USPA.org

Showtime
by Phil Roberson

For the fifth straight year, SkyQuest brought together highly skilled jumpers in multiple disciplines for one of the biggest extravaganzas in the sport. Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida, simultaneously hosted four major events November 17-20. Conceived by Kurt Gaebel five years ago, this year’s SkyQuest included the Kaleidoscope 105-way skydives organized by B.J. Worth, the Team Elite 42-way sequential dives organized by Guy Wright and Lou Tommaso, the National Skydiving League 4-way championships and a Fantasy Swoop contest with 15 of the world’s top canopy pilots.

Each year, the Kaleidoscope skydives attract some of the best big-way jumpers to build complex and eye-catching 100-plus-person formations. For the second year in a row, an additional group of big-way jumpers, Team Elite, joined SkyQuest with very challenging 42-way formations.

Meanwhile, the National Skydiving League’s 4-way competition got underway. The NSL Championships allowed teams to compete in a very public venue and show the non-jumping community what skydiving competition is all about.

The Italian national team, Sinapsi, entered the NSL Championships as a guest team, establishing a solid lead early in the AAA class. Teiwa Z-Hills placed second with a 15.6-point average.

The U.S. Air Force Team Prodigy dominated the AA division. Team Zero Tolerance from the Florida Skydiving League jumped alone in the A division. For the first time this year, the NSL Championships included a rookie division, with Team America from the Texas Skydiving League entered.

On Friday, the Fantasy Swoop competition began. The event consisted of two rounds each of in-lane swooping, zig-zag swooping, carving accuracy, freestyle and team distance. The Performance Designs Factory Team came out on top, with Ian Bobo taking the $1,500 first-place prize and Shannon Pilcher placing second. Marat Leiras finished in third.

The fifth annual SkyQuest proved once again that a skydiving airshow can attract top talent and tourists alike and give the public a taste of what skydiving is all about.