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Happy CRW Year at Skydive Surfside, Moruya NSW Australia

2011-01-15T00:10:00.005+13:00

For the 3rd year in a row Michael Vaughan and Jules McConnel from the Aussie 2 Way Canopy Formation Team held a Canopy Relative Work (CRW) coaching camp at Skydive Surfside for 3 days over New Years. The event began on New Years Eve and continued through to the 2nd Jan.

When we are learning to skydive we get drilled into us to stay away from other parachutes for safety reasons. Then we see these crazy people who not only fly close to one another but also grab onto each others parachutes and lines. Not only do they come down smiling and laughing from their jumps but they also get a lot more bang for their buck! They get 10 minute skydives instead of 3 minute skydives. So the goal of these courses is to give participants an introduction to CRW. Get skydivers more comfortable flying close to other canopies, bumping end cells, touching other canopies and even docking building 2 stacks as pilot and pin. Then if time and skills permit, progress to 3 and 4 ways and even stairstep docks. Also throw in a few trash planes for a some laughs (especially from Michael!) and these courses are not only educational but are a whole lot of fun!

There are always 2 main requirements for participants wishing to attend this coaching camp:
1) Be keen to learn CRW
2) Be SO keen to learn CRW that you are willing to limit celebrations on New Years Eve in order to jump on New Years Day.
Tick - Bart, Tracey, Dave, Ryan, George, Adam, Sofia

The other main requirement is also obviously to have coaches who are willing to coach (Tick - Michael and Jules) on New Years Day and also a pilot who is willing to fly (Tick - Tim).

Skydive Surfside is at Moruya airport on the NSW South coast. The dropzone itself is on the 2nd storey of the aeroclub building. Downstairs there is a bunkhouse available although over New Years the entire property turned into a tent city housing well over 100 skydivers. The CRW dogs went to 10000 feet on most jumps in the dropzones regular 180 while the freefallers zoomed up to 14000 in the 10 seater cresco which was hired just for this non-boogie. Load organiser and new world record holder Cath Comyns kept the freeflyers in the air while Hayden Galvin kept the flockers happy.

The weather gods listened to our prayers and turned on perfect weather on New Years Eve. We jumped all day and each participant got in at least 2 one on ones with Jules or Michael and some lucky ones even got in a third. George and Dave had shown that they were ready for bigger ways and attempted their first 4 way at the end of the day with Crash on top and with Glenn #2.

After the festivities, fireworks and fun of New Years eve and a little sleep in we were at it again on New Years Day. George and Adam went up for a 3 way with Jules while Sofia started the year with a 1 on 1 with Michael. Jules 3 way landed miles from the dz due to some miscommunication with the pilot and perhaps also some not so clear heads. They were lucky to find some friendly locals who hydrated them then brought them back to the dz.

The temperature guage quickly hit 40 degrees and every load to height was pure relief. Lucky we were all doing hop and pops and getting to stay up there a lot longer than the meat bombs!. Just a couple of loads into the new year a strong north westerly wind picked up and stopped us from jumping for the rest of the day. Everyone headed in all directions for the day, spear fishing, surfing, swimming in the river or at the beach, finding somewhere cool in the shade to sleep or even heading for the local rodeo. Mid afternoon the southerly change came in and cooled things down to 25 degrees but also brought the clouds. Unfortunately the southerly and the clouds stayed and stopped us from jumping on the 2nd as well. To fill in the time Michael spent the time talking about big way CRW including the Aussie and World record and also a session on 2 Way CF and the 2010 World Championships. Perhaps some of the new CRW dogs will be inspired to follow in Michael and Jules footsteps. In fact some of them are already asking about the Aussie 50 way scheduled for late 2011.

Thanks to the APF and State council for providing funding to cover some of the costs and make the event more affordable for the participants. Thankyou to all the staff at Skydive Surfside for putting on an outstanding event. Thanks also to the participants for coming along and playing with my canopy, letting me play with theirs and for all the smiles afterwards. And biggest thanks to my awesome teammate and megastar Jules McConnel.

Canopy Course at Bridgewater, VIC, Australia

2010-10-28T18:36:00.006+13:00

Location: Bridgewater Dropzone, Victoria, Australia
Time: 8:30am
Occasion: Canopy course coached by Michael Vaughan
Why are we still standing around: Ben and Anna are late!
Verdict: Lets start without them

A dozen skydivers ranging in experience from 15 jumps to 500 jumps all came to Bridgewater for the weekend to particpate in a canopy course hosted by Michael Vaughan. Most of the attendees were local Bridgewater jumpers although others were regulars from Skydive Nagambie and Commando Skydivers at Tooradin. The day began with a classroom session where everyone introduced themselves and put down their goals for the weekend. Goals ranged from "improve accuracy" to "learn more about my canopy" to "Can you teach me how to swoop?".

See www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGBe-Rh7o4U

Then it was time for jumping..... In amongst the many great landings on the weekend were:

Unstable cessna exits
3 way head down exit from 5 grand
Landing in the barley
Lock picking seminar
Some unplanned canopy relative work i.e. foot on pilot chute!
Landing a malfunction due to incorrectly stowed brakes on brand new gear, 2nd jump
As much meat as anyone can eat at the saturday night BBQ - thanks Ralph
Virgin pilots flying their first loads unassisted
Cartons for firsts
Go arounds to dodge the clouds
And the finale, a wingsuit swooper (or was that a low flying duck?) in the pond!!!

Also lots of watching and debriefing landing videos along with many classroom seminars.

What a fantastic fun weekend! Everyone had a great time, learnt heaps about their canopies and about how to fly and land them a little better. Not everyone improved on the weekend but now at least all participants have the knowledge to apply on their canopy flights over next few weeks/months to help them improve. All with the ultimate goal of improving the safety of our sport.

Thanks to Ralph and the staff at the dropzone for hosting the event. And also to the APF Sport Development fund for covering Michaels travel and the VPC for providing funding to reduce the registration costs for all.

2010 NSW Canopy Piloting State Meet

2010-10-12T16:15:00.007+13:00

The NSW Canopy Piloting Championships were held at Sydney Skydivers on the weekend. A few keen competitors turned up a few days early to get some practice in before the competition began. By Friday afternoon there were 6-8 swoopers doing hop and pop loads and alternating with the tandem loads.

In all there were 14 competitors, 8 in open and 6 in intermediate. That is a pretty good turnout especially considering the cream of Aussie pilots have just returned from the World Meet in Russia and most were unavailable or could not afford to attend. 6 new competitors in intermediate who have never competed before is also very good to see.

The weather was not quite perfect on saturday with a blanket of cloud hanging around most of the day but it was still high enough for us to throw 1 or 2 competitors out per pass and get the competition flowing along. The cloud also kept the forecast easterlies at bay which helped keep things moving. When the winds come from the east it comes right over the freeway and becomes too turbulent and unsafe on the pond.

The competition began with the speed event. After 3 rounds almost every intermediate competitor was wet and only 2 had posted a score. The open event did not see any blistering runs but a number of competititors continued to post good scores.

After the 3 rounds of the distance event, 4 of the intermediate competitors had posted scores showing an improvement on the speed event. By competition end and 3 final rounds of Zone Accuracy ALL intermediate competitors had posted a score, a fantastic improvement during the day. Special mention should go to Kobi for scoring 1 point in 9 rounds by making the gate in Zone Accuracy, flying to zone 1 and not standing up. Nice one Kobi, not bad for your first competition. It is always good to see people giving it a go and challenging themselves. There were so many smiles around during the day, on the plane, in the pond, packing by the pond, a great atmosphere.

By sunset saturday 9 rounds had been completed and 14 hungry thirsty competitors headed for the free BBQ and bar.

Congrats to the 2010 NSW Champions:

Open Overall

Gold Michael Vaughan
Silver Tom Gilmartin
Bronze Keven Walters

Intermediate Overall

Gold Steve Cowan
Silver Simon Hayter
Bronze John Martin

Thanks to the Australian Parachute Federation and the NSW State Council for funding the sensors and reducing the entry fees for all competitors. Thanks also to Sydney SKydivers for hosting the event, to the judges and volunteers and to Chris Grime for getting in and out of the pond so often to change and fix the course. And finally thanks also to all the competitors for a fun, safe competition.

Bring on the Aussie Nationals in Feb 2011!!!!

Pond photo by Jim Smith

MORE COLOURS THAN EVER BEFORE

2010-06-22T08:47:00.002+12:00

The awesome colour picker from Deepseed, just got a new batch of even MORE colour choice. Just added to our SPANDEX range is Orange, Silver, Purple, and Yellow. And in our 1000 Denier Cordura range, we now have White, Charocoal, Military, Orange and Kelly.

Go Check it out, and design up your dream suit, then send it through to us to get a quote.

THE LOVE SACK

2010-06-22T08:40:00.002+12:00

So, every where we go, we usually always take our giant beanbags with us, and everyone loves them. Last time out, we were told that somone in Europe is making these things, and charging 100 Euro for them.....Bollocks to that we said....we can do a better deal that that, and what's more, we want to share the love.. The Bean Bag was re-branded as "The Love Sack" and now we are making it available at killer prices!!! That's NZD the New Zealand Peso!!.. Check it out on the website...EVERY home should have one!!

If you are in the market for a jumpsuit, or Freefly jacket and Pants, you can even get one absolutely FREE, when you buy your gear....Can't say fairer than that now can we???

Dale Elliot (Extreme Roller)

2010-05-19T16:43:00.008+12:00

So, last year at the APF conference in Beautiful Brisbane, I had the good fortune to meet Dale Elliott. Safe to say we clicked, and we have been in regular contact ever since. Dale is sponsored by Deepseed, and is a bit of an inspiration to us all here. Anyway, the crazy man is at it again...never content to sit on his arse (mind you, he hasn't got much choice about that) Dale is once again out living life to the max and giving back with the enthusiasm that puts most able bodied people to shame!!....You can read all about Dale's latest adventure on his blog or by clicking on www.extremerolling.com. To help out in our own small way, we designed up a T-shirt for Dale and his mate Andreas to commemorate the event. We are selling this T-shirt, and all proceeds will be going to Dale and Andreas' cause, which is helping Kids with Clubfoot in Africa.

It only costs $200 to give a child with clubfoot the operation it needs to allow them to walk, and at $50 per T-shirt, you can get yourself a cool commemorative T, and Help be part of making a child walk...Times are tough, but when you stop and think about people like Dale, who can't walk, and the life that these kids in Africa have, then it makes missing out on 2 x chinese take-aways, suddenly not such a big deal!!!! seriously, it's only $50!!!

if you want to help and BUY A T-SHIRT...then just click on the link here and tell us how many and what size!! We will call you back for your CCard details!!

2010 Australian Canopy Piloting Champion - Rob McMillan

2010-02-22T16:52:00.007+13:00

The 2010 Aussie CP Nationals are complete. 24 Aussies plus a Kiwi and a Swede competed in the open class. Rob McMillan duelled it out throughout the comp with 2007 Champion Cameron Rolfe with the lead changing 4 times in the 9 rounds. The final results saw Rob take out the title for the first time by less than 7 points.

The top 8 finishers now get to represent Australia at the World Championships in Russia in August including Deepseed sponsored pilots Cameron Rolfe and Michael Vaughan. They are:

Gold Rob McMillian
Silver Cameron Rolfe
Bronze Kaz Sheekey
4 Michael Vaughan
5 Gary Hamilton
6 Alex Nelson
7 Shane Price
8 Cameron Jarrett

In the intermediate class, Ben Lewis led the field of 9 competitors for 8 of the 9 rounds ultimately winning by a solid margin of 55 points from Dan Smith.

Gold Ben Lewis
Silver Daniel Smith
Bronze Alex Kaiserman

Go the Aussies at the World Championships.

Thanks go to the APF Sports DevelopmentFfunding for helping to bring Jay Moledzki to coach before the nationals.
Swoop photos by Grant Barnes. Keep an eye on his website for more action photos www.gbphotography.com.au

DS suit vs Earth!

2009-12-07T17:08:00.008+13:00

This photo was taken from the Facebook group "I like to impress girls with my dangerously low hook turns". The pic is of Erwin Vanlommel and has nothing to do with the following story - it just fits the story well! Have a look at this Facebook group - hilarious!

This pic was taken off the Facebook group "I like to impress girls with my dangerously low hook turns". This pic is of Erwin Vanlommel and has nothing to do with the following story - it just fits the story well! Check out this Facebook group - hilarious!

This is the reply we received when we asked a valued customer how his Deepseed jumpsuit was holding up after 6 months of jumping.......

I headed to the dropzone one very windy day... not many people were jumping, only tandems really going up, and 100 jump limit placed on all loads due to the wind. Having over 100 jumps I decided to chance it... first jump successful. I remember waiting for my next load and laughing at one guy landing backwards due to the strong wind. Second jump... outlanding.... and to cut a long story short I found myself heading very fast downwind towards a line of trees... amature object fixation at it best! I dont actually remember hitting the ground, but I remember landing short about a metre from being grated through the trees. I regained conciousness shortly before the paramedics arrived, and as they attended to my leg I remember one of them saying "We are going to have to cut your jumpsuit off to get to your leg". I sat up instantly cursing... "Don't touch my fukcing jumpsuit, I just paid 250 pounds for this jumpsuit" After a bit of arguing they agreed to pull it off... it was worth the pain :)

End result was broken right femur, which now has a big pin through it :( So it looks like a lot of physio & tunnel training ahead before I get back in the air...

So to answer your questions below:

Has your Freefly Suit performed as you would have hoped and do you feel we have lived up to your expectations? Yes, from what I remember it performed as I had hoped in the air... what I can commend you on is that it can take an extremelly high speed imapct really well... baring a few grass stains... barely a scratch on it!!

Were you pleased overall with the service you got from us? Yes, no complaints... job well done :) Keep up the good work.

If you have a crazy, funny or painful story about how your Deepseed suit held up to the rigors of freefall, hooking it in or efficient paramedics bent on saving your life, flick us an email: marketing@deepseed.com!

Skydivers Xmas Rock Concert - Hunter Valley - Australia

2009-12-02T16:01:00.002+13:00

Just Jump Skydive @ the Hope Estate
Skydiving all weekend - XL to 14,000ft every time NO holds!
12th - 13th December 2009
Jumping from 7 am Concert kick off 5 30 pm
Concert Tickets $30, Weekend Rego (incl concert) $50. Kids meals $10. Book before Wednesday 9th December & dinner Saturday night is included.
Load organisers, luscious turfed landing area, restaurant & cafe
The Hope Estate is a licensed venue so NO alcohol may be brought on site.
NEW
Karnage Krew @ Just Jump Skydive Gear Shop

Opening the Xmas party weekend
Awesome deals on new gear purchases* (cond apply)
Free demo rig until yours arrives
Free cookie helmet or Deepseed jumpsuit
Heaps more - come and check it out

2010 Ookoonono Calendar

2009-11-26T09:21:00.005+13:00

*Support your favourite Australian CF Team, Ookoonono!

*Know when and where all the cool boogies and skydiving events are on in 2010!

*Have a new awesome action skydiving photograph on your wall every month!

*All for only $25 + $2.50 postage to anywhere in Oz!

*Email Jules on juliamcconnel@yahoo.com

to order your calendar NOW!!!

*Great Christmas Gift!!!

Aussie skydiving team "Ookoonono" - with a Kiwi cameraman - have made an awesome 2010 Calendar filled with spectacular pictures of us doing what we love - jumping out of planes! We're raising funds for our journey to the World Parachuting Championships in Russia next year.

We've filled the calendar with all the great skydiving boogies and events for 2010, and - of course - pictures of us (each month is an A4 page opposite an A4 photo).
We've had great support from drop zones, equipment manufacturers and photographers to create the masterpiece - thanks to you all!

Calendars are now on sale for $AUS25 + postage (postage in Australia is $2.50). HURRY! There's a limited supply!

For those of you who have already got one - thanks for your support!

And thanks once again to all our sponsors and photographers to make this calendar happen - Skydive Oz, APF, Cookie Composites, Deepseed, Downward Trend, Phantm, Aerial Skydiving, Skydive Nagambie, Skydive Express, Skydive Maitland, Performance Designs, Parachutes Australia, ASM, Sydney Skydivers, Keith Macbeth, Steve Fitchett, Mike Paolin, Shane Price, Craig Bennett, Joe Hallin, Jill Grantham, Jenny Gordon and lastly Alex and Gav for your inspiration!

Have a great 2010!

Jules x

Southern Summer Jam - The Hayden Rowan Invitational

2009-11-25T17:33:00.005+13:00

This exciting new event will take place in February 2010 at the New Zealand Skydiving School in South Canterbury, New Zealand.

Onsite will be NZ Skydiving’s Cessna Caravan along with visits from the helicopters from Mt Hutt Helicopters & balloons from Aoraki Balloon Safaris!

Also attending will be some internationally acclaimed skydiving coaches and an awesome range of prizes from sponsors including of course, Deepseed!

For more info contact Colin at info@southernsummerjam.co.nz.

Deepseed Gift Certificate for Christmas

2009-11-25T11:20:00.005+13:00

Deepseed is offering gift certificates for the month of December! Excellent - just in time to give your friend/wife/husband/mum the perfect present for Christmas!

Gift certificates can be purchased for any value from NZ$10 up to NZ$1000 and can be used to pay for any purchases from Deepseed. The international postage price of Deepseed Gift Certificates is NZ$2.50 anywhere in the world. Postage within New Zealand is 50 cents. Fast Post is also available if you forget to buy that special someone a present! Get in quick so we can make sure that your prefect Christmas gift arrives in time.

Deal of the Year!

2009-11-13T13:19:00.007+13:00

During November '09 Deepseed and Karnage Krew will be bringing you the deal of the year!

Check out the link above for details of how you can get your FREE custom Deepseed suit!

For more info contact gary@karnagekrew.com or marketing@deepseed.com.

KL Tower International Jump 22nd – 25th October

2009-11-11T14:51:00.004+13:00

The KLTIJ’09 proved to be an excellent event with 80 jumpers from around the world traveling to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to take part in the annual BASE jumping event from the Menara KL Tower.

This event has become one of the best legal BASE events to attend with the opportunity to jump the world’s 5^th tallest building. This year’s event was organised in conjunction with Capt Aziz and the CEO of Menara KL. Credit has to go to all the crew and jumpers, who helped make this wicked event safe, fun and enjoyable for everyone involved!

2009 NSW Canopy Piloting State Championships

2009-10-15T15:22:00.007+13:00

Beginning October 5^th members of the Australian Canopy Piloting Team and many others met up at Sydney Skydivers for a week long training camp leading up to the NSW Canopy Piloting State Championships. The championships are the teams last chance to get some competition experience before heading for South Africa in December to compete in the Canopy Piloting World Cup. Australia’s best at the World Championships in 2008, Rob McMillan, was available during the week to coach and mentor the new guys in the team on what to expect at a big international competition.

Unfortunately the weather gods did not play ball at all, the winds were strong most of the week and kept everyone on the ground more often than not. But at least we were all in the same boat. There was actually way more action at the go-cart track than at the dz during the week.

Saturday morning and it was all action stations, 19 competitors, 13 in open and 6 in intermediate. One of the intermediate guys had not competed before and was not available to train mid-week and prove he was safe so all the inter competitors were offered the chance to do a practice jump first up. Then the comp began with round 1 of Speed. Not long afterwards the winds picked up from the east over the freeway making it turbulent and unsafe on the pond. The conditions stayed that way till the end of the day. Fully Sik was not shy about letting everyone know that he was hoping that the weather would continue to stay bad and the comp get called on 1 round due to him leading the intermediate competition and he was up for a Gold medal if that happened. Unfortunately for him he wasd to be bitterly disappointed.....

Sunday morning, partly cloudy, light northerly. Competitors waived the usual minimum turnaround times and the competition rounds continued smoothly. As the day progressed the winds picked up and one round of Inter Zone Accuracy all competitors got a rejump due to the wind limits being exceeded.

Rob McMillan was leading the Open competition until he verticalled in the 2^nd last round. Michael Vaughan took the lead and held on for the last round. Shane Price finished a very close 3^rd just 0.5 points (30cm) ahead of Darren Griggs, both in their first Open competition after competing in intermediate at the 2009 CP Nationals earlier this year.

Due to a few rejumps and wind holds the intermediate competition did not complete the full 9 rounds. The competition was very close with Conor King taking it out by just 9 points from Keven Walters followed by Clayton Werner in 3^rd.

Congratulations go to all the winners and also to Sofia Giussani for attaining her CP judges rating.

Open Overall

Gold - Michael Vaughan

Silver - Rob McMillan

Bronze - Shane Price

Intermediate Overall

Gold - Conor King

Silver - Keven Walters

Bronze - Clayton Werner

Thanks to all the competitors for a safe competition also many thanks to all the judges, volunteers, pilots, manifest and everyone else who made it happen.

Good luck Aussie CP Team for the World Cup in December.

Photos by Simon Martin

Top Glenn Farrel

Bottom Conor King

Nelson Skydive Club - NZ

2009-09-30T13:14:00.002+13:00

On the weekend of 31 Oct/1Nov Nelson Skydive Club are planning a weekend at St Arnaud in Nelson Lakes National Park.

Deano will be flying the 172 and we will do a few jumps in the National Park. Walking/kayaking and other activities available for non-jumping family and friends. We are still finalising arrangements with the air strip and Gliding club, and if this falls thru, plan B is a weekend at Fox Glacier. Email Wayne if you are interested in the weekend wayne@nelsonskydiveclub.org or visit the link above for more info.

Skydive Waikato 2009

2009-09-16T18:00:00.003+12:00

Skydive Waikato, under the new management of Jodi and Mark Horning, are hosting a launch party and boogie in Matamata on the weekend of the 26th/27th of September!

This will be an excellent weekend with heaps of sport skydivers coming from all over! The pink Cresco from Skydive Taupo will be up if the weather is good. And of course the Cessna will be there too! Accommodation is available at the airfield, for more info contact Mark or Jodi on +64 7 888 8763. Rego fee is $25 which includes the BBQ on Saturday night and jump tickets are $45 to 12,500.

The POP's and NZPF AGM will be held in Matamata this weekend as well, so make sure you are there to be able to vote and get your say in!

Good Vibes Boogie 09! 15th-23rd August

2009-09-14T17:58:00.002+12:00

The 2009 Good Vibes Boogie at Skydive Abel Tasman in Motueka proved to be the biggest GV so far with people travelling from as far as Australia for this excellent week of jumping. As always this event ran smoothly with the team at SD Abel Tasman doing an amazing job.

The weather was typical Motueka weather with blue skies and no wind for most of the boogie. Close to 2000 jumps were performed over the entire 9 days with nearly 500 jumps on the last day! We were lucky enough to have a range of different aircrafts to jump from with the PAC and the Fletcher flying almost constantly during the event. A highlight was the Friday morning heli jumps (as well as the PAC stalling)! The leather seats in the chopper were a luxury that was well deserved and certainly enjoyed!

It is great to see so many sport jumpers in one place and loving the opportunity to jump together. There were numerous 16-ways, 20 ways, free flying and swooping. The last load on Saturday saw Ida do her 300^th jump and her first 16 way, lots of people earned there B license at the boogie and we saw a few lingerie jumps – thanks ladies!

Deepseed ran a great night on Thursday with two DJ’s, Miijaka and Minnie travelling up from Christchurch for a party at the local bar, Hot Mamas. Even with sore heads the DJ’s loved their 1^st tandem skydive early Friday morning!

The awards night was a hit at The Gothic with lots of laughs and Deepseed, Icarus and other sponsors donating heaps of prizes. The party at Hot Mamas was packed out with everyone enjoying a bar tab knowing that not too much jumping would be happening Sunday!

Thanks has to go to Lisa, Stu and the crew at Skydive Abel Tasman who rocked the boogie with their efficient and relaxed way of running the best sport skydiving event in New Zealand. If you didn’t make it this year, book it in for 2010 and we will see you all next year!

Dale Elliott in Taupo

2009-09-14T17:37:00.005+12:00

You may remember that Dale Elliott was coming to NZ and catching up with Deepseed about the super tech designs for his new Deepseed suit, giving a talk for the locals and having a rad time…. Well he came, and hung out in Taupo for 5 days, and we had a wicked time!

After spending some time with the students at the Methven School and in Auckland at Icarus, Dale drove down on Thursday and met up with us at the wind tunnel in Rotorua. Taupo business owner of Skydive The Source and world class AFF Instructor Geoff Mundy came with us, to give Dale the benefit of his years of experience. The focus of the exercise was to evaluate and tweak Dale’s flying style so we can come up with the Deepseed suit that would best help Dale in his future skydiving exploits. It was a great session in the tunnel at Freefall Xtreme Rotorua, and Dale even chucked in a spot of back flying…

On the Thursday evening, it was talk time, at the Suncourt Motor Lodge in Taupo. A great night was had by all especially ‘cos Deepseed put on a tab for our NZ friends and we had some great support with guys travelling from Rotorua (cheers Paul and the boys from NZONE) and from Hawkes Bay (thanks Marty and the crew from Bridge Pa).

Friday was all about business with Dale at Deepseed HQ hanging out in the Think Tank! We set to work getting all the info that Dave will need to build the suit to meet all of Dales quite specific requirements. We still had time for a good laugh at the same time.

Saturday was a crap weather day, so Dale took some time out with to check out some of the local tourist attractions in Taupo including a couple of the higher class drinking establishments around the town!

On Sunday, the weather cleared, and it was off to Taupo Tandem Skydive to get Dale flying over Taupo. Unfortunately, the morning’s good weather didn’t last, and in the afternoon the winds were too light for Dale. It was an eye opener to see how much thought and prep goes into Dale’s jumping and to see how much of jumping we take for granted.

Then Monday came and a mission up to Auckland with one last check in with the guys from Icarus (cheers for the lunch Jyro!!) and Dale was off back to Aussie. Now the mission is on at Deepseed to build the suit of all suits for Dales next adventures in the sky! We will keep everyone informed of the progress with Dale’s suit, and of Dale’s exploits as he continues to push the envelope for paraplegic skydiving.

Who Is this Guy?????

2009-08-07T12:13:00.002+12:00

IF You know who this guy is, please contact us and let us know. This made me Laugh heaps and I want to send this Guy a T-shirt!!

Redemption Boogie 2009

2009-07-13T14:08:00.003+12:00

Last year, We were asked by Rob Conway, one of the event coordinators of the Redemption Boogie at Lincoln Sport Parachute Club if we would sponsor their event with some prizes. We liked what we heard about the Boogie and sent over some gear for them to use as prizes. Here is the lowdown on the Boogie from Chazi Blacksher

Lincoln Sport Parachute Club hosted their annual Redemption Boogie at the Plattsmouth Municipal Airport July 17-20, 2008. The boogie offered on-site vendors, a Skydive Arizona Twin Otter, plenty of RV power, great parties and some of the best boogie food you will ever have. "We enjoy life a lot and skydiving is not just about the adrenaline," say Forlini. This year's boogie was about celebrating life. A returning tandem student brought his father and 89-year old grandfather to make a three-generation skydive. Two women brought their grandfather's ashes and inquired about making a jump, LSPC organized tandems for them to release his ashes. Three skydivers, having made their first tandem at the 2007 boogie were in attendance as licensed jumpers.

Redemption Boogie offered different types of organizing and coaching to help develop and accentuate the talent of all skydivers. Jeremy Payne covered the vertical flyers while veteran organizer Sandy Grillet took care of the flat flying. Skyventure Colorado's Brad Cole and Jason Russell took on the fun task of one on one coaching as well as some larger dive organization. Everyone leaned a lot and walked away from Redemption Boogie a better skydiver. An unofficial Nebraska Women's State Record was made on Saturday under the direction of Chazi Blacksher and Linda Fette. The two were joined by Marcia Clark, Lisa Parks, Terri Risinger, Jen Schaben, Anna Schuster, Karry Schwartz and Andrea Wosel to successfully build a women's 9-way. "It was awesome to see so many Midwestern women in the sky," said Schwartz.

What do you do after a hard day's jumping? Relax with a bunch of fun!!! Friday night's theme party, Pirates versus Ninjas brought out the scallywags, while only a few ninjas were to be found. A giant twister board showed just how short Pirate skirts can be. Saturday night offered a Laid Back Luau where after a hard day of jumping everyone chilled out among a torch lit area eating some of the best BBQ ever served at a boogie.

Vendors were on-site: Sky Venture Colorado representatives promoted tunnel time during their coaching dives and offered excellent deals on time blocks. EG Sky Suits displayed and array of jump suits and set-up with a sewing machine to repair equipment. Performance Designs came back again to demo thier huge array of canopies. Firefly Suits also attended, taking measurements for new orders and selling stock suits. UPT-Vector kept spectators on edge during Skyhook demonstrations. Not all vendors could be on-site for the event. Many vendors contributed prizes for the Saturday night prize giveaway. One of the larger companies to donate was Deepseed, one of the newer and most promising jump suit companies in the world. Their array of "casual wear" from swetashirts, to hats, to t-shirts was very sought after during the prize giveaway. All attendees of the boogie were also given the opportunity to register on the Deepseed website to win a free Jumpsuit allocated for Redemption Boogie. Many thanks to Deepseed!

The boogie isn't only about skydiving, it's also about remembering and helping others. Throughout this decade, Lincoln Sport Parachute Club, mostly through Redemption Boogie has donated thousands of dollars to their designated charity - American Cancer Society. Boogiemeister Frank Forlini summed up the club's mission: "The club chose ACS because of the unfortunate fact that cancer has affected everyone somehow or some way in their lives. If we can make a few dollars by having fun and skydiving, it only befits us to give some back to the betterment of humanity." This year's donation was heart felt after losing a long time club member, Wayne Gau, to his battle with cancer late last year. LSPC donated a record amount to ACS helped by strong tandem numbers and donations by on-site vendors that went straight to ACS.

Redemption Boogie is about remembering, honoring and creating more memories. This well organized and smoothly run boogie will be back next year to celebrate LSPC's 50th year of learning and loving the sport. See everyone there!

We are sending another package over this year, so we hope to have more to show you from the event this time round. Have fun everyone that's going, and if you're not, and you are not a million miles away from the Guys, Go Check them out!!

TAG IT BRO!!

2009-06-19T16:50:00.004+12:00

Thanks to Nick Hammond for sending us in this awesome Tag it Bro...Extreme operating!! Nice one Bro...can you top that??? Click here to find out why it is worth your while to try and send us a better shot than that!!

9LIVES BASE CHRISTMAS EXPEDITION

2009-01-03T21:27:00.016+13:00

We have just returned from our first Aussie BASE expedition. This 9 day trip saw us embark on 2 days of hiking in and 2 days back out with 30 + kilos on our backs, 9 days on dehydrated food, 3 days of sitting in bad weather, some great company and 2 glorious Christmas jumps. Can’t wait for more!

Thanks again Deepseed!

KL BASE Event 2008

2008-12-13T20:04:00.007+13:00

Click on the images

for easier reading.

Smashing Records at the CP World Championships

2008-11-26T16:11:00.005+13:00

A fantastic location, excellent organisation, good (enough) weather, fast planes, the worlds best canopy pilots and a record breaking competition. That pretty much sums it up.

New distance world record, Nick Batsch 169.61m

New speed world record, Greg Windmiller 2.333secs

New Aussie distance record, Drew Lipinski 143.91m

New Aussie speed record, Cameron Rolfe 2.405 secs

Jay Moledzki is the new World Champion taking over from John Zuliani, the 2006 winner.

Rob McMillan finished 4th place overall, the best ever result by an Aussie. And Cameron Rolfe brought home a silver medal in distance, the first ever World Championships medal that Australia has won in the distance event.

Go the Aussies!

Michael Beeden representing New Zealand finished in 37th place.

Overall

1 Jason Moledzki, Canada

2 Nicolas Batsch, USA

3 Greg Windmiller, USA

Zone Accuracy

1 Jason Moledzki, Canada

2 Goran Schwarz, Sweden

3 Peter Allum, Italy

Distance

1 Nicolas Batsch, USA

2 Cameron Rolfe, Australia

3 Chris Teague, South Africa

Speed

1 Pablo Hernandez, Spain

2 Jason Moledzki, Canada

3 Shannon Pilcher, USA

For full results and photos of the event see www.canopypiloting.co.za/

Canopy Piloting World Championships

2008-11-19T07:09:00.002+13:00

69 competitors from 19 countries. That is how many were registered as at the competitors meeting this afternoon. There were 57 competitors in Sydney at the World Cup last year.

The 2 Ukrainians were delayed due to an Air France strike and have done no training jumps. They get to do a practise jump in the morning before round 1 begins, that is the drifter load.

This is going to be a very exciting competition. The unnoficial speed world record is 2.44 seconds, Marat Leiras did a blistering 2.1 yesterday in training. The distance world record is 155m and so far there are about 6 or 7 competitors having gone beyond the 160m mark in training.

Bring on round 1!

CP World Championships in Pretoria, South Africa

2008-11-15T16:07:00.005+13:00

Today is the 3rd day of the official training camp at the Canopy Piloting World Championships in Pretoria, South Africa. About 40 of the expected 70 competitors from 20 countries have arrived and are jumping. The entire Aussie team is now here along with competitors from the UK, USA, Canada, Italy, Belgium, Brazil, Venezuela, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands, and of course South Africa. More and more competitors are arriving every day.

The pond looks fantastic, the red dirt is getting into everything, (there will be no white canopies leaving South Africa, they will all be Salmon coloured!) and the 100m of grassed distance course is already taking its toll on competitors bodies. The dz is at about 4000 feet above sea level and we are seeing lots of really fast and very long swoops. Maha, Chris Teague and Jay have already landed in the sand pit out past the end of the turf. That is more than 160m from the entry gate. The current World Record is less than 160m.

Yesterday I didn't have a very good day of training, I only did 4 jumps and missed every gate. Matt Harris kindly offered to call Qantas and bring my flight forward so I could leave today and cut short my suffering. I told him there was no point, I would miss the flight because I would never be able to find the gate.

I had a better day today.....

In between training the Aussies have been making the most of being in Africa and catching up with some of the local wildlife. One of the closest parks, Pilanesberg, is less than 2 hours away and Kruger NP is about 5 hours. The Kruger park rangers are more than happy to interrupt their bicycle poacher patrols and chat to the tourists. Not sure how many poachers they catch on those rickety old bikes though. But I reckon they could get the pace going if some of the wildlife were chasing them. They said they only know of 1 ranger being taken by a lion about 20 years ago.

We are all looking forward the next few days of training and the beginning of competition next thursday.

9 Lives BASE ASIA TOUR 2008

2008-10-23T00:59:00.004+13:00

We left cold rainy Wollongong on 21 August 2008 with plans for Tonsai for jumping and climbing, then on to KL for the International BASE event of the KL Tower.

Our plane was delayed leaving Sydney, and it made us miss our overnight train to Krabi. After sitting around in a smelly hostel in KL for a night, we decided to pursue our first building jump (legally).

We ventured to Penang, Malaysia; found ourselves some other crazy BASE jumpers congregated at a 650ft round building named Komtar. We were treated like rock stars, staying in the beautiful Shangrila 5 star luxury resort overlooking our first building. The next day we were escorted by police and locals in great style to the Komtar. 5 awesome jumps later, we were spent. Mega thermals, tight landing areas and swarms of photos and autographs signed, the day was amazing with no injuries and one hell of an after party!!

We met a Norwegian (Martin) and a Frenchie (Stephane), both top blokes, and decided to persue Thailand for two days of the most beautiful place in the world. Tonsai with its amazing locals, and kick ass 450ft cliff, which just so happens to be right over the top of a bar with ice cold Singha beer waiting after landing.

Back to KL, this time staying somewhere a lot nicer, with only one thing on our minds. It was still 2 days till the event started, so we relaxed for the afternoon, planning on doing the tourist thing the following day.

It didn’t turn out that way! Dan was playing with his cameras, getting time-lapse of the Tower, I was considering a cold beer (it was 5 o’clock somewhere in the world) when suddenly we were kidnapped by the organizers of the event, taken in style to our hotel to collect our rigs, and 30 minutes later, found ourselves standing on top of the 980ft KL tower, ready for the test jumps with the Malaysian guys! Josie was first off for the event, followed by Dan and Stephane and the fun had started. We were allowed to jump until 12noon, when the tower would be closed again until the official start of the event.

For the 3 day event, we made some really fun jumps and met some great people. We both did our first gainers, linked 2-ways and unorthodox exits, which you’d never get to try anywhere but Kuala Lumpur.The KL Tower is a very forgiving object, and we recommend it to any jumper that is passionate about progressing in this sport.

On the final day of the KL event, we were invited to represent New Zealand and jump off the helipad of the beautiful Shark Fin Building (Telecom Tower). This was the first time this building has been jumped legally on the tour. A heart-stopping exit, tight landing area and hundreds of onlookers (Independence Day Ceremony) made this a very memorable jump.

Back to the KL Tower, for the afternoon, to get our last few jumps of the event in before the farwell ceremony, attended by the BASE jump loving King of Malaysia. He thanked us for jumping off his buildings, and expressed some exciting plans for the future.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank Deepseed for making it all possible, and we’re looking forward to many more adventures in the near future!!

www.9livesbase.com

October/November Promotional Competition

2008-10-02T05:53:00.008+13:00

Our Mates Cookie and Jeremy over at Cookie Composites have come up with an awesome offer for us.

You could WIN, this fully pimped Cookie Composites MXV, With Liquid Flatlock, Black Box, Cameye and Schumacher site worth well over $1500!!

Just by spending over $300 on any Deepseed Products. It's so easy to do. You could buy any of the following and easily qualify:

Freefly Suit, Multispeed Suit, Freefly Jacket and Pants Combo, Inverter Suit, RW Suit or Stock Item Bundle (for example a Gear Bag, Hoody, 2 x T's and a cap).

Just order before 30/11/08 and you will be in the draw to win!! Don't Miss out!! Just treat yourself to some new threads and be in to win, with approx a 1 in 200 chance of winning.

It is way better odds than LOTTO!!

DESIGN A T-SHIRT COMP WINNER

2008-09-02T05:48:00.000+12:00

Congratulations to Holly Blake for being the first and only and therefore winning entry into our "Design a T-shirt" Competition in August.

We look forward to seeing more entrants into our future competitions!

DESIGN A T-SHIRT COMP 1st Entry

2008-07-10T20:51:00.002+12:00

A Big Thanks to Holly Blake for being the first Entry into our design a T-shirt Competition. We're sure you will all agree that she has set the bar pretty high with this entry, so we look forward to getting more entries in the coming weeks.

Training in sweden

2008-07-08T02:10:00.004+12:00

So we were invited to come to the nordic freefly championships 2008. The event is held in stockholms parachuting club in gryttjom. We were here last summer and we were really impressed by the place. It's a really down to earth place, with lots of nice and skilled people, so we were really looking forward to coming back this year.

Anyway, we arraived here saturday night after a long drive from Denmark, so the bon-fire and the cold beers were the perfect ending of that drive.

We did the first training jumps yesterday. Its been quite some time since we all jumped as a team, as Niels has been busy with his medical exams (yes, he's actually a real doctor now!), so the first jumps are more about finding eachother again.

We are now working on our free routine, playing with different ideas and different moves and exists. I'm pretty confident that we can work out something useful to the competition, however the competition is going to be really hard. We have teams from Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark alltogether.

That's it for now, I'll keep posting to let you all know how we are doing :)

August 2-3 - Skydive New England Freefly Scrambles

2008-07-06T01:34:00.004+12:00

2nd Annual Freefly Scrambles open to all skill levels

4 round compulsory freefly scrambles

2-way mixed skills teams chosen at random

Video on each round

Great Prizes!

Click Here for detailed information, dive pools, prizes, rules, etc.

Click Here for registration forms.

Live at the Ripcord Cafe, Kinetic Theory.

The Kaipo Wall

2008-05-08T11:43:00.044+12:00

The Kaipo. Aotearoa's Terminal Wall.

After a beautiful summer in Europe and Scandinavia discovering the fine line and raw power of wingsuit base jumping. I found myself back in the relatively flat North Island of New Zealand preparing to retire my slider for another year. Apart from the one and a few beautiful slider off sites close to home the opportunity to fly a wingsuit from land had yet to be discovered…….
So the search began! Starting with topographical maps and photographs of areas of interest weeks went by until a few options presented themselves. To my surprise where a few mountains in the South Island with a committing but achievable rock drop high enough to launch a wingsuit and get it flying. Not knowing a few names of some peaks in the photo’s I had found online I contacted the New Zealand alpine club to see if they could put names to face’s and if anyone in the climbing world had any tall tales of big walls in New Zealand. The reply from the NZAC delivered the goods. Names, locations and contacts but it was the last line which had me sitting up “I think the Kaipo is the biggest wall in New Zealand”. Hastily I googled the Kaipo Wall the first line I read was, this is New Zealand biggest wall at 1300m/4300ft, followed by a photo of a climber topping out showing a huge vertical section. I peak out and have a surreal feeling come over me as I sit in front of the computer. “This is it” I say aloud. “This is Aotearoa’s terminal wall”

Pioneering a base site amplifies the beauty of the game we play. Weeks sometimes months of planning can come to seconds. Pioneering project’s can be very intense and committing due to the fact there is often a lot of unknown’s. This is why it’s normally shared with the closest of base family. Trust and honesty are priority. That’s why I had no hesitation contacting Jason Cyran (JJJ) and Benjamin Macpherson. Over the years we have traveled the globe together and opened up several sites. There immediate reaction was a definite yes. None of us could miss out on an opportunity like this.

Over the next few months JJJ and I conversed via phone and email organizing logistics and the itinerary. Having him living in Queenstown for the summer was a bonus. Once we had dates and plans confirmed Benny and I loaded the van and departed on our two day journey to Queenstown where we would be based for the next three weeks.

Fiordland World heritage area located at 45 degrees latitude on the west coast of the South Island is notorious for its rainfall and generally disturbed weather.

So we had to be patient and wait for the perfect high pressure system. The next ten days involved serious meteorological study and deep discussion over climbing guides and topographical maps. A nightcap of green ginger wine helped settle the nerves. After a final gear check and a kai gathering mission we were on the road to Milford chasing the weather we needed to be successful. Early on in the planning of this expedition we discovered that one of the legal landing areas in Fiordland was the Ngapunatoru Ice plateau (7000 ft ASL). This would make a perfect base camp and provide us with excellent access to the top of the wall. On the 3rd of March we charted a helicopter from Milford Sound to the plateau.

Before landing on the glacier we were to call home for the next few days we requested the pilot fly over the edge of the wall so we could come face to face with Kaipo for the first time….. The void was huge. This ancient, glacial carved valley spanned more than 1.8 kilometers across and 1.4 kilometers high. We hovered a few hundred meters out in front of the wall. I sat stunned just steering into space, studying the features of granodiorite as they glisten in the morning sun.

The pilot has trouble ascending back to the glacier but eventually we land in between rivers of crevasses on a hard packed, semi flat piece of
ice. After unloading our packs and watching the chopper disappear into sun we were alone for the first time in the Darrans.

Leaving our gear we started navigating our way though bottomless crevasses and thin ice bridges up to the back of the wall. Touching the rock for the first time involved jumping off a cornice over small gap. From there we climbed up the dry sharp rock, lay down on the edge and peered down the wall. I get that feeling around height like something is trying to pull you off. A beautiful feeling really, especially if you’ve got a base rig on. The silence is broken “It’s a bit positive” The huge upper section of the wall was obstructed by a ledge about 300ft from the launch.

Over the next two hours we travel behind the wall searching for an exit point. Rock Drops return 4 seconds to impact and slightly more with a push. This was acceptable for an experienced wingsuit pilot but apart from being the first humans to dive off the Kaipo it was to be Benny’s first wingsuit BASE jump and JJJ was attempting to track it. Sickos. So we needed to be really confidant in our exit point selection. Benny suggested we travel left further down the wall towards the coast. Climbing angled slabs we discover the cleanest part of the wall. Even though it still had out crops of rock which impeded our vision with a big push it delivered a 10 second rock drop it would be tight but achievable. If the Kaipo was to be jumped this is where it would take place.

This was nick named Benny’s ledge. Now we know the Kaipo could be jumped our concerns were on how we were going to get out from the landing area. We had read of one access route to the valley floor and intended to use this to get back to camp.

After a late lunch and base camp set up Benny and I set out on a recon. 4 hours of climbing behind the wall and over glaciers gave us a vantage point where we could see the ridgeline we would climb to half way peak, a main reference point on the map. Sitting back at camp mongrelism stuffing our faces with hot noodles and tuna we decided jump at 9 o’clock. It wasn’t long before the boys were climbing into the tent; it was sub zero and getting colder. I stayed out for a bit and watched the sunset over the Tasman Sea.

Disturbed sleep and jump visualization would plague all three of us throughout the night. Being Benny’s first wingsuit flight off a huge remote wall that hasn’t been jumped and to top it off you can’t see past 400ft made for a restless night. JJJ was first up he wanted to watch the sunrise over Mt Tutoko. We weren’t far behind him. While waiting for water to boil we warmed up our legs by practicing positive two foot launch on the ice. I couldn’t help wondering if someone saw us that morning. What would they think seeing three idiots walking around in circles measuring standing jumps in the middle of nowhere. Porridge was then eaten in silence. True silence there was not a breath of wind.

This day was perfect! I can’t recall one word being spoken as we followed our footsteps back to the exit point. It was much the same as we geared up. It took a few moments to find Benny’s ledge again, remembering the wall is over a kilometer wide. After a few more rock drops to remember what was ahead of us. I found myself standing tall and exposed on the exit point. Silence again. After our final words and respects to each other I look down the valley and push hard and long driving my wingsuit off the wall. Out the top of my vision I watched the 4 second ledge come up and slide away. I’m flying I say to myself as I induce a steep smooth left hand carve to start lining up some ledges and angled sections of rock to play with. Speed = Lift I remind myself as I fly back at the wall to have closer look at a recessed glacier. Close is fun and that remains the theme of my flight. After a minute I bank off the wall and fly into the valley and pitch higher than normal due to the landing area being a boulder and scree field with streams and alpine bush everywhere.
Landing in the valley floor and looking back to where I had just come from was an overload.

I couldn’t pick out the exit point and could hardly work my camera as I was trying to contain my emotions. I opted to watch my brothers with my own eyes. JJJ is an orange speck screaming down a vast grey backdrop.

The mad bastard launched into a track or die jump and styled it. Taking angles in his track to find more height as he pulled off the wall into clean air. After a low pull and a quick turn under canopy he disappears into the scrub. Standing down the valley I steer back up at the wall looking for Benny. Suddenly I see a flash off to the right I turn to see a fast white wingsuit flying along the wall. Benny’s first base flight will defiantly be one to remember. He also styles it as I watch him pitch over my head then let loose a cream of elation that echoes down the valley. Benny landed right beside me. As you could imagine we were ecstatic. Before walking up and across the valley to meet JJJ.

We filled up the water bladders and took our first drink from the head waters of the remote Kaipo River. Probably the best water I’ve ever had. Together again we talk about our flights and experience at a hundred miles per hour. The energy was electric. A huge feeling of pride and relief carried us up the 10hour plus route on the eastern side of the valley to half way peak. We climb hard and fast over very steep terrain and were in striking distance of the plateau and the safety of camp mongrelism. As we pushed on the climb became extremely exposed and technical.

It wasn’t long before we realized continuing this route just too risky given the fact there were immanent death falls everywhere and time was running out we made the call as a team to turn back to the valley floor to seek shelter for the night. Knowing we weren’t going to make our rendezvous with the helicopter the following morning, which would probably result in a full scale search being launched. We began an epic walk down the Kaipo Valley searching for the only other legal and accessible landing area the Kaipo hut. As our map was due to end in 4 kilometers we had to rely on memory of other maps. Unfortunately our memories lead us on a 48 hour epic with no food and only our canopies for shelter. We covered over 40 kilometers of remote and dense bush which included 40 river crossings. During which we draw energy off each other taking turns at leading the charge with no quick solution insight. Eventually we arrive at the Tasman Sea.

The ever optimistic JJJ states “I’ve always wanted to go on a fast” as he wades through another section of river towards the beach. Even though we were still in good spirits we knew we had to let people know where we were, as we were soon to be missing persons in the Darran mountain system. So the next morning Benny strolled down the beach and triggered our remote locator beacon we jumped into the valley incase one of us had an accident. 5 hours later the distant rumble of a helicopter gets louder as Southland rescue honed in on our signal. Even though we weren’t happy about sounding the alarm.

It was necessary and we were commended by the crew for having the beacon. As we weren’t injured they left us on the beach and sent out Milford helicopter services to evacuate us back to Milford. Despite the alternate route home The Kaipo Wall expedition was a huge success on many levels. Personally this will go down as the most fulfilling and spiritual base adventures of my life not just for the sheer enormity of the project and wall. But for it’s location. My Home Country Aotearoa. And the awesome passionate people I was lucky enough to share it with.

Run Hard, Run Low!
Aotearoa B.A.S.E

Al!
Deepseed.

FREEFLY GUERRILHA IS VICE-CHAMPION!!!

2008-04-08T23:51:00.004+12:00

Hi guys!!! Great news!!!

Freefly Guerrilha is Portuguese vice-champion!

Thanks to DEEPSEED for all!!!

Deepseed At the Aussie Nats

2008-04-02T16:43:00.021+13:00

This Years Aussie Nats just took place at Sydney Skydivers in Picton Australia. Although Deepseed were not there in person, we were really well represented this year by our sponsored Guys. Just prior to the Nationals, The canopy Piloting nationals were held and Team Horizon (comprising Drew Lapinski 1st place, Matt Harris 6th place and Cameron Rolfe 8th place), who have just become part of the deepseed Team put in a great showing, along with Roger Mulckey 5th Place (who took a break from organizing this years Funny Farm to take part) and Mike Vaughan who followed up his solid showing at the World cup with 4th place. (photo Left to Right Drew, Cameron, Matt, Roger and Mike).

In the RW arena, We were represented by Team Crux. Crux went into the comp looking good,with high spirits and full of confidence. (In True Crux Form).

The Competition was very fierce, with Airtite, C4 and Snatch Force (The Aussie Women's 4-way team) the main competition. There were some great jumps and high scores but in the end Crux had to settle for 4th place. On an individual level, Jesse smashed a few canopies together in CF to get bronze in the 2 way, Sal took Silver in the open Freefly and Smithy took Bronze in the 8 way open. Nice work Guys, and next year I reckon they will be the team to beat..watch this space.

Last but definitely not least We were represented by Earth Leakage in the Freefly Comp. Adam, James, and Stewart, Fresh from Their Training camp in the Wind Tunnel in Eloy Arizona, Took Gold. The Team are going to be at the Funny Farm later this month, and then are planning another training Camp in Eloy ahead of the World Meet in Europe later this Year (August). Check out there new site to see there Dives from this years Competition...Nice Work Guys.

We are really proud to be associated with all these talented Skydivers, who as well as having a talent for Skydiving, also have an awesome appetite for life, and do things the right way. We justwant to congratulate them all on a job well done at the Nationals...Go Hard Fellas

Team Deepseed Rules!!

IN MEMORY HAYDEN ROWAN

2008-02-26T15:49:00.007+13:00

Hayden Rowan

20/09/82 to 13/02/08

Hayden Rowan was tragically killed in Moshi, Tanzania, in a plane Crash, while working for Skydive Kilimanjaro. Hayden was just 25 years of age.

Hayden did his first Skydive in January 2006 at Taupo, after his parents gave Hayden and his younger brother Michael a skydive Voucher for Christmas 2005. Hayden was working as a motion Graphic designer in Wellington when Michael found details of the Diploma in Skydiving Course at Methven and Hayden then decided to pursue a career in skydiving.

He started the 8 month Diploma in April 2007. As part of the course, it's traditional for their 100th jump to do an "undie jump" Hayden wrote the following about his undie jump

"For your hundredth jump it is traditional that you do it in your underwear. Lucky for me it was a warm day (+1 at 12000 feet) and we were in the warm plane. I also joined in with some other people's (I dunno why) but the temperature on these jumps was -19, then you have 200 kph windchill to take into account, it was torture!"

After completing 170 jumps while on the course, he decided to go to Moshi Tanzania to do his 3 months and 30 jumps work experience. Hayden moved to Moshi in September 2007 and became a permanent employee of Skydive Mount Kilimanjaro as their camera man. Hayden's skydiving dream became his passion (he had found and was living his dream) Nothing would stop him from Skydiving as the following email he sent out to his family and friends shows.

" Had my first reserve ride today, on what I thought was a sweet pack job. All went sweet up till opening when I had a brake release and through me into line twists and a downward spiral. Anyway it was obvious pretty quickly that the twists weren't coming out so I cut away the main and flew around on my back for a bit and almost got stable when I pulled my reserve handle.

Anyhow the reserve opened between my legs which gave me some pretty mean burns on my leg. To say the opening was violent would be an understatement. I got whiplash in my back and I literallyy couldn't see for a few seconds. The reserve ride was agony but I managed a nice soft landing, and I laid there for a while until I realised that I needed to see where my main canopy was going to land. It gave the African Guys who work for us a bit of a scare, I don't think they had seen a cut away before. One of them ran off to get my canopy and ended up having to bribe a Masai 5000 shillings ($5 US) to get it back.

Anyway I went to the doctor, and I have just got some muscle damage to my back, so he said not to do anything for a few days....yeah right, unless I can't walk when I wake up, tomorrow I'll be jumping.

This letter was kindly written by Hayden's mum, Kathy, who in a display of the utmost courage and respect for the wishes of her two boys is supporting her other son Michael through the same diploma and into the sport that took away her son.

Jumpstart 2008 Doing it for the Kids

2008-02-07T14:26:00.005+13:00

DON'T MIND DOING IT FOR THE KIDS

Every now and then you catch yourself feeling a bit low on life and wallowing in your own troubles and woes. It's times like these when you need to be reminded (through awesome Initiatives such as Pete Maher's Jumpstart) just how good you actually have it.

Pete came up with the idea last year of joining forces with the RNZAF and some leading Kids charities Canteen (supporting Kids with Cancer) and Project K (helping Kids maximise their potential), and getting a bunch of Tandem Masters (lets face it, we do have it pretty good), to donate their time for free to help give these kids the experience of a lifetime.

Hell Jumping out of a Herc is an experience most skydivers would kill for!!.

This Year, it is all happening again and with lessons learned from the inaugural event, is set to be bigger and better than ever.

Deepseed are providing Free T-Shirts to all the Kids and Staff, and YOU can make a donation either via the Jumpstart Website , or by buying a T-shirt for just $30 from Deepseed. Just email us at info@deepseed.com and tell us how many t-shirts you want to purchase. It's that simple!

All profits from the T-shirts will be going to the charities, so If you can't get to the event, and if you haven't sponsored one of the kids, You can still support the cause and have something that will help to remind you that you do have it pretty good compared to some people (just in case you find yourself wallowing in the blues in the future).

Deepseed Dave will be at the event, and we will bring you a full write up in Next month's Newsletter.

Team Crux in the USA

2008-02-06T22:30:00.000+13:00

Team Crux in the USA

What a great idea lets leave Australia’s beautiful summer and go to a bitterly cold Arizona winter and spend thousands of dollars to fly in a wind tunnel. What compels us to do these things!

Who cares; its fucking fun !!!

Fly into LAX pick up the car and point it towards Arizona 8 boring hours later pull into the sky rider inn to crash out for a 4:30 am start.

For eight days straight we get up at 4:30-5:00am head over to the tunnel and relearn body position, block moves and re learn body position again and again until it sinks in to our thick heads. Thanks Joey Jones and Todd Hawkins for your persistance!

We spent two or three hours in the morning in the tunnel and the rest of the day creepering or jumping out of hot air balloons or high altitude jumps from 21000 feet. The guys at Skydive Arizona are awesome lots of cool people from all over the world come together at one drop zone to share skills and have fun.

Leaving Arizona was easy we had thrown all of our money at the tunnel and we were off to go base jumping In Idaho at the Perrine Bridge in twin falls. After stopping at a local base sight in Arizona to watch the crew from the drop zone got off a 400 ft rock in 15 knot winds we were pumped to get to the bridge and have some fun ourselvesYou drive over the bridge before you get into town so stopping to have a look over is a must. It doesn’t matter how safe people tell you it is you’re still shitting yourself just looking at it.

After meeting some of the locals we had to get used to the idea that you stroll out to the exit point take your time and go when you’re ready.

This was quite different to the base jumping we had experienced back home with Douggs running to the exit point of a 180 ft bridge quickly getting static lined three seconds of canopy flight then get in your car and get the fuck out of there.

I much prefer the Perrine Bridge.

We all got off about ten times each starting to have some fun with the 480ft bridge, back loops, side floaters and two way roll overs to name a few. Also a very cool experience jumping in the snow and watching a local pull a triple gainer and his canopy exploding before he dropped into the freezing cold water. He was fine once he was dried off and had some warm clothes on.

I have to say a special thanks to Ahren for showing us the ropes and taking us to some amazing places in Idaho including a beautiful hot spring up in the mountains covered in snow, very special.

Douggs The Author

2008-02-06T15:50:00.000+13:00

THE “NO SHIT THERE I WAS” BOOK compiled by Douggs

Hello my friends and everyone else,
I would like to start collaborating for the final book in my three book series that I have been writing and I need your help!

The first book is a tongue in cheek autobiography about my twisted life and its called “CONFESSIONS OF AN IDIOT”.

The second book is detailed interviews with 16 remarkable friends throughout the Australian skydiving/base jumping scene and is called “ALL MY BEAUTIFUL FRIENDS”.

The final book is not an original idea but it will make for some crazy reading. It is simply called “NO SHIT… THERE I WAS”.

I want to compile a hundred crazy, but true stories from everyone that has been a part of skydiving or base jumping. Whether you have 1 jump or 10,000 jumps, it doesn’t matter, as long as you have a crazy story. It can be one paragraph or 10 pages. It can be about skydiving or base jumping or anything crazy that happened at a party or a car accident or anything. It can be of life or death or just something silly. I don’t want to set any guidelines and it can be written however you like with as much swearing and crass shit as you like. Write like you were telling it to a group of mates at a party when your wasted. I don’t care. It just needs to be crazy, scary, twisted, funny or all of the above and more.

I would also like to get stories of “Did you hear what this dude did…” or “You wouldn’t believe what I heard…” these are always some of the most entertaining, crazy and funniest stories around. I have finished writing the first book, am half way through the second and really want to get started on the third.

If it gets published, each person in it will receive a copy.

Please send your stories through to my email douggs@basedreams.com.

And please include your full name, nick name or alias and a contact email or phone number.
Please also pass this email on to every crazy dude or chick you have ever met. Im not doing this for cash but rather to try and give people a little insight into how twisted, crazy and amazing our lives are.

I know there are a million cool stories out there, so please give up 30 minutes of your time and make this happen.

Shine on

Douggs

Al Benno And Tedd's BASE Mission

2008-02-06T00:08:00.000+13:00

Al Benno And Tedd's BASE Mission

I flew into Stavanger damaged (Biskit and I took on a bottle of absinth for no good reason. Last memory was walking past Bik passed out on his back with his arms still wrapped round the bottle. My travel companion Dave was bad also, but for another whole set of alcohol related reasons. Alan was waiting in arrivals for us, stoking out on the post card rack full of huge cliffs. We got straight into the Thrutch mobile, Dave's late model Dodge Ram van all comfy full of
velvet seats and indirect lighting. A few hours later and we were in Lysebotn. I got straight on a load going up Kjerag and did a two way track in some light rain. I was trying out my new terminal tracking gear, a tight rain jacket and phoenix pants. I dove way deep not going anywhere for about 1000ft, then in the last 8 seconds I went all the way to the landing area at mach ten. Never done that before, so I was going a bit nuts. Alan gob stopped me with a cold Tuborg. We settled back in Dave's caravan and demolished a bottle of Quantro, then levelled a bottle of Jaegermeister just for effect.

<>I was a bit shabby the next morning walking Alan up for his first jump in Norway, hadn't packed so I took my other rig, whacked my wingsuit on it and started stumbling up the hill. It was beautiful, full sunshine standing on exit 4. We were yarning with some hikers while I went through my gear checks and realised I was missing a pilot chute. The mind went through a few different scenarios of using my stash bag, tying my bridle into a bundle and just manually pulling my pins, getting static lined off with my slider up. All of them were ugly. Alan jumped, i started guiding tourists to Bolten rock and walked back down in some heavy rain eating some food I rolled the tourists for. Benny showed up soon after we arrived so we took off up the hill in sub optimal conditions for his first Norway jump. I had chucked a pilot chute on for this trip, just for something new. The weather was clear when we arrived but by the time we geared up it was beginning to cloud up around the edge. We nearly hurried a 5 way off but decided to just wait a bit. It socked out totally and we ended up hiding under a slight overhand in a torrential downpour.

After a while we got the shits with it and decided on a full evac jump. I had radio so I went first. 10 seconds on my head in cloud watching the rock, then came peeling out down the point over the water, pitched and had an explosive opening. Went for my toggles and I was missing one......and three other lines. I put it down alright in the landing area and called the other guys off, dealing with the worst throat chop I'd ever had. The whole boat ride back I was cursing my gear, saying it was shit. Only when we were looking at the broken lines inside, Benny asked if I normally went terminal with my tail gate in. Fucking numpty boy here did a 20 second slider down jump! Haaaa! I could have static lined it off Kjerag too, might have been a first.

<>Benny, Alan and I took off up north soon after and got seriously misdirected by our tomtom. It had us going down peoples driveways, past the barn then out on to freeways, random. Our first morning in Romsdalen was the first day of good weather in 2 weeks. We took off up Karlsgrottan, a gnarly 3 hour steep hike from valley floor to 4300ft. We initiated another kiwi mate of mine, Marcus, to BASE. He did his first there, lucky boy! Benny got off in street gear, Alan was next and went mental, flying low and fast over anything he could get near.
Fully sick, the boy has some serious talent just rocking up sight un-seen and blazing it that hard. It turned out to be a pattern for every jump, he was going off big style, never seen anything like it. We were lucky enough to get Troll a few times, our second morning there we arrived at the edge of Labin just as the sun broke the horizon. We all got off bathed in a golden dawn, our shadows fleeing down the wall as we peeled out, fuckin emotional stuff. So good to share that with my good buddies.

<>I was really lucky this year and got to jump Troll spire, the cherry on the cake. Martin Rossen, an uber cool Swedish cat took me up there with Prue (NZ) and Patrick from Sweden. We let Benny and Al cruise off to the original exit point further accross the wall so we wouldn't kick stuff down on them. It is really steep on the back side too, a gnarly collection of unballanced granite. Martin was first accross this really steep section of rotten snow, I went next and came un-stuck on my second step, slid 10 meters in half a second and fell down 2.5 meters into a crevasse at serious speed. Somehow I didn't break. I climbed out shaking and covered in snow melt. We did the rest of the perilous climb, fully exposed in some sections like the bridge, a 10 meter walk accross a half meter walkway with 5000ft of space on one side and an equally un-appealing fall on the otherside. We joke about the stash bag challenge, how much of your gear could you get out of your stashie if you fell with it on. Not funny really.

I did a two way off it with Prue, sick visuals banking at the dangerous ledge whistling past on my right as i dived past Prue into a scorching track. I got way out of the bowl and landed near the camp ground. Prue got on the radio and calmly announced she had broken her wrist and was way up in the rock fall zone. Action stations. She's a hard girl, got her out after an hour, in hospital 3 hours after the accident and she's cracking jokes the whole time.

Alan was really keen to do Bispen in his wingsuit and Benny didn't want to miss out on a jump. No one has done a slider down jump there in 20 years. Martin warned him it was very gay to do a slider down jump in Romsdalen but Benny was amping. Martin told me the story the pink latex handbag. It is passed from person to person who is deemed to have pulled unacceptably high on a jump. I slipped it into Benny's stash bag, and he found it half way up the hill. To be honest, it was a ballsy jump to do slider down, but he is now the man with the pink hand-bag.

<>He bailed the next morning with bad guts, back to Scotland to go to work. Best thing when you're sick, get payed! Al and I went to Eikesdalen with Martin's crew, got hammered on VKB 96% vodka in an awesome drink called Kaarsk. Coffee and vodka, yeehaaa! We climbed Kathammer the next morning feeling shady as. 2 hour brutally steep hike through tick infested grass up to 4000ft above a beautiful lake.

We ran into Eric Fradet up there, a personal hero of mine. A few of us did a running screamer from way far back, running in circles and in different directions before sprinting off the diving board exit screaming in freefall. I had a real good jump, tracking out over the lake. Unfortunately Karl had a very hard opening and blew all the lines off his front right riser. Through a mixture of skill and luck he managed to put it down in the only clearing full of thick moss on the tallis. He was un-hurt but had to get a helicopter rescue. Kaarsk was called for in celebration. We tried to head back to Lysebotn then, but the Thrutch mobile blew a wheel bearing and we had to deal with a really fucked insurance company to sort things out. I ended up hiring a car and leaving Al with Martin's crew so i could go and tap this beautiful girl back down
south. Call me Tunnie Rua!

The mission continued back south, getting jumps in between bad weather. Alan still going mental, examining the grain structure of granite at close range and high speed. I had a really cool formation track with two other friends, all pitched out right next to each other over the landing area and gaggled the landing. Alan left the same day as me, so we got absolutely fucked up and ran naked through Lysebotn. I don't remember the rest........

<>Note from Geezer

Congrats to Tedd and Jackie on Tying the Knot..
Nice one Guys!!

Want to be a Deepseed Blogger??

2008-02-06T00:00:00.000+13:00

If you would like to be able to add to the Deepseed Blog Site, contact us at info@deepseed.com

Team New Zealand at The Canopy Piloting World Cup

2007-11-05T23:44:00.000+13:00

<>The Canopy Piloting World Cup was held at Sydney Skydivers in Picton Australia at the beginning of November 2007.

The kiwi Team all arrived 3 days prior to the event to get in some practice on the course, on the fantastic purpose built swoop pond at Sydney Skydivers. A great bit of forethought, unfortunately scuppered by the worst weather anybody at Picton could remember.

Fortunately, the Locals, Sally and Jesse of Team Crux, and Douggs and Cookie and a few other locals were on hand to make sure something was going on, and there was an Impromptu BASE mission from a Nearby Bridge to entertain the troops.

<>Team New Zealand got their Team Uniforms and quickly became one slick looking unit.

(Deepseed made sure this was always going to be the case!!).

Deepseed were well represented in the field of Athletes, Deepseed's Mikey Holmes (team GB), Team Sweden Jens and Martin (who finished an amazing 3rd in zone accuracy), The New Zealand Team (Ricky Good, Laszlo, Tukes and Malachi), Cameron Rolfe, Shea Convery, Rodger Mulckey of Team Australia were all trying out or had bought or were sponsored with Deepseed Swoop Gear. Feedback on the pants was generally good, and several great mods were suggested to make them even better, so it was a great experience for us to be around at a premier event like that with so much experience on hand.

<> Deepseed had intended on setting up a Beer Tent / General Chill Out Area in the competitor section , but our supplier let us down badly.

Fortunately, they breed em good in Oz and Terry Wingate saved our bacon by providing his 1970's mega structure tent. There was room for several Deepseed Beanbags, The sound system and the beer Cooler.

The weather did play ball just about long enough to get the competition underway and there was a high level of skill on display. Dingo did a brilliant job trying bringing the gathering crowd into things with his own special brand of Commentary, and was more and more amusing as more and more bottles of beer were passed his way.

At the end of the event, the PD factory team and the other PD staff, proved just what a gulf in class they are and Jay Moledski, having broken several world records during the course of the event, went on to finish 1st Overall.

All in all, a good event, and a valuable experience for all concerned. Here's hoping the weather can improve next time!!

Comment from Ricky Good, highest placed kiwi at the event:

"The event was a wicked experience, seeing the top boys fly and taking in all the info I could has boosted my canopy piloting progression to a whole new level. The NZ boys did everyone proud considering for most of us it was our 1st major competition. We had an awsome time that we won't ever forget, my ribs still hurt from all the laughing".

Geezer visits Bodyflight Windtunnel in Bedford, England

2007-09-05T23:35:00.000+12:00

In July 2007, I was back in Blighty (that's what us POMs call England...yes I am a POM!) for my kid sister's wedding. I had blagged a free airfare back so figured I would do a spot of business at the same time. One of the places on my list of must do's was the Bodyflight Windtunnel at Bedford, and boy am I glad I made the trip!

Despite my Mum's little Toyota Sat Nav doing it's best to force me to show it my "wild side", and a 5 hour car trip that should have been a 2 hour car trip, I arrived at the tunnel mid-afternoon.

Very, very different from the obvious Skyventure Tunnels that I have been to previously (You know what I mean; there is no mistaking a Skyventure Windtunnel!). If it wasn't for the logo on the door, I would have figured I had come to the wrong place. First impressions of the place for me any way, were not so flash.

But through the big double doors, and up several flights of stairs (which with my big fat gut, the way it is now, was a bit of an effort!!) and then into the reception area and the transformation is amazing.

This place is the most pimped out, impressive, well thought out , well laid out place I have been to so far.

I bumped into a couple of old friends Pete Allum and John McGiver, who sadly were just leaving, but Manager Matt Ariano agreed to show me round the place and be able to take a few photo's. The facilities are outstanding, everything built with purpose and brand new (so unlike many skydiving facilities), there are team rooms, accommodation blocks, a cafe a games room, and in development is a swimming pool and gymnasium.

I then met MD Paul Mayer and after one of those 2 way, I know you from somewhere moments, it turns out that I shared a 2 hour block of time with Paul back in 2001 in the Orlando Tunnel. Little did I know that he would go on to Mastermind a project as impressive as this one surely is. If I had known I probably would have lent him some money to start up with!! (hehe)..

I couldn't go all that way without trying the place out so I decided to treat myself to half an hour. Dave Sawyer was on hand as a coach and having told him I was rusty as an old sheriffs badge, having not jumped for 4 months, we figured a wee bit of belly flying just to brush up, then onto trying out some back flying.

<> What impressed me most was the sheer size of the tunnel and the quality of the air. As much as I enjoyed the tunnel in Orlando, it is hard to really feel what effect your inputs have (especially on maneuvers such as moving up and forward or back and down, or side slides), but the extra room in this tunnel gives you that extra second or so to feel what you are doing, and it really does make all the difference.

Dave did a stand up job trying to man handle my huge carcass around as I struggled to get to grips with the finer points of back flying, and by the end of the session I was able to turn in place and move up and down (not smooth as silk mind, but a foundation of a skill block was laid).

I tried to swap Paul my shares in Deepseed for his Tunnel (just kidding but it is a tempting thought!!) but left Bedford with some great memories and a commitment to try and make a suit for the tunnel that can take a good thrashing. We now have a couple of suits in Full time tunnel scenarios, and once we have the test data, we will make an announcement.

I would like to thank Paul and all his staff for taking the time to show me round the place and say that, in the immortal words of Arnie..

"I"LL BE BACK"

Freeflying NZ Style

2007-09-05T11:14:00.001+12:00

<>
James McArthur and Brad Pokroy in the skies above Mercer NZ, wearing their Deepseed Inverter suits and Ripping it up!!! Nice One Lads..

Deepseed's Commercial Jumpsuits

2007-08-20T10:11:00.000+12:00

Deepseed's Commercial Jumpsuits.

- Staff Jump Suit -
The Deepseed commercial staff jumpsuit has been tested in the harshest of commercial environments and is designed tough to last. Made of the most durable materials we can find, the suit can be made extra tough by adding cordura panels on strategic wear places (knees and butt).
Available in 4 standard sizes small, medium, large and extra large, the Deepseed staff suit is a workhorse.

- Passenger Jump Suit -
Don't have your Tandem passengers feel left out, or get their clothes dirty.The Deepseed commercial suit is an easy way to make all your photographs look great, make your passengers look and feel great and send them away in clean clothes!!
Available in 4 sizes small, medium, large and extra large, the suits are designed to fit all shapes and sizes.

- Student Suit -
This is exactly the same construction as our regular RW suit, but comes with standard Grips and no booties.
Available in 4 sizes small, medium, large and extra large, the suits are designed to fit all shapes and sizes.

Deepseed Camera Accessories

2007-08-20T09:49:00.000+12:00

- Handycam Gloves -
Deepseed Handycam gloves are perfect for all types of jumping. The Tandem Handycam glove is made strong with all the best quality materials.For jumping in warmer climates we make a breathable, shorter glove. This helps make the glove more comfortable by slowing down perspiration and reducing heat on the hand and wrist.

- Camera Weather Socks -
Our weather socks are perfect for looking after your valuable camera equipment.They help keep water and moisture away from the camera and also help to protect it from bumps and scrapes.Each sock is designed to allow you to access the camera with the sock on.

The video camera weather sock is made of all the same materials as the stills version; however, because there is not so much call to access the camera, there is no zip on the video camera sock.

Dave at the Goodvibes

2007-08-20T08:56:00.000+12:00

Dave just had a trip out of the office at the Goodvibes Boogie. The full story to follow soon. Watch this space....

Deepseed Products Hit Paraguay!

2007-08-07T23:09:00.000+12:00

I was offered a job load organizing and a little coaching at the Boogie Guarani 2007, which is the biggest growing boogie in South America;

I jumped at the chance and stretched the 5-day Boogie into a 3-week holiday. I met some awesome people there and learnt how to party the Latin way, which is insane; they really know how to dance.

Thanks to the Deepseed team who kitted me out and gave me the awesome tube to take and made so many people there stoked as they had never had the chance before to jump a tube and had only ever seen photo's.

International KL Tower Jump 2006

2007-08-01T23:16:00.000+12:00

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2006.

To make a B.A.S.E jump you have push your self though the protective barrier of fear and step into the void. For some it's an alien move, not readily understood, nor can it be reversed, and it is a step taken voluntarily. The International KL Tower Jump 2006 Merdeka Circuit runs each year in August.There are two options.

The full tour, which lasts for 16 days includes 5 buildings, 2 days at each. The main event is the final three days of this tour held in Kuala Lumpur, off the KL tower.

This year, we are here for the main event. All proceeds go to various charities.We arrived in KL airport on the 21st of August not knowing quite what to expect.

This was both Alan's and my first trip to Malaysia, and we had been invited here to jump off one of the tallest buildings in the world, for three days; legally!60 jumpers from around the globe had received the invitation to this beautiful city to take part in the International KL Tower Jump 2006 Merdeka Circuit. Alan and I are two of just four kiwis. Neil Jarvis and Livia Dickie are also NZ born.

The taxi driver took us directly to the five star hotel we would be staying at, but not until after our first feeble attempt at bartering his fare down, we got way better at this though! With 3 days before the event to come, we made sure we had a good look around this crazy place. One Malaysian Ringit, about 35c kiwi got us a ride on the monorail, straight to Chinatown!Man, what a culture shock! Locals selling everything from roasted chestnuts, to 20 Ringit cent kebabs, with real satay in a plastic bag. Fake everything and almost anything, you just gotta ask! The smells down the back alleys, mixed with the heat and humidity was intense, Malaysia we love you!

Back at the Concorde hotel, other jumpers were beginning to show. You can spot these mongrels a mile away.The morning of the first day of jumping was here, and after Ting Lau had cooked us omelets as part of our free smorgasbord breakfast every morning, (me and Al couldn't believe our eyeballs), we walked with Triple J up to the KL tower for the jump briefing. "What are you guys gonna do for the first one?", the aussie asks. "I'm gonna do a gainer mate." (His first he says, and he wasn't lying).

Gary Cunningham organized this years event and what an amazing job he has done. The briefing was awesome, leaving no doubt in your mind what we were all getting ourselves into, so bring it on! Cheers to Aziz also for opening this building up to an international crew, you're a legend mate! 9 o'clock on Friday morning, into the express elevator to floor TH 32 (usually out of bounds to the general public), gear up, and up four flights of stairs to the maintenance platform of the KL Menara Tower. 60 people all with B.A.S.E. specific gear on their backs, press everywhere, marshalls roped in with walkie-talkies, and a drop of 980ft just over that edge.

Everyone is watching over the side as we have the first few jumpers exit.The late, great Adam Gibson (R.I.P bro) steps up and throws reverse fronts all the way down the side of this incredible structure, inputs a half twist in his last rotation, pitching facing away from the building, and lands in the car park. There is some talent here! But there's some madness here as well! A three way gets off; an over-confident delay sees one jumper almost wrap himself in his mate's F111. This is the first day! Al mumbles under his breath to me "Let's get off before someone goes in".

The next three days were mind blowing. This structure, with a total height of 1400ft, an exit height of 980ft, and massively overhung, is relatively safe. So the boys got stuck in. Fronts, backs, floaters, multiple rotations, this place is unreal! Interviews, photos, and being introduced to some very important people, made it even more surreal. With a slow gainer it is possible to see your reflection in the windows! Thank you so much Jackie for all the choice photos!!

There were two landing areas. One, at the base of the tower in the car park, and the other, down the bottom of the hill, which we opted for. Locals on scooters were there to pick us up and take us back to the top. Beautiful Malaysian women were then holding lift doors open for us, taking us to the air conditioned conference room at the top. We would pack here with stacks of chairs as weights, then up the service stairs, and off!

The after party was put on by Menara and it was awesome. Exotic dancers strutting down the runway while we ate and drank a huge selection of local dishes, every dinner-time should be like this! Then off to town for more partying. Al and I got into a lot mischief that night, when in Rome they say!Everything about this trip was awesome. Gary Cunningham is a legend, thank you mate, would love to be invited back next year! Kuala Lumpur is an extraordinary place, the locals are so friendly, what an experience.

Thankyou to all those involved, and all the good vibes.

Cheers Deepseed Dave for all the support, you rock brother!

Cheers to everyone! Suck it up!

The Birth of Geeza's Legacy

2007-05-01T22:53:00.000+12:00

Geeza has a Baby Girl!!
(Crikey....Is that why he was so fat??)

It seems silly to talk about legacies at the ripe old age of 29 (well near as dammit 30), but that is exactly the way I feel about Deepseed now that I am the proudfather of a Baby Girl (Caitlin).

Dave and I knew back in September when we found out Sally was pregnant that it would be a tough time for the business once she was born, but now that she is here, I am more determined than ever to ensure that when she is old enough, Deepseed will be as familiar to the skydiving community as PD, or Mirage, or Cookie composites and to ensure that the sport of skydiving is still something that people do just because they love to do it, and have great fun doing it.