120 Jumps in One Day

Myself and my good friend Brent Findlay set a new national New Zealand record this past Saturday for the most number of jumps completed in a single day by a single person.

Dubbed 'The Hundred Jump Project' our goal was to get at least 101 jumps in a single day each simultaneously to beat the current NZ record of 100 which has stood unbeaten since 1999. We managed to achieve an average of one jump each every 5.5 minutes for just under 12 hours non-stop (aside from fuelling obviously), eventually ending the day on 120 jumps each so we now co-own the new record.

We jumped from 2,500ft (the lowest legal altitude under our governing rules) from a Fletcher aircraft. We had just the one plane but had 3 pilots who worked on a 10-jump rotation. We had an incredible ground crew of around 50 people including packers, pilots, safety, rig-swappers, catchers, food and hydration runners etc who all also worked on a roster rotation, our first jump was at sunrise 6:35am and our last jump was around 6:15pm. We are not night rated so we were restricted to daylight hours only.

We used a total of 20 rigs with quite a large range of canopies. It was really fun to land a Crossfire 3 109, then 5 minutes later land a Saffire 3 150, then 5 minutes later land a 7 cell Krakken wingsuit canopy etc, it was a real test and we had 240 great landings.

I know some of you will be referencing people like Jay Stokes and thinking that 120 isnt really a big deal, but it was a big deal for NZ and certainly a big deal for us personally. We used the challenge to raise funds for our local Mental Health Foundation, so far we have raised around $10,000NZD but we expect that number to climb as the NZ media continues to show a lot of interest.

We both had one cutaway each which is pretty unlucky really. Both spinning linetwists which put us on our backs, pretty obvious you arent going to fix that from that altitude. Mine was at jump 55 and Brents was at jump 93. Both cutaways were textbook, kept both handles, landed exactly on target, swapped rigs and kept going.

One of the coolest stats is that I got to do my 800th and 900th jump on the same day, which not many people can say.

Anyway I just thought some of you might be interested in some of those stats. It was a super fun day and Im really proud of what we achieved. 

Heres a quick story from one of the news channels here in NZ, one of many to report on the event.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/124237213/friends-push-through-parachute-fails-and-fatigue-to-set-new-skydive-record

Now that’s Cool!!!!

8 hours ago, RUN_FMX said:

...I know some of you will be referencing people like Jay Stokes and thinking that 120 isnt really a big deal, but it was a big deal for NZ and certainly a big deal for us personally. We used the challenge to raise funds for our local Mental Health Foundation, so far we have raised around $10,000NZD but we expect that number to climb as the NZ media continues to show a lot of interest.

 

Nope. This is a huge undertaking.

As you note, the logistics behind this sort of thing are very impressive.

I was a small part of a 'one hundred jumps in one day' event back in 04. It's an amazing thing to see and participate in. 

14 hours ago, RUN_FMX said:

I know some of you will be referencing people like Jay Stokes and thinking that 120 isnt really a big deal, but it was a big deal for NZ and certainly a big deal for us personally. We used the challenge to raise funds for our local Mental Health Foundation, so far we have raised around $10,000NZD but we expect that number to climb as the NZ media continues to show a lot of interest.

I shared that link with you not to "One up your accomplishment," but to share with you that it is quite an undertaking on the logistical side and the human side for the pilots and jumpers and I apologize for posting fast instead of explaining more in detail.

I do have one question. Does anyone else see the irony in skydivers jumping to raise money for Mental Health?  

16 hours ago, RUN_FMX said:

We are not night rated

+

16 hours ago, RUN_FMX said:

set a new national New Zealand record

=

10 hours ago, loudtom said:

Now that’s Cool!!!!

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2 hours ago, BIGUN said:

I do have one question. Does anyone else see the irony in skydivers jumping to raise money for Mental Health?  

I can see your joke, but seriously, many military veterans with PTSD find therapeutic value in skydiving. Many of my earliest instructors were Vietnam veterans, and one of them once told me, "Skydiving is the closest thing I can find to being shot at".

3 hours ago, BIGUN said:

I do have one question. Does anyone else see the irony in skydivers jumping to raise money for Mental Health?  

Nope. Not at all. Not even a little bit.

A friend of mine either started or 'started around here' Freedom Freefall. 
She lost her fiance to PTSD Veteran Suicide. She found peace and solace in jumping and felt (correctly) that it would help struggling veterans.

She either put it together or found someone who was doing it and got it going around here (not sure which).
It's taken on a life of it's own, and has been going on every year since. They've taken a lot of vets on tandems. Some are not suffering or struggling, some are. All of them are grateful for the opportunity and clearly express how great of a thing it is.

I personally find a lot of 'therapy' in jumping. Last fall, my mom was having some health issues and ended up first in the hospital and then into a rehab center. Between the issues she was facing and the threat of Covid, it was very stressful.

I got up to the DZ a couple times during that period. I really needed it. As I said at the time:
"When I went out the door, I left everything else back in the plane. All the crap, all the worries, everything running around in my head was left behind."

It was still there when I got back to the ground, but it was a big help to let it go for a bit. 

Note: I'm thinking your question was something of a joke. But my answer is totally serious.

On 2/15/2021 at 12:06 AM, RUN_FMX said:

One of the coolest stats is that I got to do my 800th and 900th jump on the same day, which not many people can say.

Anyway I just thought some of you might be interested in some of those stats. It was a super fun day and Im really proud of what we achieved. 

OK, back to our regularly scheduled program. You two are to be congratulated. In the link I posted, I was "nightjumps" on here back then and the event organizer. The amount of planning and logistics before the big day takes months and is no small endeavor. The entire US skydiving community was involved either by knowing about it, watching it, donating to it, etc. Our charity was the Humane Society and the theme was, "Sit, Stay, Jump." Jay Stokes wished us all well and gave technical tips prior to the event.   

The first time we did it; we only got like 68 jumps due to plane issues, so the clock burned out. Then, the South African Team contacted us and told us they'd made a 100. so we had to start the planning all over again and were successful in beating that. Jay Stokes wished us all well and gave technical tips prior to the event.    

Congratulations to you both. Well done.  

On 2/15/2021 at 12:06 AM, RUN_FMX said:

One of the coolest stats is that I got to do my 800th and 900th jump on the same day, which not many people can say.

This is awesome! But now what will you do for your 1000th?