How far have you come since your 1st post?

[ryand96 0]

I signed on in February of 2004.

At that time I only had 80 jumps and had just returned to the sport after a 3 year layoff.

Since then I bought my first rig
I made about 260 jumps this year
I turned into a halfway decent belly flier (I was on a 5pt 16way and multiple 10pt or more 4ways)
I started learning how to freefly
I started swooping
I went to Rantoul
And I just purchased a camera and camera helmet

My list of goals for myself is quite long for the coming year and I'm sure I won't be able to accomplish everythng, so I plan on picking a few things to really concentrate on.
1. Continue to learn how to freefly
2. Finish my coach rating
3. Get 500 jumps and my D licence
4. Then Get my tandem rating
5. Keep learning how to fly and swoop my canopy
6. Demo some new canopies
7. Maybe downsize one canopy size when I'm ready
8. Start flying with my camera

I'm sure there are a few others that I am missing. There is always so much to learn in this sport. I don't think I will ever run out of new things to do.

Edit: I knew I would forget something
9: Compete in 4way

[sunshine 2]

Quote

When i first started posting under my original username, i had a bit over 100 jumps. Now i've got over 700, i've met over 100 dzcommers, been to lotsa DZ's, met HH and gave him a kisspass too!! One of my highlights was my 500th jump at the eloy holiday boogie last year. It was a 12way complete zoo dive, but it had all dzcommers on it. I now have a sense of family and friends that i've never had before. My biggest accomplishment is getting my riggers ticket. I worked hard for it.

My goals-
Continue having a ton of fun
Finally get to CA to go jumping
S/L rating
Be in the air with my sissy on her first jump

Hehe, looking back on my post from a year ago is fun.
I did have tons of fun, i did jump in CA (and broke my ankle there too).
My sissy hasn't jumped yet, but i'm still working on her.

Goals for next year.
Do more training jumps with Val so we can hopefully be ready for nationals in 2006.
Continue coaching newbies and watching them progress.

___________________________________________
meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[Sheenster303 0]

I posted in another thread last year about my skydiving goals for 2004. At that time, I had one tandem under my belt. Here's what I wrote:

Earn enough money to be confident in my financial situation to start AFF in the springtime. *Did that....I started AFF in April*

Finish AFF as fast as possible. *Did that......I did AFF from Thursday through Monday......that's pretty fast right?*

Get my "A" License. *Pretty close......I was supposed to take my oral quiz for my A the night I broke my leg*

Not Die. *I'm still here aren't I?*

Not get hurt worse than I can handle easily. *Well I can't say I handled it easily, but I was able to handle it well enough that I can walk now and getting one step closer to getting back in the air*

Sooo to sum up....
62 jumps from April 2nd to August 1st.
One broken ankle/leg.
Great friendships made.
A whole new person inside of me that I never knew was there.

Hopefully in 2005 I'll be able to get back in the air and make *AT LEAST* 50 more jumps. I don't if that is possible with my financial situation right now because of my medical bills and credit cards, but the sky will always be there for me when I want to fly again. God I love this sport.

I'm so funny I crack my head open!

P.M.S. #102

[tdog 0]

I try to learn 10 things every day from either this forum or the local guys... That means I should have learned at least 520 things so far - and next year I hope to learn 3650 things... I think I am over "plan" - I think I have learned more than 520 things so far.

[GTAVercetti 0]

I think I joined dropzone about 15 jumps into my AFF program. Since then:

Got my A license at the end of April.
- I have made 167 jumps
- Started to learn to sitfly
- Completed the coaching course (I am lazy so I do
not have my B license and still need to assist and
teach the 1st jump course)
- competed in VPC with my 4-way team
- done my first hybrids, tracking dives, birdman
tracking dives, and so many other fun jumps
- Made some of the best friends of my life

My goals for next season (well, now actually) are:

- Become proficient at sitflying
- Get a new rig (new to me, and I am in the process
already - Mirage, spectre 170, raven 181)
- Fly my canopy better
- Improve my RW skills and learn more blocks
- Get my C license
- Get my coach rating
- Have more fun that I did this year (should be tough)

As for the long term, my goal right now is to be a very good all around skydiver. I want to be able to get on any jump no matter who is asking. Eventually, I see myself freeflying more but I don't think I will ever stop doing RW. And I would like to become a swooper as well.

Why yes, my license number is a palindrome. Thank you for noticing.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Quote

How far have you come since your 1st post?

Hmmm ...

1) I've absolutely changed as a person. In many respects I'm better off now than I was in the past (not materialistic anymore, know to live life to it's fullest each day, etc, etc, etc.). But in some respects I am worse off as I have a hard time relating to the corporate America working world despite the fact that I'm still in the corporate America working world.

2) I've made 800+ skydives in the 2 1/2 years I've been in the sport.

3) I've made 50+ BASE jumps since Memorial Day 2004.

4) I'm getting into Ground Launching and plan on competing in the blade running event (I've already qualified for the event through Jim Slaton's GLC) during next year's Ground Launching boogie in California.

5) I still play hockey and volleyball despite being consumed with Skydiving, BASE jumping and Ground Launching.

6) I haven't flown as Pilot in Command (I'm an uncurrent lisenced private pilot) since April or May of 2003 as I'd rather spend my money on gear, jump tickets and travelling than to spend it on renting expensive airplanes.

I think that's about it.

7) Oh and I'm still single as whuffo women don't understand my skydiving, BASE jumping and Ground Launching needs and the ratio of men to women in the jumping world is not in my favor. But at least I get to do what I want, when I want by being single. So it's not all bad.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[surf4life11 0]

I started in March 2003 and by July had my A-license. Between July 2003 and October 2004 I made
79 Jumps and got my 100th in October. I am like many and at about 35 jumps got interested in freeflying and have not looked back. I am one of maybe 2 or 3 at my DZ that freefly but the only one that consistently does it so I was forced to learn from your advice on this forum and it helped me tremendously. My goals are to get my coach rating this year, get coached on freeflying from an expert freeflyer to get a whole lot better and progress on my canopy in a safe and reasonable manner. Swooping interests me very much and canopy piloting in general is something I want to learn as much as possible on. In 5 years, who knows. I know I want to become an instructor but I need to go somewhere where it is more active with students than my current DZ, I also want to go to more boogies and visit more DZ's in places like Florida, Arizona, California and all throughout the U.S. I really just need to put more jumps under my belt and progress in this wonderful skydiving life. My immediate goal though is to get the rest of my rig bought so I can jump ASAP. Cool thread! Blues!

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Quote

So, how far have you come as a skydiver since your 1st post on DZ.com? What are your skydiving goals for the next year/season? How about your skydiving goals for 5 years from now?

First Jump: Oct 5, 2003.
First Post : Nov 3, 2003.
Down Time Due to Injury : Over 3 months.
Most Important lesson learnt : Respect the elements.
Jumps to Date : 399

Skydiving goals for the next year : Learn to fly stable in a slot specific flock. Do a 4 and a half min skydive. Get current in Freeflying jumps. Learn to fly head down.

In the next 5 years. I hope to be able to do WS BASE jumps off of some of the Big walls in Europe.

Kris.

[davedlg 0]

My first jumps were two tandems made in the spring of 2001 in Sebastian. At that time, I knew skydiving was something that I really wanted to get into, but being the broke college student I was at the time, I had no possible way of financing it. It took over three years for me to go get back in the air again.

My third jump was an AFF jump on July, 25th 2004. I passed AFF on September 4th. I got my A license last Saturday.

2004 has been an outstanding year for me. In rafting, my other favorite sport, I spent 33 days on 13 different rivers in 6 states and racked up over 500 river miles inluding several new Class 5 sections. I got about 30 ski-days in last season. I won $300 at the blackjack tables in Vegas. I got to do some awesome SCUBA wreck dives off Key Largo, Florida. I climbed some great mountains here in Colorado. And I'm going to Eloy for new years!

In the next year, skydiving will no doubt play a significant role in my life. My goals are to buy a rig, to get over 100 jumps, to continue learning my RW skills, and to lean some basic freeflying skills. Other goals are to make at least one trip to outside the country, spend at least 30 days on the river again, and get back into rock climbing. We'll see what this new year brings!

[skycat 0]

So I just looked back at my posts from 2001 and wow have things changed. Back then I was like any 200 jump wonder, didn't care what happened or what I was doing as long as I got to jump. So carefree, so happy, damn have times changed and I'm not really sure for the better.

Fly it like you stole it!

[dragon2 2]

Seeing some lovely pics of large CReW diamonds on a friend's wall made me decide to try jumping instead of hanggliding which I'd wanted to do for some time.

Started jumping: July 2001. Signed on here: august 2001. First post here: march 2002.

I started jumping knowing I wanted to do 3 things. And I've done all 3 of them: camera flying, crew, birdman.
Right now I've got my D and about 635 jumps. What I did: mostly BirdMan lately, and earlier, mostly CReW. Added a camera at 350 or so jumps.
Also I spend a lot of time out in the landing area taking pictures. Well ya gotta do something if you're spending most of your free time hanging at the bar at a small airport

The camera stuff got me into being part of our national skydiving magazine, and it got me invited to World Team Thailand, not for flying but for ground shots, website editing etc. And for putting the dvd together.
That was a great experience! Now way am I ever going to be a good enough belly flyer to be in something like that, but I love photography more, anyway

This year was fun with judging the Dutch Swooping Tour competitions, and later on videoing the landings instead of doing the judging myself. Again, a dvd came out of this. My editing skills are improving if I say so myself...

I do regret spending way too much money these years...

So, for next year, it's gonna be hard, having to sell some of my stuff as well as my appartment, but I'm going to be videoing swoop competitions again, and with the much smaller amount of jumping I'll be able to do, hope to improve my camera flying anyway and I'll be screaming across the sky in my S3 birdsuit every once in a while...

Screaming across the sky with a smaller parachute, no matter how much I'd like a Pilot 124, is not going to happen, which is probably a good thing with so little jumps and adding a camera and birdsuit too. Don't have to like it though

In five years, no idea. If (when) I get my finances together, I'll probably will want to do some crew again besides birdman and camera flying. People keep wanting me to participate in crew ladies records here and there

But for now, look for me on the ground instead of in the sky, mostly behind my computer

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[Dumpster 0]

Since I first posted in 2001 I guess, I've averged about 100 or so jumps a year, just about all of them RW jumps.

I've spent a little time in the tunnel in Orlando. Learned alot in just half an hour.

Jumped at six different dropzones.

Became a coach, and I'd like to think a halfway decent belly flier.
I've been on some 15-point skydives.

Helped my daughter learn to skydive. I have to say that was the highlight of this past season.

Next season, (after I get done healing from this little injury-) my goals are to continue coaching the young jumpers just off AFF status, and hopefully get my AFF rating in June. I also am planning on competing again in 4-way.

[WrongWay 0]

Nice thread!

Well, I started jumping September 15, 2001 and registered with (I'm guessing) around 75 jumps in December 2001. Since then I've pushed my jump numbers up to 600, done around 200 coached freefly dives, passed the AD (no number, but I have video ), got a couple hours in the tunnel, turned a few points, almost killed myself a few times, almost been killed a few times, been through a bunch of dz's, made 1 jump at BD, kicked it old school with some really cool people, and had a BLAST the whole time. Bring it on 2005!!!

Wrong Way
D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451
The wiser wolf prevails.

[Snowbird 0]

Sweet thread!

Let's see. Signed in sometime during the winter of 2001/2, with 5 jumps. I was anxious, obsessed, and eager to jump. I was also terrified that life would conspire against me financially and emotionally to keep me on the ground, and I spent all winter determined to do this amasing thing I loved so much.

Started my student progression in May 2002. The original goals were to get my solo license and do maybe 30 jumps.

HA! By July I was looking for gear. Got gear in August. Did 60 jumps by the time winter set in, and had my 'A' license. Went to Eloy in January.

And haven't looked back. Nothing about me is the same. My life outlook, my daily routines, my comitment to the important things in my life, my self-confidence.

Current goals?
-Jump more often. I'd like to creep up on making 200 jumps a year.
-Get a new canopy to replace my Falcon. Much as I love her, as much as she represents the freedom I've found in life, she is Old and needs to be Retired.
-Get the experience I need to get my Coach 2 rating.
-Work my sit and stand flying until I can really get around the sky the way I want to!
-BIRDMAN!

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
-Robert A. Heinlein

[Jeth 0]

Reading this thread makes me long for the day when I can look back 5 years to recall my skydiving career.
I just did my 1st jump on June 6th, 2004, my 30th birthday. My 1st post was 5 days later, June 11th. I was totally blown away how that jump affected me. I was completely sucked in and couldn't get jumping out of my mind. But I was completely sure I would never become a skydiver cuz its so expensive and I was scared shitless. Well... I did it anyway.
I went back for my 2nd tandem in July, then started AFP 2 weeks later. Due to money and no car, I was only able to go about every 2 weeks. I did 10 jumps total by September. On my 10th jump I came down very hard on my knee and tore the MCL. (That was probably a blessing cuz I was out of money for jumps anyway.)

So my goals for next year...

1. Get my knee completely healed by March
2. Graduate AFP by April so I can have the whole summer to jump with all my new friends!
3. Fly my own beautiful, perfect rig (which I already bought before I even graduated, I must be hooked! )
4. Get my A
5. Become a better canopy pilot (take canopy control course?)
6. Participate in SDC New Wave Boogie
7. Learn a proper PLF to keep from getting injured again
8. Have a total blast as a licensed skydiver!!!
Man, what a whirlwind the last 6 months have been! What a great sport!

"At 13,000 feet nothing else matters."
PFRX!!!!!
Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109
My Jump Site

[Deuce 1]

1100 jumps, two ratings, two boogie videos, a professional international skydiving trip, one current world record, one broken ankle, two sprained knees, one billion new great friendships, several favors in Britain, even more favors in undisclosed locations, several published skydiving photos, 5 Wings harness and container systems. 500 gallons of beer, four kiss passes and a Skymonkey hat.

[popsjumper 2]

OMG.....A whole new life.

First Jump June 1977 (layoff until May 2004)
Divorced (she flipped when she later found out I was skydiving)
May 2004
- Signed up for AFF the same day as my just-for-old-times-sake tandem ride
- Quit my job the next day so I could stay at the DZ and jump.
Jumping my ass off since.
2-way with brother on Jump 9
8-way on jump 17
12-way on Jump 27
Signed on to DZ.com - firstpost Sept 1, 2004
Organized GA State POPS Formation Record for 71st jump
Star Crest Soloist on jump 78
Was invited by Scotty Carbone to jump his 12,000th with him.
Went to Tunnel Camp with Jon Pinyon and Kyle Starck
Made a whole new gang of friends both real and virtual
Spent tons of money - but worth every nickle of it

Goals:
GetCoach rating to help others
Be a member of the 4-way team that displaces Deland Majic
Meet fabulous skychick
Meet absolutely wonderful skychick
Meet drop-dead gorgeous skychick
Meet fabulous, absolutely wonderful, drop-dead skychick
Meet any one of the above goals and I'll call it a successful year.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[brits17 0]

Hehe, great thread. First post June 2001. Been skydiving for a year, bout 200 jumps. Just left oklahoma for Houston otters. 800 skydives since, 100 base, rigging, downsized 49 sq feet, stopped skysurfing. Thats all i can think of as far as jumping goes. Its been a fun and educational road I hope to continue.

_______________________
aerialkinetics.com

[samhussey 0]

Crikey...

First post was when I was thinking of AFF, well before I started at uni! Since then...

A license
25 jumps
1 reserve ride
Came to uni, started my university skydiving club, got lots of new people into the sport!

Goals for this year: FS1, IC1, B license, get my own rig!

Goals for next 5 years:
Compete in 4 way
Learn to freefly
Become an instructor/coach

[daveb 1]

This is a great idea for a thread! Missed it way back when. Reflecting on things I've done has kind of opened my eyes; it's so easy to get focused on where you want to go and miss out on all that you've done. There is much we can learn from seeing the progression of others. I hope mine motivates someone to chase their dream, downsize safely, or perhaps just reflect upon their own progression.

I thoroughly enjoyed going over my logbooks and re-living these experiences through my comments. It's a shame I quit logging more than raw jump data after the first few hundred jumps. Rereading my impressions of my earlier jumps was entertaining.

I played loose with the first post date; I registered early and lurked for years, so I used my registration date as the marker. The short version: three world records, a state record, a national gold medal, several teams, scads of tunnel time, some cool bigway events, a host of new friends and acquaintences, and a much richer life just because I jump! The long version: I did this offline for my own edification, and thought maybe someone else would be interested. I know I'd love to see something similar from others - you don't just show up and do a world record, become a tandem instructor, or win a local or national swoop meet.

key: firsts / bigway (records) / teams (medals)

03-01-00    72  registered with dropzone.com

03-25-00   100  nekkid; first and only

05-27-00   135  first high-altitude load

07-14-00   168  first formation load 38-way

07-15-00   177  first night jump; NSCR 2327 & SCS 8051

11-11-00   257  first team; 4way/Millenium Odyssey, coach: Gary Beyer


01-13-01   298  first jump at another dz

03-29-01   353  tunnelcamp 1

07-15-01   461  tunnelcamp 2

10-21-01   536  nationals; "Just in Time" 4-way advanced, 8.9avg, 16th

11-04-01   565  tunnelcamp 3

12-05-01   640  second team; 8way/Arizona Evolution coach: Alan Metni


03-07-02   716  tunnelcamp 4; with my 10yo son, Tim

04-14-02   796  tunnelcamp 5; with 8way team; invited to 300-way

06-14-02   918  Texas state record 120-ways (no joy)

07-18-02  1012  tunnelcamp 6

08-27-02  1104  Jack Jeffries bigway invitational

09-04-02  1135  nationals; "Arizona Evolution" 8-way open, 7.4avg, 7th

10-25-02  1196  Dan BC bigway practice

11-02-02  1214  Airspeed 4way ultimate skills camp

11-16-02  1290  third team; 4way/Spaceland Inferno; coach: Neal Houston/Joey Jones

12-12-02  1334  world record: 300-way


05-22-03  1528  az challenge; 84-way in-out

06-12-03  1562  tunnelcamp 7; again with son, Tim (now 12yo)

07-12-03  1596  first cutaway

08-17-03  1683  Texas state record 125-ways; new TSR

10-17-03  1770  nationals; "Spaceland Inferno" 4-way adv, 14.7avg, Gold

10-28-03  1795  first post on dropzone.com

12-14-03  1809  fourth team; 4way/Dallas Thunder; coach: Neal, Mark, Gary


01-24-04  1855  world record: 672 mass jump

02-06-04  1877  world record: 357-way

05-27-04  1988  az challenge; 96-way hope diamonds

08-20-04  2168  Texas state record 145-ways (no joy)

10-02-04  2217  nationals; "Dallas Thunder" 4-way open, 14.0avg, 8th

11-07-04  2264  first Cessna jump

11-17-04  2265  kaleidoscope 120+ ways

11-22-04  2281  tried out for a certain team (no joy)


Canopy progression / wing-loading:

11-20-99    25  1.0 griffon 190 / swift 210

09-16-00   231  1.1 sabre 170 / raven-m 181

06-15-01   436  1.3 sabre 150

08-24-01   489  1.4 sabre 135 / pd-143

09-23-01   513  1.4 stiletto 135

03-15-03  1411  1.6 stiletto 120 / pd-126

08-14-04  2166  1.8 stiletto 107 / pd-113

10-23-04  2250  canopy control course; coach: Brian Germain

Goals 2005:

• find open class 4way team
  
• compete in World Cup (even as a guest)
  
• at least a couple 100+ way events
  
• learn to freefly, really, I mean it this time
  
• another canopy course
  
• coach rw team or two
  
• more load organizing
  
• do better recording memories in logbook
  

Goals rest of decade:

• skydive with son
  
• continue improve 4way/8way
  
• improve freefly ability
  
• stay active bigway circuit
  
• 400-way Thailand (early 2006)
  
• strengthen team coaching skills
  
• organize / coordinate an event
  
• jump a Connie (beautiful aircraft), B-17, biplane, jet
  

[pilotdave 0]

Just checked my logbook. When I first posted, I had exactly 30 jumps. I dunno how many videos my site had back then...but a few months later i posted that it was up to about 700 videos, 4.5 gigs. Now I have over 11 times as many jumps, over twice as many videos with over 4 times as many gigs.

Dave

[davedlg 0]

Time to check in with this thread again!!

I made this post just over a year ago...

Quote

In the next year, skydiving will no doubt play a significant role in my life. My goals are to buy a rig, to get over 100 jumps, to continue learning my RW skills, and to lean some basic freeflying skills. Other goals are to make at least one trip to outside the country, spend at least 30 days on the river again, and get back into rock climbing. We'll see what this new year brings!

What a year it's been!
Since that post I have:
- Made 95 jumps,
- Have gotten much better at both RW and freeflying
- Had one cutaway
- Made jumps from a balloon and a helicopter
- Attended the Eloy holiday boogie, the American boogie, and the MOAB boogie.

Outside skydiving:
- Got about 25 skiing days in
- Organized a 7-day rafting trip for 24 people on the middle fork of the salmon river in Idaho
- Spent about 30 days total on the river
- Went on some amazing backpacking trips
- Changed jobs to a much better job.

In the next year, I have the following goals:
- Accumulate 250 to 300 total skydives by year's end
- Get a coach rating
- Continue working on RW and freefly skills. I would like to have a solid headdown by this time next year.
- Take advantage of Skyventure Colorado as much as possible.

Outside Skydiving:
- I am planning a 3-week grand canyon whitewater rafting trip in June and July
- Get out as much as possible on the river and into the backcountry.
- Stay Balanced. Try not to let skydiving take over my life

I will use most of my vacation time for the grand canyon rafting trip, so I'm not sure how many boogies I will be able to attend....hopefully I'll make it to a few!

[Mike111 0]

14 jumps.

[dharma1976 0]

My first post was in Jan 2004 I had 78 jumps or so and had just gotten back from my first boogie and my first triup away from my home DZ the ranch...

since then I have owned 4 containers
4 parachutes
started swooping
broken my leg
stopped swooping
learned to listen to people with more experience
stopped smoking pot
started swooping again
learned about carving turns and harness
put in 460ish skydives
moved elliptical
learned how to fly headdown
learned how to sitfly without arms
done a bit more belly flying
learned how to track like a bat out of hell
walked on topskins
pulled at 13500 like 25 or so times
got some titanium
learned that having titanium is not good for dancing to techno
learned that having titanium isnt good for having sex standing up
learned that having titanium sucks all around
figured out that tryign to tell others not to do something is like telling them to do it and that sometimes you need to show them why not to do it and explain to them why in great detail so that they get it, and even then mother earth might have to teach em the hard way.
Lost my driving license twice for paying my manifest bill before my car insurance

man in two years it has been a great journey...
and a painful one at times...

most of all I learned that it is about surviving in this sport, not rushing it...

Cheers

Dave

http://www.skyjunky.com

CSpenceFLY - I can't believe the number of people willing to bet their life on someone else doing the right thing.

[MB38 0]

31 jumps.
Moved from a 240 to a 188.
Learned to sit.
Graduated AFF.
Got my A.
Learned more in 6 months firsthand than my previous 8 years of secondhand experience.

Check back in a few years.

I really don't know what I'm talking about.