 Have
you ever dreamt of having your own drop zone? Imagine two Super Otters ready to
fly up to 12,500 ft at your beckon call. Who of your friends would you invite
to come over and play?
On November 26-28, 2004 in beautiful southern California, 24 talented skydivers
from across the country who were invited by Chris Fiala of Elsinore Eclipse came
ready to play. The 2nd annual Vertical Challenge hosted by Skydive Elsinore is
an invitational event focusing on building exciting vertical formations with dives
planned for day and night jumps. This year’s event was organized by Dave
Brown of the PD Factory Team and Fiala. Despite cold weather on the second day
which drove other skydivers home, the group did twelve skydives together, flew
two hours of tunnel time, all while having fun and a lot of laughs.
FRIDAY’S KICK-OFF
In the morning of the first day, a light fog wrapped itself around
the drop zone. This was turning out to be a California minus the advertised warmth
and sunshine. Each participant was welcomed by friendly but cold faces. Chris
Fiala made an announcement at 830am for everyone to assemble. Piling out of warm
team rooms, the snack bar, and away from gas heaters, everyone introduced themselves.
It was amazing to hear where everyone had traveled from to be here at the event.
Bill Halsey from Lodi, Cliff Heller from Hollister, Dave Brown from Connecticut,
Chris & Sara Combs from Ohio, Georgia skydivers Kyle Starck, Eric Deran, &
John Pinyon, California locals Chris Johnston , Jessica Mckellar, & Stan Gray
where among those in attendance.
The plan, wheels up at 9am to launch a full day of jumps and
later that night two hours of tunnel time. Two groups of 12 where to take on dives
with varying difficulty, levels, and points. Dave and Chris started to pick teams.
Instantly the situation turned elementary school playground with nobody wanting
to be picked last. With each organizer briefing the dive formation of multiple
levels, two new shapes appeared on the creeper area drawing attention. Visiting
British skydivers looked on puzzled at the type of dirt dives we were rehearsing.
Once the sun burned off the fog, the otters fired up. The pace
was great with successive 20 minute then 40 minute calls with each group attempting
the planned dive at least twice. Each group was on different otters all day so
it was rare that we actually saw what the other was attempting. We cheered and
jeered as we passed, one group loading and the other returning from the landing
area. Camera flyers Leon Toson and Peter Galli each fire-wired great looking video
and stills of the jumps onto a master tape then their lap tops. Right after the
first jump I knew that not only did we have a talented group of skydivers but
each dive was definitely challenging. Dave Brown’s group built a beautiful
piece with a four-way flower base and stingers. They skillfully turned out four
points! Fiala’s group built an exciting multi-layered formation, a three
leveled dual round. Several head up flyers were base, with Fiala bridging the
two rounds in a sit. Toson’s digital photo drew high fives with talk of
its destiny to be published in Parachutist.
As the sunset turned the sky crimson at 5:00pm and the beer light
was turned on everyone grabbed a seat to watch the days videos on the huge projection
screen next to the tiki bar. Each jump video was met with cheers, hollering, and
the occasional heckling for going low. The admiration and enjoyment of watching
what had accomplished that day fueled us all with an anticipation for the next
days skydives. New friendships started to form and our entire group was defiantly
having a blast as we left the DZ.
TUNNEL NIGHT VISION
At 8:00pm the first group of tunnel rats hit the flight chamber.
John Chism, David Gershfeld, and myself took to flight with our guest Mike Ortiz
for an amazing session. David jumped in first and blew everyone away with the
his ease and fluidity. He called out Mike Ortiz who hopped in and the two carved
up the tunnel head down. Both John and David flew feet down docked, busting opposite
360s, then re-docking. On my turn I called David into the air. He carved on his
head while docking on me flying on my back. I spun out a 720 and he turned a 360,
we re-docked and started to carve again. It was a wicked trick that got a cheer
from the bleachers.
The next group Eric Deren, Kyle Starck, John Pinyon, Fiala, and their guest Mike
Swanson started their session with a blur of spins both head up and down. John
and Kyle busted a difficult feet to head docked joker from off the net. Fiala
and Brown clowned around by chasing each other. Fiala in a no look sit carve spanking
his bottom and Brown chasing him in a hang ten stand carve. Jules Christensen,
Kirby Hughes, Bill Halsey, John Chism, and myself were watching from the bleachers
just outside the tunnel laughing. The entire group poured into the tunnel for
a six way sit carve. After a few minutes the fans stalled and bodies started raining
to the net. Times up.
A FOUL SATURDAY
We all showed up on time at 730am. A dense fog greeted us. Our
optimism that the sun would again burn off the clouds to reveal a beautiful blue
sky kept us upbeat at least for awhile. New teams where again picked and Chris
Fiala distributed two fine ball caps with the word HOMIE ironed on the front.
The Homie hat was explained as a symbol of humility worn by the skydiver who bested
everyone for doing the unthinkable on a dive, like going low. The plan today was
to fly five skydives as groups than later two night jumps.
Twelve noon came and went without the weather clearing. We did
get to see some attention getting sucker holes. But at 130pm the group voted to
call it and the beer light was again on. Ashley Lombardo and Fiala served everyone
an amazing meal in the spirit of Thanks Giving. Warm potatoes, turkey, gravy,
honey ham, green beans, and Sweet potatoes tickled everyone’s stomach.
Local Andy Malchoidi invited everyone back to his house on the
north side of the lake. Fiala brought his turn tables, Jim Harris, Ty and Cliff
grabbed the keg and off we went in a caravan of cars. Malchoidi entertained us
with a sneak peak at his latest movie “Counter Parts” due for a 2005
DVD release. It brought the group to a roaring laughter and an ovation when it
finished. Peter plugged in his video camera and shared some breathtaking flying
from Guano. David Gershfeld’s Flyboyz film festival entry “Hybrid
tunnel Project” was thrown in the DVD player. Mouths dropped watching him
fly head down with a four way turning points.
Ty Losey grabbed our attention and pointed to the sky. The moon was shining bright
through larger and larger holes as the skies started to open up. “Call time
is 730 am” I shouted. The excitement of tomorrow’s good outlook for
weather danced in our dreams that night.
SUNNY SUNDAY
Another on time group of freeflyers at 730am. Thankfully there
was no fog, just beautifully clear blue skies. A very cold wind picked up and
most everyone were bundled up. Eric Deren decided to wear his leather jacket for
the jumps to keep warm looking like Michael Knight from “knight rider”.
We were the only ones at the drop zone making it a surreal fantasy that this was
our playground. At 8am we were wheels up! The plan was to start in our groups
from the previous day to attempt Saturdays dive then formation loads attempting
a Big-O.. The level of disciplined flying needed for the big ways was evident
after the first jump. Praise and the Homie hats where given out at the debriefs.
Brown and Fiala organized the first of three formation loads.
Finally, the entire talent and skill of the group would be challenged. Right before
wheels up the wind meter was at 23 mph but there were no objections or requests
to bump. I admired the commitment, resilience, and courage of the group as we
charged through the cold wind. As the planes pulled into a tight formation at
15,000ft we climbed out. The timing of the exit was great, the base launched cleanly
and all of the trail plane divers hit the afterburners to close the distance quickly.
As each stinger came and docked on the six way base I looked around to see everyone
flying their slot. Only a few people didn’t make it in by 5500 ft. On break
off each lane had safely tracked off. In the debrief I was welcomed by an enthusiastic
spirit among the skydivers.
After our second attempt the winds which had been steady, gusted
up to 39 mph! It was time to sit this one out. As we went on hold, taking shelter
from the cold made the outside scarce of people. Hot coco and soup heated our
bodies back to normal in the snack shop. In the early afternoon the winds calmed
to a steady 24mph so once again we suited up for a dirt dive. As we mocked up
the lead plane it was apparent that every other skydiver was home except us. The
cold had driven them off. It was so desolate that a tumble weed poetically blew
across the landing area to our delight. Our third attempt proved to be our last
formation load. Again the timing of the exit was fantastic. Watching the trail
plane divers POV really impressed the rest of us with the distance and speed they
covered. The base had trouble flying straight and the slight turn proved to difficult
for everyone to get in. The debrief video was a great tool to learn from and it
really brought home the large scope of what we were attempting. A sense of satisfaction
was unanimous with our skydives.
By the days end the cold had gotten to everyone. Fiala called
an early sunset big-way out of the otter. Sitting as the plane climbed to altitude,
I looked around to see cold but smiling faces. We had set out to have fun with
each other, we bonded and became the Vertically Challenged. Fitting that the last
jump of the event was in our plane from our drop zone, with our friends.
THE VERTICALLY CHALLENGED
Chris Fiala
Dave Brown
Leon Tosen
Peter Galli
Ty Losey
Bill Halsey
Robby Bigley
Kirby Hughes
Julie Christensen
Jessica McKellar
David Gershfeld
Jim Harris
Cliff Heller
Kyle Starck
Andrew Staich
Eric Deren
Chris Combs
Sarah Combs
Chris Johnston
Andy Malchoidi
Jonathan Pinyon
Greg Compton
Stan Gray
John Chism
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