Sports | Surfing Skydivers

Skydiving Competition Footage: A Pleasure Worth Watching

Skydiving competitions aren’t always about winning something. For most participants, competitive outlets provide the opportunity to excel and perform while creating something beautiful.

Due to the nature of skydiving, some form of video documentation is essential to compete. Since skydiving competitors are subjectively evaluated by judging panel, proper videography and footage is a must in most contexts. Thus, competitions in skydiving are great providers of various types of skydiving media. This media is often produced by highly experienced videographers. The footage is then often made available after the fact through various outlets including the Internet.

Much of this video documentation is likely to be found quite remarkable by most enthusiasts, even those who are not affiliated with the skydiving community. There are canopy and non-canopy formation styles comprised of groups working collaboratively. The team sizes most commonly range from two-way to eight-way while some cases have actually included hundreds. There are also many female and co-ed only competitions, even competitions for age categories including over forty and beyond.

Video footage of work in these categories usually exhibits an impressive amount of athleticism, technique, and collaborative discipline. Completing formations in rapid succession is very difficult for even the most skilled and experienced skydivers. Formations in canopy are often quite challenging and dangerous for different reasons. When in canopy, one always runs the risk of collision or entanglement with a fellow jumper. The level of skill and training involved at this level is often no less than astonishing. Thus it is often very enjoyable to watch.

Freestyle skydiving competitions, on the other hand, are often the most alluring due to their artistic and improvised nature. This category of competitive skydiving can often be described as the high altitude equivalent of modern dance or figure skating. In the end, skydiving competition video footage is worth watching where you can find it.

Filed Under: Skydiving, Sports Tagged With: Aviation, Parachuting, Recreation, Skydiving, Sport

Skysurfing

Skysurfing or ‘skyboarding’ is a freefall activity that includes the use of a board attachment on one’s feet. Though it peaked in popularity during the 90′s, there is still a small minority of skyboarding enthusiasts. Reasons for it’s decline are mostly safety related. Not only is it very difficult to perform, but the boards are made to release in the event that the diver loses control. These boards have to land somewhere. The sport of skyboarding was eventually removed from the X-Games and has since failed to make a substantial recovery. While most may prefer some other form of attachment in today’s climate, skyboarding is still available at many places. It can be a lot of fun for those willing to give it a shot.

The idea of skyboarding is essentially to pursue controlled freestyle maneuvers with the board attached. Simply maintaining balance with a board on your feet is difficult enough. However, even this most basic task looks visually appealing to the camera. Skyboarders essentially appear to be surfing on air. After the basics are mastered, one can pursue any type of aerobatic maneuver such as flips, spins, and loops which all look really impressive and are made more difficult due to the board.

If you’re looking to get into skyboarding, please do it safely. There are relatively few skyboarding coaches and experts in the sport. Don’t even think about just jumping on a plane with a snowboard attached. The skyboard is also a very specific type of board. Using any other type of board can be dangerous, and without proper guidance you may run the risk of spinning out of control.

In the end, skyboarding is probably not the type of activity that most people will actually want to pursue. However, with discipline and proper training, one can enjoy this type of dive with a relative amount of confidence and safety.

Filed Under: Skydiving, Sports Tagged With: Aerobatic maneuver, Parachuting, Skysurfing

Skydiving: A Great Way to Meet People

Meeting new people can often include trying new things. When you explore new activities it’s almost impossible to not meet new and interesting people. Skydiving is no exception. In order to skydive you usually have to take a safety class in order to participate. In your first safety class you will probably meet some interesting people who, like yourself, are about to experience skydiving for the first time. Since it’s your first time, you might all be a little afraid of the jump. This is natural. People may need support in this kind situation. Sometimes a solid friendship can help you break through these difficult times. Friendships that are able to last through these times have the possibility of succeeding much longer down the road.

Meeting new people and developing trust is essential to skydiving. You have to trust the people you’re with and all that’s involved at every step of the way. Skydiving forces you to open up and get close to your group. You will hopefully all be sharing the same ride up and the air space on the way down. This establishes a context of goodwill among the people in your class or group. It is likely that your friendship will flourish if it starts in such an auspicious situation. The first several interactions often set the tone.

After you’ve been skydiving for a while, you will probably get to know your instructors, dive coaches, and pilots. Additionally, you may get to know other regulars in the scene. If you’re really into skydiving, it helps to have a network of friends who are also into diving. Skydiving friends are great to have because they are usually out-going, supportive, and trustworthy. After all, through skydiving you will have grown to trust some of these people with your life several times over.

Filed Under: Skydiving, Sports Tagged With: Aviation, Extreme sport, Parachuting, Recreation, Skydiving

Freestyle Skydiving: A True Art Form

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Freestyle skydiving is one of the most expressive and individualistic of competitive events. Its closest relation surely must be some form of dance, except that in freestyle skydiving – there is no dance floor. Nonetheless, freestyle is often described as a form of ballet during freefall. This comparison is quite fitting and descriptive. The best freestyle divers are technically proficient and uniquely expressive while dancing in the air. Since it is a highly subjective endeavor, people naturally have different ideas about what makes the best type of freestyle routine. Videography also plays an important role in this genre. It can often impact the quality of the dance in terms of production values as well as the way in which freestyle participants choose to interact with the camera. In this sense, freestyle skydiving is a multimedia art form by definition.

It may take years of training to pull off a great freestyle routine. There are hundreds of documented moves and limitless possibilities. Routines are usually judged by technique and creativity. The creative aspect is largely about which moves you use and how you combine them. Routines can be either spontaneous or choreographed beforehand. Sometimes creative videography and orientation with the camera can score you some unexpected points. Because of this, most freestylers work closely with videographers and consider them a part of the team.

To be a successful freestyle skydiver, you need to master all of these distinct areas and more. As a performer, you are responsible for your technique and your choreography. Your moves also need to consider the positioning of the camera. Your camera person also has a significant amount of responsibility; after all, you will both be judged by the quality of the video. In the end, freestyle skydiving is amazing to watch and be a part of. As always, the most important aspect is safety.

Filed Under: Skydiving, Sports Tagged With: Aviation, Extreme sport, Free fall, Parachuting, Recreation, Skydiving

Wingsuit Flying

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A wingsuit is special type of jumpsuit that webs between the arms and legs in order to increase lift and drag. Wearing a wingsuit enables the jumper to decrease their descent rate and glide horizontally over vast distances. Though skydiving with a wingsuit requires experience and awareness, it is definitely a fun and interesting variation on skydiving.

Wingsuit flying is somewhat similar in principle to gliding as demonstrated by the flying squirrel. The suit garment maximizes the body’s ability to catch air and glide. However, in contrast to hang gliding, you can’t land using a wingsuit alone. Wingsuit flyers still depend on a parachute for landing as the suit itself does not neutralize descent nearly enough to land safely.

Wingsuit flying requires the use of your entire body to maximize your lift and drag. This includes keeping your arms and legs spread and your body firm with your head facing up and forward. This body positioning can help you get the most distance out of your glide.

Another important note about wingsuit flying is that it requires a significant amount of skydiving experience to participate. There are several added dangers involved in using a wingsuit. Firstly, it’s very important to exit the aircraft safely while adjusting to the current wind flow. In a wingsuit, your body may be moved in unexpected ways. It’s also very important to stay balance and focused. Wingsuit flyers often run the risk of spinning out of control.

In the end, there are several exciting advantages to wingsuit flying. Clearly it allows you to cover vast horizontal distances in the air. Due to the increased drag, wingsuit flying also tends to extend the amount of time spent in freefall. As long as you can handle this experience safely, wingsuit flying may help you get more out of your next jump.

Filed Under: Skydiving, Sports Tagged With: Aviation, Extreme sport, Hot air balloon, Parachuting, Recreation, Wingsuit flying

Skydiving Records

Skydiving records are exciting achievements and great target goals for the extremely experienced. Individual and group records are equally as amazing. There are several categories and sub-categories of records. There are individual men’s and women’s records. There are national and world records, daytime and nighttime records, standard group, formation, and relative work records. There are even records for disabled individuals and groups.

The largest female formation was set in California in 1997. It included 25 women. This was recently broken on December first, 2010. The record is now 41. The largest group formation was set in Thailand in 2006. It stands as a 400-way formation. The female altitude record was set in 1977 by Elvira Formitcheva who dove from 14,800 meters. The largest canopy formation is at 100. Don Kellner holds the record for most jumps at around 36,000 while Cheryl Stearns hold the female record for most jumps with over 15,500.

Depending on who you ask, Joseph Kittinger holds the male record for the highest, fastest, and longest skydive at 102,800 feet. It was during a military project called Excelsior. However, some refuse to acknowledge this record on account of extra technology involved including the use of a multi-stage parachute system. He ascended in a balloon to achieve a level of altitude that was not attainable by conventional aircraft. This ascent took one hour and thirty one minutes. His fall took four minutes and thirty six seconds. Recently a skydiver by the name of Felix Baumgartner announced in January 2010 that he was going to make an attempt on this record with the help of a well funded scientific team.

These records are important accomplishments for humanity. Having great records helps us learn and grow. Record attempts have taught us valuable lessons that shape the way we think, work, and train. Hopefully our technology and technique will continue to improve in pursuit of excellence.

Filed Under: Skydiving, Sports Tagged With: California, Cheryl Stearns, Felix Baumgartner, Joseph Kittinger, Parachuting, World record

Is Skydiving Really Safe?

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Skydiving is a safety concern for everyone. Divers run the risk of death and serious injury. It is estimated that 30-40 people in the U.S. die each year from skydiving related incidents. This is out of over two million parachute jumps. Most accidents are not equipment related but rather have to do with the judgement of the participant. This includes necessary precautions before jumping, parachute packaging, and misjudged deployments. If you are properly trained and follow the guidelines, there is very little chance that you will have a problem.

Today, skydiving is a very safe extreme sport. You are probably more safe skydiving on occasion than you are driving a car on a regular basis. Roughly 50,000 people die each year as a result of traffic related incidents. Also, compared to skydiving, more people die each year as a result of lightning strikes or boating accidents.

So, why is skydiving so scary? Is it the risk or the potential to get hurt or is it just the intimidating nature of the sport? For one thing, skydiving isn’t for everyone. A very small percentage of the population will actually skydive in their lifetime. Secondly, skydiving isn’t a necessary or convenient activity in contrast to say, operating a motor vehicle.

Thus, the fear of skydiving seems to be highly illogical. There is no statistical basis for fearing skydiving over other activities. Many more mainstream activities not only have higher death numbers each year, but the death rates are often higher as well. Maybe skydiving deaths are portrayed more often in the media because there are so few incidents each year. Media outlets hardly consider every auto accident to be newsworthy. In the end, skydiving is actually less dangerous than most other activities that involve an amount of risk. This is especially true when you follow the rules.

Filed Under: Skydiving, Sports Tagged With: Aviation, Extreme sport, Skydiving, Tandem skydiving

Parachutes

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Parachutes are drag devices meant to slow down your descent rate and thus ensure the safety of skydivers. There are many types of parachutes and there are drag devices that do not technically qualify as parachutes. The prefix ‘para’ means ‘to protect against’ while ‘chute’ is French for ‘fall.’ Today most parachutes are made out of nylon and must slow the terminal velocity speed by 75 percent in order to be officially referred to as parachutes.

Historical evidence of parachutes dates back to around 1470 from an Italian manuscript, though it is not exactly clear that a parachute device is indeed what is being depicted. Leonardo Di Vinci produced a clearer and more sensible parachute rendering that is dated to around 1485. Though there were many renderings and parachute designs early on, it appears that the first successful documented parachute jump was not until 1783. This was performed by the inventor Louis-Sebastien Lenormand. In 1785, the parachute was used in the context of jumping from a hot air balloon. However, these first demonstrations used dogs as jumpers. However, in 1793 Seitler himself made use of the parachute as a means to escape from his hot air balloon which had ruptured. This appears to be the first historical life that was saved by a parachute device.

There are several types of parachute designs that are in use today. Round parachutes are round in shape and strictly serve to reduce drag and land the jumper safely. This is opposed to ram-air parachutes which are adjustable and designed as maneuverable and efficient performance canopies. There are square types which are technologically advanced round types that serve to reduce drag even more than traditional round types for safety reasons.

As you become more acquainted with skydiving, you will become more familiar with different parachutes and their types. Knowing your parachutes is helpful, informative, and safe.

Filed Under: Skydiving, Sports Tagged With: Skydiving

Extreme Jump! A Look at Some Extreme Sports

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The freefall is a cornerstone of extreme sports. With thousands of miles of endless sky, it’s one of the most exhilarating experiences available on – or above, rather – this Earth. However, as a “side effect” of the free fall, the dangerous rock called Earth is also what makes the sport so extreme! Here are a few different ways that you can get yourself a piece of this awesome experience!

Bungee Jumping
Arguably the Great Grandfather of extreme sports, bungee jumping is where the athlete is tied to a surface high above a valley or gorge and free falls toward the bottom. With the awesome yet simple technology of the bungee cord, the athlete is saved from obliteration and sprung back into safety! Not for the faint of heart!

Skydiving
Jumping out of a plane was an occupation for some soldiers. Now, it’s a special treat for some extreme athletes! Skydiving is a classic staple of the extreme sports arena and is loved by old and young alike! The youngest to skydive has been five, while the oldest person recorded was 101 years old! One of the great aspects of skydiving is the ability to enjoy the views as most jumps keep you in the air for quite some time. Added bonus is the peaceful and zen-like moments that one can have while they float back down to Earth.

Rock Diving
Rock diving, or cliff diving, was part of religious rites at one time. Now, extreme athletes have added to their bag of tricks too! The athlete takes their stance at the edge of a cliff, often in exotic and beautiful parts of Brazil, Hawaii or any other place in the world, and jumps outward toward the sea to avoid hitting any rocks. The free fall is without the aid of parachutes or any apparatus. Unlike bungee jumping, the point is to hit the quickly approaching bottom! The combination and absolute shock that hits your body as you plunge into the depths of the ocean below is what makes cliff diving such an extreme sport!

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: Bungee jumping, Hawaii

A Guide to Basic Terminology Used on Sports Betting Sites

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As more and more sports lovers use the Internet, the business of sports betting sites is booming. Making a bet on a sports game makes the game more fun to watch and may earn the person placing the bet some extra money. While seasoned gamblers may know the ins and outs of sports betting and its language, newcomers may be confused at some of the terminology used on betting sites.

There are lots of ways to learn this information. Beginners can make use of books, online articles, forums and information on betting websites. This will help them learn the complex aspects of sports betting. Some of the phrases used on these websites are very simple. Users that have a basic understanding of these phrases will feel more confident when they are placing a bet.

One of the more popular terms used on sports betting sites is sport bookmaker. This term refers to the person who manages bets and sets up odds on different bets. Traditional gamblers would have gone to their local bookmaker but today people engage the services of a sports betting website and its sport bookmaker.

Another term that is frequently used is “odds”. The odds of a bet influence the payoff that customers will get after they have placed a bet and it wins. The odds can change because of the number of bets that are placed. It is important to be aware that the odds do not remain the same all of the time.

It is important that players understand the terms that are being used on gambling websites. If they do not they will miss out on important information that could improve their chances of winning a bet. If there is any confusion, terms can be looked up on the Internet.

Filed Under: Gambling, Games, Sports Tagged With: Atlantic City New Jersey, Betting (poker), Bookmaker, Gambling, New Jersey, Odds, Sport, Sports betting