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President's Perspective
In recovery mode after the recent loss of a family member, I was prompted by several friends and members of my family to get back to my normal routine and activities as quickly as possible, which of course included skydiving and student training. At first, it was a mechanical response: grab the gear bag, make sure my reserve’s in date—It wasn’t, so a repack was in order—consult the SIM for the emergency procedures review for the recurrency jumper I would be coaching, load the car and point it toward the DZ. It was amazing to feel the adrenaline begin to surge through my system since the plan for the day called for me to work with a 70-jump skydiver, get him current and coach him to help improve his air skills. Or maybe the excitement was caused by the fact that the 70-jump skydiver was my brother. In either case, the surge of excitement returned—like it had never left and just been dormant while I was away from the sport—as it reignited the thrill each of us get when we head off for the drop zone. Truly amazing stuff! The recurrency jump went as planned, and as expected, my student’s air skill demonstration was more akin to a chimpanzee on hallucinogens in freefall, but that is a story for another time. The plan was to get down, get packed and manifest again to make at least three more jumps that afternoon. Unfortunately, my brother’s air skills weren’t the only skill that had degraded with the passage of time, as he was having a bit of difficulty packing his main. “No problem,” I thought; I’d just grab the next open slot and jump while he was relearning the fine art of packing. Only a solo slot remained, so I planned on a sit-fly jump. After not having tried this form of skydiving in almost two years, I was amazed; I was stable, in control and altitude aware. Whoa! Even more gratifying was the chance to jump with one of the local freeflyers, pick his brain a little and talk about exits, recovery positions, balance, how not to “cork out” … you know, a basic dive plan to follow. It was hard to say who was more excited about the jump: me—with all of the theoretical skill sets—or him—who was coaching someone who has been jumping for 32 years. Incredible, with a little help from him, I sailed through what turned out be one of the most exciting jumps of all my years in the sport. What had I been missing?!? I’m not saying I’m going out anytime soon to start looking at hair dyes, Mohawk hair styles or tongue studs, but I am very keen on the chance to learn and try something new, which after being a confirmed belly-flyer my entire career, I’ve discovered this sit-flying stuff is the bomb! I know I am a long way from participating in a head-down world record attempt, but the excitement of trying something new is back, just like when I made my first wingsuit jump and when I started jumping in the first place. I would never have called skydiving dull or boring anyway, but trying another discipline I was unfamiliar with was like the first jump all over again, with the same excitement and sense of accomplishment. Does any of this sound familiar? If you’re looking for a way to bring back that first-jump thrill, try branching out into another area in our terrific sport. You might be surprised at how much fun it can be. What do you think? Click here to send USPA your comments. |
You know what? This skydiving stuff is fun! Now, I can already hear the collective 31,000-plus membership saying, “Duh. Ya think?” all the way from Florida, but let me explain a little about my opening remark.