The Dangers of Skydiving

While skydiving can bring great joy to many people old and young, it is important to always remember how dangerous it is. Many things can go wrong while exiting the plane, in free fall,  deploying the canopy, or while landing. There are so many different variables that makes every jump different and that is what makes this sport so exciting/dangerous. Many experienced jumpers have had parachute malefactions where they have been forced to cut away from their main canopy and depend on their back up canopy. Also, while not as frequent, other equipment sometimes does not function properly which can lead to serious injury or death. Below is a video of a tandem jump from a well known skydive drop zone. This video gained a lot of attention due to it being an older women who almost fell out of her harness during free fall. Thankfully she was fine thanks to the quick thinking of her tandem jumper and the camera man.

Base Jumping!

Skydiving's close cousin base jumping is made up of many elements of regular skydiving, combined with the thrill of throwing yourself of some of the best man made, and natural spots in the world. Base jumping requires quick reflexes and a vast knowledge of free fall technique. Without great experience skydiving (800 jumps required) a jumper would find it very difficult timing when to release the canopy as well as how to position their bodies correctly. Some of the best base jumpers have been able jump off of some of the most recognizable landmarks in the world.

World Record Skydive!

Here is a really cool world record breaking skydive video I came across from CBS news. There was 138 jumpers free falling all at the same time breaking the previous record of 117 jumpers.

Holiday Skydive Boogies

"Boogies" is a term frequently used in the skydiving community for a gathering of skydivers at one location for networking, team jumps, world records, competitions, etc. These boogies are great traditions at different drop-zones all around the world. Some of the best boogies for this year are from a number of exotic locations such as Skydive City in Zephyr Hills, Florida.....

                         Or in another awesome skydiving location, Skydive Dubai....

Or if those places don't interest you, how about jumping in Africa at Skydive Swakopumund?

All of these places and more will be top skydive destinations this holiday season for jumpers from all over the world. Check out the blog in the future for pictures and updates from all these awesome events!

Accelerated Free Fall Program

This Summer I will begin the process to become a licensed skydiver! The quickest way to become licensed and jumping by yourself is by completing the Accelerated Free Fall Program. This program will consist of 20 jumps and many hours of class where I will be taught and trained to skydive. Each jump that I complete during my AFF program will consist of new challenges that I must pass, such as different altitude jumps, aerial acrobatics, and other important facets of skydiving. If I do not pass each challenge I will be forced to go back and do it until I complete it to my coaches standards. Below is a video showing AFF levels 1 through 7 to give you guys a better idea of what you need to do if any of you are interested in getting licensed!

Red Bull Stratos

By now I'm sure most have you have heard about the amazing space jump that was completed by the Red Bull Stratos team and Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgrtner in late October. Though it was delayed multiple times due to weather it was finally completed on October 14th. Felix flew 24 miles into the stratosphere before free falling in a pressure suit in a free fall that lasted over 4 minutes (just a few seconds under the world record) and breaking the sound barrier. Felix broke two records including highest altitude free fall (128,000 ft) and highest manned ballon flight (123,491 ft).

Skydive Radio!

By visiting http://www.skydiveradio.com/ you can find the best skydive related podcasts done by professional and amateur jumpers from all over the globe. These podcasts are updated frequently and there are a variety of different podcasts covering everything from free fall techniques to how to use a wind tunnel and everything in-between. Each podcast has a brief description of the subjects being covered as well as who the featured guest is on each episode. Also on this site you can find great new pictures and videos of user submitted jumps that are rated by other users. Below are some of my favorite user submitted pictures from the site!

The GoPro Bomb Squad

These videos are from the GoPro Bomb Squad. I recently started to follow them on Facebook and on their website. They are defiantly out there pushing the limits everyday and posting new content all the time. Their GoPro sponsorship allows them to travel the world to skydive and base jump in some beautiful scenery, and they film it just for us.

Welcome!

Hey guys!

This past summer I had a great marketing internship at Skydive New England in Lebanon, Maine. During this internship I got to surround myself with really interesting people that also happened to be badass skydivers. During my time there I got to jump tandem skydives frequently and had a blast doing it. I quickly realized I wanted to get my skydiving license so I can jump solo skydives by myself. Starting in the spring I will begin my Accelerated Free Fall (AFF) skydiving course to get my skydiving A license. I find myself searching for skydiving and base jumping videos and articles online frequently, so I decided to post the cool things I find on my blog here and show all you guys!

 Hope you enjoy!

(me) >