2009-07-25 Jumps 95-100

Today was destined to be the day I hit 100. I was talking it up with a bunch of people, but when everything came together, I thought about doing a helicopter jump for the 100th. That would have made it really special in a selfish way because I would have been with a small number of people. Instead, Yoyo went through the effort to organize an ambitious 17-way snowflake. In the mean time, I had 5 jumps to do before the 100th, so I was jumping like a mad man.

Jump 95
This jump started off with the intention that I was going to lurk, but I ended up solo. I did some back and sit practice and got into a straight down delta. The head down position was really cool because I could tell my lower body was in the slipstream of my upper body. It got really quite too which was really cool. A good landing at 10'.

Jump 96
I decided to try the head down position again and again got into that slipstream. It felt very cool. 206mph. A good landing at 10'.

Jump 97
A tracking jump with Travis and Shane. It was fun, and we were able to keep together and on the same level. I felt pretty good about my track stability. Long landing at 30'

Jump 98
Another solo head down. It would be nice to see what I'm doing. A good landing at 15'.

Jump 99
2-way back flip exit with Heyka. We did several flips then to belly. Tried to do a propeller, but couldn't get it to work. Long landing at 20'.

Jump 100
Yeay, the big #100. Now I can feel like a hotshot. :) Yoyo organized a 17-way snowflake. I was in the base, so there wasn't much for me to do to make this happen other than not screw up the exit. Well, I didn't screw up the exit, but still only 12 people were able to get grips. I guess one problem was that we were fairly dearched in the base, so it was flying really slowly. Tracking was kind of crazy with so many people in the sky. A good landing at 15'.

I got to watch the video that Donald and one other guy made of the jump on the big-screen. It was way cool.

2009-07-04 Emily's Tandem jump and other fun. (Jumps 85-89)

I had decided to go mountain biking at Hollenbeck Canyon with some friends on Friday because I knew I was going to be taking my friend Emily to do a tandem jump on the morning of the 4th. I packed up my tent and my air mattress and all the trappings of home, along with my bike and headed to Jamul. After a beautiful late afternoon ride with Bryan F an, and dinner with Gardner, I headed back to Skydive San Diego to set up my tent and go to sleep. As I was laying out my tent, Max came out of his room, and I offered to share a bottle of vodka with him if he helped me set up the tent. In short order, the tent was erected, the air mattress was inflated and everything was laid out for a good night's sleep. The bottle of Belvedere was opened, and the conversation was flowing. After about 8 shots, I was ready to lay down, so I bid a good night and headed to the tent. I awoke early, as usual, took down the tent and packed everything back into the car. I then headed off to Eastlake to get some coffee before Emily and Blaze would arrive. They got there just before 9am, and I sent Emily off to fill out the waiver while I performed the financial side of the bargain. Blaze was the nervous one. Emily told me that Blaze had come into her room to wake her up and was crying and gave her a little speech about how if she something happened to her that she was loved. While I was waiting for my CC to be processed, Blaze was mentioned how charged everyone seemed to be. I looked around, but really, the only one who was charged was her--it was kind of funny.

Jump 85
For this jump, I just played by myself. Flips and turns and the like. Got to wave to Emily before jumping. Great landing.

Jump 86
2-way with Dave. Linked exit. Belly 360 L, Dock, 360 R, Dock, Side-body, Track. Bumpy air. Soft landing. First jump on new suit.
Jump 87
2-way head down w/ Ausie Matt - 231mph!

Jump 88
Solo sit practice.

Jump 89

Solo sit practice.