Swooper psyched for the Big Boy Pants Swoop Record-palooza at Mile-Hi Skydiving next weekend – I’m going to soak up the dry air, visit some old haunts and of course have a blast watching the big boys and girls go for new big records. That link has the full list of big boys who have been invited and will be there, along with profiles for most of them, so be sure to clicky click it.

But now for the important stuff (vote in the distance poll over there to the right, too >>>>):
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That’s right, this July will mark the one-year anniversary of the first issue of Blue Skies Magazine. Thank you for reading our little magazine this year. To our charter subscribers and advertisers, an extra special thank you for taking a chance on a new, completely unproven company, idea, philosophy, everything.

It’s no surprise that we’ve struggled to get each month’s issue out on a predictable schedule and for that, we apologize and thank you for sticking with us and being patient. Without going into whiny-baby territory, it’s been a challenging year professionally and personally for all of us. We’re still working towards quitting our various other jobs and putting 100% of our energy in Blue Skies Mag.

Towards our goal of getting back onto a reliable, mid-month delivery schedule, we’re combining the June and July issues into one mega celebratory issue, with some good little surprises sprinkled in. Because you’ve paid for 11 issues per year, we’re automatically extending everyone’s subscription one month.

The June/July issue is set to hit mailboxes July 15, August on August 15 and so on. Most of you get at least one other skydiving magazine around the first of each month, so we’re spreading the magazine love to the sad, forgotten middle of the month.

In addition to our super mega one-year birthday issue, look for a Blue Skies Mag boogie schedule, revamped website and shwag from Blue Skies Mag soon!

Kolla, Lara & Pierre
Blue Skies Magazine

PS – Take a few minutes to cast your votes in our first (annual?) Best of/Worst of Drop Zone poll!

And worsties, of course. Here it is, the first Blue Skies Mag “Best Of” poll! It’s an all-write-in poll, so everyone has an equal chance of winning.

Vote here!

Call us elitist, but we do ask that you vote only if you’ve made more than one jump at one drop zone. We know, the place you did that one jump was the best of the best of the best, but …

This month’s Skydive Radio got us debating the classic DZ debate: Should dogs be allowed on the drop zone?

For reference, the latest Skydive Radio show:
Download audio file (sr124_12_12_09.mp3)

From the Camden Macarthur Chronicle:

Dad Russell Brown, an instructor at the skydive centre, said his daughter had been “bugging” him for ages to do a jump.

“She basically comes to work with me; I knew she had the maturity and understanding to know what she was doing,” he said.

While the legal skydiving age in Australia is 14, Elise took advantage of a trial by the Australian Parachute Federation and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

So what do you guys think; is nine too young to understand the risks of skydiving?

Thanksgiving is fast approaching and many of us are returning home to celebrate with the family and catch up with old friends from school and childhood. This leads us to ask, who were you before you were a skydiver?

Vote for up to 3 answers.
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Discuss.

Our last lame poll wasn’t really a poll at all. It was a lame attempt to get you to take our lame Facebook quiz and come back and report the lame result. Here is a real, honest-to-goodness, not lame poll to find out what you do with your hard-earned jump tickets. Pick up to 3 answers.

It’s the ultimate jumper’s question – not which is your favorite for a specialty, or which would you like to jump, but which one would you pick if you could only jump one for the rest of time? Inspired by Skydive Radio’s Show #121.