Thanks to our awesome next-door-neighbor, Kurt Gaebel from the NSL, we are kept relatively well up to speed on cool things happening in competitive 4-way, both locally and around the world. We of course subscribe to the NSL newletter (which you can do too, by clicking here) and this morning we had a note from Kurt, reminding us of two events this weekend.

So, if you are in Florida and keen on doing some 4-way over the weekend, you have two options:

Skydive U is organizing a 4-way Scrambles Skills Camp on Saturday, February 12th at Skydive DeLand. $30 registration fee, video optional, player coaches for the day will be Rob Laidlaw, Katie Woods, Robert Chromy and Hal Spence. All experience levels are welcome, contact Skydive U for more information or to pre-register. Facebook event page here.

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Hit up Skydive Sebastian for a “Team 4 a Day” with SDC Rhythm XP. This program is designed for jumpers new to 4-way or anyone who wants to improve on their RW skills. Groups are matched based on similar skill level, allowing jumpers to learn and improve. I have done some jumps with both JaNette and Steve from Rhythm, and those two are both outstanding coaches. Facebook Event page here.

So, get your grippies on and go have some fun this weekend!

Now that the dust has settled a bit around the new Airspeed lineup, the team has got their matching jumpsuits and are planning their first training camp of 2011 in January. It will be very exciting to follow the new team and watch how things are going to play out in the next 2 years on the world level.
We are very excited to have Kurt Gaebel from NSL now contributing to a monthly column in Blue Skies Magazine, named “Turning Points”. In that column Kurt will discuss various topics from the competitive 4-way world. The first column will be in the December issue of Blue Skies Mag, due to hit mailboxes late December.
The NSL website has long been the hub of detailed and interesting news for hardcore 4-way geeks (and we use that word in the most flattering sense possible). Visit the NSL page to watch Kurt’s recent interview Tomash Hughes (center outside) and Nick Grillet (alternate) about the what lies ahead. Note the shirt Nick is wearing – ushering in the new look of a future World Champion!

We have no doubts that Airspeed will tackle the upcoming season with full seriousness, and we base that assumption on secret intel we received from one of our agents in Eloy. Thomas has been working on his track and evidently has advanced to FULL Delta position, which should do wonders for solid separation after break-off.

Photo by Nik Daniel

This is the US Women’s 4-way team Spaceland Blue – training hard for the upcoming World Meet in Russia. Check out tail Becky Brocato (6 o’clock in the photo) – and tell use the comment section to tell us what she might be thinking to herself….

Spaceland Blue, spacing out

Photo comes from the team’s cameraman Nik Daniel.  Way to throw a teammate under the bus, Nik – but you know we appreciate it!

From the Dubai Parachuting Championships and Gulf Cup 2010, we got word that Jonathan Tagle has inched ahead of Marat Leiras to claim first place, with Jay Moledzki in third in canopy piloting!

In the 4-way competition, USA’s Arizona Airspeed beat out Belgium and France; the women’s results are France, Germany, Spain. And, in accuracy, it’s Christian Auswoeger, Quargaf El Hassane and Al–Suwaidi Matar.

Congrats to everyone! Full scores here.

Competition started today at Skydive Spaceland with some rain, rain and more rain.  Around noon the skies cleared up enough so that meet organizers were able to get a handful of loads off the ground, enough to at least complete round 1 of intermediate 4-way.
At the close off registration yesterday 57 4-way teams had signed up to compete, with the majority of those being US teams with a handful of international guest teams competing as well.

Tomorrow looks like another wet day, but it is too early to tell if or how much the rain will hamper the meet.  The big teams are already pondering what effects (if any) this might have on team selection for the World Meet in Russia next year and some interesting thoughts on what might happen in case the weather doesn’t allow for a full meet are posted on the NSL website.  Kurt has been a busy guy, updating both his own website that caters more to hard core 4-way geeks, but also guest blogging on the CYPRES blog, where he writes posts geared more towards people with casual interest in 4-way.
Check both out for pictures and videos from Spaceland.

I’ll leave you with a gorgeous photo of a lonely Spaceland Otter, waiting for the rain to let up.

Photo by Nik Daniel

Download the plan that’s helped team PACK’D plan, organize and resolve disagreements:

PACK’D Team Training Plan

There are a lot of specifics that apply only to PACK’D; feel free to modify and edit so that it fits your team. If it helps you or you found helpful additions or changes, let us know!

Despite dodgy weather all week (high winds, lots of rain & all kinds of related excitement), 13 teams assembled for the 2009 Memorial Day 4-Way Scrambles held at Skydive City in Zephyrhills, FL.  At a scramble meet, the organizer will put teams together based on experience level.  Each team is compromised of an experienced 4-way competitor, 2 experienced/intermediate jumper along with 1 rookie.  Competition is usually tight and many unexpected things can happen – but those meets are always a lot of fun.

Two rounds were completed before a humongous storm rolled in and prematurely put an end to the competition.  At that point, meet director (and Mr. October on the PD Calendar) Oren Kalb instructed competitors to hide out in the bunker, to conduct the awards ceremony, watch videos and swap stories.

This year’s King of Scrambles is Ari Perelman! His team, BuRod’s Nightmare, simply crushed the competition and flew beautifully. Flying with Ari were Janine Colombo, Daniel Hagerman & Yvonne Saa.
Team Bling Bling came in 2nd place, guided by team captain Craig Sagalow.  Others on the team were Brian Lieberman, Ben Foster and Steve Snow.
3rd place went to team by the curious name of  Inflicting Pain, with Rodney Cruce at the helm.  Other Pain Inflictors were Quinn Lamb, Hooper & Sebastian (sorry guys, we don’t have your full names!).

Skydive City did a great job of hosting the event – manager TK Hayes and his crew definitely know how to throw a boogie as many visiting skydivers know.  The unique thing about the Memorial Day Scrambles is that the vast majority of participants are locals – who enjoy coming together after the busy winter season and re-group for calmer summer times.

Organizers and participants would like to thank the sponsors from the skydiving industry for their generous support:  Sunrise Rigging, Michigan Suits, Nylon City, Sunshine Factory, SkySystems, Larsen & Brusgaard, Performance Designs, Janine and of course Skydive City – raffle prices and boogie goodies are always highly appreciated.

Stay tuned for next year’s meet!

Reported by Laura Song