Friday, March 30, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Dave Is Feeling Better
Chris spoke with Dave this morning. Dave went through surgery yesterday and increased his exit weight by 5 pins and one plate. He is feeling MUCH better since the surgery, and won't see the doctor again for two more weeks. He plans to return to work April 9.
Dave, we're looking forward to seeing you in the skies again soon!
Dave, we're looking forward to seeing you in the skies again soon!
Friday, March 23, 2007
300
If Athenian King Xerxes were alive today and a skydiver, would he be a belly flyer, or a free flyer?
Leave your vote in a comment below. (BTW - Great movie!)
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Updates
Dave's Recovery
Chris and Dave spoke today. Dave is feeling better. He has a splint, and will be in surgery later this week. He will get a small plate and a pin installed. He plans to be back at work in April.
Eloy Pictures
Our pictures are in the team photo album (see links below). Video highlights are coming soon...
Chris and Dave spoke today. Dave is feeling better. He has a splint, and will be in surgery later this week. He will get a small plate and a pin installed. He plans to be back at work in April.
Eloy Pictures
Our pictures are in the team photo album (see links below). Video highlights are coming soon...
Monday, March 19, 2007
ELOY - Episode I
The Crack Heard 'Round the World
The team arrived at 4:30am Friday for 2.5 days of jumping. At 8:30, we were under the official Carpe Grips tree gearing up. Dave showed us his new shoes, his others had been worn down and were only good for sliding. Jump #1 goes without a hitch. A clean exit, lots of points, and a gentle glide back to Earth.
Prior to the jump, Chris asked Jack to catch his tandem landing on tape. At about 500ft, Dave jockeyed for position under canopy, and led Chris towards the camera. Dave landed into a slide, hit a little bump, and broke his ankle in two places. He will undergo surgery, and will be ground-borne for at least 10 weeks.
Post a comment here with your best wishes!
Then There Were Three
Carpe Grips Rule #1: The only thing better than a donut in the morning is multiple donuts in the morning.
As Dave was icing his ankle, Cate, Chris and Jack hit the skies for some serious points that included oodles of left and right handed donuts. Carpe Grips, recently Lake Elsinore's top 3-way team, were all business. Fall rates in synch, crowding instead of separation, zero tension in grips, constant eye contact - a work of art.
Family & Friends
Cate was thrilled to see her Sister, Brigette. Brigette was visiting Phoenix from her home in Alaska with husband Brian and handsome sons Conner and Garrett. By the end of the weekend, Brian enjoyed an observer ride in the Twin Otter, and all had enjoyed 4 full minutes of freefall in the tunnel. Wow! Rumor has it that Brian will be in an AFF program soon...
Chris' high-school buddy, Geoff, also came by the DZ and was amazed at how busy the drop zone was. He enjoyed watching the hot-shots land at mach 1, and hung out with the team during their coaching (creepers, video debriefs, dirt dives, etc.).
Multi-Culturalism at its Best
Being the busiest drop zone in the world, Eloy offers a mosaic of diverse nationalities all attracted by the endless 20-minute calls.
Chris resisted the urge to challenge the French and German 4-way teams to a rematch, envisioning an 8-way tracking dive with the French deploying white chutes moments before impact.
Cate caught a brief glimpse of what may have been the Pakistani team. She discussed this halucination, and other global issues, with the Indian military 4-way team on the ride to altitude.
Jack kept his mouth shut and stayed out of trouble.
Of course, the US Team (Team America?) was there representing the imperial power with class and dignity.
Coach Day with Todd
Arizona Airspeed's Todd joined the group at the tunnel on Saturday at 6am. An hour of stretching and review followed by a full 30 minutes of tunnel time and 7 jumps.
With no time for rest, lunch, or cigars, the team creeped, debriefed, dirt-dived, and jumped until 5:30pm. Local jumper, Scott, joined mid-day when Cate left to spend more time with her visiting family.
Todd showed CG the standard, and kept each of us focused on the 2-3 areas for improvement. We jumped new formations with every two jumps, all with challenging exits and fast-paced action.
Cate finished the day with a 6-hour punk-rock concert with her nephews, and Chris and Jack treated themselves to steak and green beer in Tucson.
Coming Home
All good things must come to an end. Chris and Jack made two quick jumps Sunday - one to practice block turns, and another to do some burble work. They traded rigs and Chris enjoyed the two least-violent landings in years with Jack's Sabre 2 170. It looks like Chris has a purchase coming up!
Geoff returned and brought his wife, Shaun. Both are now enthusiastic supporters of the sport and fans of CG, and are expected to be in the tunnel soon. Maybe the start of an Arizona contigent of Carpe Grips?
We all missed our teammate, Shermanator, and hope he can join us on our next visit to Eloy (with a pair of slippery shoes).
Stay Tuned:
Video highlights from Eloy
Updates on Dave's Recovery
The next CG trip to Eloy!
The team arrived at 4:30am Friday for 2.5 days of jumping. At 8:30, we were under the official Carpe Grips tree gearing up. Dave showed us his new shoes, his others had been worn down and were only good for sliding. Jump #1 goes without a hitch. A clean exit, lots of points, and a gentle glide back to Earth.
Prior to the jump, Chris asked Jack to catch his tandem landing on tape. At about 500ft, Dave jockeyed for position under canopy, and led Chris towards the camera. Dave landed into a slide, hit a little bump, and broke his ankle in two places. He will undergo surgery, and will be ground-borne for at least 10 weeks.
Post a comment here with your best wishes!
Then There Were Three
Carpe Grips Rule #1: The only thing better than a donut in the morning is multiple donuts in the morning.
As Dave was icing his ankle, Cate, Chris and Jack hit the skies for some serious points that included oodles of left and right handed donuts. Carpe Grips, recently Lake Elsinore's top 3-way team, were all business. Fall rates in synch, crowding instead of separation, zero tension in grips, constant eye contact - a work of art.
Family & Friends
Cate was thrilled to see her Sister, Brigette. Brigette was visiting Phoenix from her home in Alaska with husband Brian and handsome sons Conner and Garrett. By the end of the weekend, Brian enjoyed an observer ride in the Twin Otter, and all had enjoyed 4 full minutes of freefall in the tunnel. Wow! Rumor has it that Brian will be in an AFF program soon...
Chris' high-school buddy, Geoff, also came by the DZ and was amazed at how busy the drop zone was. He enjoyed watching the hot-shots land at mach 1, and hung out with the team during their coaching (creepers, video debriefs, dirt dives, etc.).
Multi-Culturalism at its Best
Being the busiest drop zone in the world, Eloy offers a mosaic of diverse nationalities all attracted by the endless 20-minute calls.
Chris resisted the urge to challenge the French and German 4-way teams to a rematch, envisioning an 8-way tracking dive with the French deploying white chutes moments before impact.
Cate caught a brief glimpse of what may have been the Pakistani team. She discussed this halucination, and other global issues, with the Indian military 4-way team on the ride to altitude.
Jack kept his mouth shut and stayed out of trouble.
Of course, the US Team (Team America?) was there representing the imperial power with class and dignity.
Coach Day with Todd
Arizona Airspeed's Todd joined the group at the tunnel on Saturday at 6am. An hour of stretching and review followed by a full 30 minutes of tunnel time and 7 jumps.
With no time for rest, lunch, or cigars, the team creeped, debriefed, dirt-dived, and jumped until 5:30pm. Local jumper, Scott, joined mid-day when Cate left to spend more time with her visiting family.
Todd showed CG the standard, and kept each of us focused on the 2-3 areas for improvement. We jumped new formations with every two jumps, all with challenging exits and fast-paced action.
Cate finished the day with a 6-hour punk-rock concert with her nephews, and Chris and Jack treated themselves to steak and green beer in Tucson.
Coming Home
All good things must come to an end. Chris and Jack made two quick jumps Sunday - one to practice block turns, and another to do some burble work. They traded rigs and Chris enjoyed the two least-violent landings in years with Jack's Sabre 2 170. It looks like Chris has a purchase coming up!
Geoff returned and brought his wife, Shaun. Both are now enthusiastic supporters of the sport and fans of CG, and are expected to be in the tunnel soon. Maybe the start of an Arizona contigent of Carpe Grips?
We all missed our teammate, Shermanator, and hope he can join us on our next visit to Eloy (with a pair of slippery shoes).
Stay Tuned:
Video highlights from Eloy
Updates on Dave's Recovery
The next CG trip to Eloy!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Funnel through eight, pull at four five
March 10 was a beautiful day for jumping. CG totaled 7 jumps at Lake Elsinore with Friends of CG Dave S. and Jay rotating in for Sherman and Chris on several jumps. More Friends of CG, Dawn and Zach, came out to watch and show their support. See our photo album for pictures.
The Bow. That dastardly Bow. CG continues to struggle with the Bow exit, but give them credit for pursuing perfection. It would be easier to change exits and live in denial. A month ago, the team couldn't make it work. Saturday, they made successful, yet sloppy, Bow exits 5 out of six attempts. We know it is timing, it will take a team effort to correct, and we see improvement along the way. Stay tuned for tales of perfect Bow exits followed by two more points on the hill...
Other events and lessons from Saturday: Everyone on the DZ likes the team name except one, who said it was "gay", Cate prefers "Cate" over "Sweetie", the team loves Cheezit crackers (sponsorship and orange jump suits coming soon), high winds means less dirt on Chris' jump suit, and Dave has discovered he can maximize his cost:freefall ratio by pulling low.
Last - CG has proposed a bet with the other 4-way team that has formed at the DZ. All Friends of CG, that team has a bright future. The bet: dinner for the higher placed team in the May CASL tournament. No response yet. We'll add a link to their site just as soon as they come up with a team name that isn't, well, gay.
Tune in next week for Tales From Eloy: Episode I.
Picture of the day:
Comments anyone?
The Bow. That dastardly Bow. CG continues to struggle with the Bow exit, but give them credit for pursuing perfection. It would be easier to change exits and live in denial. A month ago, the team couldn't make it work. Saturday, they made successful, yet sloppy, Bow exits 5 out of six attempts. We know it is timing, it will take a team effort to correct, and we see improvement along the way. Stay tuned for tales of perfect Bow exits followed by two more points on the hill...
Other events and lessons from Saturday: Everyone on the DZ likes the team name except one, who said it was "gay", Cate prefers "Cate" over "Sweetie", the team loves Cheezit crackers (sponsorship and orange jump suits coming soon), high winds means less dirt on Chris' jump suit, and Dave has discovered he can maximize his cost:freefall ratio by pulling low.
Last - CG has proposed a bet with the other 4-way team that has formed at the DZ. All Friends of CG, that team has a bright future. The bet: dinner for the higher placed team in the May CASL tournament. No response yet. We'll add a link to their site just as soon as they come up with a team name that isn't, well, gay.
Tune in next week for Tales From Eloy: Episode I.
Picture of the day:
Comments anyone?
Monday, March 5, 2007
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