Blue Sky Ranch

Best DZ and best skydiving family! 

SHAWANGUNK! FLY, BABY, FLY!

So there I was... wearing the world's bluest jumpsuit, inches away from 6 other adrenaline junkies in an old Pilatus reconnaissance plane. Surrounded by fun jumpers and wide eyed with excitement, a thousand thoughts ran through my head at once. We're taking off now, crossing the Rubicon. My hands are trembling. This is going to be good.

An hour early for my very first tandem, I had expected to hang out at the drop zone, taking it all in while I calmed my nerves on the first real warm day of spring. I was finished with manifest, pacing back and forth, checking my phone every 5 seconds when the owner, Joe, walked up with a clipboard and put me down for the first load of the day. Oh boy. Am I ready for this?

I'm led back to the packing area where I meet Scott, the man who will be saving my life this morning. Scott and I discussed the day's plan and instantly I was relieved. Him and the other staff are the epitome of laid back professionalism. There are no egos to intimidate you at The Ranch, and the staff are experts at turning nervous energy into productive focus. It was time to get down to business. I suited up, found a comfortable harness, and after going over some do's and don'ts, it was time to jump.

On the way to the plane I met Adam, my videographer for the day and another chill personality. Gathered around the vintage PC-6, I had a brief ambush style interview from Adam and my mind was spinning. Like sardines, we hopped in by jump order, and taxied down the runway for the shortest takeoff I'd ever witnessed.

Flash forward to 4,000ft or so. Looking out the window, I spotted some landmarks from my days in flight school. There was Stewart Airport. Poughkeepsie next to the Hudson. I talked with the other jumpers on board about flying and caught a few of them shooting some smiles my way. "You're gonna love this, man." Scott hooked me up to his harness, and the door opened. "We aren't so high," I thought to myself, when WHOOSH the first jumper went out the door. Too much in awe to be nervous anymore, I watched him sail off into the blue, a shrinking black dot below.

9,500ft later, and we reached our jump altitude. Some friends jumped out locked together. "ARE YOU READY TO SKYDIVE?" I think I nodded "yes", but it's all a blur. Before I knew it, I was hanging out of the side of the aircraft, laughing into the camera. It's an odd feeling. Sometime during our climb the nerves went away. It was cold up there, but comfortable in a way. I don't think I'd ever been so at peace. And suddenly, we were out.

I knew there wouldn't be a falling sensation, but the floating feeling was just as unexpected. There was no perception of time. The moment was everything. I looked below and there was Adam, sit flying with a huge grin as Scott and I entered a close formation. I couldn't stop laughing at the absurdity of it all. The brief eternity of freefall came to a quick halt when our main parachute deployed without a hitch. The rush of wind disappeared and like a cloud, we started our lazy drift back to the DZ.

It was my first canopy ride, and Scott used the opportunity to discuss pattern altitude/direction, canopy control, and wind adjustments as we descended. I made a few turns, practiced breaking and flaring, and I was instantly hooked. Earlier I mentioned my interest in pursuing IAF/AFF (accelerated free fall) training. When we landed the first thing I did was sign up.

Adam walked over with the camera as we slid to a halt, and said "you're gonna love this world". And he's absolutely right. I'll remember this first jump for the rest of my life, and thanks to Skydive the Ranch for fueling this new addiction!

Looking forward to beginning IAF less than a week after my first jump!

I can only give the perspective of a first time jumper and a student, since I'm still working on my A license at the moment. And maybe I'll modify as needed next year when I (hopefully) complete the requirements and begin fun jumping.

The Ranch was the place I went on my first skydive, and I've stuck around it for the AFF progression and student solo dives.

My first jump (tandem) was amazing. The tandem instructors here are a lot of fun to be around and really know how to turn the anxiety of a first jump into adrenaline and happiness, and how to teach you just enough so that you have an enjoyable experience without clouding your mind with the intricacies of skydiving that they take care of for you.

The Student instructors are super experienced (several being in the "sport" for I think 30+ years, five digit jump counts, etc.) and approachable for even the dumbest of questions, so long as they're not busy briefing or debriefing another student. They are super attentive to each student they teach, and make sure that each student receives all the proper instruction, which they never rush, even in busy times. The student gear looks like it has been used to teach a great many students already. In popular jump times, there are sometimes backlogs of students waiting for instructors, and you may get fewer jumps in than you want. However, a lot of that is caused by students having a "favorite" instructor that for whatever reason blends well with their personality. To their credit, the student training procedures at the Ranch are super transparent, so you always know how many people are ahead of you, how many want the same instructor as you, etc. Once you are done with your level jumps getting on a load as a solo student diver is super hassle-free. Two twin otters (or a twin otter and a Cessna caravan) going at once means there is always an extra spot on loads and planes take off every ~15 minutes. I would suggest taking a day off from work on a good skydiving day or two (depending on how fast you progress) and coming up to the ranch to knock out your levels jumps.

The other people are great. There is lots to do at the dropzone after skydiving ends with many people camping out in the adjacent woods. Bonfires, food, drinks, etc. I've met a lot of people there and they're all a ton of fun. From what I've seen, people don't clique up too much. The experienced skydivers are very helpful and approachable by students.

The scenery is beautiful. Apparently there is some famous rock climbing mountain range just there. On a very clear day you can even see the Manhattan skyline off in the distance.

The weather can be a pain in the ass as a student. There is no "great" weather forecast, even as far as weather forecasts go, for the area. They rely on data from Albany and JFK airport for winds aloft, both of which are a little ways away. I've come up on a clear day with what seemed as adequate winds only to be grounded as a student because of strong wind gusts.

There is a "dive bar" that's basically a mini restaurant that serves pretty decent food at very reasonable prices and amazing homemade blueberry kombucha (if you're lucky enough to get some before they run out). No Michelin stars, but way better than anything I've heard of at any of the other area drop zones.

All in all, the weather can be a bit frustrating at times, but the instructors and other jumpers back up the reputation of this place as the best to learn to skydive in the NYC area.

As a side note, I've looked at the other drop zones in the area, and they all seem to have many fewer "fun jumpers" (experienced skydivers jumping for fun) and fewer spots in smaller airplanes.

After doing my first tandem last year, I have attended the USPA AFF school at Blue Sky Ranch. The A license course is amazing. All the instructors are highly experienced skydivers, and keep safety the number one priority. The wealth of experience and knowledge available from the staff cannot be matched. From the manager to the riggers... they are all fantastic people, and the energy is always positive and filled with fun jumping.
Stop what you are doing and make plans to jump at the Blue Sky Ranch.

I decided last year (2011) to make my first jump and see if I could handle it. Upon getting there I was greeted by multiple staff members ready and willing to calm me down and make my experience the best it could be. After I calmed down and began to enjoy everything, I knew this was something I wanted to pursue. I started taking the IAF class and the instructors were awesome! They go through everything until you completely understand it then after the jump go into detail on what was good and what needed improvement.

After getting my license, everyone at the DZ was inviting me to jump with them, both in 2-ways or large groups. MOst are even willing to answer any questions and help with anything new I wanted to learn. The fact that they have a minimum of 2 otters flying on busy days means an average wait time of 10 minutes between loads.

The packing area in the hanger is great and theres even an on site camp ground for those who don't live too close.

I also noticed that many reviews have that they had no food or beverage center. Well they must have read those and decided it was needed cause now they have the Dragonfly Cafe, making great food all day!

I have met some of the most amazing people and had the best times to include the parties on the weekends as well as people always inviting me to other events. I love the Ranch and can't think of anywhere else I'd rather call my home DZ!

I was interested to become a licensed skydiver and was looking for a dropzone that would be extremely student-friendly. My friend and I have started at another dropzone in Long Island and quite soon we have become disappointed with the organization of the process there. The dropzone and stuff there were extremely cool, but the whole drop zone seemed to be more tandem-oriented. We have decided to check Skydive the Ranch as it was a recommendation of many people on the forum and seemed to be a logical choice. We have called the Ranch regarding Theory class availability and we were able to start our AFF course there pretty much on the following day. Everything went perfect - at this point we are allowed to do solo jumps. Sometimes the wind wouldn't allow us to jump or sometimes we would fail a level, but skydiving wouldn't be so exciting if we didn't have to overcome certain difficulties on the way to our license. The stuff there is more than great - every time I leave the drop zone I miss them. Also, we have brought some people there to make tandem jumps - they were extremely happy about the jump and also think that this is a perfect place. Of course, I am planning to travel and jump in all possible locations, but I will always refer to Skydive the Ranch as my home drop zone - the place where I started making my first steps in flying and continue making jumps whenever the weather permits.

Very welcoming for beginners and students. Even the tandems get instruction and are taught to participate to a way higher extent than normally found. As a student getting his A license, I found people to be very open, accommodating and safety conscious. With a small number of jumps people still automatically invite you into a fourway, and getting to know pros is never difficult. Sonic and his shop feature excellent advice and a great selection. A very satisfying experience. Would recommend to anyone in the NYC area.

There is not enough good stuff I can say about this place. I think everyone should try skydiving at least once and this is the place I would recommend. The staff is great and everyone was friendly. I was amazed about how quickly we were in the air and ready to go... I had an amazing time and cannot wait go jump again!

The famous Blue Sky Ranch...

I flew in from MI into Newburgh (easy 1/2 hour drive Memorial Day weekend) to work with Sonic and Laszlo for my camera set up. I am a professional Nikon wedding photographer and decided it made sense for me to be a Nikon flyer as well.

As most of you know the mouth/bite/blow switched are not compatible with Nikon's out of the box... so Laz spent the time creating one to fit my D200 and D70 and it worked beautifully!

Sonic spent most of the day fitting me for my helmet, drilling holes, and making sure my ringsight was perfect. Lots of TLC from him and Donna- thank you both!! They even went as far as guiding me on the progression between parts/jumps to safely get that camera/ringsight flying. There help was more than appreciated!!

What I did not appreciate was manifest. I have my C license (C-36575 and ~250 jumps)and was told because I did not have 15 jumps signed in my log book so they had to call the last 2 places I jumps to verify before I could get on a load. Time consuming and over protective for a C license holder!!

Freaking awesome facilities... nice bathrooms, lockers, camping, nice landing stretch (nice unless the winds are north/south), lots of packing room, throrough explanations from folks on the ground and in the plane to where the DZ was, landing, outs, etc. I landed just off the DZ on a 182 load at 'Farmer McNasty's' and not only did someone walk back to make sure I was fine but someone then picked me up on the road out.

Lots of fabulous people to freefly with and a very open DZ when it comes to fun, events, and the after fun ;-) Loved my 48 hours here!! Would go back as quick as I could!!

I am still a newbie to the sport, I only have 160 jumps, but have been fortunate enough to have visited a number of DZ's already. In comparing the DZ's the only thing that any of the other DZ's have on the ranch is you can live on them, hopefully someday we can get the local townies to back off and let us be, but we will have to wait and see.

The ranch is an amazing DZ though, the planes are well, some of the best in the industry and we have three of them. on Saturday of memorial day weekend '08 I saw three otters turn 54 loads in one day. I was simply in awe.

the parties afterwards were incredible, roaming from one fire to the next, being fed, and boozed, and great conversation lead to some wonderful nights

Landing is great too, you do not have to worry about being cut off at the ranch, we pick a landing pattern (towards the pond or mountain) which keeps traffic moving the same way. you can choose to land your own way if you would like, you just have to land in a different section, and take a longer walk, but hey at least there's the option.

the experience levels of the people there is great as well, and everyone is willing to give you some insight. I remember one time on a busy day, one of the tandem masters getting up from a pack job just to help me better understand something about canopy control.

Have learned a lot at this DZ and will be very sad if the day comes that I have to move away, and only visit once in a while. and if I have to go to another DZ, I will always be a rancher at heart!

blue skies!!!
SHAWANGA

Billy Stapleton B-30169

The 1st time I visited the ranch was in March or Apr 08. I was happy because I never seen actual skydivers landing and it was awesome. The people outside in the creeping area(kind of one)watching were the local jumpers and employees were pretty cool for the most part, but you had to start the conversation, if not they will ignore you. I was lucky enough to be an outgoing female and have a boyfriend who jumped there so it wasn't so bad to get people to warm up and chat a bit, and of course, have guys flirt with you boasting about how many jumps they have (I could care less). I visited the ranch about 4 more times after that day just to see my bf jump and I basically roamed around and sat outside in an uncovered slab of concrete alone because no one talks to you unless you're wearing a rig,a regular or work there. I thought if people saw me with him they would be friendlier but I was just seen as a whuffo. He took me upstairs to visit the pro-shop while waiting for a load and there I met Sonic and Donna who are pretty cool and I ended up spending most of my time there while he jumped.
So 2 weeks go by and him and I go on a vacation to Z Hills, omg! I did not want to leave and 3 weeks later I'm still teary eyed and missing it a lot. After completing my AFF there and creating the best memories of my life, I'm jaded. Being a student jumper starting out with such a huge student friendly lz(with arrows telling you where to hold and friggin land!), then coming to the ranch is like going to Disney-World then going to Coney island a week later...its a waste of time comparing. I cringe thinking of jumping at the ranch because the lz looks so small that it doesn't leave much room for error, thank god I'm pretty decent under canopy so I'm not that worried but I do believe in murphy's law and not having many outs scares me....
So I email asking a question about a discount for mothers day since I wanted to buy a tandem for my mom and since other dz's(z hills,long island) were having a special that day I thought the ranch would, but they wouldn't even ask Billy if it was possible, they just dismissed the thought as if they got paid per tandem too (maybe), at least skydive long island told me they would ask the owner and have an answer for me by the next day, and they did. I called again 2 days later to reschedule my coach jump since the weather wasn't looking great for my visit there and I was put on hold 3 times, well not really hold, just put my line down on the desk as she joked around and booked up parties for tandems, typically if you're already in a conversation with a caller, you can say please hold for a sec, answer the other line to see if its a quick question, if it is, answer it, if its not, then place them on hold and get back to the person who called first! so after that happened 3 times I looked at my cell and my timer said 20 min, not all of which was booking my coach and my moms tandem :( oh and not to mention that when you walk by their window, if they don't know you they will either roll their eyes or ignore you, unless you're a guy paying them compliments for some reason...tip, its nice to smile to all customers whether you know them or not...
Last weekend 5/2/08 I was there to set up a tent and we noticed a lot of broken bottles and trash around the camping ground, the platforms were decent looking but some just needed to be torn down due to safety risks. I'm not saying the camp is all horrible but if you don't get there early enough in the season you will not have a decent place to camp, all good spots go fast and there aren't many.
The location is in the cut, basically if you don't know the area, its easy to get lost getting there, I was lucky enough to know someone who frequently visits. Im not saying this is a bad place, because it really isn't horrible, but when you go to such a great and big dz, then you come to the ranch...you are spoiled and this doesn't cut it. Maybe I need to stick around and feel out the place more, perhaps in the summer it gets better and people get friendlier but for me right now, I'm going to check out cross keys and long island and feel them out, the lz is bigger and maybe if I have other dz's to compare the ranch to, other than z hills, then maybe I can better choose the dz that best suits me because right now, all I know is that z hills is calling my name.

Thanks to The Richards - Billy, Joe and Otto - this DZ is really cool!

Everyone works hard here to make this a special and welcoming place for Jumpers of all experience levels. Beginner and expert alike can share, learn and be safe at this DZ.

The RanchPRO Shop is one of the best in the nation, and is staffed by super knowledgeable riggers, and sales professionals. They really know how to make you feel special.

Regarding the after jump activities I am too old to know and/or comment but its constituents appears to be an entertaining and energetic group.

This is a place not to be missed!

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The Ranch is a very friendly, opened 7 days a week, 2 Otter + Porter dropzone.
Great people, great vibe, lots of organizing and cool events.
Great place for team training. New Hangar needs to still be finished but is a huge improvement over the "old setup".
Awesome views, but place can be hard to spot if you're new to the area.

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Landing area is long but narrow (comparing to any other DZ), uneven at certain spots with ditches, and sucks when wet (gets muddy quite easily)

=
I recommend this DZ and will be back whenever I get a chance to.

They have a lot of planes, but most of them were shutdown when I was there, the porter was broken and only 1 otter went up (occasionally 2 otters in the weekend). Not always enough people to jump during the week and many shutdowns. The people are extremely friendly, fun to jump with and to talk to. They have a lot of parties and very social.

The store is very good and reliable, I bought a new canopy there and the guy sent it to me home fast.

As for September 2006, The ranch had relatively old facilities, with bad showers and toilets, not any place to stay besides camping and packing hall but I heard they built a new hanger and changed all this.

My experience of the ranch started off as a negative one.

As a result of my rigger not filling in the reserve pack date, I had to rent a rig from the pro-shop. No big deal.

However, when I went into the pro-shop, they could not do a re-pack, then the woman who was trying to help us was not very knowledgeble on what was required.

Once the guy showed up we got our rigs and were on our way.

The jumping is cheap at $20 a jump, that rocked.

Sitting on the floor is a bit uncomfortable versus the side bench system in most otters.

The russian were good at giving out pointers and doing a few jumps with.

Overall on our first day we were ignored by the locals so we just did our thing.

On saturday evening the place was deserted by the time we got back from supper, ah well, we had brought a few cases.

Sunday was a different story. Once people realized we were there for a few days, they warmed up. On the group we started swapping stories while re-packing and waiting for loads.

Some more people came in from NY City and we went to do a nice 10-way.

Overall, even with all the mud from the pooled water (it had rained afew days before) It was a good experience and I plan on going back as, even with all the driving, it is a good enough price to more then compensate for it.


Once the new hanger is finished the facilities will be large and very nice.


Blue skies.

This was my first away-from-home drop zone experience. I took a bus from the city, and a cab to the dropzone. The people in the pro shop were my first contact, and were totally cool. The ticket lady wasn't very friendly, but then the two other ticket ladies on the following days were. The boyfriend of one of them gave me a dirty look though when I laughed at her blowing out a whoopie cushion.

The russian guys were helpful and gave some good pointers w/ low ego. On the second day, one of the video men, Kevin, loaned me his car to go to the store for food and what not. Totally cool. The lady with the nice rack for an older woman was pretty helpful and friendly to me, the stranger in the strange land, giving me pointers, advice, and my first non-solo jump!!!!, Her boyfriend tandem master showed up at end of day. (Can't remember their names), took me to dinner - and even though though lady gave a lot of skydiving lecture (I think that was after the alcohol kicked in) dude reeled her in..and they did buy me dinner and we got pretty drunk. That was a major highlight of my trip and nice thing for them to do. Dude also used the term "beta" in a way I've never heard before. "It's all about experiencing some serious beta" or something like that. Interesting.

I spent the first two nights there by myself. Most of the on grounds staff were not interested in interacting much it seemed, except Kevin and another Russian guy named sasha sleeping out in a tent. Funny guy. There was some irish or scottish looking guy who had pure fire as well. Didn't catch his name. Banana or something like that.

Rotors in landing area were not too bad, although all the jumpers got spooked. Probably my inexperience.

In general I would say that people were a little less ego-tistical then my home drop zone in california which is super clicky and filled with boring people who can't talk about anything else except skydiving.

I'd go back to blue sky. The videographer Kevin cut me a deal and made a spectacular video with all kinds of still shots, music, effects, angles and even dialogue. Killer killer video skills.

This was several months ago. I'm going to Hawaii tomorrow. Can't wait to experience my third drop zone experience in foreign destination. Hopefully will find some folks with an identity beyond "skydiver"...and of course, single fat breasted women in my own age range. j/k.

Admittedly my recommendation will come as very little use to anyone who has jumped more than twice...simply because that is the extent of my experience. However, what I will say is that I was so absolutely enthralled by the idea that after my first jump, I was first in line for the next available seat!! The ladies and germs out there are the ones responsible for this new and amazing passion of mine. I am going back at the earliest possible opportunity...like probably tomorrow!! First timers and pros alike that I spoke with that day and into the night and wee hours of the morning all agree that this is one of the premiere dz's in the entire country. Don't take it from me...like I said, what do I know. Check it out for yourself and see what the noise is about. You won't regret it!!

The Vibe at the Ranch is always humming. Jumping or not people hang out, socialize, do stupid human tricks, etc. After a hard day of summer jumping the fire is roaring and the beer flowing. Weather holds people stick around watch movies on the big screen TV, play ping pong, poker or anyother game you care to bring along [Donna's a mean Scrabble player]. A couple of local jumpers put together End of Year Movies with lots of great action in the air and on the ground.
This is the place to come for Fun, fun and more fun.
Shawanga

Started at The Ranch 2002, amazing scenery all year round. If your looking to get started they have some of the most experienced and friendly Instructors around (recommend weekdays, weekends get very busy).
For fun jumpers of all disciplines and levels there is free organizing. Rain or shine weekends are party time, always mischief on the ground and a roaring bonfire.
Pizza 1/2 mile, Cafe (killer breakfast & lunch) 1/2 mile, Deli/grocery 2 miles, Bar 2 miles. CAVU bar 6 miles: you can skydive in and fly out to skydive back into the Ranch [did that in the Bi-plane = Living Large].
College Town 8 miles away, tons of restuarants, bars and nightlife.
You can camp, or sleep in the Great Hall at the weekends. Showers are free.
If you like hiking/biking/climbing the Shawangunks are 6 miles away, and rental equipment/bikes are available in New Paltz. There are many fine winerys that offer tours in the area.
Back to jumping, if you have the stamina,funds, and equipment you could make 20+ full altitude jumps in a day.
Quieter days (weekdays) they'll fly the Porter, 13.5k fast.
The sunset loads are always spectacular.

Shawanga...Fly baby fly

The Ranch was my third DZ, and I can't say how pleased I was with the friendliness of the bunch. These folks have tons of info and are always ready to share it, even with a newbie such as myself. Even though there is a DZ twenty minutes from me, I'd rather drive the two hours to the Ranch!

The ranch wasnt my first dz, but I call it home for over 12 yrs now. No matter who you are you can find people to jump with, unlike my expieriences at other dz's. Modest facilities, maybe, but the aircraft, expierience, view, and events arent!!

Jumped here a couple of days.

Very limited in options if landing off. I personally don't like sitting on the floor, so rate aircraft lower if that's the configuration.

This place is horrible. Too many Russians, Hungarians, French and all others. WARNING: If you are black, EVERYONE will look the same to you. People eating shit with their hands (instead of spoons), canopy kiters, 60 foot pond cutaways, various landing directions on the same load, bounce bingo, 2 year experts, JC wanna be's... you name - they have it. DONT go there!

I learned at the ranch and have a special place in my heart for it. I love jumping here during the week, but tend to migrate to another dropzone for the weekend rushes...

also turbulance is a big issue here, but it is so worth sitting out around 1 to jump the rest of the time ;)

I learned to jump at the Ranch last summer (2003). I have had nothing but good experiences there. The staff is great, the people are fun and the planes are fast and always running.

The student progression was top notch. The instructors were top notch. Nikky, Pete, Linda, Luis, everyone treated me well. During the may times I was rained out or too much wind for students, the regulars, took me in and treated me as one of there own. I had offers to stay at with some of the regulars to save my long drive and the beer and pizza flows on saturday after the last jump. And the bonfire can be almost as much fun as the jumping.

I'm glad I started there and it will always be my home away from home.