Above: Photo by Gen Montreuil.
Summer is the height of boogie season for most U.S. drop zones, and chances are there’s a big, specialty skydiving event coming up that you’re planning to attend. While boogies offer ridiculous amounts of fun, they also offer plenty of opportunities to hurt yourself if you’re not careful. Fortunately, there are some simple things that you can do to avoid having that good time turn into a huge bummer.
Get the Lay of the Land. When you show up at the new-to-you drop zone, be sure to get a thorough DZ briefing. Study an overhead photo of the DZ and ask about hazards. Learn about the common “outs” in case you have to land off. Find out about the DZ’s landing policies: How do they separate high-performance landings from standard landings? Are any landing areas restricted by license? Is there a students-only landing area?
Keep Your Eye on the Weather. It’s also important to learn about the common weather patterns and hazards at any new location. Find out where the DZ posts wind and weather information. Ask about the prevailing wind direction and what you can generally expect. Find out whether the DZ regularly experiences any weather issues: Pop-up thunderstorms, dust devils and gusty afternoon winds are much easier to avoid if you know to expect them.
When in Doubt, Stand Down. It can be very tempting to get on a load at a boogie even though your gut is telling you to sit this one out. Yes, you may have traveled a long way and used up a lot of resources to attend the event, but if the winds are a little too gusty or the skies are a little too crowded for your comfort level, just stay on the ground. Pushing your boundaries at an unfamiliar location filled with unfamiliar people is a recipe for disaster. You may be a little sad to spend the day earthbound, but it beats spending the rest of the season that way after a broken ankle or worse.
Be Realistic. When considering getting on a jump, be honest about your abilities, both with the load organizer and yourself. Boogies are great places to learn new skills and stretch your abilities, but you need to be completely up-front about your experience level and skill set, so that you don’t get in over your head (and also so that you’ll actually learn something). If you’re honest about what you know and what you want to learn, the load organizer will be able to put you in the right slot or on the right jump for you to succeed. Exaggerating your abilities in order to get on a too-advanced-for-you jump is both dangerous and annoying. Don’t be that guy (or gal).
On top of all that, please keep your canopy landings controlled and well within your abilities. A boogie is not the place to bust out your latest swoop move that is occasionally almost maybe perfect. Even if it goes OK, you’re not impressing anyone. Even less if you end up picking grass out of your teeth.
The Only Thing High Should Be the Jump Altitude. Boogies and parties go together. Pilots abide by an old saying: “eight hours bottle to throttle.” The same concept holds for skydivers. If you were at the bonfire doing keg stands at 3 a.m., don’t get on a load the next morning. Skydivers always need to have their wits about them, and this holds double when attending a busy event with lots of moving pieces. A hangover doesn’t help, either. When you’re in the air, you need to be sober (alcohol, pot or whatever else) and clearheaded.
Ron Bell D-26863
USPA Director of Safety and Training