ICE landing -- whoopie (Technically, a water landing that's a standup landing)

[mdrejhon 8]

As this is Canada and everything is frozen at the moment, I took the opportunity to take a couple of hop and pops yesterday, I learned some new things.

I did my first two water landings, and one of them was a standup. Okay, the water was frozen and it was a surface on top of land. (Last time I did a winter jump, it was soft snow).

First one -- I did not stand one of them up because it looked like snow, and slipped. It was hardened to an icy crust I could skid around on top of. Looks can be deceiving. Lesson learned. I was expecting it to be soft. When doing snow landings, test the snow in your landing area first. It may not be as soft as you think, or an ice layer may have formed on top of the snow! It did shock my ankles a little bit, expecting softer snow but ended up being literally an ice skating rink. (But not to the point of any injury or sprain). I believe that this was my first non-standup in approximately 70 jumps. Oh well, can't be perfect, and should not try to be...

Second one -- An intentional ice turf and surf with my feet sliding on the ice, sliding for about 40 feet. Lots of fun but it is tricky for a novice to resist the temptation to flail arms around trying to balance while sliding on ice once your feet touch down (and affecting your flare!). I still have to literally fly my landing to keep my balance (even though I did a standard straight-in landing under a Sabre 170 wingloaded at 1.1:1). That was fun though.

[darkwing 5]

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... I still have to literally fly my landing to keep my balance ...

This is something that it takes many beginners a long time to learn. You have to fly the parachute until you and it are done moving. I have seen many, many times where things were fine, until after the feet touched down and the jumper quit flying the canopy, then it went to hell.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[MrBrant 0]

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It was hardened to an icy crust I could skid around on top of. Looks can be deceiving. Lesson learned. I was expecting it to be soft. When doing snow landings, test the snow in your landing area first. It may not be as soft as you think, or an ice layer may have formed on top of the snow!

good times.

Where were ya with that adivice last week though? http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2061606#2061606 hehe. oh well, i guess its more fun to learn that hardway anyway


oh, and where are the pics man!??!!

[narcimund 0]

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As this is Canada and everything is frozen at the moment

Oh like hell! The Great Wet North hasn't gotten below freezing yet.

This place is a fraud. I want my money back!

First Class Citizen Twice Over

[mdrejhon 8]

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Oh like hell! The Great Wet North hasn't gotten below freezing yet.

This place is a fraud. I want my money back!

DUH! I mean... "As this is Canada and everything is frozen at the moment in the area where I live"

Thank you for using your friendly neighbourhood dropzone.com customer service. Please call back if you have any problems. If the solution to the issue is not sufficient, there is a 6 to 8 week processing period for refunds, limited to $0.02 for your "two cents"*

*Fine print disclaimer: This is just Bonfire league humor.

[IanHarrop 42]

He's on the "left" coast. They barely get snow over there. Cold weather would stop them in their tracks!

I can just imagine.... "Oh WOW man, how do you sniff this kind of snow?"
Of course here in "Red Neck Ville" we can't say much this year... its +11 today!

"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me" Dorothy

[gulaz 1]

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"As this is Canada and everything is frozen at the moment in the area where I live"

Attached is a pic of my canadian winter... See the snow??

[mdrejhon 8]

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This is something that it takes many beginners a long time to learn. You have to fly the parachute until you and it are done moving. I have seen many, many times where things were fine, until after the feet touched down and the jumper quit flying the canopy, then it went to hell.

I have slid landings for shorter distances before, but ice is particularly tricky: The temptation to flail arms around is much greater on ice, and you slide fast for longer periods.

I also witnessed a buddy swoop the ice touching for, I think, over 100 feet at much faster speeds. It's impressive how they can resist the temptation to flail arms around and concentrate on flying the parachute while the feet are touching - something that is appears to be learned gradually with lots of experience.

At 1.1 wingload, I'm still very clumsy at sliding but the parachute is forgiving enough, considering I've only jumped 4 times in the last 2 months because of the winter, after jumping 138 times last year. I can't wait for springtime.