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landmissle

Is RW and Especially 4-Way Still Alive and Well?

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I've been out of skydiving for about 11 years. Back during my jumping days of 2000 to 2010 Free-Flying was coming on strong, but RW was still a significant discipline. I would say that there was a 50/50 split in participation between the two. At least in the dropzones I frequented in California.  For me personally it was a 65/35 with the emphasis on RW and a lot of 4-ways. Loved it.

Based on my conversation with a few folks at Skydive California (Tracy, CA) they are still seeing RW and do organized loads. So there must be enough interest in RW if that's being done. 

I hope to return to the sport shortly after the COVID cools down (actually my wife and I) and I'm curios on what is going on out at the dropzones. Is RW still alive or are only the dinosaurs of skydiving still doing it?

 

 

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33 minutes ago, landmissle said:

I've been out of skydiving for about 11 years. Back during my jumping days of 2000 to 2010 Free-Flying was coming on strong, but RW was still a significant discipline. I would say that there was a 50/50 split in participation between the two. At least in the dropzones I frequented in California.  For me personally it was a 65/35 with the emphasis on RW and a lot of 4-ways. Loved it.

Based on my conversation with a few folks at Skydive California (Tracy, CA) they are still seeing RW and do organized loads. So there must be enough interest in RW if that's being done. 

I hope to return to the sport shortly after the COVID cools down (actually my wife and I) and I'm curios on what is going on out at the dropzones. Is RW still alive or are only the dinosaurs of skydiving still doing it?

 

 

Nope. It's totally sad but we all died off in the last extinction event. We did outlast the Board Jumpers, so we have that.

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Hush!

Dunno about where you were, but Perris for instance is still hosting plenty of high-end events, as well as bigway camps. Which kind of implies that there are new skydivers to train... We have plenty of RW at our DZ, but it's not close to you. I'd say it's somewhat DZ-dependent; a good organizer really makes a difference.

Wendy P.

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Hi Wendy,

Great to hear. My wife and I used to do skydiving vacations down at Perris. Great place! Our home DZ was Skyance up near Davis.

Yes, it's too far for typical weekend jumping, but if we get back into this, we will definitely make at least a yearly pilgrimage.

California Skydive is only 30 minutes away so this will likely become our new home DZ unless the experience doesn't go well. I don't see why it would but I haven't actually jumped there; only talked to staff about returning to the sport requirements.

Really getting excited about jumping again. Thanks for the info. Sorry to hear about Joe and his untimely demise. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, landmissle said:

Really getting excited about jumping again. Thanks for the info. Sorry to hear about Joe and his untimely demise. 

RW, (now called FS), is still done in groups where the average age is over 50. And since skydiving is an expensive sport that is mostly done by aging Boomers, you will easily find places where your skill set will fit in with about the same 35/65 split but in the opposite direction.

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There are several good answers, but something I haven't seen yet:

There are three basic types that still do RW (FS). 
Hardcore competitors. Generally they're doing team training, but sometimes they will organize others. Doing organized stuff with highly skilled folks is fun, educational and humbling all at the same time. 

New folks. The smart ones understand the 'get good on your belly before trying to fly on your butt' concept. I'm usually able to find a couple to jump with. They are really grateful to have someone experienced to jump with, and I have a lot of fun and its 'more than a little bit' of a challenge to be good enough to make the jump work despite their shortcomings. 

"Crusty old guys". I put myself in that category. I don't jump enough to get good at freeflying, so I don't really try. Not interested in competition, I just love to get up in the sky and play with my friends. I'm good enough that I can be "where I need to be when I need to be there." I'm not alone. 

Many of the bigger DZs offer load organizers. People who are there to put together groups and plan a jump that fits the skills of the group (both collectively and individually - see below). 
Some places do this regularly, some places only on 'special occasions'.

I've worked with a variety of organizers (including some seriously world class competitors). I've also sat in on an 'organizer briefing', where the DZO sat with a new organizer and detailed the specifics of how to evaluate participants, decide what the jump will look like (depends on collective skill of the group) and decide who gets what slot (depends on skill of the individual jumper). Also contingency plans and making sure everyone knows what to do when (not if) something goes wrong. There's actually a lot more to it than 'meets the eye'. The goal is to make the jump challenging for everyone on it, but still attainable. 

Organizers usually get discounted jumps. Once you are back in the groove, you may wish to offer your skills to the DZO. NO clue if that place has or wants RW organizers, but it's an attraction to both 'crusty old guys' and newer folks who want to do more than zoo dives with other new people. 
Although, two fairly experienced jumpers combined with 2 newer ones and a challenging dive plan can turn into a zoo dive pretty easily. That's where the above mentioned contingency plans come in. 

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1 hour ago, wolfriverjoe said:

New folks. The smart ones understand the 'get good on your belly before trying to fly on your butt' concept. I'm usually able to find a couple to jump with. They are really grateful to have someone e
Although, two fairly experienced jumpers combined with 2 newer ones and a challenging dive plan can turn into a zoo dive pretty easily. That's where the above mentioned contingency plans come in. 

Ah, but if it's at all well-designed, that can be one of the most satisfying jumps of all. I love those -- make it about the newbies, and watch their eyes light up when they do something they didn't think they could, and actually remember it.

Wendy P.

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4 hours ago, wmw999 said:

Ah, but if it's at all well-designed, that can be one of the most satisfying jumps of all. I love those -- make it about the newbies, and watch their eyes light up when they do something they didn't think they could, and actually remember it.

Wendy P.

Oh yeah.

I'm not an 'official' organizer, but I've put together a lot of jumps for a variety of people. 
The S&TA knows me, my skills and my willingness to jump with folks. On more than one occasion, he's been briefing a 'new to the DZ' jumper, and brought them over to me, introduced us and asked me if I could fit them in with what I was doing. 
Or the new licensees are sent in my direction as 'someone who's good to jump with'.

And getting new folks to find out that they can pull off stuff like spinning pieces, or fly arounds, or other fairly basic but really fun stuff that they hadn't done before. As you noted, seeing the joy on their faces when we get back down is what it's all about.

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