Ryan Bolohan carves it up at Skydive Georgia in Cedartown.

Now that summer is well underway, there’s a good chance that many jumpers are reaching milestones in their skydiving careers. USPA issues two types of awards so jumpers can commemorate these milestones: achievement awards (for number of jumps and time of freefall) and performance awards (for canopy formation performance).

At Skydive Phoenix in Maricopa, Arizona, Mark Sunman, D-24493, celebrates the 20th anniversary of his first jump by getting current after eight years out of the sport.

Skydive Elsinore in California held its annual Poker Run—the only competition that brings together skydiving, poker playing and tequila drinking—on June 16.

Jumpers say goodbye to their friend Vern McGarry, D-7054, during his ash dive at Skydive Perris in California.

In “Wings and Things” in the June issue, Greg Marcinkowski, D-31253, received his 96-Hour Freefall Badge.

Organizers Matthew Fry and Melissa Nelson Lowe recently scheduled attempts to set the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale World Record for Largest Two-Point Head-Down Formation Skydive for June 25-28, 2020, at Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, Illinois.

The dynamic duo—Julie Kleinwort and Amanda Kubik—organized the annual Sisters in Skydiving event at Chicagoland Skydiving Center in Rochelle, Illinois, June 7-9.

It’s true what they say: Everything is bigger in Texas. On Memorial Day weekend, a group of 45 jumpers converged on Skydive Spaceland–Houston in Rosharon, Texas, with the intent of setting a state record for largest head-up formation skydive. Sara Curtis, Steve Curtis, Matt Fry and Konstantin Petrijcuk organized the attempts.

In order to help save highly endangered rhinos, Red Bull sent its athlete Jeff Provenzano to Limpopo, South Africa, to help the Eco Defense Group (EDGE) raise awareness of its efforts in the area.

In celebration of their recent engagement, Adam Elkin and Amanda Kubik exit from a balloon over Van Horne, Iowa.

Can jump-plane safety be improved? Yes, absolutely. The goal should always be zero accidents. USPA has already shown the NTSB that we are ready to implement sensible actions that improve safety.

Jeremy Dubansky is a fun-loving guy who has become a large presence in the Midwestern skydiving scene. He travels extensively to events, has a genuine love of his sky family and helps out jumpers in any way he can.

I would jump from the low parts of our roof with a shaky umbrella or quartered-up bedsheet, neither of which worked. I always crashed with a thud. But the seed was planted, and it wouldn’t be long before I’d try it for real.

I had worn an open-face helmet with goggles for many years, but after starting to wear glasses, I decided to get a full-face helmet that could accommodate them. I used this helmet on skydives and in the tunnel for more than a year before I had any problems.

Thank you very much for the wonderful and informative article and interview of Dr. Anna Hicks by Annette O’Neil (“Thin Air—Busting Lingering Myths About Hypoxia,” May 2019 Parachutist). It is indeed very important to inform our fellow skydivers about the risks of hypoxia.

“Cool Swoop, Hot Sun”
Digital illustration

Ismael Iribar | B-45880
Tallahassee, Florida

gravitystudiollc@gmail.com

Photo by Gustavo Cabana | USPA #80952

Will Penny (bottom) leads a jump during the Euro Fly4Life Camp at USPA Foreign Affiliate Skydive Algarve in Portimão, Portugal.