The PD Blog

Skydive Arizona Holiday Boogie

Lots of good times and jumps were had during the Skydive Arizona Holiday boogie and Performance Designs was there in Holiday Spirt to provide goodies for all the fun activities. PD Sponsored Athlete Scott Campos was organizing and providing First Flights for those looking to fly a wingsuit and spreading PD's holiday cheer.

When the jumping day was over the fun didn't end. After challenging days of Wingsuiting, FS and  VFS camps and even a speed star competition the party continued into the evening. Events like Carnival Night, a talent show and the ever popular swoop and chug and a New Years Eve Ballon drop, all provided hours of fun and chances for everyone to win some great swag.

 

John and Suzie Cocanour's daughter sang a fantastic skydiver version of the 12 days of Christmas that won her a PD hydration back pack and Jan from Denmark walked away with a trick Alti-2 altimeter with a custom PD face after wining the Swoop and chug. Other lucky boogie goers won great T-shirts and assorted swag from PD, Bonehead, Birdman, Alti-2, Jump Shack, Liquid Eyewear and Vigil during the New Years Eve ballon drop.  In total, 400 people made over 8800 jumps and many walked away with great stocking stuffers from many of the gear manufacturers.

Take a look at a few of the new wingsuiters and odds and ends from the event

by Scott Campos

 

Blue Winter Tunnel Skills Camp

Spaceland Blue and Niklas Daniel will be hosting a tunnel skills camp at Skyventure Arizona (Dec. 12th and 13th). Blue will be offering 4-way and freefly skills. So come to the sun and get your flight skills on!

World Record @ Summerfest - Day 2

I have to be honest.....I was impressed this morning.  8:40 am and 5 Twin Otters took off from Skydive Chicago with 108 freefliers and 5 cameramen searching for a new World Record.  I never imagined that our wake up skydive for the day would result in 101 connecting.  It was looking good.

Jump two came and it only got better.  Having been dealt the hand that the skyvan was down for repairs we were launching the base out of the lead Otter and it was turning out just fine.  We worked out timing and put a super floater out of the lead plane to get more fliers in the air under the base.  It was a good idea, we built 106 out of 108.  This was the way to start a record!
 

Jump three came and we took a step back.  Three pods were having issues and the bench erupts (inside voices) with cheers ;)  One person was in the wrong slot and that threw off two pods but all in all the skydives have been very smooth and not a lot of big movements or waves.  With only a few minor collisions, more just bumps it's been kept pretty safe.

Jump four came and it was more of the same from jump three.  More new faces are rotated in and the bench is starting to bustle with activity.  Having a record of 108 people and at least another 40 that are sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for their chance.  It was getting a little tense but spirits were held high!

Jump five.....107 out of 108.  Soooooooooo close!  As they say....the worst part about being on a 108 way is watching a 107 way.....The team had the energy and the vibe was right, but you could see that the day was wearing on the group yet the organizers decided to go for one more jump before calling it a day.

Jump six.   I was sitting underneath 108 freefliers watching a pod with 3 or 4 out and I see super Pat from the far side of the formation start carving around 107 of his closest friends searching for his slot.  He reached the un-built pod and as he picked up his slot the true professionals that were waiting for him jumped into position and grabbed their grips out of the sky.  It didn't build for long.....but we did it!!!!!  A new 108 way World Freefly Record set!  The party is starting so I need to get off this computer and go enjoy the celebration!  Pictures will be posted soon and we're also putting together a very nicely edited DVD of the event from dirt dives to warm ups to the record shot by our friends over at GetHypoxic.  Please contact me through my website if you are interested.  I'll post a link to that later.  In the mean time, congrats everyone!!!!  Way to smash a record in 6 jumps!

New Canadian Freefly Record - 21-way

Before Summerfest completely dominates the blog, we've got news from our friends up north and a couple of pictures taken by Brian Buckland.  Philippe Thibodeau organized the new Canadian Freefly record this past weekend in Montreal, Canada at Voltige.  Despite only having 5 jumps for the 3 day event because of weather, they broke the previous record twice, first with a 15 way and then with a 21 way.  Congrats guys!!!  and gal ;)  Now it's time for a 100+ way!

Alberta Provncial Skydiving Championships 2009

From  July 1st to the 6th at the Edmonton Skydive Centre in Alberta, Canada!

Niklas Daniel of Spaceland Blue will be FreeFly Load Organizing and canopy coaching through the entire event. 

Chris Farina of Perris Fury will be attending as well, offering free coaching and load organizing for teams training or any one interested in having fun!

So if you are in the neighborhood of Alberta, stop on by, eh! 

Sequentials over Sebastian

 
Photographer Brian Buckland captured this shot of a 12-way sequential dive organized by Jim Harris over Skydive Sebastian in March, 2009.

We got a Winner!

As we say in Texas, YEEEEEHAAAAW!

That is the response we got from Lara Hussain, now some of you might ask. Who is Lara Hussain? Well she is a little known jumper originally from Skydive Dallas, but who now jumps at Mile High in CO. Lara is the winner of the a PD Reserve Canopy, her name was pulled from all the feedback forms we received from those who Demo’d a PD canopy in 2008.

We are very grateful to all those who filled in the form and sent it back to us, but we could only pick one winner.

“PD just made my week. I’m new to skydiving and took my time getting my A license at our home drop zone, Skydive Dallas. When I was ready to make the jump into gear purchasing, PD was my first choice. I demoed a Sabre 2 as well as a Spectre and went down in size during the process. It was a total pleasure to demo the sleek, crisp new canopies. It did wonders for my packing skills and helped me determine that the Spectre was just right for me to get started in the sport.” - Lara Hussain

 

PD wishes Lara a great 2009 skydiving year. Welcome to PD the family.

Blue Paraclete XP Tunnel Skills Camp

Greetings everyone!

It has been awhile since we did our last camp, but now we're back and ready to go! With our April camp coming up fast, it's time to start reserving your slot!

April 25 and 26 Blue will be hosting our second camp of the year- but with a slight twist- Niklas Daniel will be joining us to take care of our lovely freefly folk! We are incredibly excited about being able to offer both FS and Freefly. For those of you who haven't been to our camps yet, let me just tell you, they're fun and intense. For those of you who haven't worked with Nik yet, you're in for a real treat!

Blue camps are designed to focus on the importance of bodyflight in relation to flying formations- regardless of the size of the formation! While we focus on 4-way, we still administer drills and repetition that can be applied to any FS discipline. We offer pre-brief and de-brief in order to maximize your tunnel time experience.

We offer 1 on 1, 2 on 2, as well as welcome teams. So if you have a new team and want to refine some of your 4-way skills before taking it to the sky- come on out to our Tunnel Skills Camp happening in North Carolina!

Nik will be working with those who want to do Freefly with 1 on 1 coaching. However, Freefly teams are welcome as well!

If you want to come out to do 4-way, Freefly, or just refine your skills- send us an email at fastraxblue@gmail.com or got to our website at www.fastraxblue.com to sign up and register.

For more information on pricing please go to www.fastraxblue.com

Slots are limited so sign up soon to reserve your time!

Perris Fury8 Warm-Up Weekend

Blue skies and beautiful 75 degree weather set the stage for this years 8-way warm up camp at Perris Valley Skydiving.   Saturday and Sunday, January 17^th and 18^th were the kick-off days to an exciting 2009 season of 8-way with Perris Fury at the helm. Nearly 30 participants came out to “meet and greet”, get professional organizing, and soak up the incredible weather.

 

Perris’ own Moxie, who placed 5^th in the Open class at the 2008 Nationals, re-united during the warm up camp. “Three years, hundreds of jumps together, and I finally taught Christy how to give a good exit count, too bad only three people left the plane with me!!” said Moxie member Celeste Campo.  During the two days, the girls managed to make 15 jumps.   All members are excited about the upcoming season.

 

Perris Fury member Uli Stuewe organized fun and successful 8 way jumps for the rest of the participants.  “I had a great time doing 8 way for the first time, getting to jump with a number of people with varied skill level. After just one day of the camp, I am now considering doing a Fury 8-way team for 2009,” commented camp participant Lindsay Showalter.

 

Since 2006, Perris Fury has been running the Fury 8 project, making it extremely easy for the average Joe to have a stress free competitive season. The entire process of organizing a team is pre-planned with training camp dates, tunnel time, fun outings, packers, videos, coaches and of course, Nationals!  All skill levels are welcome, from “just for fun”, to aspiring Gold medalists.  The application deadline is approaching quickly.  If you’re interested in seeing if the Fury 8 project is right for you, contact Christy Frikken at frikkenc@yahoo.com by Jan 31^st.

COPS 25-way and Anniversary!

By Gilles Dutrisac

On January 8-11, 2009, a group of skydivers/law enforcement agents gathered at the Florida Skydiving Center in Lake Wales.  The goal was to attempt to build a 25-way skydiving formation to commemorate the 25th anniversary of C.O.P.S.

C.O.P.S. (Concerns of Police Survivors) is an organization established to raise funds and awareness for surviving family members of officers who have fallen in the line of duty. The event at Lake Wales culminated a long and laborious effort from all the participants raising funds to support families affected by these tragedies. Each skydiving member had to raise $1,000 in donations, then contribute the money raised as their entry fee to the 25-way skydive.

Day one served mostly as a practice day - much needed as things were a little on the rough side.  With a couple of funneled bases and one crazy spot, it was clear that some work still needed to be done.
Participants remained positive and optimistic and on Saturday (day two), a 23-way with 2 “missing men” formation was successfully built on the fifth attempt.  This jumps was done in the honor of two recently fallen officers, which made for a very emotional sunset dive.

Day three was the glory day, with a wide array of visiting area Police Departments, SWAT team vehicles, US Navy, Sheriff helicopter and many other law enforcement vehicles and equipment displays. More importantly, many survivors were on sight to witness the jumps and attend the presentation ceremonies. The dives went well with a 25-way completed on the second attempt!
Another jump was done afterwards for some more photo ops but that one didn’t quite complete. All and all, a great day with the highlight being the presentation of a $25,000 check to the survivors.

Lots of new friends were made and some truly touching and heroic stories were shared that served as a powerful reminder of just how important police work is and how dangerous it can be. We certainly owe a debt of gratitude to the fine men and women who put their lives on the line for us each and every day.

Salutes!

 
For more information on C.O.P.S., please visit their website.