On March 9, a bright and sunny day, 90 skydivers and their friends and families gathered at the Museum of History in Granite in Felicity, California, to make some skydives, to enjoy a reunion of the Pioneers of Sport Parachuting and to attend a dedication of monuments. 

Photo By Ellen Morris | D-26655

Neither wind nor the threat of a late-season snow storm could dissuade DZO Ole Thompson (second from right) and other intrepid jumpers from Vermont Skydiving Adventures in Addison from attending Safety Day, which the DZ traditionally holds in April rather than March due to the climate. 

The energy and warm buzz at Skydive Perris in California on Easter weekend was so tangible you could gift wrap it! The drop zone’s Full Moon Masquerade—a Sisters in Skydiving event—drew Big Sisters, Little Sisters and even some guys. 

Skydive Puerto Rico in Arecibo, a two-year-old USPA Foreign Affiliate DZ, hosted the island’s first USPA Coach Rating Course in April. 

Sweet 16 | Photo by Zach Lewis | D-21616

At Skydive Arizona in Eloy, 16-way formation skydiving team Dallas Disturbance attends a training camp in anticipation of the upcoming skydiving season. 

This year, when Skydive Arizona in Eloy hosted its annual Easter Boogie, the event proved to be quite busy. Three hundred-plus people made the trip for the promise of “more sun, more jumps and more fun,” and the desert drop zone did not disappoint. 

Skydive Atlas in Holdrege, Nebraska, recently won the Visionary Rising Star Award from the Holdrege Area Chamber of Commerce. The award goes to a Chamber member who has been in business five years or less and has demonstrated business success and community leadership.

Katie Hansen and Roberta Mancino teamed up to host the no-stress Ladies Sequential Weekend April 7-8 at Skydive Perris in California. With help from Daniel Croft, Bryan Gile, Chad Ross and David Wybenga, 18 ladies formed three groups on day one to fly freefly formations just for fun.

On June 1, USPA begins the process of having its members elect its 22-member board of directors for the 2019-2021 term. 

Oh My! | Photo by Karen Lewis Dalton | D-24575

At Skydive Perris in California, the drop zone’s organizers, a few world champions and some friends build two formations to celebrate the 12th anniversary of the Chinese company My. The team built the formations on the first attempt and then built them again on the second attempt for good measure. 

Canopy collisions are a fairly common cause of skydiving fatalities. The sport has seen improvement in recent years because drop zones have become more diligent about separating high-performance and standard landings and have also spent more effort educating jumpers on the importance of proper landing patterns, exit separation and separation during deployment.

"In his four-year tenure, Randy has elevated USPA's stature in the world arena of skydiving competition and records," said USPA Executive Director Ed Scott. "We thank him and wish him well."

Photo by Tom Sanders  |  D-6503
Jumpers fly a round over the Great Blue Hole, a large submarine sinkhole in the Caribbean, during the Boogie in Belize.

Photo by Raymond Adams  |  D-30158

Devin LaMon and Ashley Maurice enjoy a freefly jump during the Pepe's Island Boogie in Panama. 

Photo by David Lake  |  D-30458

Damien Ettema swoops the pond at Skydive New England.

Jumpers fly a hybrid during the SIS of ArOZona Sisters in Skydiving event at Skydive Arizona in Eloy.

Photo by Gen Montreuil  |  D-31992

Brought to you by Niklas Daniel and Brianne Thompson of AXIS Flight School at Skydive Arizona in Eloy. Photos by David Cherry. Information about AXIS' coaching and instructional services is available at axisflightschool.com.

While it generally does not cause a malfunction, a stuck slider can greatly affect the performance of the canopy. Following a main canopy deployment, jumpers should perform a thorough visual inspection followed by a controllability check immediately after ensuring that the airspace is clear around them. 

Over the years, many hoped that the wingsuiting community would develop safely without the need for heavy-handed regulation from USPA. Those who opposed a wingsuit instructor rating argued that USPA does not—and should not—require specific training for or regulate advanced skydiving such as freeflying or high-performance canopy piloting. The best example of a skydiving discipline that developed excellent training methods and safety guidelines without requiring USPA regulation is canopy formation skydiving. The pioneers of canopy formation skydiving learned what worked well and what didn’t work well and formulated the best processes and techniques for teaching jumpers who are new to the discipline. Those guidelines continued to evolve and improve, and now it is very rare that a fatality occurs during a canopy formation jump.