heart to see all the manufacturers who are standing behind us to help find a cure for diabetes. This year we have Deepseed on board with us and they are eyeballs deep in supporting this cause. Huge thanks to Liam and his crew for all they’ve already done! Check out their website and Facebook page. They’ve got some great stuff going on and they’re just plain fun!

Once again PD is all in and the first ticket drawn on Saturday, July 7th after the fireworks at SDC will be the lucky recipient of a free custom main (non-cross braced) or reserve canopy from Performance Designs. Bad ass! And of course, there’s thousands of dollars in free gear and discounts:

• FREE Taste of Base with Miles Daisher
• 2 – 50% Off Wings Containers
• 2 – 50% Off Cookie G3 Helmet
• Bonehead Discount Certificates
• 20% Off Vigil
• 2 – 35% Off Vector, plus 15% options from UPT
• 2 – 40% Off Javelin container from SunPath
• Hypoxic Certificates
• 3- $100+ Discounts from Ouragan Suits
• 4 – 20% Off Phoenix Fly Discount Certificates
• FREE Freak’n Suits
• FREE Reserve Repack from String Theory Productions
• FREE Phantom X Helmet from Square1
• 35% Off Bev Suit Voucher
• 2 – 30% Off Mirage Systems container
• 2 – 50% Off Deepseed Jumpsuits
• FREE Cypress Maintenance Certificate
• 3 Brian Germain Books
• $100 Off SDC Rhythm Tunnel Camp
• And MORE

Donations are still coming in and we will keep you posted on our website as we get more.

If you want to purchase tickets, see Rick or myself at Skydive The Farm, Morgan at Skydive Chicago, or email us at JumpForDiabetes@gmail.com. You do NOT have to be present to win, so please feel free to purchase remotely!

I will be managing the event at Skydive Chicago this year, so if you want to find me the day of the event to purchase, please feel free. If you’re planning to head to The Farm for the event, don’t worry, Rick will be on the ground there, and on the phone with me so all winners will be announced immediately after the drawing.

Oh, and if you want to be a sponsored jumper and pledge your jumps for the weekend to the cause, you can do that from anywhere too! Just shoot me a comment, Facebook message or email and we’ll get you the sheet so you can get pledges.

Thanks to all who are working so hard to make this a great success! We couldn’t do any of it without the unwavering support of this community.

Love and blue skies!

Ashley

Sky bath – a cleansing of the soul

After nearly half a year with my feet on the ground, I’m happy to say I made a successful return to the sky this weekend – despite Mother Nature’s best attempts at keeping me grounded.

Early last week at physical therapy I was officially cleared to skydive. The caveat was that I had to feel really good to make a jump. Needless to say when I woke up on Friday and my shoulder was feeling a bit “crunchy,” I was concerned that my return would have to be postponed yet again. Luckily come Saturday morning the only pains I awoke with were the painful cravings to sky jump.

As I arrived at The Farm (which is my new home dropzone after moving to The South) the winds were not playing as nice as I’d hoped. The swoop competitors who were in town for the FLCPA swoop meet were grounded due to gusty winds, so that was my indication to keep my feet firmly plated on the ground.

So, I took the time to plan my first jump back, do some dirt diving, and even network a bit for Jump for Diabetes (more to come on that later). Once the winds stated behaving I got on the first load that would take me – an hour and 1/2 later. Lucky for me it ended up being the sunset load. Simple two way freefly, knee lock into sit, where I got to test out all those skills I refined in the tunnel over the winter. One foot dock and lots of smiles later it was time to pull. Thankfully, I decided to pull high as my deployment included a number of line twists that required some deep breathing and lots of kicking. All was good in the end.

The sky was wonderful and peaceful, it was the cleanse that I needed. It’s amazing how much lighter I feel after a good skydive. All my cares and worries are left in the door of that airplane and nothing else matters but the moment – it’s like a cleansing of the soul.

The rest of the weekend didn’t play nice wind wise, but lots of time was spent outside…I’ve got the sunburn and mosquito bites to prove it. All in all it was a great couple days and I can’t wait to do it again next weekend.

Love and blue skies!

Ashley

p.s. It’s been a while since you’ve seen one of these on my blog, but here’s a look at my first flight back!

Goal Setting

Setting goals is important for progression. In a past life, I used to be a mad woman with setting and meeting my goals. I’ve found lately that my life has stagnated in certain areas where goals would be helpful (go figure, right?).

I’ve decided it’s time to get that part of me back. Now.

Today’s inspirational quote of the day (follow me on Twitter for these) came from a model in a blog post I was reading about exercise motivation: “Why not be the best version of yourself?” If I could add one thing to that, it would be now…be the best version of yourself now.

Too often people wait for things to get better, living their life in anticipation of how great things will be, someday (and yes, I fall into this group from time to time), well what the hell are you waiting for anyway? Be better now. Be who you want to be now.

The best way to get where you want to go is by setting goals. And when you’ve got somewhere big to go, rather than having this huge goal looming over you, set smaller, incremental goals so you can feel accomplished along the way.

Want to be a world-class cometitive skydiver one day? Okay great, but what’s an accomplishment you can mark on the calendar to help get you there? How about finding a team, and a coach. Getting some tunnel time. Mastering X, Y, and Z in training. All these things are check marks along the way to that big accomplishment.

Meeting goals makes you feel successful, and when you feel like you’ve accomplished something, it motivates you to continue succeeding and meeting your other goals along the way.

No need to take my word for it, start setting goals for yourself and see. Personally, I’m devoting one wall in my dining room to a framed weekly goal sheet. I’ve come to realize over the years that all or nothing isn’t my style, even though I’d like it to be. So, starting with a few attainable goals each week should help stir up that driven, motivated girl who once thrived on every challenge that came my way.

Here’s to setting, committing to, and accomplishing these goals!

Blue skies!

Ashley

Safety Debate

Last night at my bocce ball league – yes, I know, it’s not nearly as adrenaline pumping as hucking yourself from a plane at 14K, but girls gotta do somethin’ while on this injury time out – I participated in a debate on safety, skydiving vs. bungee jumping.

As it usually does when meeting new people, the topic of skydiving came up. You know, when people ask you where you hang out on the weekends, it’s kinda hard to avoid the truth without sounding totally lame. Anyway, a couple of the guys in the group had been skydiving fairly recently, one did a tandem in New Zealand. He also mentioned that he went bungee jumping there and, as I typically do when the subject comes up, I visibly cringed. And, as usual, most people were taken aback by my reaction.

“Wait, you’ll skydive hundreds of times but you’ll never bungee jump?”

Yes friends, this is correct. My argument is always the same – I have two parachutes on my back, one of which is packed by a skilled, licensed professional. When bungee jumping, your life is in the hands of a rubber band (now before everyone goes jumping down my throat here, I know this isn’t exactly factual, but people get the point), I prefer my odds.

Last night’s debate included a new point of view that I’d never heard before: many more non-professionals bungee jump than skydive. So, in other words, you can be an average joe and jump off a bridge alone, but to skydive you need more skills. Not sure how that alludes to the bungee being a safer sport, but it was an interesting POV. Of course, my retort was that with so many more skydivers out there having official training and licenses, safety is a big focus in the sport.

In the end, the majority who joined the conversation took the side of skydiving ultimately being the safer option (of course, this is all without actual stats, so for any who want to prove me wrong with numbers or whatever, go ahead). And, I think I convinced a few people who were on the fence about trying it to get out there and give it a shot.

How many of you have participated in this debate before? How many skydivers out there are sticking to the never bungee jumping rule like I am?

Blue skies!

Ashley

Injury Overload

Right around this time last year I had a self-inflicted (read: no-flare landing) injury that I was going through physical therapy and 3x/week chiropractor appointments.

During that time, I got to see an x-ray of my spine – I have more permanent problems than just the hip injury I was there to fix – and therefore continued with my chiro appointments on a monthly basis as a way to maintain my health.

After moving I was a bit lazy in finding a new chiropractor, but I did my research and found a guy. He’s good. He took x-rays to asses my latest shoulder injury (that I was REALLY hoping could be fixed by chiropractic and rehab rather than the proposed cortisone shots and potential surgery that traditional medicine was tossing my way), and I have to admit that I was absolutely stunned to see what my spine looked like, compared with a year ago.

Aside from the scary sight that was my shoulder, my spine looked almost normal. Last year at this time, it looked like someone’s fist had impacted my spine, the scoliosis was so severe in my lower/mid back. This year, it looks like a minor ripple in my spine. I’ll take a minor ripple here people!

Chiropractic is amazing stuff. For people who think it’s a bunch of quacky shit, well, sometimes it is. You have to do your research, find the right guy. Growing up I went to a family friend who was an MD first, then pursued his chiropractic certification. He was very good. My chiro in Chicago was amazing. He was in an office where they did massage therapy (not the frilly kind, but the kind where you’d be in complete pain the whole time but would walk out feeling like a million bucks) and his wife was the physical therapist on staff. Very much rehab focused.

Same with my new doc. No quack talk, just down to business. I do wish he had massage therapists on staff, but I get electro stim on my shoulder and lower back along with a weekly adjustment. I’ve only been twice, but so far so good. I can already tell a difference.

So this blog post about injuries turned out to be more of a promotion for chiropractic, which totally wasn’t my point.

What the hell was my point? It’s this…

Being injured and grounded totally sucks. The blue skies and warm southern weather have been calling my name, and I’ve yet to have the chance since moving over a month ago to get out and make even a single jump, but keeping my fingers crossed that the opportunity will come soon. In the meantime, I’m trying to remind myself that being on the ground is for the best, and finding other activities I love like yoga, hiking and my bocce ball league are keeping me busy and sane. But that doesn’t make my cravings for freefall any weaker, I must admit.

With time off comes improvement in health. I’m a firm believer in the RICE treatment, I’ve got the rest, ice and compression down, now it’s just time to get a little elevation to make my experience that much better.

Blue skies my friends!

Ashley

The Power of Positive Thinking

I’ve always been a big believer in going out into the world and throwing your positive energy to the universe, knowing that what you’ll get in return is bound to be positive.

Part of that belief comes from the understanding that you never know what someone else is going through. Treating them in the nicest way possible, even if they aren’t the nicest people ever, may just turn out to be the best thing you could have done – for both of you.

The other part I learned after skydiving…

As skydivers, positive thinking is a must. Sure, you want to be prepared for the worst, but if you go into every skydive focusing on the worst, that’s what you’re going to get. You may not get a malfunction, but your skydive likely won’t be what it could be if you stay focused on having the best jump ever.

Positive thinking, leads to positive actions, which lends to the idea that people will naturally want to do things for you that will lead to positive outcomes. This can be something as simple as smiling at someone walking down the street, giving a compliment. For all you know, that was the most positive thing that will happen to that person today, and you may have made more of an impact than you think. Then again, maybe it’s just a drop on the bucket of rainbows and kittens that she will experience that day, but either way, it was positive. Sometimes just doing nice things can brighten your day.

So I challenge you, even the most cynical of you, to go out there and try to do one positive thing each day – whether it’s for yourself or someone else. You might just kickstart a whole new pattern of positivity in your life.

Love and blue skies!

Ashley