Right now some of the top canopy pilots in the world are either making their way to or have already arrived at the Johannesburg Skydiving Club (JSC) in South Africa.  66 competitors from 16 countries will be competing for medals in 3 events; Speed, Accuracy and Distance.   The overall winner of the 3 disciplines combined will be crowned the World Cup Champion.
Including judges and support staff, 23 countries are represented in South Africa.

The dropzone is situated at 5000 feet above sea level and that altitude those teeny little parachutes move pretty fast (especially with some of the big boys dangling under them).  We spoke to some of the American competitors before heading out and they seem to think we can expect new World Records at the event, as long as the weather cooperates.

US Team Manager Albert Berchtold commented that “the course is super fast and conditions today and yesterday were very challenging.  Quartering tail wind pushing you downwind through the speed course.  If the conditions are like this during the meet, it won’t be  “if” the speed record gets broken, but it will be how many times.  Going fast isn’t the problem, its keeping your ass in the course”.

Speaking of weather, during this past week of practice wind and rain has hampered training a little.  Competitors are getting up well before the chickens to get to the DZ early, in order to get in a few jumps before the winds kick up, which has been around 10 AM.
A person who would rather remain nameless pointed out that these conditions suit the Australian delegation perfectly, as they provide for extended hours at the bar.  That is definitely something the Aussies are better prepared to handle than any of the other nations attending, so should those conditions prevail we can expect to see some green and gold on the podium.

Competition is set to start on December 2nd and run through the 6th. We will do our best to bring you update and news from the event as it progresses.

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As this fine Thanksgiving Day comes to an end, it is only fitting to look back and reflect on the first few months of Blue Skies Magazine.   It started back in February, the idea born as Lara struggled to get out of the smoggy airport of Reno, Nevada.  It’s hard to believe that now, just a handful of months later, we are an actual proper magazine.  Printed on real paper, in pretty colors, rated M, being mailed all over creation to our subscribers.

We have much to be thankful for.  This dream would have died on the wine if it had not have been for the incredible support of our friends and families near and far – if it hadn’t been for the masses of jumpers that took a chance on us sight unseen and subscribed – if it hadn’t been for the support of skydiving manufacturers that busted out their checkbooks and signed up to advertise with us (even after being warned that this wasn’t going to be your grandpa’s skydiving magazine) – if it hadn’t been for the awesome writers and photographers that continue to submit to us….  well, if it hadn’t been for all of that and a good heaping helping of insanely hard work and some dumb blind luck, there probably wouldn’t be a Blue Skies Mag.  But, here it is – we did it – and continue to love every minute of it.

To all of you that help make Blue Skies Magazine what it is – thank you for being a part of this adventure.  We plan to stick around for a long time, and continue to bring you news and information, photos, videos, snark, sarcasm and all that good stuff.  And yes, you can still count on Blue Skies Mag to be the bringer of the boobies from time to time, because that is just how we roll.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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D.B. Cooper

On November 24, 1971, a hijacker who called himself “Dan Cooper”, sat down in seat 18C on Northwest Orient’s Flight 305 out of Portland, Oregon, bound for Seattle, Washington. After takeoff, D.B. did the damn thing and ended up hopping out of the Boeing 727 with $1,051,940 (adjusted for inflation in 2008 dollars-originally $200,000).

He’s never been caught, and the case remains the only unsolved hijacking in the world.

So, happy D.B. Cooper Day!

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In response to yesterday’s post, we would like to introduce you to Canadian Angus Smith, who was on the Falcon 100-way team at Kaleidoscope over the weekend. Although he does say that those Canadians aren’t quite right, so maybe the skydiving educator had a point.

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A force of nature

From some blog about skydiving equipment which is almost guaranteed to be a lame way to make quick cash off people who click on links like “The Real Secret to Making Money Online”:

3. No one is stupid enough to jump out of a plane in shirt and jeans. This is why you must always skydive with a jumpsuit. This is designed to protect you the moment you jump off the plane because of the strong winds and other forces of nature which could tear your clothes.

I have heard of forces of nature which could tear off clothes, but never on exit.

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Steve Harrington on a sunset jump in Pepperell, July 2009.

We’re putting the final touches on a memorial to Steve Harrington for the December issue. Steve had just completed the new world record 68-way wingsuit record and went on a fun jump to celebrate. He struck the tail of the plane on exit and lost his life. If you have any memories of Steve, please do share them in the comments.

Blue skies, Steve.

Photo by Jeff Donohue, Drunken Skwrl Productions.

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Reserve Pilot Chutes 101

My mom is in town for Thanksgiving and I have already put her to work helping edit the December issue. Mike Gruwell wrote a review of Basik’s Seven container/harness; to help her understand some of the technicalities, we pulled out my rig and had a quick crash course on reserve parachute mechanics.

Incidentally, learning how my reserve works gave her a little more confidence in the odds of me surviving my next jump. I can highly recommend a gear tutorial for the parents/concerned family members

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