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

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While many of you will have been following the outstanding achievements that have been going on at the World Championships in Russia, you might not be aware of the other dangers that are present.  The Canopy Piloting World Championships is about start at Kolomna, near Moscow.

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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The Florida Canopy Pilots Association is clearly not content being just in Florida, so their the 4th meet of the season scheduled for next weekend (May 15th-16th, 2010) will be held in Raeford, NC.
League Director Albert Bercthold is still on the bench after having a small disagreement with planet earth at the last meet, so PD Factory Team member Ian Bobo will step in to assist with meet directing along with being the meet coach.

Blue Skies Magazine reps Lara & Kolla will be on site for the meet, so you can expect fun updates and photos from the weekend.

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The PD Factory Team celebrated the end of their recent training camp – and team member Ian Bobo’s birthday! – with some swoops into the Deep Woods Ranch. Photographer Justin Carmody set up to capture the magic and we set up to capture the magic-capturing. Enjoy!

[Warning: extremely cute but annoying dog barks throughout this video. Loudly. Incessantly. Gratingly. You've been warned.]

For more of Justin’s photography, check out his website and the pages of Blue Skies Mag.

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When we started this crazy adventure, we promised you seven days with Jeff Provenzano, better known as Jeffro, the first canopy pilot to ever execute a Miracle Man in competition.

It got scheduled, re-scheduled…basically never happened (though we did give you some great weeks with Eric Deren and Nick Grillet). Until now! Jeffro is in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia with the Red Bull Air Force and we’re tagging along for the surreal, alcohol-free ride. Look for the final week in the March issue of Blue Skies Mag, and stay tuned here for some audio outtakes and long-long-distance phone calls.

Yep, he's that guy. Ad by optionstudios.com.

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Jay celebrates with team mates Ian, Shannon and Jessica

From the PD Blog:

Posted with permission from Performance Designs, Inc.
Photo courtesy of Performance Designs, Inc.

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The Canopy Piloting World Cup started in South Africa on Wednesday and is due to conclude on Sunday.  So far 2 rounds of Speed have been completed and, with the exception of 4 re-jumps, 2 rounds of Distance have also been completed.  This included Canadian competitor and PD Factory Team member Jay ‘Sexy Pony Tail’ Moledzki smashing the World Record with an impressive 175.92m on round 2 on his Comp Velo 79.   This currently leaves him in first position with almost a 40 point lead ahead of some strong competition.  The 5,000′ elevation and changing wind conditions have resulted in a large number of zero scores.

For skydivers, weather holds can be the most dangerous time, particularly at a Canopy Piloting World Cup.  For some, there was time to kill, and the Australian delegation challenged some of the other nations to an improvised game of indoor (well, in-tent) cricket.  Others took the time to get some much needed rest, particularly following the early starts we’ve been having with 0530 take-offs.  Here are a few pictures of competitors resting while they wait for the winds to drop.

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