climberjumper

Hi Guys and Gals, At the moment I have 32 jumps and an A license. I plan to go to Z-Hills, Florida in March to get my B license. At that stage I hope to have at least 60 jumps. I'd love to do a jump from a Hot Air Balloon. Can anybody recommend a place in or near Florida where I could do this? Blue skies Rob

Here's the thing: - I live in Zurich, Switzerland and have no car. I have 19 jumps (8 AFF & 11 normal). - It takes me 2 hours to get to the DZ (2 trains & 1 bus) - 1+ hours to pack my chute (4 safety checks which must be approved by instructor who is always busy) - I manage to do 1 - 2 jumps (if the wind/rain stays away) - 2 hours back to Zurich. I honestly do like skydiving. But it appears that I really need to dedicate my entire day off work just to do two jumps. I work long hours, stressfull finance job, sometimes I don't get a day off (I work through the weekend sometimes) Also, the DZ's close from October to April. Do people have similiar experiences as I do? Dive safe

Hi Guys, CAn anybody advise where I can buy some skydiving gear such as gloves, suit, helmet etc. in Zurich, Switzerland? Thanks

This DZ is located in a beautiful part of Switzerland, I counted five lakes and many mountains at jump altitude. The staff are very friendly and welcoming, considering that I don't even speak their language. They couldn't have helped me more and made me feel more at home in my new local DZ! Manifest was very efficient and friendly and the Aeroplane is simply the best one I've ever jumped out of. I didn't stay around for the last jump and beers but it did appear that serious partying takes place here!

Hi Guys, I've recently completed my AFF course in Spain and did a few consol jumps as well. I'm an Irish man living in Zurich, Switzerland so it looks like Beromunster is my nearest DZ. Can anyone who has jumped there give me their opinion on it please? in particular how do they greet newbies? I've experienced cliques in other skydiving clubs in the past so just want to know what the atmosphere is like there. Blue skies

Hi guys, I'm due to complete my AFF and consol jumps next week on a trip to Spain. I actually live in Zurich, Switzerland so I'll be doing most of my weekend dive trips in or around Switzerland. Is there anybody on this website that dives regularly in Switzerland? Any tips on what are the better DZ's would be really appreciated. Rock on!

After a disastrous attempt to get my A license in Ireland by doing it at the weekends which resulted in me sitting around in the DZ waiting for the rain to stop / wind to die down / Tandems to finish, so I gave up. I managed to do a tandem jump and AFF 1 - 3. Now I've decided to do it properly by taking a week off work and going to Spain. If possible I'd like to get some suggestions from you guys on what would be the best DZ? There are so many advertised! Blue Skies

As a native Irish Man I think it’s unfortunate that I find my self writing a bad review for this DZ. As I arrived to do my level 1 AFF training I arrived in a room with at least 8 other people all eager to learn the ‘ropes’. Because of the number of people present the instructor was unable to give each individual the training that they needed. I felt that the whole day’s training was rushed e.g. for the dive sequence each person got down on the ground (one at a time) and quickly went through the sequence. As for the landing we were told to ‘flare at 10 feet’ when I asked “How will I know I’m at 10 feet?”, “What happens it I flare too early?” The instructor replied “Just put your knees/feet together if you think it’ll be a rough landing!” When we finished the training in the evening we were told to put our names down on the manifest to get our place on the next aircraft. I thought this was crazy. Did they not forsee 9 students (and 18 instructors) needing to jump at approx 18:00 that day? The extremely ignorant and rude Manifest lady told me that “You’re not gonna get a place today so don’t bother coming up to this window again!” I went back to next day and got the same gruff response from the same lady. After 6 hours of hanging around the DZ I eventually got on the (last) drop of the day. The instructors that I got were OK, but lacked that professional touch. Exit, dive sequence and pull went OK. But when I came into land there was silence on my radio! The guy eventually gave me some directional advice (as I started to stray close to a fence). At 25 feet I flared and the guy just screamed “PUT YOUR FEET TOGETHER!!” I released my risers and almost buried myself into the ground! Over the next few months I went down to the DZ on 4 separate occasions to complete my AFF course, but unfortunately, I never got to jump again. As soon as I mentioned to the (rude) manifest lady the I was an AFF student, She just didn’t want to know about me. A bus load of tandem jumpers would arrive and they would be pushed to the top of the queue. Also, there were times when the instructors would be hanging around on the sofas not interested in taking me up, they seemed too interested in chatting to their friends. In summary, this DZ feels like a private club. The instructors could not be bothered with students at all as they just want to improve their own skills. The other staff where wholly unfriendly and had an awful ignorant attitude towards anybody that they didn’t personally know. Avoid this DZ if at all possible.

Thanks Guy's for all your input. I know talking to my instructor is the best thing to do, but it's also good to get a wide range of opinion. I suppose I have to be independent enough to make my own mind up regarding each different person's opinion. All in all I think the advice given is good "Look at a 45 degree angle, look at people/trees/buidlings, flare gradually (and more slower)" Blue Skies

Hi, I did my AFF1 jump yesterday. Everything went well, exit, dive sequence, canopy deploy and final approach. However, I did my final flare at 30 feet ( I honestly thought I was at 10 feet) so I landed rather hard. Can someone tell me how I can better judge my altitude when performing my final flare please? Thanks