Nick Batsch wins the US nationals of Canopy Piloting and the PST championships at Swoop Week!

Nick Batsch has won the 2008 US Nationals of Canopy Piloting winning four medals in all and he also won the Pro Swooping Tour championships for the second year in a row! Nick flew a JVX 77, JVX 79 & JVX 85 to victory in almost every event setting a new IPC/FAI world record in the process. Nick took home $2,500 for his overall win in the PST championships and another $500 for his 1st place finish in the long jump distance event.

It was awesome watching all the PD Factory Team and other competitors go head to head with Nick in each round. It was a very tough competition but Nick beat out over 40 other competitors to win the US Nationals of Canopy Piloting and then another 26 to win the Pro Swooping Tour championships. Nick has won two championship eagle trophies and four USPA medals in total. Kevin Love won $1,500 for 2nd place in the PST championships and Stuart Schoenfeld won $1,000 for third. Nick will represent the USA in South Africa later this year as the #1 slot on the US team of Canopy Piloting.

PST Championships kick off

The Pro Swooping Tour championships started this morning at 9:30am with 27 competitors ready to rock. We started with the long jump distance event to see who could go further after touching the water before a set of buoys and over a start gate. Nick Batsch won this event and $500 from a local Toyota dealership.

Some of the pilots could not fly over the start gate after touching the water so they received the lowest possible score.

The body position Nick learned at the ground launch center and used to win the PST championships last year is now in use by many other competitors. It was great to see all the different ways competitors are trying to fly now. It was even more entertaining watching Nick Batsch and Jonathan Tagle go at it round by round.

ABC World News was shooting on location all day and the venue was packed. We raffled off two free tandem skydives to spectators courtesy of Stapp Interstate Toyota. After three rounds of the long jump distance event we switched to the "Freestyle X" event and the crowd loved it! There were many good runs during the event today including a "miracle man"combinations, "blindman" combinations, "tick jockeys" and more. In the end Shannon Pilcher finished on top winning the Freestyle X competition.

We start the freestyle accuracy event in the morning at 9:00am to finish the Pro Swooping Tour championships for 2008. We will have more reports coming at you tomorrow.

Nick Batsch wins US Nationals of Canopy Piloting at Swoop Week!

Nick Batsch has won the 2008 US Canopy Piloting national championships flying his JVX 77. Nick beat out 44 other competitors including some of the best swoopers in the world. Shannon Pilcher won the silver medal and Stuart Shoenfeld won the bronze.

At the award ceremony the USPA awarded Nick with four medals including the overall gold, the gold in speed, silver in distance and bronze in accuracy! Nick is currently the Michael Phelps of swooping winning the most medals of the 2008 US Canopy Piloting Championships. Saturday morning (Aug 30th) Nick will defend his current title as the Pro Swooping Tour championships.

Steve Haseman won the gold in the advanced class with Shane Shaffer taking the silver.

US Canopy Piloting Championships

The US Canopy Piloting National Championship started at swoop week this morning. We held the safety briefing at 8:00am and made some small course modifications. We used all breakaway gates for the speed course except on the entry gate were we used airblades. In an effort to keep the air blades stationary during the meet we wrapped the airblade on itself and taped them up. This reduced the chance of the airblade blocking the electronic timing system sensors if the wind shifted directions.

The course modifications required us to add additional markers on the course to make it easier to see from above. Two large red inflatable balls (twice the size of a basketball) were put at the base of the entry gate markers and smaller yellow balls (size of a volley ball) were used to line the inside of the course between vertical markers. There were 45 competitors in all so it took us half the day to complete the speed event. 

We continued on with the Zone Accuracy event which took most of the day. The competition lasted from 9:00am to about 6:30pm. We only had one re-jump due to a malfunction and the rest of the day went on without incident. Jonathan Tagle won the accuracy event with Shannon Pilcher in 2nd and Nick Batsch in 3rd. At the time of posting the staff is still calculating the runs from the speed event. The area was full of vehicles today with a fairly large crowd at the pond. We have another 8:00am safety briefing in the morning and will start the distance event at 9:00am. 

Golden Knights sweep CPC championships!

From left to right, Christopher Moore, Greg Windmiller & Michael Eitniear

The Golden Knights Swoop Team cleaned up during the 2008 CPC championships at Swoop Week. After a challenging day on the speed course with a heavy crosswind Greg Windmiller, Michael Eitniear and Christopher Moore pulled through it victorious. 

The team came out of no where with solid and consistent runs during the competition. They told us they came to get their PST pro cards and it was one of their main goals for the Swoop Week. Not only did they win first, second and third place receiving their pro cards they also donated their $5,000 cash winnings! 50% went to the Wounded Warrior Foundation and they gave the remaining money to 4th, 5th and 6th place. Competitors were surprised to receive the cash and it was a first in canopy piloting. 

The Golden Knights performance at this year's championships is great for the Army but even bigger for the canopy piloting community. Little by little the Army Golden Knights have been making their way onto the scene fighting budget cuts for the war effort and more. Just take a second to consider what competition skydiving (RW) would have been like without the Golden Knights and what it could now do for canopy piloting. 

Congratulations to all the members of the US Army Golden Knights on their great performance at Swoop Week and we look forward to seeing them in future competitions.

CPC championships complete Aug 27th

In picture above, Sgt major Michael Eitniear swoops the speed course at today's event.

The 2008 CPC championships are now complete! We finished the speed event today completing three rounds before noon. The US Army Golden Knights did outstanding holding their lead and showing their canopy piloting skills. 

We had a fairly heavy crosswind on the course for the first few rounds forcing many to make a difficult downwind final so they could drift into position while approaching the gates. The winds stayed consistent until the 3rd round when they dropped off to nearly nothing. Competitors jumped from a twin otter at 5,500ft in groups of four to a pass. We had the secret service and Home Land Security on site to observe all the activity.

The competitor briefing for the US Nationals of Canopy Piloting will be 6:00pm at the pond and the award ceremony for the CPC championships will be at 8:00pm in the main hanger. We will award the championship (eagle) trophy, $5,000 in cash and glass trophies to the runner up and third place finish. We will post the scores and announce the winners of this championship event on the website later tonight.

CPC Championships Aug 26th

Photos from today's events have been added to the photo gallery

Today was the kickoff of Swoop Week with the CPC Championships. The weather was good with no wind until nearly noon. We started the distance event on time at 9:00am after a short safety briefing. In round one we had a competitor who approached the entry gate to steep and impacted the water staying submerged for several seconds. Several people jumped in the water to pull him to safety and 911 was called. He was transported to a nearby hospital for a couple of broken ribs and a slight concussion.

The competition continued about 45 minutes with round two of the distance event. All re jumps were moved to the end of round three. There were several good runs on the distance course with Greg Windmiller from the US Army Golden Knights leading after round one. We finished the distance event just before noon and switched to the accuracy event. The first round of zone accuracy was in light and variable winds but it picked up to 4-5 meters per second for the last two rounds.

The additional headwind made it challenging for the competitors so the first couple of pilots came up short from setting up to far back. The rest of the competition went without any issues and more pro level pilots showed up to train after the competition was finished. We ran several training loads out of the twin otter giving competitors the opportunity to practice on the speed, accuracy and distance course. In the morning we finish the CPC Championships with the speed event starting at 9:00am. The award ceremony will be at the main hanger tomorrow at 8:00pm.

Swoop Week kickoff with CPC Championships

We held the CPC competitor briefing this evening at the pond. We have a variety of pilots including the US Army Golden Knights, many from the Southeast region and a fairly large group from Skydive the farm. At the meeting we discussed the rules, guidelines and course for the competition. Not much has changed since last year except all the markers on the inside of the course is now 1.5 meters or 5ft. 

We have also moved the entry gate for the distance event more to the middle of the pond for added safety. With the other position some of the pilots would be setting up and approaching over the ground increasing the chance of a "hit & splash". We flew a few loads after the briefing but the winds picked up over 20kts but pilots were already in the air. Most of them selected to swoop the distance course downwind making for some interesting runs. We have added videos of these swoops to the photo gallery. Our pond maintenance shows up at 6:00am in the morning followed by the judging staff at 7:00am and then the competitors at 8:00am for the safety briefing.

Swoop Week Aug 25th

Today began around 8:00am with competitors training on the pond in preparation for the competitions starting in the morning. First up is the distance event of the CPC Championships followed by zone accuracy. The weather is looking pretty good with scattered clouds in the region with light to variable winds.  

We have all the courses up on the pond featuring distance, speed, zone accuracy and the long jump. More US Army Golden Knights showed up including the sergeant major who is registered for both the CPC and US Nationals. Last year's CPC champion Bryan Buechler has shown up and is training on the pond today. We spent a few hours today setting up the new timing system with custom brackets to fit. The new system which is property of PD is much better and reliable. The system is so accurate the sensors don't even have to be in the pond but on each side of the pond. We also added more packing tents and the WPST's team truck has been moved into position behind the bleachers at the pond. More to follow...

Surge of high winds!

At sunset today we had a surge of high winds come through the pond and nearly wipe out all the courses! The winds only lasted 15-20 minutes but it was enough to create waves on the pond. In previous years we have had all of the courses blown off the pond and into a field. We were prepared this year with a new type of anchor system and breakaway poles. The new system allows the course to flex without striping or breaking the fiberglass poles.  We have posted a video of the action.

Swoop Week Aug 24th

We have many additional competitors training on the pond today. The sun is out in full force and the weather is simply great! We are adding two more large packing tents to the two we already have and moving the team trucks over to the venue including the WPST and Gofast! vehicles. The winds at the pond remained low until about 10:30am and they got up to about 8knts. All the courses are up on the pond today in a side by side configuration. We will be testing the new timing system on the speed course a little later. 

Team Fasttrax along with the Golden Knights swoop team, the European swoopers, CJ Hartwigen, Nick Batsch, Jessica Edgeington, Dan Raymond, Albert Berchtold, Izuru, Curt Swanson,  Eldon Burrier, Ian Drennan, Dan Mcallister, Peter Swartz, David Billings and many more.  All the courses will remain up through the week only coming down on Saturday before PST Freestyle. More to follow...

Swoop Week Aug 23rd

Photos and videos from today are in the swoop week gallery.

We had an early start on the pond today with the new speed course going up at 7:00am. We added the new breakaway gates to the speed course and they are working great. They are made from the same hollow fiberglass as an airblade pole but we wrapped them in soft foam for added protection. It only takes a small force to get the pole to flex out of the way and it springs back into the vertical position on its own. 

After the speed course was up we went to work on building the new zone accuracy course which is now complete. More competitors showed up today with the group reaching about 18-20. New pro Joey "Sunman" Day showed up from Atlanta with his wild trademark hair which is half yellow and half blue. Some of the Europeans pilots showed up as well and were the only ones to tear down an airblade crashing in the water. Dan Raymond also showed up today swooping his JVX and we hear he actually lives in Colorado now. In addition, Ian Drennan (DZ.com moderator) and team Fasttrax are here training.

The winds were up and down throughout the day with occasional showers in short bursts. At 6:00pm we are still skydiving with swoopers training on the pond. The Speed and Accuracy course is up with only the entry gates for distance. The remaining gates for distance are going up in the morning. All the photos and some videos from today are up in the swoop week gallery.

Swoop Week Aug 22nd

Another good day of weather here at Mile hi Skydiving. Competitors that are here early have been training on the pond all day out of the twin otters. Most of the pilots have been training freestyle but a set of inflatable gates is also on the water for training. 

We are in the process of putting the final touches on a new "breakaway" gate system that swings back into place after a blade strike. The new system reduces the set up time during the competition and allows for less force when struck by a competitor. The new breakaway gates will be used for the speed course and the entry gate of other events. The standard inflatable gates will be used for the courses of all other events.

We have purchased more sand for our pond than any other DZ in history. We have brought in hundreds and hundreds of tons of sand for the exit side of the pond for the Distance, Accuracy & Freestyle events. Check out more photos and video from the day's activities in our gallery link on the right side of the Swoop Week Blog. 

Swoop Week Aug 21st

See photo gallery link on the right

The weather is nice again today with clear skies and calm winds. Competitors are training at the pond jumping out of the twin otter and king air. The venue is coming right along with our staff working to get everything ready before this weekend. Currently we have two large packing tents, a hay bail barrier, spectator bleachers, judging building and porta jons. We have even made a custom canopy dryer so competitors who get wet can get dry between rounds (see pic in gallery). Most of the competitors are practicing freestyle with only a single gate in the water at this time. Full courses do not go up until Friday and Saturday.

Swoop Week Aug 19th

The weather today was epic with no clouds and no wind nearly all day. Competitors are here practicing freestyle in the pond. The building for our judges has been moved over to the pond today with some of the bleachers. There will be more practicing tomorrow starting early morning. If you haven't registered online and paid the discounted rate for registration then now is the time. Weather is looking good for tomorrow.

Posted with LifeCast

Swoop Week Training

Our training week started yesterday at the pond here at Mile Hi Skydiving with 15 loads. The pond is full, the sand is soft and the packing tents are up. Competitors will be training at the pond again today (Aug 19th) and will meet at manifest around 9:00am.

We have all the haybails in place outlining the parking and camping area. Over the next few days we will be adding bleachers, the judges building, PD tents and more. If you haven't registered online yet then now is the time why it cost less. Practice jumps are cheaper all this week before Swoop Week.

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Swoop Week jump prices

All practice jumps made between August 18-24th will cost $20 ($16 with $4 fuel surcharge) and all competition jumps will be $22 ($16 with $6 fuel surcharge). The registration fee for the USPA Nationals of Canopy Piloting will cost $175 and all other registration will be $200. For more information please visit http://www.swoopweek.com/register.html

Twitter reports going out

Twitter updates for Swoop Week are already being sent out as scheduled. If our daily blog is not enough info then you can always sign up for a free Twitter account and receive reports from us in real-time as they happen!

We will be sending out "tweets" and making daily blogs for all the days leading up to the main events. Find out who shows up early, who's doing the most jumps, how practice is going, rumors and more.

just sign up for your own Twitter account and follow http://www.twitter.com/swoopweek to receive updates on your mobile device.

Posted with LifeCast

Canopy Cup award

The Pro Swooping Tour along with Mile Hi Skydiving will carry on the tradition of awarding the "Canopy Piloting Cup" to the winner of this years PST championships. This will be the third year in a row the cup has been awarded to the overall best performing competitor.

The canopy cup is a huge trophy that stays on display at Mile Hi Skydiving for all to see. Each winners name is engraved on a plate located on the base of the cup. The cup has already been awarded to pro pilots Jeffro Provenzano and Jay Moledzki.

New detailed schedule available!

Swoop Week has a new detailed schedule online at the following link...

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pcjnERqOJrZBf_h96h7LTNQ

Showers, snacks and wireless internet!

Due to the Denverconvention2008 that is in town during Swoop Week most of the hotels are either booked up or going for $300-500 a night! There are still a rooms available for less if you are willing to drive 20-30 minutes to hotels between towns.

In an effort to make things as easy and cheap as possible for competitors and visiting guests the DZ is providing a large camping area near the swoop pond and allowing you to sleep in the manifest building. The main building (hanger) has carpet along with showers, vending machines and wireless internet access.

For more information about any of this please contact the DZ directly at 303-SKYDIVE (702-9911).

Follow Swoop Week with Twitter

The staff of Swoop Week will be making hourly posts daily about everything going on at the events. People can sign up for a free Twitter account and the follow the "tweets" of user name "SwoopWeek". If you already have an account then follow www.twitter.com/swoopweek". You can use Twitter on your desktop computer, laptop, iphone or other mobile devices!

We are making daily posts now and these will increase as we get closer to the main events!

Good Morning America at Swoop Week

The popular TV show "Good Morning America" will be at Swoop Week on Friday and Saturday during the Pro Swooping Tour championships. With a viewership of over 3,080,000 viewers GMA will cover the action and interview competitors in a attempt to give viewers the feel for swooping including some possible live camera and audio feeds from a one of our competitors in flight.

Do you wanna see and hear what a live feed under canopy sounds like? See this video of the JVX 37 docking with a wing suit on the Today show on the homepage at www.canopypiloting.com

More info on Good Morning America...

Good Morning America (GMA) is a morning news show that is broadcast on the ABC television network, debuting on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour, available exclusively on ABC News Now, was introduced in 2007. The current one-hour weekend edition debuted in 2004.

The show features news, talk, weather, and special interest stories. It is produced live from Times Square Studios in New York City and fed to all network affiliates. The program is currently hosted by Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts. Longtime anchor Charles Gibson left the program on June 28, 2006 to become the lead anchor of ABC World News.

GMA has traditionally run second in the ratings to NBC's Today, but overtook its rival for a period from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s under its most popular anchor team of Gibson and Joan Lunden. GMA has won both of the first two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Morning Program, sharing the 2007 award with Today and winning outright in 2008.

Roll call

Do you want to see who's already pre-registered for Swoop Week? Do you want to see who's flying which canopies and what size? Do you wanna be better prepared for the big event?

http://www.swoopweek.com/register.html

US Secret Service at Swoop Week

Secret Service at Swoop Week
POSTED August 1, 5:48 PM

I just read that the Secret Service gave the okay for skydiving at our airport.

I wonder if anyone from the Secret Service has ever gone "swooping?" Do they even let the Secret Service go skydiving? Is it in their contract that they can't do something as fun as skydiving? Are they even allowed to jump out of an airplane and yell "woo-hoo"?

Because the DNC will be under heightened security, our Longmont airport and it's skydiving company Mile-Hi Skydiving (which hosts the "swooping" competition during the same time as the DNC) had to get clearance from the Secret Service to have airplanes flying with people jumping out of them.

I, and my general aviation flying family, have always been an advocate of our local airport here in Longmont. I'm also among the group of people who can say that not only have I flown in a small airplane, but I've jumped out of one as well. I've written about our flying adventures here at Examiner as well as written one of our city councilwomen (who also has skydived) about promoting tourism linked to Vance Brand Airport.

I'd also like to think that the former owner of Mile-Hi Skydiving and friend of ours, Jeff Sands (who passed away in 2003) would have gotten a big kick out of the DNC coming to Colorado. He would have been buzzing the DNC in his well known helicopter with a bullhorn as part of the protests if this hadn't been approved by the Secret Service or else dropping in on Invesco Field with his American flag (as pictured above).

So, if the Secret Service had shut down the skydiving and "swooping" out of Vance Brand Airport in Longmont, one of our local aviation activities for visitors wouldn't have the chance to be spotlighted. I'll have to call Mile-Hi Skydiving to see how many Secret Service personnel they will be required to have at the event to stand around behind their dark shades and report over their little earpiece mic's that "Yes, I can confirm that all people who went up in the plane have come down with their parachutes in this vicinity. Roger that. No one has been reported "swooping" in on the DNC."

Brigette Rodriguez
Longmont Examiner

http://www.examiner.com/x-517-Longmont-Examiner~y2008m8d1-DNC-Secret-Service-Oks-Skydiving-at-Airport