Carolina Revisited

Last week Rick and I took a trip to South Carolina for a long weekend. The main purpose of the trip was to visit his aunt who he hadn’t seen since the 80s, but our adrenaline addiction benefitted greatly when we heard that she lived an hour from Skydive Carolina.

So needless to say we spent some time at this Southern DZ!

The first thing you notice when arriving at Skydive Carolina is the HUGE LZ. H.U.G.E. It’s 70 acres! And there are outs everywhere – not that you frequently need them. Even I didn’t have a problem hitting my target

The only issue we really ran into was turbulence and thermals off the runway.

We were pleasantly surprised when we ran into a few jumpers that we met at the Everglades Boogie. We posted up near a group of belly flyers who made us feel right at home and got a chance to jump with one of the freeflyers who we also met in Clewiston.

On the last day of the trip we were able to jump with Justin, a friend from Skydive PA and now a resident of South Carolina – this was the weekend he made Skydive Carolina his home.

The first jump of the day was a little hairy for me – what with getting kicked in the face and almost getting clobbered by another freeflyer. Whew!

After spending a few days there, I have a good feeling that Justin will be right at home there. The people are so nice and down to Earth! There’s a strong community feel, very encouraging. Most of all, people are just there to have a good time – even the teams in training took the time to chat and share in a few laughs.

Another Southern DZ I highly recommend! If you decide to pay this dropzone a visit, tell Annette that Ashley and Rick said hi

Blue skies!

Ashley

What kind of skydiver are you?

So we all know the obvious answer to this – if you’re a belly flyer or free flyer, swooper or camera flyer – but what I’m referring to here is more about your involvement in the sport.

Sure, the great majority of us would prefer to have the ability to make a skydive anytime the urge hits us – which, let’s be honest here, is practically every hour of every day – but due to things like careers, obligations or even just personal choice, we become a certain type of skydiver.

Based on my experiences at a number of different dropzones are the country, I came up with a list of categories. Of course, this is intended to be a fun list of very subjective classifications based on my observations as a fairly new skydiver, so please take it as such. I’m interested to see where people think they fall!

Some of these overlap a little, and there is a possibility to be in more than one category in some instances (in my case, I fall into two of these classifications). If there’s anything I’m overlooking or you have a category you’d like to add, please chime in with a comment! Now onto the list!

The Careerist – these are the DZOs, the tandem instructors, the full-time videographers and riggers of the world – the people who have made skydiving their career. I’ve seen this in a number of lights: some do it to make $ to jump more and then fun jumps become few and far between, others make it work for themselves and they still take time to fun jump with their pals and of course there are variations in between. But either way, most of your time is spent at the DZ, if you’re not living there

The Frequenter – these are the people who have the ability to carve out lots of time (and money) for skydiving. Whether they have unusual work schedules, own their own businesses, or they’re the type you always wonder exactly what it is they do, they’re always up for a jump, no matter when or where. These are the go-tos when it comes to organizing mid-week jumps – you can always count them in for a random day of skydiving.

The Organizer – these are the people who frequently organize the jumping days. There could be sub-categories here, like the travelers who are always organizing groups to go to a bigger DZ or boogies, the mid-week jumpers who are trying to fill loads so they can get up, or even the dirt dive kings of the world who decide exactly what point will be turned on the next skydive. Regardless of how, these people get things done, they get people to jump.

The Weekend Warrior - most often these are the people with day jobs who work pretty typical hours and are available to skydive on the weekends. This is me in a nutshell. I can get the occasional day or afternoon off to make a few jumps, but for the most part weekends are committed to skydiving so long as long as the weather plays nice. I’m also one of those people who doesn’t quite know what to do when it rains on a Saturday afternoon.

The Weekday Warrior – reverse of the Weekend Warrior, these are people who tend to work more on weekends and have random week days free. They’re also usually the organizers of the mid-week jumps.

The Traveler – the person who doesn’t necessarily have a “home” dropzone and spends lots of time traveling to other DZ, events and boogies. This also includes those jumpers who fly their personal aircraft into whatever DZ they feel like jumping at that weekend (oh to be a pilot, I’d love to take advantage of that!). I definitely consider myself a traveler, I love visiting new DZs, jumping new aircraft and meeting lots of great skydivers along the way.

(Still from one of David Schwartz’s videos last weekend at Skydive Carolina – freefly with Rick and Justin)

The Occasionalist - from my experience, these are the people who busy day jobs, families and lots of personal obligations on the table. They are busy people, juggling lots of activities. They make it to the dropzone when they can, but it’s not the top priority. Someone with a life outside of skydiving…you’ve gotta respect that!

The Groupie - at first this term sounds negative, but I promise it’s not. These are the people who really fit in at the dropzone, the people you look forward to seeing when you’re skydiving, but that may not jump that often, if at all, for one reason or another. These are the jumpers that make the after-hours bonfire  just that much more fun! They get the sport, they’ve jumped, but they’re mostly there for the community and/or to support someone who falls into one of the above categories. It takes a very patient and understanding soul to be able to put up with all the type As at a dropzone

So, that’s what I’ve got. What’ve I missed? Any categories you’d like to add?

Taking words from my interview with Norman Kent, no matter which group(s) you fall into, embrace it!

As a pretty typical Weekend Warrior, I’ll be the first to admit that I had higher expectations for myself than is actually possible, but then again I’m the type of person who thinks she can do it all and punishes herself (and sometimes those around her) when she can’t.* I’d love to be able to set my own schedule and make jumps at my leisure, but of course, who wouldn’t? Sure, I envy those jumpers who can head out on a sunny day mid-week to make some jumps together, but then again, I’m blessed to have enough vacation time to travel to different dropzones and meet some great people along the way. And during the week, I do have a day job I enjoy, so really, how can I complain too much?

In the end, it balances out. That’s the take-away message here. Be proud of the type of skydiver you are! In the end, we’re all skydivers who enjoy the time we spend together in the air and on the ground, and that’s what really matters.

Blue skies!

Ashley

*this is my way of publicly apologizing for being a douche. Sometimes my words get the best of me – I’m only human.

Experiencing Skydive City

After the Everglades Boogie we had about 2 1/2 days of rain. This was a good chance for us to experience some things in Florida we might not have otherwise.

On the way from Clewiston to Fort Lauderdale, we stopped at a place that offers air boat rides to see the alligators. Instead of taking the ride we walked around their exhibit and saw a bunch of different animals.

From there we decided to head up to Orlando to get some tunnel time. On the way the skies cleared a bit so we swung by Skydive Sebastian in hopes that they were jumping. It was pretty dead there – must be everyone had gone to the boogie down south.

(The deserted Skydive Sebastian)

We arrived in Orlando that evening to find there were no tunnel slots left. We watched some tunnel newbies and a couple freeflyers working on their relative sit. This was actually very educational for us, as I was able to see what the smaller of the pair was doing, while Rick picked up some tips on how to slow his fall rate a bit.

The next day due to lack of funds for sufficient tunnel time, we went over to DeLand in hopes of jumping. Two days spent in DeLand were a bust – aside from the PD factory tour which was pretty nifty. We also met some great people who worked in the skydiving industry. Though we didn’t get to jump, it was a good little visit!

(Picking oranges at Skydive DeLand – waiting for the skies to clear)

The next day we checked the weather and Skydive City in Zephyrhills seemed to be our best bet for jumping. So we got in the car and made the 2 hour drive. By the time we got there, the skies had cleared and the Pac was going up!

This was my first jump back after the cut away at the Everglades Boogie, and needless to say I was more than a little nervous. There were all sorts of thoughts running through my head and I continued to doubt my pack job (even though it wasn’t my pack job that I had to chop).

We jumped with a guy named Pat who was also a freeflyer. After getting my rig stuck on the door at exit, I was pretty much out of the skydive. It was a good solo sit, though!

The second jump was the sunset load where Rick and I worked on our relative sit, again.

We woke up on day two a Skydive City to a thick layer of clouds. I was bumming because I was two jumps away from my 100th, which I really wanted to get on this trip.

Well lucky for me the clouds broke up and the day ended up being perfect. I think it was the nicest day we had the entire vacation.

Pictures like this sure make me miss 70s and sunny!

Our first jump was a two way relative sit. We decided to do a train exit as that seems to help keep us together. On this jump, it proved highly successful. When we got back to the ground we were both extremely excited – we’re starting to get it! Between my posture and putting my legs down and Rick finding the trick to getting bigger our fall rate is getting there. And though it’s hard to tell with this wide angle GoPro, we were pretty close, too.

The next jump was my 100th. Aaron, a former Cleveland Parachuter himself, went up with us to get some stills and video, so we made it a 3-way freefly – or, did our best to, anyhow.

We didn’t stay quite as relative as we would have liked, but it was a fun skydive regardless. I did cork out once which is uncharacteristic of my recent sitflys, but I was back in the game quick.

Thanks Aaron, for capturing this jump for me!

If I can ever figure out how, I’ll post Aaron’s video here or on my YouTube channel. Stay tuned. For now, you get the jump from Rick’s perspective.

Overall Skydive City was one of the best experiences of the trip. We got to jump with some great people and had incredible weather. And I’ll definitely agree that they’re the friendliest dropzone around!

If you’re in the Tampa area, Skydive City in Zephyrhills is a must. If you drop by, give Aaron my best!

Blue ones!

Ashley

Off landings

Today I want to visit one aspect of the sport of skydiving that I’m no stranger to: off landings.

Upon making Canton Air Sports my home when I was still on student status, I quickly gained a reputation for landing off. At the time, we attributed most of it to the fact that I was flying student gear and huge canopies (read: 292 square feet – and for someone who tops out at 135 lbs exit weight, that’s a whole lot of canopy over my head to take me where it wants to).

Since then I’ve managed to land off at almost every DZ I’ve visited: in a soy bean field at Start skydiving (when they were in Lebanon), earning me my current nickname; frequent landings at the end of the runway and in surrounding fields at CAS; finding a pumpkin patch and cow-filled fields with bad spots at Skydive Pennsylvania…I’ll save my ego and stop here.

This weekend of winter jumping was no exception. The winds aloft were tamer than they have been, so when I landed on target during jump #1 at Skydive PA I anticipated a smooth day of canopy piloting.

The spot was a little long, so on the next jump we asked the pilot to adjust and drop us right above the runway. Well, for any of you who are familiar with this DZ, we were dropped PAST the runway over the outlet malls. On top of that my foot got caught on the step as I was exiting, so I was 2-3 seconds late in coming off the plane. My jump was basically a solo sitfly.

Before dumping, I did my best to track back toward the DZ, subsequently losing more altitude and pulling lower than I would have liked. It was those first moments under canopy, as I’m collapsing my slider, where I realized there was no way in hell I was going to make it back.

Luckily, the long runway is lined on both sides with narrow strips of grass, perfect for landing. The only problem was, if I wanted to land in an ideal patch, I was going to have to do so downwind. Yikes!

These are not my favorite types of landings, but I came in slower and softer than anticipated and slid out the landing safely.

The walk back SUCKED…but I guess that’s what I get for pulling low, knowing where I was positioned.

The video below will give you a glimpse at just how far we were away. The DZ is at the opposite end of the runway….I landed in the green patch on the left, just past the hangars…You’ll also get to see part of the train the my freefly partner did with our buddy Tom who’s a newbie freeflyer. Hi first 2-man train. You owe BEER for this one, bud!

(Video by Richard Simenc)

Lesson learned: if you’re off target, pull a little higher to either scout out a new landing area or try to make it back with the wind. This is what my fellow jumpers did, and they all made it back.

But, it’s not a complete day of winter skydiving at Grove without an off landing, right?

Let’s just hope this trend doesn’t continue while on my Florida trip… I can deal with a field full of cows, alligators not so much!

On that note, I should mention that this will be my last post for a while – about 2 weeks to be exact. I’ll do my best to keep everyone posted on what is going on in Florida at the Everglades boogie, at Deland and more on my Twitter feed: @theskydivechick. Follow me for updates!

Until next time…

Blue skies!

Ashley

Winter boogies and more

It’s official – this winter I’ll be attending the Everglades Boogie at Skydive Air Adventures in Clewiston, FL.

What’s better – it’s only 3 WEEKS AWAY!

You can’t tell I’m excited, can you?

My freefly partner and I will be headed down to spend a few days in Clewiston, practicing our skills in warmer weather and enjoying skydives from a tailgate, helicopter and even a high altitude jump!

After some much needed freefall time we’ll be taking our vacation to other hot spots throughout Florida for some sand, sun, surf and relaxation. It’ll be a week and 1/2 of pure bliss. There is sure to be lots of video and photos that come from this trip!

Anyone who is in the state, drop me a line and we can make a jump together!

So what about the rest of y’all? Any boogie plans for the winter?

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Winter vacation: skydiving

Last year, after taking a week-long trip to the Caribbean at the end of the winter, I made a decision that every year I’d take at least one vacation to warmer climates to rejuvinate. Trips of 5+ days are just plain good for the soul.

Naturally, this year my trip will revolve around skydiving – which is also highly beneficial to the soul, if I do say so myself.

(Do you think they skydive in Bora Bora?)

The dilemma that keeps rearing it’s ugly head is the where factor. Mid-season this year we had a number of friends who were planning a trip to Eloy for a week around Valentine’s Day. I was pumped! It was skydiving buddies from Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. But recent conversations prove that people are changing their minds at a quick clip.

Between boogies in Puerto Rico, Florida and Arizona throughout the winter, we skydivers are torn on where to end up.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind going to Florida and visiting a few DZs, including Skydive Miami where my career started at the end of my last vacation. But I also know that sticking to a single DZ and/or boogie will be a much more relaxing experience than chasing DZs for a week.

(With instructor Randy on the skydive that changed my life)

As of now, it’s me and my freefly partner making plans. Of course, we’re both pretty bad when it comes to making definititve decisions. It would be great to have other friends come along as well, though if it just ends up being us, I’m sure we’ll have no problem making new freefly friends at a week-long boogie.

So what are y’all planning for winter skydiving? Anyone going to an exciting boogie in warmer climates? We’re open to suggestions.

Blue skies!

Ashley

A Taste of B.A.S.E

(*Photo by Ashley Mead)

This weekend was one of my first experiences with BASE jumping. There were a couple other scouting missions I’d been on with fellow skydivers, and a ground crew opportunity here and there, but nothing quite compared to a weekend at the New River Gorge.

This year was the 30th anniversary of Bridge Day - a BASE jumping boogie in Fayetteville, West Virginia. It’s held every year on the 3rd weekend in October and it’s the country’s premier legal BASE event.

(*Photo by Ashley Mead)

For those who may not be fully aware, BASE jumping is an adrenaline sport dedicated to jumping from static objects, rather than from an aircraft as we do in skydiving.

BASE stands for Building, Antenna, Span, Earth – the four categories of objects that jumpers typically throw themselves from when making a BASE jump.

Similar to skydiving, you can get a BASE number by having documented jumps from each of these categories.

Bridge Day is a great experience, not just for the ensuing post-jump parties, but it provides opportunities to participate for all involved.

First time jumpers can take a day-long course to teach them the ins and outs of canopy piloting (F-111, 7-cell canopies can be tricky to flare and land if you’ve never had that experience), packing, and safety. Given that the bridge is 876 ft., this provides first-timers a little comfort knowing they have some altitude to play with.

(*Photo by Ashley Mead)

Experienced BASE jumpers often spend the day jumping multiple times, in two-ways, three-ways and doing some amazing tricks.

The landing area is small, uphill and a little rocky. Even with the cold temperatures, rain and sleet on Saturday, many jumpers still chose to land in the river than to risk pounding in a hard landing. The motto going around that day was, “you dry faster than you heal.”

Very true. In the hour or so I spent down at the LZ, I saw multiple hard landings, including one that ended in a broken leg.

But, with the hundreds of jumps that took place that day, there were very few injuries to report – most were minor.

Let’s move on to the positives, shall we?

This year, Bridge Day was opened up with a jump by my friends Paul and Lonnie. They were providing our friend Dan ‘Danger’ Mathie with his first BASE jump in the form of an ash dive. (They are the first jump in the video below.)

You’ll notice Dan’s ashes puff out as they deploy their ‘chutes. What an amazing jump, guys!

Luckily for that jump, the weather was nice. Chilly, but the sun was starting to peak out for a few minutes. Though it didn’t last long. The afternoon was spent watching jumpers in the rain and sleet.

Well worth it, though, as I got to head to the LZ at the bottom of the bridge and take photos of my freefly partner on his 5th jump off this bridge – his first ever legal BASE jump.

Check out some of the photos of his jump sequence:

(*Photos by Ashley Mead, taken at the base of the New River Gorge Bridge)

After Rick’s jump I was able to meet up with John from TraventureMan so we could do a little interview action. It was great meeting you, John! I’ll be sure to let y’all know when it’s posted.

The rest of the day was spent watching the remaining jumpers from atop the bridge and heading to the HQ for some pizza, beer and partying.

We ended up calling it a night earlier than expected. A day of jumping and photography really takes it out of you.

The next day before heading out of town, we made our way down to the base of the bridge with some of our other friends so they could see the perspective from along the river.

(Happy birthday, Rick! So glad I got to share this experience with you.)

Hopefully the weather will be better next year when I return to make my first Bridge Day jump – because you better believe I’m going to be nice to my bones and land in the river.

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Weekend happenings

This weekend is panning out to be just as exciting as the last. As one that originally started out fairly laid-back in terms of jumping, I’ve managed to quickly load up my skydiving agenda.

Of course, I’m not complaining.

Saturday, Aerodyne will be at Skydive Tecumseh for a demo tour. This is a great chance for anyone who is thinking about getting a Pilot or Triathlon (read: me) to head on out and test their canopies and complete rigs at no cost. 

You better believe I jumped at this opportunity! (cheesy pun not intended)

Sunday I’ll be headed back to Canton Air Sports to jump with my friend Rick on his 200th and maybe even dabble with some free fly. I’ve been dreaming of giving my free fly skills a test for a while and now seems like an ideal time.

If you’re not near Tecumseh or Canton, below are a few other events around the world I recommend checking out. Oh, and if you are in the area, why don’t you come out and jump with me!

• 8/22 – Target Skysports, UK. 50-way formation skydiving and Skyvan weekend event. Click here for more details.
• 8/22 – 8/23 – Skydive City, Zephyrhills. PD demo weekend. Performance Designs will be setting up camp in Z-hills this weekend. Demo canopies and PD swag as expected. Check out Dropzone.com for more information.
• 8/25 - Cross Keys & Freefall Adventures. Swoop club for all canopy pilots. More details at Dropzone.com.

Where ever you end up this weekend…

Blue Skies!

Ashley

I'd Rather be Skydiving

The last five days, which were spent in Southern California with my old college crew, was the first of my non-skydiving weekends since I began my adventures in the sky.

As much fun as I had with hiking, beaching and trying to drink like we did in college without ruining my liver, I couldn’t help but look up at the perfect blue skies on occasion, wishing I was playing in them.

The sky is my playground.

Coincidentally, two of my weekend warrior friends happened to be in the area too. However, they were lucky enough to hit up Skydive Elsinore for a fun jump on Sunday – mere hours after my flight departed. Next time guys!

But the five days off were a much needed break from reality and a great reunion with my favorites from college. Luckily, the time off didn’t last long and I was back in the air today with a quick couple jumps at Skydive Tecumseh. More on that later. 

Blue Skies!

Ashley

Skydiving Vacation

This is something I’ve always wanted to do – take a vacation purely for the skydiving.

Well, my dream has come true. Sorta. Tomorrow I’ve decided to take a vacation day from the office to get in a few jumps over at Cleveland Parachute Center.

Sure, there aren’t pristine beaches involved, but the weather is supposed to be fairly nice and I’ll have a chance to do some back to back jumps without having to wait for the line up of tandems that typically occurs on the weekend.

Though don’t get me wrong, I’ll certainly be headed back out to the DZ for a jump or two on the weekend as well. Just try and keep me away.

But this mini-vacation does have me thinking about my next trip and possible locations for skydiving.

As a former Dallas resident, I’m always thinking about heading back to the Big D to spend some leisurely time with my friends. I’ve heard great things about Skydive Dallas.

In August I’m planning a trip out to Los Angeles with my old college crew and I’d love to get in a jump on the west coast if possible. A quick Google search revealed a number of locations for the sport. Any DZ recommendations in the LA area?

I’d love to head out to Australia and New Zealand some day for the view of a lifetime from 13,500!

Photo courtesy of Skydive the Glaciers

Of course, one day I’ll head back to Skydive Miami where my journey as a sports parachutist began and complete a solo jump.

I can’t wait to jump with this guy again. After all, he’s the one who got me hooked!

What other drop zones do you recommend visiting? Where have you had great experiences?

Blue Skies!

Ashley