Friday Freakout: Skydiver Nearly Impacts Mountain!
Holy &$@%, this is scary! This video should emphasize the importance of a proper spot... especially over mountains. Audidbles and AADs didn't help in this situation because they were set for a landing area at a much lower altitude. There has been some debate over whether he should've used his reserve (textbook emergency procedure) instead of his main (instinct). Thoughts? Watch Video »
Friday Freakout: April Fool's Edition
Today’s April Fool’s edition of Friday Freakout is a collection of bloopers, mishaps and malfunctions over the years. This is dedicated to all the skydivers and BASE jumpers who are determined to “die another day.” Mark Twain once said, “Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not... Watch Video »
Premature Parachute Opening on Exit
This is an older clip from Fonsz Kriegsman at Skydive Teuge in the Netherlands. His buddy on the 4-way team has a premature opening on exit. Now I know some of you might be thinking — why didn’t he cut-away to get back into formation? Or was that just a really high hop and pop?... Watch Video »
WARNING: Never Exit The Plane Too Early!
This is definitely not the type of video “we should all learn from”… the spot was off, he didn’t present himself into the wind on exit, his arch was terrible, his Dytter was set for the wrong altitude and he landed on the runway. Now I know there are some BASE jumpers out there who... Watch Video »
BASE Jumper Almost Collides With Building
X Games gold medalist and Red Bull-sponsored Valery Rozov BASE jumps off a 380-foot (116 meters) commercial bank in Karachi, Pakistan. Unfortunately, due to high cross-winds, the jump didn’t quite go according to plan. Luckily Valery avoids a collision with the building; it could’ve been much worse. Watch Video »
Friday Freakout: Student Cypres Save WITH Instruct...
Aside from this kid looking all sorts of awkward in freefall, this instructor should be fired. There’s no excuse for both a student and an instructor losing altitude awareness. The last alti check seems to be at 0:37 by the student and at, umm, never by the instructor before the student pulls his main and... Watch Video »
Skydiver Flies Straight Into Blimp
Just when you think you’ve seen everything. This guy could’ve landed anywhere on the DZ but flies his canopy straight into the side of a giant MetLife blimp… and walks away without a scratch. What do you think: target fixation, asleep at the toggles or just a little, um, slow? Watch Video »
Close Call With Swooper on Final Approach
Trond Teigen had a close call at Skydive Empuriabrava in Spain… a swooper comes straight at him on the final leg. If anything, learn from this mistake and remember to follow your DZ’s landing pattern to avoid close calls like this; it could’ve been a lot worse! Trond is also a photographer; you can find... Watch Video »
Friday Freakout: Cutaway Handle Pulled On Exit
The look on this guy’s face is priceless when he finds out his friend has accidentally pulled his cutaway handle on exit. He has no choice but to go for a ride on his reserve; a safe landing and a funny mug shot in an otherwise scary situation. How many reserve rides have you had? Watch Video »
Friday Freakout: Skydiving Instructor Fail... 2 + ...
I feel bad for this skydiving instructor who was fired for making a mistake, a fairly big mistake – forgetting to connect two of the four attachment points on the student’s harness (although he did manage to connect them in freefall before the drogue was deployed). Then again, I also feel like he should be... Watch Video »