Photo by Andy Farrington | D-19747

Jumpers take a break from Safety Day activities to make a head-down jump at Kapowsin Air Sports in Shelton, Washington.

On March 10, skydivers across the U.S. and around the world made their way to one of the hundreds of drop zones that hosted a Safety Day event. Now in its 22nd year, Safety Day continues to be a favorite event that draws jumpers both new and old to the drop zone for a day geared toward making everyone smarter and safer. Whether attendees listened to presentations about managing canopy traffic and avoiding collisions, practiced emergency procedures (in a hanging harness using traditional methods or the virtual reality videos newly available on USPA’s website) or learned how a main-assisted-reserve- deployment (MARD) device works to extract a reserve, those who attended Safety Day thoroughly enjoyed it.

Anna Rocca, B-47038, makes her first rodeo jump with Eric Peterson at Skydive City Zephyrhills in Florida.

The International Skydiving Museum and Hall of Fame recently announced the names of those it will induct into its Hall of Fame class of 2018.

Florida Skydiving Center in Lake Wales once again hosted the annual Parachutists Over Phorty Society SpringFest meet. The February 28-March 4 event brought jumpers from around the country together for friendly competition. It also gave POPS members a chance to remember Bob Rhyne, TopPOP #5, who had recently passed away.

Jesse Weyher and Keith Creedy perform over-unders during a tracking dive at GoJump Oceanside in California. 

Photo by Weston Whittaker | C-43600

On February 9 at Skydive Sebastian in Florida, 26 jumpers set the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Women’s World Record for Largest Two-Point Head-Down Formation Skydive.

March 2-4, 32 expert formation skydivers from drop zones across the length and breadth of the United States and from as far away as Brazil, Canada, Norway, Russia and the United Kingdom gathered at Skydive Arizona in Eloy for three days of phenomenal formation skydives.

For the fifth consecutive year, Contadora, a 54-square-mile island in the Pearl Islands archipelago of Panama, hosted the Pepe’s Island Boogie, a tropical retreat that included paddle boarding, scuba diving and, most importantly, skydiving.

When it came to having fun, the Bahama Beach Boogie 2018 in the island nation of the Bahamas delivered! The event, hosted February 3-11 on the west end of Grand Bahama island by Sky’s the Limit in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, attracted 60 attendees for more than a week of jumps from a 900-horsepower Super Caravan.

The USPA Board of Directors will hold its summer meeting July 13-15 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

USPA recently promoted Stephanie Seidel to become director of its Membership Services department, the department of five that has the most interaction with USPA members.

Beautiful Day | Photo by Timothy Parrant | D-34622

Matej Sakej lands his NZ Aerosports Petra 72 during a sunny winter day at USPA Foreign Affiliate Skydive Empuriabrava in Spain.

Shooting skydiving on film—true film—has a long history. Nearly at our sport’s inception, freefall cinematographers captured it this way. It was the only way to show a skydive in motion. Many of the early movie cameras used in freefall were World War II military surplus, just like early parachute gear. These were gun cameras, which the military mounted on aircraft guns to record a minute or so of footage when the weapon fired.

Jeannie Bartholomew is a dedicated professional canopy pilot who (along with her husband, Curt Bartholomew) has put everything she has into the sport of skydiving. She is a member of Team Alter Ego Fastrax and travels the globe to teach canopy piloting skills and compete in events. Prior to skydiving she was a competitive cheerleader, and jumpers feel her positive attitude and energy wherever she goes.

“One Temporary Escape”  
Watercolor

Kayla Perron | B-47722
Winter Park, Florida

Melinda Ray was a 35-year-old wife and mother of three who was suffering from a disease that was quickly destroying her liver. She didn’t score high on the transplant list to qualify for a liver from a deceased donor; she had to find a living donor. She was desperate. 

From February 10-20, Tsunami Skydivers Exotic Boogies treated 127 participants from around the world to an experience they’ll never forget: the Boogie in Belize. The event included accommodations and nightly parties on Ambergris Caye, four days of jumping on a nearby private island and four days of intentional water landings into the Great Blue Hole (a large submarine sinkhole in the Caribbean Sea near Belize City).

The action calls worked and it now appears that the needed FAA funding bill will pass without changes to the structure of air traffic control. “Once again, we thank our members who made the calls in defense of skydiving’s airspace needs,” said USPA Executive Director Ed Scott.