North West Parachute Centre

Before I visited n.w.p.c I had heard that is was one of the friendliest places to skydive in Britain and after visiting several other dzs I always return home to this one , The staff although professional have a good laugh with students and experienced skydivers alike to provide a safe but learning environment. The views of the Lake District and surrounding areas are breathtaking during freefall. the Large landing area is a good size and free from obstacles apart from the odd farmers fence ! I cannot recommend this dropzone enough hope to see you there soon !!

This is my home DZ. So I am slightly biased towards this drop zone though I did not learn to skydive here nor did I qualify or do my consols here either.

It felt nice the fact that on my first day here a large number of people approached me and said hello without me approaching them first. The vibe is the best feature here, people stick around after jumping and make you feel at home. From the air the DZ is pretty easy to spot and the landing area is enormous. The DZ also is not a shouty type DZ whereby mistakes and errors are dealt with by a quiet word. I've made a few minor mistakes landing in the wrong field.

The fact that many university clubs are based here makes it even more interesting, the DZ owners are fairly young and don't come across as high and mighty as they do in some places. The resident instructors here who are very very easy going and actually have faith in you and your own decision making. Some might not like this if they prefer to be told but then its a bit like marmite tbh the fact that being told I've jumped enough to make my own decisions I felt was nice though.

They will put the PAC750 up without a full load. Other places absolutely insist on a 100% full load I suppose this is to keep us fun jumpers happy. They might break even but it keeps us coming.

It's not perfect though, kit hire is very scarce for the visiting jumper and all of the kits seem to be made for giants as the harnesses don't adjust enough for waifs. The landing zone and the fields beside the PLA have quite a few surprises. Surprises in the form of cow pats while fields adjacent to the PLA are filled with actual cows. The manifesting is very basic to say the least though. Its a whiteboard and some marker pens. There is also almost always a big audience for your skydives and canopy flight. Seeing as Cark is situated next to a giantic caravan park and actually has a caravan/campsite onsite, though camping is not free (their bunk house is though). Cark is also a bloody difficult place to get to from the motorway. It takes me about 90 minutes to get here from Oldham.

Finally the low wing loading of the PAC can be a bit off putting to some jumpers I've met. The other things I've jumped out of PC6, Dornier G92, Airvan, 206, 186, Islander, SMG, 208GC. The wing is above your head and out of sight and out of mind. With the PAC its right in front of you. But you forget about it pretty quick, the door is a touch small though I've seem some pretty big formations go out the door here.

I like this place a lot. I have jumped at their southern competitor and there is massive rivalry between the two dropzones. And in all honesty I have to say this one is the better one for various reasons:

They use a PAC750 meaning everybody gets to sit on the benches rather than on the floor or sit on top of each other as at the other place. Although it is slightly slower to altitude its less of a problem as the plane is much less cramped and much much more spacious.

This does cut two ways though as having a 16 slot plane means lift turn round is not as fast as I would like as they have to manifest a lot of people.

They have dedicated tandem instructors and only three of them max. Each with a camera means 9 slots. Leaving 7 slots completely free to have some fun jumps a couple of three ways.

Cheaper jump tickets, bought enblock the kit hire and jump tickets are a fraction cheaper than the £20-£22 standard elsewhere.

Though there are bad points to Cark though:

It is very hard to get to as you have to come off the motorway and around various towns and villages to get anywhere near the airfield.

Its coastal so pretty windy at times.

The kit hire is extremely limited.

I learned to skydive here on a static line course through Uni, spend lots of time not jumping due to winds but always felt welcome and though I didn't know anyone I was never short of someone to talk to.As I progressed there was always plenty of people on hand with advice and support,though I have been away from the sport for 6 months or so I felt as welcome when I returned as I did when I started.

The bunkhouse is basic but it does the job and is warm even in the depths of winter, the cafe sells a limited range of food (main complaint is lack of veggie/healthy food!) but does fantastic full breakfasts which really set you up for a days jumping.

The plane is fantastic, and they are happy to put up a half full lift rather than waiting for it to be full like some places, communication is good and there are a lot of people there who will go out of their way to help.

All in all a great place to jump!

Very nice little center, with an unusual airplane: XL 750. It flies fast, has space for 18 and has a left door, almost like a Cesna caravan.
The people at the center are welcome, and pay attention to newcomers and regulars, first-timers and 1000+ jumpers.
We were lucky with the weather, blue skies and not too much wind on the only day we could visit the center. We would certainly visit again.

Being new to skydiving and very nervous we have visited several dropzones and i can honestly say this place is the most friendly,and the staff have an attitude that its a sport to be enjoyed and everyone is welcome no matter what thier experience.You are made to feel confident and at ease,and your safety and any queries are treated with the utmost importance.The dropzone chief instructor is friendly,cheerful and welcoming,and we found two tandem staff pete connor and steve hankey very warm,enthusiatic and proffesional.Also great scenery of both land and sea.This is how a sports club should be.I recommend it highly.Great.

I jumped here at the 4way grand prix in May 2005. In chatting to Kay in the office in advance of arrival I got the impression the staff were very helpful and this proved to be the case. Kay , Stuart , Derek and all the staff were helpful and you got the feeling they loved doing their job.

The centre piece of the DZ is the plane , fast and comfortable. I did eight jumps in a day and a half and the scenery over the bay was awesome with tours of the English Lake district on the way up , the climb was always interesting.

As i was there for an event the DZ was quite busy , but you never go the feeling that the manifest was not in control with a smooth operation and plenty of calls to let you know what load you were on.

The cafes food was great , especially the " Sticky toffee cake and custard " a real treat!

The tandem passengers were well looked after and the video that i saw of them was excellent.

All in all , if your thinking of doing a tandem , or popping in for a couple of jumps id recommend NWPC Cark.as a weekend dropzone. The bunkhouse was basic, but warm. There are great keenly priced Bed and breakfasts in the local town.

I had a fantastic day at Cark a few months ago for my first tandem jump. I jumped with Brian Shaw who was very reassuring and friendly, the jump was filmed and photographed by Gary Turner who did an amazing job. The whole day was simply amazing. Very friendly staff (Stuart & Co.) and jumpers. I have since done a few static line jumps there, another great day out. Thank you very much to Steve Nolan for such thorough instruction on this. I look forward to more jumps there once I have completed my AFF in Florida. Cark is a great DZ.

This drop zone is on the edge of the Lake District. It is very well equiped and well organised. I learned to sky dive here with the excellent instructors. It is a very friendly club. Great jumping Great socialising afterwards altogether a great bunch of people.

I found this dropzone to be very friendly with a good range of services and great staff.

I have been jumping for 12 years, and have traveled to most DZs in the UK. Without exception I have found the reception given to all skydivers friendly, welcoming and above all helpful!
You can turn up knowing no-one, no-one to jump with? Sorted!
Coaching is available in all disciplines from British Champions in their fields.
Finally I should add that this centre is trying to improve the oppertunities available to all... in August Sebastion XL will be coaching at NWPC!!!