Well, our last post evidently didn’t tell the whole story! Dreadful journalism on my behalf, but then again I hope you can forgive me. I thought footie pj’s for grownups were a NEW abomination, rather than a resurrected one from mere 2 years ago.
After we bragged about the event on Twitter, Daniel Croft was kind enough to point us to the original video of a 7-way footie PJ jump! This was initially done by some Ranch hands at the Blue Skies Ranch in Gardiner, NY, but like most New Yorker’s, they were too modest to flaunt their accomplishment.
The Ranch hands did however stick to belly only, so we will give the Blue Skies Boogie crew in Nevada the credit for the biggest freefly Footie PJ Record.

But now that begs the question, in the world of Footie PJ’s, what comes next?!
A jump off? Footie PJ hybrids? The possibilities are endless.

Fun jumping in Nevada? You betcha. And not just fun jumping, but some amazing talent met up at the Blue Skies Boogie for hard hittin’ record settin’ jumpin’.

Without further ado, we present the Footie Pajama World Record, set in Mesquite, NV on January 14th, 2012. Congrats to Gunnar Jeannette, Mike Steen, Thomas Hughes, Dan Drage, Sean Hennessey, Jason Powell and Sher Drage for a brilliant performance.

If you didn’t get one for Christmas (poor thing), these cozy little jumpsuits can be ordered here.

Many thanks to Gunnar Jeannette and Mike Steen for sharing!

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 >>>>):
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

100 jumps in 24 hrs is a LOT.
100 packjobs in 24 hrs is a LOT.

Enter one man, with 2 hands, a rig, some rubber bands and hopefully a good packing tool or a sturdy pull-up cord – Todd Ames – who intends to do both. In 24 hrs.
The goal is to bring awareness and attention to Osteogenesis Imperfecta – a condition also called “brittle bone disease” – which pretty much sums up the condition.

The jumps will take place at Saginaw Browne Airport in Saginaw, MI. Todd was inspired by a young man named Austin, who frequently visits the airport and watches the jumpers.
Please visit the OI Foundation website for more information or to make a donation.

We wish Todd all the best for tomorrow and look forward to see the pictures!

Photo by Brian Snarr

Simon Repton of Wicked Wingsuits, reports that this past weekend a new Wingsuit Record was set at Skydive Allegan the state of Michigan – but not just any other record. This one was set using a formation C182 load to get the 7 wingsuiters up to altitude.
Something that is quite easy out of your average Twin Otter took a good bit more work and planning this way. The dropzone was very supportive and the record was organized by Kyle O’Donohue.
This Wicked Wingsuits Weekend was sponsored by Wicked Wingsuit and they are stoked to have been a part of this new Wicked Wingsuits Wekord

From Gillian Parker, hard core freefly chick, sprinkled with much awesomeness, reporting live from Arizona:

There is much to be thankful for at Skydive Arizona right now. The hangar is teeming with talent of the female freeflying variety, the skies are blue and clear, and a 39-way record attempt has been drawn out. Day 1 of the Women’s Vertical World Record Attempts is now officially in full effect.
The excitement is palpable, as the ladies gather to find out who is to make the first jump. The names of the women on the first attempt have just been announced, and ALL of the women are ready to get down to business. For a morning that has been touted by some to be the coldest Thanksgiving in 80 years, the exhilaration of being a part of these 4th WVWR attempts is more than enough to take away the chill…well, maybe not, but it sounds warmer to think that way.

First dirt dive has been completed. Everyone has their sight pictures locked in their mind’s eyes. It will be quite the vision to behold 39 women uniting in the sky from the Skyvan and her two trail planes. 60 minutes until a potential world record….

A few minutes later we got this one:

“Jump 1 is out of the way with a promising build that left just a few elements to tweak. In fact, more women were docked on this formation than were in the last record, for sure!

The talent pool is present to do this, without a doubt! One of the more impressive aspects to this record is how negligible the difference in skill level is amongst the participants, making the task of assigning slots to so many capable women all the more challenging for the organizers of the event! Who would have thought that in just a few short years since the last attempts that the group of accomplished female badass freeflyers would have doubled?! Thank goodness for Steve Curtis keeping the firecrackers on the support team ready to swap in and out!

The debrief was a fast one, with the determination being made to keep things the same, just a bit faster….

10 minute call!”

Then, rudely enough, Gillian’s computer died an untimely death, and future updates with it. But, as the world knows by now, the girls went ahead and beat the old record of 20 by a landslide – 41 gorgeous skydiving chicks built the new one.
Congrats to everyone that participated in the record, both those that made it on it and all those that supported it and made it happen!

Olly Burgin sent us this brand spankin’ new photo of the brand spankin’ new official British head-down record, done yesterday over Skydive Hibaldstow. Cheers, guys!

British Head-Down Record | Photo by Olly Burgin

Ground control to Major Felix

Last month, we told you about Red Bull Stratos, a crazy cool project that aims to send Felix Baumgartner up high. Really high. Super duper insane high.

The Red Bull Stratos project released a cool video this week about some of the science and technology behind the record attempt. Our good friend Kelly Farrington even makes a surprise appearance!

Enjoy (unless you’re on a Mac, in which case – sucks to be you. Or, you could try this.):

Born to Fly

Felix Baumgartner and Colonel Joseph Kittinger unveiled the Red Bull Stratos project today.

Red Bull Stratos, a mission to the edge of space, seeks to surpass limits that have existed for 50 years. Felix Baumgartner will undertake a stratospheric balloon flight to 120,000 feet and attempt a record-breaking freefall jump that is expected to reach – for the first time in history – supersonic speeds.

Velocity Sports Equipment, maker of the Infinity rig, created the rig and drogue. VSE owner Kelly Farrington says there are some pretty cool features of this rig. Hopefully we’ll get a bit more out of him, and some pictures, for you soon!

Rumors have been circulating that the big-way records attempts set to take place in Thailand this coming January (2010) have been cancelled. Kevin Gibson, the World Meet Media Director confirmed this in an e-mail to Blue Skies Magazine this morning but noted that they are still on for the attempts scheduled in 2011.

The initial plan according to the World Team website called for a 200+ big-way Sequential Freefall Formation (Guinness Book World Record) attempt in January 2010, followed by a 444 (or larger) big-way Freefall Formation (FAI and Guinness Book World Record). Then set for December 2011, a 999-way Mass Freefall Jump is planned (Guinness Book World Record as well).