Those of you that are subscribers have probably noticed that one of our monthly features introduces you to a random stranger – and each time we get to learn a little bit about that person, how they came to make that first jump and what keeps them ticking and coming back to the sky.

We want to feature some cool cats in the upcoming magazines, so we hereby advertise for random strangers.  If you know a skydiver who you think has something interesting or fun to share, and wouldn’t mind getting his/hers mug in Blue Skies Magazine, by all means drop Kolla a line (kolla at blueskiesmag.com) with the persons name & contact information (e-mail preferred) so that we can get in touch and do a quick interview.  And please don’t nominate yourself, because that’s just tacky.

For the fine print, we reseve the right to use all, some or none of the suggestions sent in, in a totally random fashion. We also reserve the right to run all suggestions by SkyGod too, so enter at your own risk.  Or rather, enter  your friends at no risk to yourself

With a bit more experience, we predict that this student will become a popular person in the base for hybrids!

Photo by Niklas Daniel

And speaking of the beach, there is the lovely Angela from ICARUS USA, taking a little break on a beach in Hawaii – and there with her trusty Blue Skies Magazine to keep her company.

Have a good weekend everyone!

The Canopy Piloting World Championships is nearly finished.  But it’s not been without a few issues- most notably the smoke from all the fires in the area.

This hasn’t stopped competitors bonding; Mike Kleist, German swooper and author of The Secret of Male Multiple Orgasms and Other Sex Skills , has been researching his next book on how to pick up girls.  Others have spent time working on their wing loadings, as athletes in this discipline should, and eating pies, or the Russian equivalent.  The mischief has been a little tame so far but if the competition finishes today then perhaps we’re in for a wild night.

So far Speed and Zone Accuracy are finished with PD Factory Team and Flight-1 athlete Jason Moledzki clinching both golds with some awesome performances.  You can see the break down of results here.

Smoke on the ... Everything

Competitors at the Canopy Piloting World Championships are plagued by the dense smoke that has engulfed the area.  So, at breakfast in the hotel, PD Factory Team members and some of the South African delegation decided to bond with the locals with a few vodka toasts to set the morning off.  The smoke is pretty thick outside so our chances of jumping are low.  These guys started the meet roulette game early.

Breakfast of Champions

Competitors are still arriving and some have been here for a week.  But Moscow and huge parts of Russia are engulfed in smoke from peat fires that have arisen after the unusually high temperatures this year.  Many of the competitors that gave such inspiring performances in all of the disciplines that have already competed are still stranded in Moscow- the staging airport on their homeward journey.  They should get out in time, coughing and spluttering, but for some of us our competition hasn’t even started yet.  In fact, an Air Base in the town where the competition will be held was recently consumed by the fires and 200 aircraft were destroyed.  Just a few hundreds metres from one of the hotels that we’re staying in there are blackened trees showing how close the fire came.

But now the fires are heading to Chernobyl and there’s a risk of radioactive material mixing with the drifting smoke.  Canada and Poland are evacuating their embassies and the Russian Surgeon General has recommend that anyone that can leave the area should do so.

All this sounds pretty challenging and our lack of on-site training jumps is a real concern.  But really the more problematic issues are that of a huge bunch of skydivers hanging out and not having much to do.  This is when it gets dangerous and mischief comes in to play.  So watch this space to see how it plays out (assuming we’re not consumed by the smoke and fires that is).

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Caption Me! (Photo by Jeana Noorzaie)

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