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.

Posted with LifeCast

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!