Jason Brigmon, C-42880, started jumping in 2012 and quickly took to freestyle skydiving. Within a few years he was competing at the highest level: As a member of Axiom XP, he took home the silver medal in the freestyle event at the 2017 USPA National Championships and followed that up by winning gold in 2018. After representing the U.S. Parachute Team at the 2018 Fédération Aéronautique Internationale World Parachuting Championships in Australia—and winning a bronze medal there—he came home to successfully defend his title at the 2019 Nationals (with Axiom XP) and 2021 (with XP Ascend). Brigmon will be traveling to Skydive Arizona in Eloy this year to once again represent the U.S. at the FAI World Championships.
Age: 35
Height: 5’11”
Birthplace: Barnardsville, North Carolina
Nationality: United States of America
Marital Status: Single
Children: None
Pets: None
Occupation: Transmission line engineer and tunnel instructor
Education: Bachelor of science in civil engineering
Pet Peeves: Lazy people
Pre-Jump Superstitions: Just think about the jump a few times.
Favorite Food: Barbecue
Rock, Rap or Country? Anything that has a good flow to it
Life Philosophy: Keep moving
Hard Opening or Line Twists? Line twists
Neat Packer or a Trash Packer? Trash packer
Did you start out as an AFF, static-line or tandem student? AFF
Would you rather swoop or land on an accuracy tuffet? Swoop
Jump Philosophy: 2-ways are better
Team Name: XP Ascend
Sponsors: Larsen & Brusgaard, Performance Designs, Skydive Paraclete XP, SSK Industries, Tonfly and United Parachute Technologies
Container: United Parachute Technologies Vector 314
Main Canopy: Performance Designs Valkyrie 71
Reserve Canopy: Performance Designs Optimum 113
AAD: Airtec CYPRES
Discipline: Freestyle
Home Drop Zone: Skydive Paraclete XP in Raeford, North Carolina
Licenses/Ratings: C-42880
Medals: Silver at the 2021 FAI Freestyle World Championships in Russia and the 2019 FAI Freestyle World Cup in Arizona. Bronze at the 2018 FAI Freestyle World Championships in Australia.
Silver in freestyle at the 2017 USPA Nationals; gold at the 2018, 2019 and 2021 USPA Nationals.
Total Number of Jumps: 3,400-plus
Freefly: Almost all of them Camera: A lot Tandems: Two front rides
Largest Completed Formation: 40-ish
Total Number of Cutaways: One
Of all of your skydives, does one jump stand out most?
At the moment, it’s clipping the door of the Otter on exit in round 3 of the 2021 USPA National Championships, but I hope to replace that memory relatively soon. Not my proudest moment, but you’ve got to appreciate the bad ones too.
How long do you plan on skydiving?
No plans on stopping any time soon.
What do you like most about the sport?
The opportunity to continue to learn. The sport evolves year after year, and it will be exciting to see where we are in 10 years.
What do you like least about the sport?
People stuck in the mentality of “That’s the way we have always done it.”
Who has been your skydiving mentor?
There are many, but they were all similar in that they were competitors and hard workers who were always driving the sport forward.
What are your future skydiving goals?
Freestyle World Champion
What safety item do you think is most important?
I am not sure there is any one most important safety item, because they all have their significance in certain situations. I do believe more people should consider canopy size when determining exit order.
Do you have any suggestions for students?
Take advantage of the wind tunnel to better understand body flight.
What is your favorite jump plane and why?
The Raeford Express. It’s Skydive Paraclete XP’s Twin Otter, and it doesn’t waste any time getting us to altitude.
Were you a hard child to raise?
I am sure I had my moments, but overall, I believe I was entertaining for my parents.
If you could make everyone do something to make Earth better, what would it be?
Work a little harder.
The toughest thing to do in the sport of skydiving is:
Remembering to keep a long-game mindset—progression takes time and consistency.
Is there one jump you would like to do again?
I had the opportunity to do a jump onto a small cay (sandy island) in the Great Barrier Reef. I would love the chance to do that again with some of my friends and see those views one more time.
Any suggestions for USPA?
Work together with the competitors and active jumpers more. We need more decision-makers who are actually making jumps each year. Skydiving is changing quickly, and we need to make sure we are making decisions based off the future and not what the sport used to be.
What was your greatest competition moment?
Medaling in freestyle at the 2018 FAI World Parachuting Championships in Australia. This was my first world competition, and I had only been competing for a year and a half. We were the underdogs, being USA #2, and scored higher than all teams in both the compulsory rounds.
What has been your worst skydiving moment?
The cancelling of the 2020 championship competitions, both at the national and world level
What drives your competitive spirit?
I think it started when I was kid and how my parents pushed us to do the best we could. My dad always said, “You play to win the game.”
What’s the best thing about being a freestylist?
Everything … there is no other discipline that allows you to be as creative as you want and push your flying abilities like freestyle. I enjoy the fact that all of your focus is on your teammate and isn’t split between multiple people. It helps you to stay in the moment for the whole jump.
Taking silver at the 2021 World Championships in Russia must have been sweet, but was there some agony of defeat, as well?
We always want that gold medal and any time we don’t achieve it, there is a feeling of disappointment. But that was short lived. It was a good reminder that I just need to do more, and the silver made me that much hungrier.
Explain Jason Brigmon in five words or fewer:
Simple, ambitious, genuine, upbeat, working