Warming up in Dubai
Not in Dubai, but a great photo all the same!
Training is in full swing in Dubai with the competition getting ready to start. Final preparations are in full swing. The freefall disciplines are training at the DZ further out in the desert while the CP and classic accuracy are training on the main DZ next to the palm. The views are glorious and it’s pretty overwhelming watching the multi million dollar yachts cruise underneath you as you’re flying your pattern over the sea. The swoop pond is beautifully clean using nothing but filtered water.
The helicopters and Porter are flying non stop allowing the competitors to get some last minute training in. Conditions seem to be pretty good although the wind does swing around through the day.
In the CP there’s been one ambulance ride so far with an unfortunate roll that resulted in a broken bone in a competitor’s hand. We’re hoping that that will be the worst of it. The organisers are asking people to watch their separation between landings with safety being paramount.
In the classic accuracy we’re seeing some traditional Parafoils, Classics and PD Zeros. But also a couple of mischievous Brits from the Jump4Heroes team are flying their Troll BASE canopies. And they’re putting in a good performance despite being a bit uncurrent with one of them scoring a 0.00 yesterday. [Readers, please note, that in Classic Accuracy, that is a very good thing]
The skies and blue along with the beautiful ocean and we’re on a call for the next load. More to follow….
Loaded in Dubai
The 3rd Dubai International Parachuting Championships and Gulf Cup is only a few short days away – starting up on November 29th and running through December 10th at Skydive Dubai.
Some of the best teams and athletes of the skydiving world will travel to Dubai to battle it out above the exotic beaches.
The organizers website expects 55 or more nations to attend. Events are Canopy Piloting, 4-way Formation Skydiving, 4-way Canopy Formation and Accuracy.
The games are held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.
This event has traditionally been exceptionally generous with price money, and on November 14th, the organizers announced that the price purse had been doubled. A total of $775k will be distributed amongst the winners in the different events, although in Team and Individual accuracy only competitors from the Gulf Region and it’s affiliated partner-nations are eligible.
Breakdown of the price money can be viewed here.
With that kind of money on the line, we can expect to see some rocking competition.
Urban Swooping
Jeffro. Dubai. Big buildings. Woah. (Click the “Read More” for the video. You won’t regret it.)
Weather is Here, Wish You Were Lovely
SkyGod in Dubai
Original photo by Jonathan Tagle, who is competing in Dubai at the Dubai Parachuting Championships and Gulf Cup 2010. Good luck to JT and everyone playing in the sand!
World’s Highest BASE Jump: Check
Lots of news covering this jump by Omar Al Hegelan and Nasser Al Neyadi, but this one is my favorite: Man Falls from Burj Dubai – Worlds Tallest Building. Like, whoops, I fell!
Enjoy the video—and particularly MSNBC’s spectacular journalistic reporting of the building’s height as 27,017′ (the smarties at MSNBC changed out the video on us and they’re correct now! – it’s 2,717′):
Some more links to fill up what remains of your Friday workday:
BBC
CBC
Daily Mail
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