Skysurfing?

Does anyone here skysurf? Ever tried? How come so few people do it?

More than curious, thinking about giving it a shot. Love to hear stories!

Blues,
Mandy

I started skydiving to learn to skysurf. When you're a whuffo, you really don't know about anything else to do in skydiving but either hang out and fall, or skysurf.

When I started jumping, however, a lot of people told me skysurfing was a dying discipline b/c of the high risks, recent deaths, and just no people to do it with or nowhere to learn to do it.

Part of me still wants to learn, but the other part of me is more than satisfied with freeflying. I LOVE it.

I'm not qualified to say for sure, I only know what I've been told by various people, but the main reason I know of that people don't do it anymore is the rate of death involved.

LOL that's one of the reasons I started skydiving too!! I saw some skysurfing and thought it looked way cool.

The only problem is once I started jumping, I realized I had a long way to go before I would be able to safely skysurf.

The other main reason, in my opinion, that you don't see alot of skysurfers anymore is the size of the board. If your on a Cessna DZ or anywhere with small planes, the board really gets in the way that is if they will allow you to jump it in the first place.

But I'm not giving up hope!! As soon as I'm comfortable freeflying and have another 200 or so jumps under my belt I'm gonna surf!!

Dayle

Hi Mandy,

Thanks for putting my crew event on the 'Snore website!
See ya later,

Mark

You're welcome!

i have 25 surf dives. it is everything that it looks. you cannot imagine the rush of seeing the world blur as you spin on the board. it is very different feeling your feet and legs bound to a board.
it is also very dangerous when the board gets a mind of it's own and takes off things get very bad very very fast. on one of my surfs i got stuck in a sit spin that pulled blood out of my eye brow piercing.
it is also very lonely as you mainly get to jump alone. but that is the life of a skysurfer.
but before you try it get the coaching this is not like anything in skydiving. there is no other way to start skysurfing without the proper coaching. if you are going to the gathering talk to keith snyder he is the national champion and he knows what he is doing and he is always welcome to questions. i hope this kinda answers you question..

>Love to hear stories!

We had a first jump student call our DZ and ask if we supplied 'snowboards' or if he had to bring his own...

D

got close to 100 board jumps. it was the most rewarding discipline when things went well and as planned. i can't tell you how great the high was when my cameradude and i nailed a jump, or when i learned a new maneuver and actually was decent at it.
it could also scare the shits out of you and frustrate the hell out of you. one particular board jump i came down, i almost passed out in freefall because a binding came loose, the board was spinning me vigorously upside down and even after i cutaway the board, i was spinning like a top on my belly. after i got under canopy, i was seeing spots. had to concentrate like hell just to spot my board and follow it back down to the ground. other than a swollen ankle, no other physical injuries. but the thought that i came very close to blacking out in freefall... now that was scary. i had 2 previous board cutaways as well, but it goes to show you, anything can happen.

anyway, i did continue board jumping since the incident but have laid off of it for almost a year now. did the army thing and now i'm concentrating on freeflying. but i may one day hop back on. it'll scare the hell outta ya, but its some good stuff :)

oh yeah, if you look in skydiving magazine for the last 2-3 months, the left picture in the surfflite ad is me and travis. hehe, my only claim to fame. c ya!

For myself I have about 600 surf jumps, and I went to 2 competions, I loved my experience, but at first it's hard to keep focus because at the begibnning it's frustrated if you want to perform manouever the expert do.

If you keep focus it begin to be a second nature

does anyone have any reccomendations on where to go for coaching? I have given this issue much throuht and have decided to spend the money and get taught the proper way. However, I am looking for any reccomendations on who or where to go for the training- Any leads, info, experiences would be greatly appreciated.

I'd check at Perris. Tanya and Craig O'Brien used to teach. I'm sure they will again and may be now but Tanya just had a baby. Give them a call though.

http://www.teamfirestarter.com

Keith has a school at Eloy. I've heard he's a great teacher. I met him the other day and he's really cool. Call around and compare prices - I don't know if Tanya O'Brien is still teaching at Perris.

Keep us updated with your progress! I probably won't start until the new year. I really need a new canopy first.

Good luck!
Mandy

Kebe is an AWESOME coach...and a really nice guy. He coached my first ever freefly jumps since all of the freeflyers were competing at the money meet...

If you go to the Eloy holiday boogie, you might want to check out his school. He has a structured progression and this past week I saw several "baby" skysurfers at Eloy...so maybe it's catching on again.

both Kebe and Sean Mcormick (of AFI) teach skysurfing at Eloy. My roomate is taking lessons from Kebe and was standing on her first jump. I dont skysurf (yet) but have had lot of FF coaching from Sean and he is a great teacher too...

(it is nice that they are number 1&2 in the US too )

What, "high rate of deaths?" Am I missing something? I know of only 2 skysurf related deaths in the last 10 years. 1 of those was on a homemade board. However there have been a couple of skydivers who happen to have been great skysurfers that have died. But they weren't on boards at the time. Sorry to vent but this high rate of deaths for skysurfers is just not true.

Training? try http://www.surfflite.com/school.html
Keith has the best training program going. Don't forget to check out the shortboard competion coming up at Skydive Arizona in December. Cash prizes for beginner board jumpers. Check the "events" section here at DZ.com for more information.

i only have about 25 board jumps, but it is quite a new rush the first time you lock your feet in and attempt to control it. I don't have too much experience with it, mostly becuase it is lonely... part of the reason i haven't focussed on it yet is that i'm still excited to freefly with my friends and I haven't mastered headdown by any means yet. So that's my challenge right now.
btw, Diva, very nice website and impressive portfolio. how did you get into your business?

lew

Thanks Lew. Will you be at the Eloy boogie? I'll tell you all about it then.

Soooooo I hooked up with Kebe this weekend and I'm definitely going to train to play on the board. He took me out for some freefly jumps to see where my skills were at and we did some back layouts and stuff that was a total blast. I've had coaches before whose teaching style made me really nervous but Keith is so laid back and nice, totally calm and fun, that I had only an excellent time on every jump. I CAN'T WAIT TO TRY THE BOARD!

yes, i'll see you in eloy. last year Kebe helped me a little on the board, he was quite busy with many people wanting to try it at the boogie. He's awesome, good guy. I had a lot of fun chasing him as he led a 12-way track dive on his board out of the skyvan. you'll definately know more than i do about it by the time i get to eloy. most of my board jumps are without coaching. Have fun, be safe!

lew