CSL MEET #5 August 5-6, 2006 - Mile High Skydiving Center

After July's meet getting rained out, we were worried about August. Despite some clouds in our way, we managed thru and completed the meet!

Thanks to our Sponsor, Chipotle, CSL participants on Saturday ate well with fresh burritos and chips and guacamole. Chipotle even gave us enough burritos, the packers and staff at the DZ ate well too.

On to the meet...

Clouds were the name of the game. Some teams only were able to get 30 working seconds on some of the rounds. After reviewing all the rounds from all the teams -all the teams with less than 35 seconds were jumping well and scoring points when altitude ran out - so the CSL opted to extrapolate the scores for the teams with less than 35 seconds believing this to be accurate and fair. The following formula was used: Number of actual points / working time = points per second. Points per second * 35 seconds = extrapolated points.

This meet was a lot of fun to watch. The teams were really pushing their scores hard, you could see the drive in the moves. However with the drive, busts increased too, probably to the highest level all season. Even with the busts, the scores are higher than previous meets.

Mile High Levitation showed a major improvement from a 7 average to a 9+ average, bringing the only AA civilian team to tie with an Air Force team - tied for 3rd.

Air Force 7XY, who started off the season very hot, ended up scoring last this meet - with video busts on two jumps for formations not visible on the hill, and grip busts on round 3. If they can dial in their video on exits, and the inters of the 13 block, their score surely will be higher at Nationals - so don't dismiss them as unable to be a serious contender yet.

Air Force Shockwave, a staff team, stayed at the top of the scoreboard with a full point margin between them and 2nd, even with the other teams increasing their scores from their previous meets.

Shockwave being a staff team shows discipline and precision that some of the younger teams are still trying to find - proving quicker does not always score better than accuracy --an example being a team that was turning fast all jump long but ended on a sour note when one teammate found a burble and broke the formation.

Mayhem, the rookie team, showed the most improvement all season long - showing an increase in their score, but also signs of potential to score much higher soon with a solid base of skills to improve upon.

CSL MEET #3 June 4, 2006 - Mile High Skydiving Center

Just when you thought it was safe - the power goes out! In the high tech world of computerized manifest systems - a power outage at the DZ caused a 20 minute shutdown mid day while the generators were whipped out... Good thing parachutes don't require power. But, the power outage did not slow down our CSL competitors! CSL participants filled over 205 slots on the Otter this weekend alone! And the scores reflect that Air Force is still on the top!

We are featuring a bio of Air force 7XY- (as in chromosomes) for this installment. Like the name states, one guy (Handsome and Single so the teammates write on their bio sheet) and three women, who have been jumping together since Spring 2005. Meet the Tail - Pete Theisen, 21 years old from Merrill, Michigan. Sky diver since 2004, 320+ jumps. He is a Military History major. Pete will be attending pilot training after graduation in 2007. 7XY Point - Mary Asher Vendt 21 year old from Lebanon, Ohio. Sky diver since 2004, 320+ jumps. Foreign Area Studies major with a focus in the Middle East . Will be attending pilot training after graduation in 2007. Outside Center - Caroline White 21 year old from Tacoma Washington. Sky diver since 2004, 320+ jumps. Systems Engineering Management Major. Will be attending pilot training after grad school. Inside Center Abigail Crews, 21 year old from Boulder Colorado. Sky diver since 2004, 320+ jumps. Systems Engineering Major. And you guessed it, she will be attending pilot training after graduation in 2007. Camera Flier - Jeff Hyatt aka “Jeff Bob”, 22 years old from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Sky diver since 2002 with 950+ jumps. Professional rigger at the United states Air Force Academy and one kick ass camera man (again, as they write on their bio sheet). Has been with the team since August 2005.

But - it is not all about the Air Force... Notice the Rookie team! The scores are showing big improvements - and the video is showing even bigger improvements. They still are running stop drill mode, but they are staying relative and looking clean. It is just going to get better from here!

We had two scrambles teams this weekend too! "Bobbles" and "Scambells". Crystal and Mark - both with less than 100 jumps each joined Travis and Djan - and the scores were much better than the name "Bobbles" would suggest. Riddler replaced DJan mid day. They jumped the rookie dive draw. Scambells Tom, Tony, Dave and Debbie jumped the intermediate and did well once they recovered from a failed exit on two of their jumps. Both scrambles teams had video mals on the first jump - one camera had gaff tape on the zoom switch so it zoomed in so close you could count stitches on the rigs - the other camera turned off in the doorway. But since the scrambles teams are just in this for the fun of it, the CSL decided not to reflect the camera failures in the averages.

Thanks everyone for jumping - it was fun.

CSL MEET #2 May 7, 2006 - Mile High Skydiving Center

The second meet of the season went extremely well. 150+ CSL skydives, even with weather holds!

While we have posted only 4 team’s scores, Levitation and Mayhem both were at the DZ making serious training jumps with their coach. These teams are working systematically thru the divepool in their training schedule, proudly wearing the CSL tee-shirts, but they opted to not jump the rounds for the meet in order to concentrate on their training for the season, and eventually nationals. However, I did see some of the video, and the winks from their camera fliers proved to me that they are improving a great deal.

“Team Splat”, with no jumps together prior to the meet, jumped the dive pool for the intermediate rounds, however as a throw together team and with 6 other teams jumping and a busy tandem video schedule at the DZ, finding video flyers became difficult, so the team concentrated on learning and having fun. Considering a few of the teammates had not turned all the blocks in the draw, the team met it’s goals.

That means – 35 CSL participants participated in our league event on Sunday alone, not to mention the scrambles team that jumped Saturday, team “Animated Shorts”.Shorts jumped the intermediate draw from April, and considering the team was a scrambles, the fact they made it thru the draw on each round at least once, it was all smiles on landing!

On to the scores! All four Air Force teams did real well, and showed great consistency and discipline in their jumping and dirt dives – despite the judges finding a few busts here and there for a block’s grips spinning outside of the video frame or a lost grip on the hill. I know all the Air Force teams would have preferred to knock out 6 jumps, but we had a few weather holds, including a full plane load that had to ride down due to wind gusts, mixed with one of the DZ’s planes having to make a demo jump off site for a little less than a hour – providing a well deserved lunch break. The Air Force teams have utilized the new tunnel in Colorado for their training, something newly available for this season. It is fun to see the progression in modern skydiving with training aids, like tunnels.

Again, thanks everyone... And, if you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me at travis (at) coloradoskydivingleague (dot) com.

CSL MEET #1 April 9, 2006 - Mile High Skydiving Center

Special Thanks to our Food Sponsor, Deli Zone - for providing sandwiches on Saturday night - and Deep Rock Water, for providing bottled water for the competitors.

All the teams did real well, and I thank everyone for coming out to the meet. The Otter just came back from a winter trip to Arizona where a new camera step was installed. All the video team members experienced this step for the very first time at this meet and were unable to train in this plane. Because of this - the CSL allowed, with all the team's approval, a rejump to one team due to injudicable video - and also allowed another team to earn a point for a formation that was clearly built on the hill, but had two seconds of hard to judge video.

Again, thanks everyone... And, if you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me at travis (at) coloradoskydivingleague (dot) com.