sunsetjim

No - actually - watching Kim deal w/Ranch neighbors was unbelievable. I never knew she could be so nice, prim, proper and polite. I think she even said sir or ma'am. lol. Blue Skies - look forward to meeting ya! Woody

Hey All first post here - I started jumping at the Ranch 2 years ago - got a lot of jumps 2003-2004, then went on a long hiatus from last summer till now. Got 6 jumps in since Wednesday. This weekend, I jumped w/a bunch of people I jumped with before. No one had an attitude like "ooohhh - I don't want to jump w/you - it's been a long time!!" Everyone was happy to see me - everyone treated me like I had never left. Then - I had my first cutaway (Yes, I bought a case - 12 of Heineken, 12 of Corona). I found all my gear - but I didn't do it alone. Kim drove me around looking. Mike Jessop climbed the tree to get my main down. Jules offered to help if we needed it. Vinny called me back to offer to get it tomorrow if I couldn't get it down. Gino spent half an hour helping me clean up my gigantic ball o' crap and make it looking more like a canopy w/distinct line groups and everything. Thank you so much everyone for your help!!!!!!!! My point is this. Yes, our jump rates went up from where they were. No - we're not technically a club anymore. But - we'll still have all the events we had before (just wait). Most importantly, however - the Ranch is still the Ranch. The same people are there - the same vibe - brotherhood, sisterhood - people caring about each other and helping each other out. When I used to go - I felt like I was with my family. Now - even more so - I feel like I'm going home when I get up there. So don't let any of our online craziness fool you - The Ranch is very much alive and kicking. So come out and jump your ass off!!!! Woody

Thanks Quade and everyone, I know what it means - I guess my question really was "why does biff mean to f**k up and hit the ground hard"? Is it simply onomatopaeia, or is there some other etymology of the word as well? Thanks again Jim

Hey all, Talking to a whuffo friend about skydiving - she asked me what "biff" means. I know it means . . . well, "biff" - but that didn't really answer her question. Anyone know where that term comes from? Thanks in advance. Blues, Jim

I've had several sunset loads that were . . . "getting kinda dark". I generally wear yellow goggles - which do seem to make everything seem sharper. The first of the sunset load was full altitude - so i had a normal freefall, goggles and all, but . . .the second i was under canopy, bam - goggles come off my eyes and go down around my neck. the 2nd was a hop and pop - and so the goggles just stayed around my neck from exit to opening to landing. i don't want anything messing w/my vision if it's getting dark out. just my 2cents worth. Jim

in response to: " . . . Maybe i'm wrong, but i didn't think it was "ridiculously simple" for HH to add things into the profile . . . " sorry - a) what does HH mean? (my mind working very slow right now i guess) and b) my ridiculously simple comment referrred to the whole discussion, not the actual action of inputting information into a profile. do i think age should be a mandatory field? NO, absolutely not. do i think it should be an optional field - therein lies the ridiculous simplicity. BTW - i also very much dig the skydiving age question. that would be good to know. but also something i would make optional, you know? Jim

in response to: " . . . By and large, the level of cooperation you can expect from other jumpers is substantial. When you hear complaints about someone who just doesn't play well with others, it is the exception, rather than the rule. . . " very true - occasionaly i've heard "this guy was such a jerk, he flew right through our skydive" - but never do you hear "wow, it was great, the group after us waited long enough to allow adequate separation and didn't get in our way". and hallelujah for that. glad the rule is the rule and not the exception. in response to your general post - and just about everyone else's post - my new understanding of tracking is this: A) it's not a golden rule "turn 180 and track" (i had already figured this out) - turn an appropriate distance to track an equal distance and angle away from the people on either side of you B) breakoff at an appropriate altitude C) worry more about "line of flight" when in the plane -i.e. discussing separation time between the previous group, your group, and the next group - than during your track. if you worry beforehand, you won't have to worry during your track. D) never do a tracking dive up or down the line of flight E) flat track, not dive track (I haven't had video of my track yet, but i aggresively question those i jump with as to the speed and flatness of my track - because i want my track to be fast and flat) Thanks to everyone for your help and your responses. Blue Skies. Jim

in response to: " . . . when you are doing 4-way, are you paying attention to where the line of flight is in relation to your 4-way group . . . " in a general sense - i.e. don't track directly away from the river, or directly towards the river - but i'm much more specifically concerned with (and more upfront in my mind) tracking the hell away from the rest of my group before deploying.

I say yes - absolutely - make it an option. if you want to share your age, share your age. if you don't want to - don't fill anything in. seems ridiculously simple to me. jim

Hey All - I'm going to ask this question to death when i get back to the dz - but i would like all of your opinions as well. As far as I know - there are a couple of golden rules about tracking: 1) don't track up the line of flight (ie into the next group out the door) 2) turn 180' from your position and track away from your group before pulling (or at least as reasonably as you can so you get away from your group) my question is this - let's say it's a four way - and if everyone turns 180 and tracks away - one guy north, one south, one east, one west (pure perfect hypothectical) - one person is bound to be tracking up the line of flight. do you all, and should i - track slightly closer to another member of the group if your 180 turn will take you up the line of flight? which safety precaution takes precedence in this instance? jim

Had to throw in my .02 worth on this issue: I'm a new jumper. I just bought my first rig, first canopy - first everything. And before i did - i talked to everyone i could about it. About this canopy, that canopoy, this rig, that rig - whatever i wanted to know - people told me. A regular jumper at my dz - one of the first to take me into the world of skydiving, gave me this advice - come saturday night, sit around the fire, buy beer, talk to people. they will give of themselves like a river. he was right. I've heard my dz has a 'no rules' kind of reputation. And i guess it could be, if you want it to be. My experience is very different though. I know that i know nothing about skydiving. And i want to learn as much as i can. So i ask questions, talk w/people, try to jump w/new people, do hop and pops from altitude w/experienced canopy pilots. And if (when) i fuck up - i've got 10 people looking out for me going "whoa dude - do you really want to be doing ....(insert whatever here)". And if i suddenly showed up @ the dz w/some crazy hp canopy - i would have to answer a lot of questions about it. I wouldn't just be able to jump it. Because i took a small step and got to know people, talked to them, got advice,etc - they all took the reciprocal step and watch out for me, point things out to me, help me, guide me, etc. And that is the best thing you can do for a new skydiver. If you're a new jumper and you don't talk to people, don't learn from them, don't ask questions, don't ask for advice - that's your fault. If, however you do get to know those around you, you should never get into a situation where you do get hurt because you're flying inappropriate gear. Your dz (ie - any and everyone who knows you) should have stepped in and sat you down and had a long talk about canopy choices. I do think that canopy training is very important. i plan on taking a canopy course the first chance i get. But i think the single most important way we can prevent more avoidable accidents is to actually BE the community we are. Look out for each other - everything you can share might help someone else out - especially the stern "you should NOT be flying that thing w/this few jumps". jim (sorry for the novel length post)

In reply to all replies - Yeah, i'm not surprised friends of Joe are popping out of the woodwork now. Joe Frigging Deal - i like that alot. Blue Skies everyone. and thanks for the www.joedeal.com link. And Joe - if ya read this - take it easy buddy - blue skies. Jim

Hey Andrea, Thanks for the welcome - it's nice to actually write something and get responses rather than just lurking like I've been doing for months. Take Care and Blue Skies. Jim

Hey All, This post is both an introduction/greet, and a "Hey, this guy is cool, if you see him, talk to him" kinda thing. My name is Jim - i just 'really' started jumping this summer (3 jumps total over the past 2 summers, 38 so far this summer (well, i wish it was still summer)). My home dz is the ranch up in gardiner, ny - and i love it. So hey everyone - you were right - this sport rocks. Glad i finally got the rocks to just accept the debt and expenses and say "yeah, it's f**cking worth it". The 2nd part of my msg is about a guy i met at my dz. His name is Joe Deal, and you may have the chance to meet him yourselves. Joe was visiting the Ranch for a week or two - around the time of the big ways up here. It was also right around the time i got off student status. Basically - what i want to say is this - Joe is a good guy - he helped me out, he was really friendly, nice, etc - all around good guy. And, he's taking the next year (or so) off and travelling the country. Yes, that's right, visiting friends and family (i'm sure) - but also going from dz to dz. So you may have the chance to meet Joe. Joe Deal. The nice guy w/the memorable catchy name. So if you do run into him - tell him his friends up at the Ranch are checking to see how he's doing. And if you are Joe Deal, feel free to post and let us know how you're doing, where you are, and when ya might be popping back in up here. Alright - that's about enough typing out of me for now. Blue Skies everyone. Jim