negativeblue

Since we've got less than two months, I figured it'd be a great time to see who's going, meet each other, and share some experiences from past competitions. This will be my first time to Collegiates, so I don't have any experiences to share. I'll be coming with other members from the University of Georgia Skydiving Club and we'll be competing in various events. Who's coming? Where you coming from? First time? Care to share a memorable experience? Do's and don'ts? Hotel vs Camping opinions? Definitely looking forward to meeting everyone in FL! - jason www.skydawgs.com

So, we're about to order jumpsuits for a 4-way team at the University of Georgia. We were going to go with black jumpsuits with silver grips. An experienced 4-way jumper at the dropzone this weekend advised against getting light colored grips, because they could possibly wash on the video and end up with loss of points. Does anyone have any experience with this? I'd never heard about this risk. Are there any teams with light colored grips on a dark suit that ever had any problems? I'm wondering whether this is common 4-way knowledge or just my friend's personal opinion. www.skydawgs.com

On saturday I made jump number 13. I've been experimenting and trying to learn as much canopy control as possible (of course within reason for the number of jumps I have). I weigh 150 and have been jumping a 209. Trying to get more accurate landings, I've been doing braked approaches. I've stood up all my landings except 1. Saturday, at about 100-150 ft I did a full break for a few seconds, something I'd usually been doing. After landing fine, an experienced jumper yelled at me and told me I could have fallen out of the sky. I told him I'd done it before and knew that I had to release brakes soon enough for me to gain enough forward speed for flaring, but he told me never to do that again. Am I wrong in attempting to brake so close to the ground? I understand that someone could get seriously hurt if they stalled or didn't flare properly. Being at the dz so much, I realize that all experienced people treat all new people like they know nothing (better safe than sorry, i guess?) and can't think or learn by themselves (and, i agree, a lot can't), but are there any other ways to prove my knowledge and understanding of the basic principles besides getting a D license? I certainly understand that I've got much more to learn. So... I guess that's why I'm hoping you guys will be more understaning and reasonable. Soo..... Basically I'm asking... Is full breaking at 100-150 ft weighing 150 with a 209 sq ft canopy something I never should have thought of? Could the canopy just collapse all of a sudden? Any advice is appreciate.. Thanks www.skydawgs.com