Archive for April, 2010
Another incredible day in the Moab sky, and the 10th Anniversary of Operation Freefall!
The Raise the Sky team did four XRW jumps today: two at Skydive Moab on the dropzone, one into beautiful Mineral Bottom, and one into the gorgeous Sorrel River Ranch Hotel. Nebelkopf and Tagle continued to work on surfing maneuvers, dialing it in until they felt completely confident in the canopy-surfs-wingsuit configuration. At one point it was going so well that Phil Peggs, flying video and taking pictures all day, was able to join in and take a dock on Nebelkopf!
Miss Nevada (Christina Keegan) did her tandem jump today and rocked it completely. She even figured out how to rig her crown to stay on in freefall – very impressive. Her jump was part of Operation Freefall, an initiative that sees more than 100 survivors of sexual assault and their supporters jumping on the last Saturday of April to raise awareness and funds for sexual violence prevention and care. With sexual assault prevention part of her platform as Miss Nevada, Christina has bravely spoken out about her own experience surviving rape in order to help others.
Raise the Sky is all about using the power of our sport to do good things both in the air and on the ground, raising funds and reaching out to our communities through awesome skydiving events. Our Project XRW was proud to join Miss Nevada and the national Operation Freefall team.
What we do is amazing and inspirational. Today we shared in the everyday courage of survivors who come to skydiving to heal, reclaim their lives, and to prevent future violence. There is nothing braver than that.
The day ended perfectly. After jumps into Sorrel River, the team had dinner there to celebrate the milestones achieved: Christina’s first skydive, Tagle’s first wingsuit surf, Jeff’s first experience as a mid-air surfboard…
The photographs from today turned out so well that we’ll be submitting them for print as part of the Parachutist article I’m writing about this project and Operation Freefall. Stay tuned for some video and a few photos to be posted here tomorrow after Phil has had a few hours of sleep and a chance to recover.
Sleep well, guys, you have earned it. And sweet dreams shouldn’t be difficult after today.
April 23, 2010: Project XRW
Phil Peggs is a pretty modest guy. I’m bumping this photo up on our blog because it is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. Jonathan Tagle surfing Jeff Nebelkopf, and Phil Peggs taking pictures, in the air over Skydive Moab, all for a good cause and in support of Raise the Sky’s partner in this event, Operation Freefall. This Raise the Sky team is taking inspiration to a whole new level. Looking forward to Miss Nevada’s tandem jump and another beautiful day in Moab!
5:00 AM came very early for the XRW Athletes. Coffee (thanks Clint!) and cereal (thanks Eli!) helped get us on our way to Skydive Moab, ready to skydive!
JT and Jeff arrived ready and excited to begin the project. They had a nice dirt dive, where exits, approaches, and camera angles were discussed and finalized. After a short briefing with Pilot Dave, the jumps were ready to begin!
I want to say this right now…THANK YOU SKYDIVE MOAB! Thank you Eli! They have been the best hosts, and we really appreciate them opening up the Dropzone so very early for us!
I will not lie or hide behind my typical bravado…I was very nervous. A lot of preparation and thought has gone into this project, and I do not want to be the weak link! I have been quite restless the past few nights, hoping that I can deliver “the shot”!
7:00AM – Wheels Up! Moab UT, what beautiful country. If you are not familiar with the area, let me give you a quote from Eli, “it’s like flying over mars!” Moab’s deserts and mountains which are mostly sandstone, combine beautiful reds, oranges, greens, and tans. It is a totally surreal experience which I have never had before! Tourists come from all over to charter flights over the country we see on each climb to altitude. Pilot Dave made sure to give us a scenic flight to help familiarize us with the area.
7:25AM – Exit! Jonathan takes a short delay while we take a lazy circle before exiting ourselves. As we catch up to Jonathan, we both notice that something has gone awry with his RDS. We both kept a safe distance as he deals with a bucking canopy and his unruly slider. Shortly before breakoff (remember only 10K), he has it sorted, and we maintain our proximity – learning our sight lines. On to jump 2!
8:00AM – Takeoff Jump 2! We decided to refine our jump run/exit order. We now run away from the drop zone, Tagle exits first and does a 180, and then we continue flying away to increase the distance, and let Jonathan sort his RDS, Trim Tabs, and heading. We then make a quick 180, exit, and then chase him down. This gave us a much better approach, where we could approach safely, slowly, and on level. Jeff wasted no time in going for the dock. I guess Jeff felt that a simple dock was too easy, so he decided to play pat-a-cake with Jonathan instead (video to come!)
9:00AM – Jump 3 – More docking! Jeff, Jonathan, and myself are all feeling the approach and fall rates. Jeff and Jonathan are maintaining docking distance, and work on holding their docks. I still cannot get over the most amazing visual I have EVER SEEN in skydiving…Jeff in free fall…Jonathan under canopy…flying together DOCKED!!
11:00AM – Jump 4 – Well…I screwed up and went low… but I still got this..
