AFF to A level

From students to...erm....novices

2010-05-06T04:38:00.000-07:00

"Your new rig is in my car! You're ready to go!! :)" This I just picked up from my messageservice - and it dawned on me: the season is now, and we are like these little birds ready to leave the nest without any assistance. That is, being in Voss there is always assistance when you need it so no need to feel unsafe or unsure. However, it truly is exiting that all three of us are sticking to it - we all have our own rigs and we are determined to skydive as much as possible. To learn, progress and enjoy. This blog having been from our time as students, I have decided that this next step in our journey deserves a blog of its own. So from now on you can follow our progress here at our brand new blog exitvoss.blogspot.com

Documentary from AFF course in Voss

2009-12-29T02:24:00.001-08:00

The Norwegian channel NRK1 has made a documentary from an AFF course this summer (no, it was not us unfortunately ; ). This is the promo, the whole program can be viewed here.

Strange feeling

2009-09-03T03:41:00.000-07:00

it surely was, to see Bømoen deserted Sunday night. The rain was pouring down and the whole place looked somewhat sad. However, even if the season is officially over - there is still skydiving at Bømoen at chosen weekends. Hopefully we will get another weekends worth of jumping before it is time to swap the rig with the snowboard. Many warm thanks to all the excellent people at Bømoen, that made this summer one of the best ever! Dag, Ane, Marius, Bec, Sophie, Amy, Endre, Henning, Bart, Dan, Steve, Delphin and all the rest of you! Cannot wait for next year :)

Amazing Voss

2009-06-22T05:36:00.000-07:00

This day has been one of those days. Meaning? Well, in Voss that always means AMAZING! Me and Birte did two jumps, my first/second solo and Birtes second/third. My head is still way up there in the sky, my face still holds that smile. Meeting everyone again gave the feeling of coming home. Ekstremsportveko, Voss, Bømoen and all the fine people here makes life the best it can be. First year with a participant ticket to Veko :)

Our week at Voss

2009-06-19T11:07:00.000-07:00

Then we came to the end

2009-05-31T15:03:00.001-07:00

Leaving Bømoen today was really difficult. After having spent a week there, we were completely wrapped in the "Bømoen bubble" - the world around ceases to exist. Going back to everyday life is always a bit hard after having experienced something really special. It is never about seing new things - but always how you may see the same things in a different way. We've all had moments and experiences that made us look at things from another angle, another view. This week in Bømoen was another one of those, but maybe the most life changing so far. It has been an amazing week, and I know we'll be back as much as we can - this is only the beginning of the journey to come. That I am sure of. Thanks to everyone at Bømoen and Voss Fallskjermklubb. Great staff, great people, great skydiving and a fantastic week! Without a doubt I promise - who ever you are - you would never regret doing a skydiving course at Bømoen. If you ask me, it should be mandatory ;)

We passed!!

2009-05-30T09:27:00.000-07:00

Today me and Birte passed our skydiving course! :) Dived out with head first, amazing feeling. The immense joy of diving out so high above the ground - best jump so far! So we got our congrats over the speaker, hugs came flowing and our faces pulled out the biggest grinn ever! Now we are going to celebrate, and maybe we'll go for a solo jump tomorrow. At the end of the day - we're on our own now! Couldn't be happier. Also, this place...I mean, we all loved Voss already - staying here as often as we can. But Bømoen and its staff, hangarounds and people: What can I say, it might just be the best place ever! Two weeks and we'll be back for more jumping!

The best week of our lives:)

2009-05-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

This week has been the best. I cannot explain - but our minds are on nothing else than Bømoen, the atmosphere, the people - and best of all: the amazing skydiving. In just 6 jumps we have progressed so much, today me and B did backflip tumbles and got steady right away. Now we are more relaxed, we fly on our own, we enjoy the view - and we have a wicked time! We will be spending many weekends here in Bømoen this year - that's for sure. We are just grinning away. And hey, guess what we did today - we climbed out onto the outside of a tiny Cesna aircraft, 12 000 feet up in the sky - and we let go and watched the aircraft disappear. I apologize for the language but all we have to say now is: BLOODY AMAZING!

Challenge of the day - small aeroplane!

2009-05-29T04:34:00.000-07:00

This is the aircraft we are jumping from today....to exit you need to climb out onto the wheel with your left foot, having the other dangling by the side. Your arms grad the supportbar and you let go. Then, if this wasn't enough....we are doing backflips/sommersaults. Skydiving will never become boring, this I am sure of. Wish us luck...

Good day for skydiving I say!

2009-05-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

Today we have had 3 jumps, flying alone on 2 of them. My exits aren't exactly perfect, but Birte's have been really good! So she got to have a solo exit on Level 5, which was the last jump we did today. Me and Kim need to swap an arm and a leg, cause I struggle with my legs and he struggles slightly with his arms when turning. I have come to realize I love the canopy ride as much as I love the freefalling. We all did really well today - the day has been excellent! When in the aircraft a million thoughts run through your mind, every single thing revolves around the jump. How to exit, when to exit, where to look, how to position you legs, how far up to hold you arms, how deep the press, remember to check altitude, remember to do your 360 turns, remember to be all stabilized throughout the jump. It is really intens and we are proper knackered by the end.

When the Porter and its Italian pilots left, we mooned them by the runway - apparently a custom here in Bømoen. Then the Porter came back and swooped 2 meters off the ground just passed us. We have experienced and learned so much this week in Bømoen. People teach you so much stuff, everyone has had their moments, their experiences. It all comes down to 2 things: fly safe, fly fun. Tomorrow we are doing the exit from a small Cessna. There is only room for 4 jumpers, and the door isn't even a door, just a hatch on the side. So I think I will be doing quite a few tumbles tomorrow. What we are supposed to do is summersault. So, the day tomorrow will be really interesting...

At the moment I am sitting here updating this blog, the music is flowing alongside every corner of the building - we had a barbeque and a couple of pints, all together - students and staff. Oh, and I actually went flying with my "own" rig today - I packed it myself last night. It was an intense feeling to pull, feel the tug, look up and see the slider coming down and canopy opening properly.

Another case of beer

2009-05-27T11:19:00.000-07:00

There's a bit of waiting around in skydiving. Rain is one reason.

All we've done today is packing rigs. We've just about got enough preparation to try for the exam - so maybe tomorrow we will have a go at that. The last two days has done us good though, 14 hours hard work Sunday and two jumps the following day really put a strain on the body. Bruised and battered. Now we feel rested and really eager to get our third jump. Hopefully tomorrow will bring some sunshine so we may jump out of that aeroplane again. Tomorrow evening the beautiful white Porter will take off from Bømoen. But we got a small Cessna, so the weekend might be enough time for us to pass Level 7, and maybe also get a few solo jumps. Time will tell. Oh, and there was another case of beer today, being the third in 4 days. This time it was Nicolai that got his jump no 300. True, I did say no jumps today...but you do make exceptions and spite weather when the big 300 is dangling in front of you.

Another day with rain and no jumping

2009-05-27T05:42:00.000-07:00

Important to keep track of the rig in terms of packing. Last night the rigs we used for practice were marked for repacking.

This morning we woke up by Morcheba coming from the loudspeakers outside. Then a dark and loud voice calling: "This is Manifest, good morning! All students wake up!" In 5 minutes we were ready, but by looking up we knew there would be no jumping today either. Wherever you look are clouds - dark, grey and white. Another day of packing.

We have done some more packing, and drilling for Level 3. In a way Level 3 is the easiest, in another way the most crucial. This is when they let go and you have to fly on your own. The next levels will be very difficult to perform if you do not manage to stabilize properly and take care of yourself. So all thats going through my mind at the moment is "press, press, legs, instrument, press, relax, instrument" and so forth. Later on we're planning a little walk in the rain, just to clear our heads and calm down. It will be important to get a proper nights sleep tonight, so we are ready to skydive tomorrow morning. The weather forecast seems good for the next days, so most likely we will be able to do a few Levels tomorrow. The sommersaults are coming up in level 5 - 7, that will be the crucial test that we are able to get stabilized and take care of our selves up there doing 200 km/t (125 m/h).

Fly canopy, fly!

2009-05-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

You need good force to get the air out of the canopy folds before packing into the bag.

When we woke up this morning I felt musclepain where I did not believe muscles were supposed to be. On top of my ribs for instance. According to Birte I was doing a flyposition when I woke up. All three of us walk like we have one leg shorter than the other... Today it has been raining heavy nonstop so we have been packing rigs all day. Getting the canopy into the bag is a difficult task that requires good practice.

Tomorrow is another day of rain, so with some good practice we hope to pass the exam (for packing rig/parachute) by the afternoon. Thursday the sun's up again so we hope to get some jumping done then, hopefully the next two levels. Staying at Bømoen and Voss is excellent, even when the weather is bad. Yesterday we sat in front of the bonfire with a lager in hand - listening to skydivers and exchanging experiences with fellow students. Life is good!

Did we skydive? Yes we certainly did! :)

2009-05-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

"Hiya, here's the ticket, thanks." Birte says to the girls that are packing our parachutes. She continues: "What's your name?" One of the girls replies: "I'm Sophie" and the other one then replies "And I'm Amy". Birte smiles and says: "So, you're both called Amy?! Okay :)" Well, you can't get everything right in one day! Bless. We have had an awsome day, all three of us have passed our Level 1 and Level 2. First jump is so intens, we are stowed in a plane which is 1 meter broad and about 2.5 meter long. Everyone sitting really close together, some on a small bench and the rest on the floor by our feet. Then at 15 000 feet the door is opened and the plane is set on jump location. We see people in the plane getting ready to jump. One second they're there, the next they're gone. When ready we stand in the doorway - both our feet on a small step outside the door. Check in, check out, up, down and then you jump from the plane sideways with as much determination as possible. Then it is all about getting stability in the air whilst the wind and the noise tells you this is complete madness. Then checking altitude and performing tasks. At 6000 feet your eyes are fixed on the altimeter whilst pressing the body, legs and arm in stabile position. At 5 500 feet you press, reach and you pull. Then counting, feeling a slight jerk - looking up and with a smile say outloud "Fly!". If the parachute does not fly after 5 seconds then it is "No fly" and standard emergency procedure. We flew :) Freefalling was amazing, but flying was also truly amazing. And a whole lot easier than anticipated. On the Level two we had more tasks, not just dummy pulls - but also turns and forward flying.

Push, reach, pull!

2009-05-24T13:37:00.000-07:00

We teamed up at 7 this morning, all slightly sleepdeprived but eager to start. We have worked on emergency procedures and different scenarios and situations that may occur - all day. In fact, we have been at it for 14 hours nonstop (except for a few 5 min breaks and a lunch break). Our brains have completely shut down due to information overload and drilling of procedures. So most likely I have no idea what I am writing this very minute. For all I know I might already be asleep. Good thing is, we all passed our practical and theoretical exam today. So tomorrow we are ready for the level 1 jump. Which is a crazy idea, but also fantastic. Most likely we will do emergency procedures all night in our sleep. The only think running through my mind now are push, reach, pull, fly/no fly, look, release, release, fly and about twenty other commando words. I came to think about usabiliy in all this - the book called "Don't make me think!" Some of the point to all this work we did today was exactly that - do not think, but act. Obviously some thinking is always good, but the commandoes and responses needs to become instinct, not thought. Something to think about. Okay, you get the picture...we are way to knackered to write anything that would make sense now. So off to bed now. Will write more tomorrow. PS! We are very happy campers :)

Checked in to Bømoen Airport hotel

2009-05-23T14:35:00.000-07:00

We arrived Bømoen five minutes before schedule, meaning perfect timing! After a tour of the field and house, we checked in and signed all the official documents. Then it was off to the shops to get some food for the barbeque. Medical check took about an our with heavy breathing, hard work and a nice chat with the nice doctor. We are all officially fit enough to jump out of a plane! This place is an amazing one, good people and lots of knowledge. We've just finished a nice meal, two pints and a chat with a fellow student and his mate - and now we've been sent to bed. Which is slightly difficult as there are about 25 people sitting in front of a big bonfire with a beer in hand, right outside our window. Just earlier we soon figured what it means to be a fresher: someone shouted "kasse!" from somewhere and everyone jumped up and over the tables and ran for their lives. We just sat there and thought "what the hell..?". Then we learned our first skydiving code: Kasse means you have to buy a case of beer, set it out and shout "kasse" so the 24 first people on site get a free beer from you. Then they thank you and congratulate you, or whatever is suitable for the reason you put it there. This is apparently something we have to do when we graduate. We're in there mate! Now we need to get a good night sleep, as we start our training at 7 in the morning. We've been told it will be a long and painful day. But are we happy and psyched? Oh yes! Our hotelroom

The day before the day

2009-05-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

Normally when going to Voss, we pack an increadible amount of stuff in the car. This is due to the Extremsportsweek - which means we bring tents, outdoor equipment, bikes, portable stereos, canoes, food, blankets and anything that will fit in the car basically. All day both me and Birte have been wondering what it is we are forgetting. Got clothes, shoes, toothbrush and the essentials. Point is, we have become so used to being on Veko every year that we act on instinct the day before.

Guess all we need is ourselves and a bit of brains.

AFF skydiving course, Voss 2009

2009-05-20T10:24:00.001-07:00

Welcome to our blog! From 23rd May we will be at Bømoen just outside the centre of Voss, attending an AFF skydiving course. Seems just yesterday me and Birte stood outside the 7eleven in Stavanger stating we would do an AFF course. Six months has passed and now we are 3 people - 3 days from checking in at Bømoen. Tine, Birte and Kim.