Weekend of Skydiving at Burnaby

An exciting weekend of skydiving and happenings at the drop zone. There was:

• a wedding proposal and she said “YES”  ~~ first time tandem student, Marko, made a sign for his beloved’s tandem jump, so that, either under canopy or on the ground, she would see the question ‘Will you Marry Me?”. She was overjoyed. What a brilliant moment!
• 1 lost dog ~~ Local jumpers J+J quickly adopted this stray, the 2nd of their rescue canines. Somewhat brave considering J is about to have their first child!
• the drawing of blood for Boz by one of his Tandem students ~~ Boz had a student who freaked out for the entire skydive, kicking and maintaining a death grip on his hands, drawing blood from Boz. At pull time, she would not let go, so he had no choice but to bite her, twice, in the hopes she would release him for pull time. I suppose it was either that or a head butt. We’ll have to get him a sticker for the bottom of his shoes (when he wears them) that says ‘Bite Me’ :).
• a golf cart mishap in which slaDE was thrown off the back by the Otter pilot who was driving it ~~ As slaDE was being transported back to the hangar from his tandem jump (rig and canopy in hand), Trevor somehow swerved enough to send a surprised slaDE careening off the back, on to his back, a quick PLF saving him from injury. Trevor deserves a sticker that says: “I can drive a mean Otter, but stick me in a golf cart, and your ass is toast”
• a tandem student that passed out on slaDE~ under canopy ~~ Luckily she came to just before landing, but he still had to do a ‘tandem PLF’ with this 6 foot beauty.
• a baby bird taking it’s first flight ~~ Can’t say I’ve ever seen that before. First attempt, the fledgling basically fell out of the tree, but a kind skydiver fetched him with a stick and gently placed him back on his tree branch to try yet again. Mama bird was squawking like crazy!
• a first yoga class for skydivers here at the dz, taught by slaDE and myself ~~ Good fuN and possibly a growing trend here!

Personally, I met up with some old skydiving friends whom I haven’t seen in years. Was great seeing and visiting with them all! Many were part of the Guy Wright Invitational 20 Way jumps. Yes, belly flyers … that’d be my homies :). Alas, it was a social weekend for me, despite my desire to get much needed admin and tax paperwork done. Wow, am I ever good at this procrastination thing!