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.

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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