Skydiving career in 6 months?

[jsreznor 0]

Depends on how you fly in the air. I know people who do FT camera with less than 200 jumps, but it's because they are awesome in the air.

What's the backup plan if you don't fly so well? I also wouldn't count on making ANY money as a coach.

[CygnusX-1 43]

Especially if the coach has only 100 jumps. No newbee with a half a brain is going to pay $$ for a coach with only slightly more jumps than them. What do you think you can teach someone when you can't even fly yourself.

As far a video, being on a team myself there is no way I would pay for video from someone with only 200 jumps. It is critical that we are in frame for the entire skydive. You would have to prove yourself first in order to get your slot covered first. Then after you prove yourself with you paying your own way, would we even consider talking about paying you for your work.

Something else to consider. I don't know if this is everywhere, but being from one of the DZs you listed in an earlier post there is no way you would be able to get on staff as a TM with only the bare minimum requirements met. You would be told very nicely to go somewhere else and get some experience. I'm guessing that is probably the same way with all major turbine DZs. When you are a "famous" DZ, you have the option to hire only the best, not just anybody who shows up wanting to work.

All of the above is only my opinion.

[trig78 0]

Southern man - Thanks for finding that, 500 in six months is an easy task :)

PhreeZone - I would not stay and work illegally no matter what. It would just feel wrong and America has enough illegals anyway. lol

jsreznor - i'll be awesome :)

CygnusX-1 - Unfortunately what you said sounds painfully realistic but understandable. There's probably plenty of awesome jumpers willing to jump for living.

Not going to be easy.......but only thing in life that's easy is to sit where u are and think what if u did this or that. It feels miserable though.

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[jsaxton 0]

you can have a career in packing in a couple of days, that's one of the highest paying jobs in the skydiving industry

[grimmie 186]

Go slow. You have a good job now, so go get some experience just jumping for yourself. Doing a couple of hundred jumps at the same DZ isn't going to get you much overall knowledge. Some nice, wide open, warm weather DZ is great, but, go find yourself over a big hill looking for a fire road to land on, or an apple orchard to land in. Get on a team, learn to free fly, go to some boogies. Start by load organizing after you get a few hundred jumps, if that doesn't kill you, it will make you a better coach. The more the experiences, the better the instructor. JMHO
Most tandem ops want 500 tandems minimum and handcam experience these days.
Relax, the sky will be around a very long time.
Give it about 3years and you'll be there.
Have fun on the journey.

[trig78 0]

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Go slow. You have a good job now, so go get some experience just jumping for yourself. Doing a couple of hundred jumps at the same DZ isn't going to get you much overall knowledge. Some nice, wide open, warm weather DZ is great, but, go find yourself over a big hill looking for a fire road to land on, or an apple orchard to land in. Get on a team, learn to free fly, go to some boogies. Start by load organizing after you get a few hundred jumps, if that doesn't kill you, it will make you a better coach. The more the experiences, the better the instructor. JMHO
Most tandem ops want 500 tandems minimum and handcam experience these days.
Relax, the sky will be around a very long time.
Give it about 3years and you'll be there.
Have fun on the journey.

Now you are talking my language :) That was the plan, go and skydive as much as possible. Learn as much possible, try everything, get ratings and then see what next. No rush.

Thanks, Igor

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[mircan 0]

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you can have a career in packing in a couple of days, that's one of the highest paying jobs in the skydiving industry

But then he could not get the jump numbers that he wants. I mean, if he is packing whole day, earning money, when is he going to jump?
My other buddy did couple of trips from here to ex. Cal City DZ, worked there as a packer... Nice cash, but so few jumps.

dudeist skydiver #42

[trig78 0]

Yeah, in my case jumps are priority. I have to make the most of those 6 months since i can't stay forever.

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[jimmytavino 16]

My friend,,,,

you have been blessed with both enthusiasm for our sport, and a Huge dose of motivation and ambition.....

your profile tells us that you have 29 jumps, so that explains the enthusiasm

and your "game plan" to make 6 or 800 jumps in 5 or 6 months shows your optimism and energy...


The ratings and accomplishments which you are targeting for,,, are soooo much more than " a weekend coach course",, followed by an AFF rating class, and then throw in a TM rating class and oh yes,,,,, become fluid in video at the same time.....while packing for yourself and others, and OH Yeah... bang out that rigger rating,, too... and it's all posssible because you've saved up some money and are willing to invest it in your future profession... That is Ok, and If it makes you happy, can be a GOOD thing.....

what is Missing.. however , in order to find yourself on par with existing coaches, AFF Folks, Tandem Instructors and the like.... is a little thing called savvy....(defined by Websters, as "practical know-how" )
The fine mix of experience with wisdom. The verifiable "been there done that".. the path taken which created the occurences,,, subtle and smash- mouth
all of which make us what we are as jumpers...The time spent In freefall and under canopy...
it's not easy to cram a decade worth of such understanding, into any 6 month visit..... Sure you could bang out the numbers and 6 or 8 or 10 jumps a day may be possible , but what is missing is the chance to stop, and SAVOR and re-iterate in your minds eye each and every skydive....over again a few times... when you make jumps on the weekends only,,, you can re-live 'em again all week,, at least some of them... I know that is how it worked for me....

make soo many so quickly, and they all just blur together...The value of "time in the sport " should not be taken lightly...

Could be better take a leave of absence from your work....( instead of quitting!!! next april)......and leave OPEN the option to return upon completion of your "sabbatical to skydive".

Go ahead and earn whatever rating and experience you can.... and maybe target for "full time professional skydiving" a few years down the road...Not sure how financially lucrative, full time jumping can be since i have never been able to do that... right time right place right harmony among the staff, and it could be a nice thing.....
so...

Good Luck...

jmy
4 stack 930
nscr 1817

[mx19 0]

Hey man
My mate has just moved to one of the dzs in chicago to do a season pass or something, which basically means for around 3000usd he can jump on every other load for the whole season... Might be worth looking into.

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[jackwallace 3]

Seen it done. I guy stayed at my place for six months one winter. Started from 0 and left with over 600 jumps and a lot of tunnel time. I think he even packed for himself.
If I was doing it, I wouldn't do it all at one DZ. Going different places can teach you a lot.

U only make 2 jumps: the first one for some weird reason and the last one that you lived through. The rest are just filler.
scr 316

[billvon 3,070]

> After i get what i need i would maybe stay if i can get work visa . . .

Well, you sorta have to do that in the opposite order, and it can be tough. One of the instructors here just did it by claiming the "P1 athlete" clause - which worked for her, but she was on the UK national team. You might be able to pack until you get it, but I would definitely not assume you can get work for any school until you get the visa.

[trig78 0]

jimmytavino - I get what you are saying. Doing so many jumps every day can be exhausting, both mentaly and phisicaly. Especialy in the begining when adrenaline alone will fry you. It will probably be hard to stay focused all day let alone for 6 months of such pace. Maybe i'll get sick of it after a month. Packing for others is out of the question since packing for yourself is a pain in the butt enough. I'd love to do it slower but in my case biggest issue is that i can't stay anywhere more than 6 months at a time because of visa. Sure i could probably come back but that would require more money I'm sure it is possible to do but as you point out, how much actually stays in your head at that pace? I guess I'll find out ;)

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[likvidskaj 0]

Go for it, try and see how your plan's gonna work for you.
If you don't try, you'll never know. If you don't succeede, you can always find another "use" of skydiving.

Just go for it.

I apologize for this but it's too hard to translate to english, so:

Stari moj, idi sto dalje iz ovih balkanskih govana i skaci, uzivaj - ako ne probas, makar ti sve dojadilo nakon dva mjeseca, cijeli ces zivot zaliti sto nisi pokusao. Probaj! Uvijek se mozes vratiti u ovu vukojebinu ako zapne. Sretno!

[trig78 0]

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Go for it, try and see how your plan's gonna work for you.
If you don't try, you'll never know. If you don't succeede, you can always find another "use" of skydiving.

Just go for it.

I apologize for this but it's too hard to translate to english, so:

Stari moj, idi sto dalje iz ovih balkanskih govana i skaci, uzivaj - ako ne probas, makar ti sve dojadilo nakon dva mjeseca, cijeli ces zivot zaliti sto nisi pokusao. Probaj! Uvijek se mozes vratiti u ovu vukojebinu ako zapne. Sretno!

Hvala drugar.
Translation: Thanks buddy.

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[mdrejhon 8]

Hi,

I've frequently heard about New Zealand being the place to go for "super serious skydiving staff wannabes" because of the diploma thing, and they have an airport that has three skydiving drop zones running off it all week long. I think it may actually be easier to work legally in New Zealand than in United States at the moment.

Packing is a pain at first, but it gets much easier as you get familiar with it, and you can earn $400 in one weekend if you become a good packer. Not something I want to do, as I have higher paying careers as a smartphone App programmer...

[crazydiver 0]

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I did the course in 2002 and I have been working as a full time skydiver ever since.

You can earn good money being a skydiver , but just like you, you have to be willing to travel, receptive to new ideas and be prepared to part with about $15k.

i now earn about $80-100k per year and so does my wife. We are buying into our first DZ next week.

You make out of it what you are prepared to put in!

Good lord. Where are you working and how do you do that skydiving? 1000 jumps is a good year for most in the states at about 30-40 per jump.

Cheers,
Travis

[timmyfitz 0]

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I did the course in 2002 and I have been working as a full time skydiver ever since.

You can earn good money being a skydiver , but just like you, you have to be willing to travel, receptive to new ideas and be prepared to part with about $15k.

i now earn about $80-100k per year and so does my wife. We are buying into our first DZ next week.

You make out of it what you are prepared to put in!

Good lord. Where are you working and how do you do that skydiving? 1000 jumps is a good year for most in the states at about 30-40 per jump.

If it sounds to good to be true.................

[mircan 0]

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I did the course in 2002 and I have been working as a full time skydiver ever since.

You can earn good money being a skydiver , but just like you, you have to be willing to travel, receptive to new ideas and be prepared to part with about $15k.

i now earn about $80-100k per year and so does my wife. We are buying into our first DZ next week.

You make out of it what you are prepared to put in!

Good lord. Where are you working and how do you do that skydiving? 1000 jumps is a good year for most in the states at about 30-40 per jump.

If it sounds to good to be true.................

He said he is working as a US govt contractor in Iraq. I guess it could be anywhere between 4k and 15k $ monthly. Also I would guess that if you are single and you are staying inside some of the camps, you can save a lot of money if you`re up to it.
IMO, it is achievable.

dudeist skydiver #42

[trig78 0]

I think this was addressed at the guy from NZ. They are wondring how is he making that much from skydiving.

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[timmyfitz 0]

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I did the course in 2002 and I have been working as a full time skydiver ever since.

You can earn good money being a skydiver , but just like you, you have to be willing to travel, receptive to new ideas and be prepared to part with about $15k.

i now earn about $80-100k per year and so does my wife. We are buying into our first DZ next week.

You make out of it what you are prepared to put in!

Good lord. Where are you working and how do you do that skydiving? 1000 jumps is a good year for most in the states at about 30-40 per jump.

If it sounds to good to be true.................

He said he is working as a US govt contractor in Iraq.

Incorrect.

[mircan 0]

I thought about the original poster. I see it was not about him now.

dudeist skydiver #42

[Ron 10]

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i now earn about $80-100k per year and so does my wife. We are buying into our first DZ next week.

You would be the first skydiver I know to make that much.

1000 jumps (a lot in a year) X 42 bucks a jump (the most I ever got paid) = 42,000.00

Now WORLD class coaches get 450-500 a day. But they have World Meet medals. I have gotten 300/day.

But still, 100k would be working 200 days at 500/day.

Like I said.... Making 100k a year... You would be the first skydiver I have ever heard making that much.

To the OP.... Make it a few year program. Take each vacation and jump like crazy at a DZ in the States.

1st year, jump like crazy and get a riggers ticket.
2nd year, jump like crazy and get a coach rating. Third year get the Tandem and AFF rating.

If at any point you could start making a living, then do it. But 6mths to pro is not really likely due to time in sport requirements.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[disillusioned 0]

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i now earn about $80-100k per year and so does my wife. We are buying into our first DZ next week.

You would be the first skydiver I know to make that much.

1000 jumps (a lot in a year) X 42 bucks a jump (the most I ever got paid) = 42,000.00

Now WORLD class coaches get 450-500 a day. But they have World Meet medals. I have gotten 300/day.

But still, 100k would be working 200 days at 500/day.

Like I said.... Making 100k a year... You would be the first skydiver I have ever heard making that much.

To the OP.... Make it a few year program. Take each vacation and jump like crazy at a DZ in the States.

1st year, jump like crazy and get a riggers ticket.
2nd year, jump like crazy and get a coach rating. Third year get the Tandem and AFF rating.

If at any point you could start making a living, then do it. But 6mths to pro is not really likely due to time in sport requirements.

pretty sure he makes up the difference stealing from Walmart.....since they don't need "our" money anyways.

look up narcissism in the dictionary and u will see that dudes pic

[flyingmontana 1]

Perhaps the visa problem can be resolved by finding a sweet, single female American skydiver to marry you. :) What I'm saying is, don't forget to put a little effort into personal grooming and charm as well as skydiving skills.