2010 Puerto Rico Boogie

[hparrish 0]

Weather Happens, Last Minute Changes Happen, Jump Limits get enforced. Ultimately its the individual who decides if the condions are appropriate for their skill level. You could have driven over to the beach to evaluate the landing conditions yourself. Why are you putting the responisbilitiy for your own decisions off on someone else?

Event Organizers organize EVENTS not the WEATHER. How many events have YOU organized??? You would not be giving so much grief if you've ever tried yourself.

Sounds like you expect perfection and no complications to arrise at an event for you or your girlfriend to be able to enjoy yourselves. Sounds Like you and your girlfriend may not be cut out for Boogies.

Damn you were in Puerto Rico man. If the Boogie wasn't working out for you then go site seeing or something. There's much more to do in this beautiful place than jumping.

The best can make Chicken Salad out of Chicken Shit.

[scottayerSDC 0]

I will simplify it for everyone now. If you went to this Boogie and you were an A or B license holder you couldnt land at the beach and the main DZ landing area was very small for low timers and consisted of mostly gravel and usually had cross wind landings. When this Boogie was at Arecibo it was great I was there. I went back to the Boogie because I liked evrything about it. The DZ landing Area sucked. YES all the high time jumpers dont care abouty the DZ landing area because they could land at the beach or handle the small dz landing area. Of course the c and d license holders would love this boogie it was for them...it was not for the low time jumper.

[scottayerSDC 0]

When and where did you read that I was complaining about the weather. Why would any skydiver complain about weather???? I landed at the beach and had a great time because I have a d license. My girlfriend has 63 jumps and the beach landing was not available to her and the dz area sucked and she did not want to rip her jumpsuit or grind skin off landing in gravel. She also halted her dz landing because she did not want to land on the runway or in the trees. Therefore there was no responsibility put on anyone but ourselves. I jumped at the beach on my decision and it was great. That's because I have a d license. The landing area provided for a and b license holders sucked and most a and b license holders opted to not jump. That is what I put onto the people putting on the Boogie. They did not provide an adequate landing area for the a and b holders that were required to land there. I organize two events every year at my DZ for the past 6 or 7 years. I dont wait til last minute to start. In fact I have already started all the preliminary work for both of my events. When there is money exchanging hands I do try and provide perfection. I have been to several boogies across the country and this one was just as good as the rest except that "THE LANDING AREA SUCKED FOR LOW TIMERS"
Yes since the boogie was not working out we did do other things and I am not in any way complaining about that. WE HAD A GREAT TIME IN PUERTO RICO. Neither one of us is bitter in any way we are just complaining about the landing area. I am not going to sugar coat anything so maybe it sounds like I am angry...I am not. We have great memories of many things that we did. We had a blast!! We saw arecibo, the light house, ponce, surfed, swam, bio bay, great food, awesome restuarants, old San Juan ...unfortunately none of them were attributed to the DZ. In all actuality what you are saying is if you are a low time jumper dont go to Puerto Rico for the Boogie, go to Puerto Rico for Puerto Rico. Well thats great Puerto Rico is the DZ's back up plan But I didnt go to puerto rico to hang at the resorts pool or drink free booze, or jet ski or surf or any of the fun things Puerto Rico has to offer I wanted my girlfriend to do the one thing that Puerto Rico doesnt offer to low time jumpers...Skydiving. When the boogie was at Arecibo people complained that there werent enough airplanes and that wait times were WAY too long. I was there and that was a fact but I never complained about it...others did and what did the DZ do??? They got a third Otter for the 2010 boogie. So now I am complaining that the dz landing area is not good...does anyone understand this? Are there any low time jumpers that agree with me?? I have not heard one person, including the dz owners, say "yes the dz landing area was bad it WILL be better next year" No excuses no explainations of why it was bad, just They will fix it or We will fix it. When small things pertain to health and welfare of people (skydivers) why should we settle for anything less than the best I dont want to make chicken salad out of chicken shit, that's not why I go on vacation. I/we all have a choice to go somewhere else where we dont have to make chicken salad out of chicken shit.

[The111 1]

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When and where did you read that I was complaining about the weather. Why would any skydiver complain about weather????

You've complained about the crosswind at the DZ several times now. That is indeed part of the weather.

I've been to this boogie 5 years in a row now, and the wind has ALWAYS been coming out of the east. The only reason it was different this year was because of the cold front coming from the US. Again, part of the weather.

The main landing area wasn't really very small. It was long and narrow. Area is the combination of both length and width. Again, the weather (crosswind) made it undesirable.

I will agree with you that the gravel surface was not desirable, and was not part of the weather.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[fluffyduckie 6]

I think the point that Scott was trying to make about the crosswind landing is this: for the C and D holders, a crosswind landing into a narrow landing area, bordered by the runway and trees, is not as stressful of a situation as it would be to lower number jumpers, and really was not even an issuse as the beach was an option to them. As a B license holder, I opted not to jump, as I was not willing to risk injury or damage to my equipment and the beach was not an option for me. My landings are not consistant yet, and I slide as many as I stand up. And jumping near the ocean, at a new DZ, whit a tight, poorly graded landing area, can be a little overwhelming, at least it was in my case. I have jumped at boogies with larger numbers of aircraft and people in the air, so that is not a stressor for me.

It simply was not an event appropriate for the novice jumper. I have heard great things about this boogie in the past, I intend to attend again in the future. Given the circumstances, they were able to pull of a pretty amazing event, with very little advance notice of location change.

"I love when humans fly,"

[The111 1]

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I think the point that Scott was trying to make about the crosswind landing is this: for the C and D holders, a crosswind landing into a narrow landing area, bordered by the runway and trees, is not as stressful of a situation as it would be to lower number jumpers

Not true. I refused to land at the airport (more to do with wind shear from the trees than the actual crosswind part of the landing), and a friend with 2000+ jumps nearly broke his heel the one time he landed at the airport. An advanced license does not fix the weather.

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It simply was not an event appropriate for the novice jumper.

The event was plenty appropriate... the weather was not.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[scottayerSDC 0]

The landing area sumbitted was supposed to be a lot bigger. Had it been bigger, like it was supposed to be, the trees and the wind (and the cross wind landings) would not have been a problem at the DZ. So, inadvertently the size of the opted smaller landing area made the weather a problem. AGAIN I was not blaming the weather I was blaming the landing area construction making the weather a problem. AGAIN why would any skydiver complain about the weather?? Yes the AREA in square feet was big but it was long and very narrow and made of gravel and yes the wind was cross forcing inexperienced jumpers to either not jump or crash in to gravel by either attempting a forced crosswind or going short and biffing or going long and sliding into trees. The landing area sucked I wonder if they will fix it for next year? You read Duckies post (above). Because Duckie is inexperienced duckie opted to not jump that is a big let down from all the hype of going to an exotic DZ and not having the experience to jump. Did Duckie say they wouldnt go back?? NO they are probably hoping they will be more experienced by then. What about the next a or b license holder that takes duckies place?

[scottayerSDC 0]

Duckie,
I am not thanking you for agreeing with me I am thanking you for being one of the few a or b license holders to reply. As I have been stating, it was not a good landing area for the novice jumper. Had the landing area been wider it wouild not have been a problem. The crosswind would have been eliminated by the wider landing area. The gravel speaks for itself. There are probably a lot of c and d license holders that didnt even think about sliding it in on their butts. As F Duckie stated, the duck will return. I am still concerned with the a or b license holders replacing the duck. This is not so hard to understand is it. It's somewhat obvious that the jumpers that understand what I am saying are novice jumpers and the jumpers that do not understand what I am saying are experienced jumpers. It is sad that this jumper got really excited about jumping in Puerto Rico and couldnt. I am sure they found other things to do but the fact remains that they couldnt do what the intention of the trip was...to jump.

[scottayerSDC 0]

Not true. I refused to land at the airport (more to do with wind shear from the trees than the actual crosswind part of the landing), and a friend with 2000+ jumps nearly broke his heel the one time he landed at the airport. An advanced license does not fix the weather.

OK but the a or b license holder that refuses to land at the dz cannot jump, you still could. Listen to what you are saying (above) Your friend would not have almost broken his ankle if the landing area was wider. This happened to a person with 2000+ jumps and the width of the landing area had a substantial impact (no pun intended) on him!!! Saying an advanced license doesnt fix the weather does not help promote your argument, because I never hinted at the notion. The landing area sucked and even a guy with 2000+ jumps had a hard time with it. I bet he never landed at the dz again! Yet he had the option to land elsewhere. I wonder if they will fix it for next year?

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It simply was not an event appropriate for the novice jumper.

The event was plenty appropriate... the weather was not.

[LuckyMcSwervy 0]

OK, I'm the OP and an extremely low time jumper, B license holder....

I was totally stoked for the boogie and I knew what I was getting into with the landing area before I even left NJ for Puerto Rico. I studied the aerial and was concerned but told myself I'd wait until I got there and checked it out in person by taking a good walk around the landing area, see what the winds were doing in relation to the trees and then trust my gut.

I got into PR on February 5th for a 16 day trip with a few moves around the island and Vieques planned. The boogie may have gotten me to PR but it wasn't the only reason for me being there. With that being said....

I heard the main landing area sucked conditions wise (the gravel, etc.) but when I finally dragged my lazy ass off of the beach and to the DZ, maybe on Thursday, I got to judge for myself. I decided not to jump.

My decision not to jump was my own, no one else could make me change my mind. I was uncomfortable and that's all that mattered. I was told by someone who knows me and my skill level/landings that I could probably land at the beach if I did a couple of jumps into the main landing area so they could let Jason know if they felt I could handle the beach landing area (this person is an instructor). I took that into consideration but still chose to stay on the ground.

Part of my decision was fear of getting hurt and the other part was total laziness. Would my decision be different if the landing area was back in Arecibo? Possibly, probably, but I can't say for certain because I am a total wind/weather queen when it comes to jumping and I didn't jump last year because I only had 28 jumps at the start of the boogie and I felt the winds were too gusty for me.

The last thing I wanted to do was get hurt and be broken not even half way through my trip. I had good friends who got hurt bad in the main landing area and with their level of experience, thousands of jumps, it just solidified my decision to stay put on the ground. When I hear the rumor going around of someone saying something like "I never knew there wouldn't be enough ambulances" it kinda puts things in perspective.

I almost forgot to say that I got a phone call from a friend in Virginia while the boogie was going on and they asked me if I was alright. I thought that was kinda strange until I was told the news of so many pounding in at the main landing area/beach landing area and getting hurt made it's way back up North really fast.

Now, with regards to the jumpers I know personally with high jump numbers, lots of experience in different conditions, etc., they had an absolute blast with the organzing, beach landings, etc. Lots of great reviews and smiling faces. That can't be overlooked!!

Will I be keeping my ears open to hear about any improvements to the landing area? You bet. Will I be back next year? Maybe... I may want to skip next year and do a SCUBA trip during the winter. We'll see.

I have so much appreciation and respect for all of the work that went into making this event happen. Can you imagine the backlash the DZ would've received if they weren't able to pull this together? It may have been an abandoned area before they got their hands on it and broke their backs getting it ready for everyone but I definitely think it has a lot of potential. I would hope that the lowtimers like me would do their research on a DZ before they leave for a boogie so they're not disappointed if the area isn't up to their comfort level. And if they decide to jump just because they paid a lot of money to travel to a boogie and they're determined to jump no matter what... then shame on them.

I love Puerto Rico, I love the people, I loved the amazingly fun times I spent with my amazingly awesome good friends. I loved catching up with/meeting other jumpers. I needed this getaway really bad as I had a really bad year in 2009, so this trip was more about recharging my batteries then anything else.

Hope this helps...

Always be kinder than you feel.

[scottayerSDC 0]

Yet another example of a low timer that couldnt jump because of a narrow landing area bordered by tree and runway and made of gravel. She even started this post. No one forced her to make this decision and I agree with her decision to not jump. She didnt jump because of the poor landing area and nothing else. Read all of her posts about all the jumping she was going to do. She was even contemplating doing her 100th jump there. That would have been 20 jumps she thought she may have done. Yes the dropzone did make a dz out of an abandoned area and yes there would have been people disapointed if it was cancelled however it would have been a lot better if the dz had posted beforehand that it may not be suitable for low timers and a lot of them would have went anyway. Lucky mcswervy has a great attitude and holds no grudges...I dont either. I am just trying to state my opinion. She even stated they ran out of ambulances. I didnt even know that. I also think a USPA rated dropzone should be a certain standard. One high enough that I dont have to research as much as a non rated dz. Going by Lucky Mcswervy's posts I think a lot of her trip was supposed to be skydiving. Props to her for being so nice in a diplomatic PC kind of way. Too bad she had no where to do it. Again I do agree with her attitude though...no hard feelings and totaly positive. Lets hope dropzones around the world dont take advantage of her, and others like her, great disposition. Any dropzone would be honored to have a Lucky Mcswervy jumping with them. I am glad she had a great time in Puerto Rico and I hope 2010 is much better than her 2009.

[The111 1]

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The landing area sumbitted was supposed to be a lot bigger.

I don't remember anybody claiming they were going to knock down 100's of trees and make the landing area bigger. What are you basing this on?

The satellite photos were available for all to see, and they were accurate.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[LuckyMcSwervy 0]

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Yet another example of a low timer that couldnt jump because of a narrow landing area bordered by tree and runway and made of gravel. She even started this post. No one forced her to make this decision and I agree with her decision to not jump. She didnt jump because of the poor landing area and nothing else. Read all of her posts about all the jumping she was going to do. She was even contemplating doing her 100th jump there. That would have been 20 jumps she thought she may have done. Yes the dropzone did make a dz out of an abandoned area and yes there would have been people disapointed if it was cancelled however it would have been a lot better if the dz had posted beforehand that it may not be suitable for low timers and a lot of them would have went anyway. Lucky mcswervy has a great attitude and holds no grudges...I dont either. I am just trying to state my opinion. She even stated they ran out of ambulances. I didnt even know that. I also think a USPA rated dropzone should be a certain standard. One high enough that I dont have to research as much as a non rated dz. Going by Lucky Mcswervy's posts I think a lot of her trip was supposed to be skydiving. Props to her for being so nice in a diplomatic PC kind of way. Too bad she had no where to do it. Again I do agree with her attitude though...no hard feelings and totaly positive. Lets hope dropzones around the world dont take advantage of her, and others like her, great disposition. Any dropzone would be honored to have a Lucky Mcswervy jumping with them. I am glad she had a great time in Puerto Rico and I hope 2010 is much better than her 2009.

Thanks so much. That was really nice!! But I just wanted to clarify that it was a *rumor* I heard about the "not enough ambulances" statement. It very well could've been someone being a smart ass.

Always be kinder than you feel.

[skymama 37]

Guys, we're beating a dead horse here. I really don't want to lock this thread because I don't want it to reflect negatively on the organizers. I can guess they probably pour their heart and souls into this boogie every year and did their best to deal with an unfortunate complication with the airport arrangements. Hopefully the situation will be better for next year's boogie and I hope I get the chance to come!

So, let's end the landing area discussion now. Anyone have any good pics they want to post?

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[LuckyMcSwervy 0]

Just pics from the beach house and no one wants to see them. Boring unless you were there!!

Always be kinder than you feel.

[The111 1]

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So, let's end the landing area discussion now. Anyone have any good pics they want to post?

http://www.matthoover.com/gallery/skydiving-photos/2010-02/

www.WingsuitPhotos.com