United Parachute Club, PA June 7th

by Laura Ausel

In spite of an iffy weather forecast, the camp began with a good omen. Frank brought me a "new" Prodigy 150 to try out. Ahhh, at last! I'd hoped, begged, nagged for the 150's to be built and waited for so long that all I wanted to do at first was hug it. Yippeee!! Then, in a moment of lunacy, I thought "Well...why waste the pack job on my 175. I'll put the 150 in for the second dive." At that point, Aleth said "Are you CRAZY???" & I saw the light and wasted the pack job. It was a good thing, and it was a good dive. Ted, Frank, Doug and I went up and did a 4-way dive. My skinny body has never caught a 4-way anything with such ease! It means learning some different (for me, anyway) techniques, but I'm DEFINITELY not complaining! Chico showed up while we were packing, and joined us for the next dive on a 3 point 5 way. What a sweet dive! And it would've been sweeter if I hadn't brain-locked a couple times. Amazement does strange things sometimes...

Saturday dawned a little foggy, but soon cleared revealing who'd rolled in during the night. Dan & Eduardo (regular DQ attendees), Kathy Dyer from North Carolina, Steve Cannistra, Remo, and Tom (Casper) and Keith from the Scranton area. From the local area we had myself, Carolyn, Ted and Frank (of course!), and Doug Scherbarth. Total we had about 14 jumpers there with a range of skills. Carolyn and Kathy, both low timers, got to work on base-pin and lockup positions, and Doug did a great job flying some wings. Even though not all dives built to completion everyone gained good experience, whether it was echelons, slot-swooping (yes, the Slot Swooping Sluts were out in full force!), or the finer points in docking or flying your slot. The jump day ended on a sour note, however, when the left side of a building 12-way got light right before Frank called for breakdown. Doug, Eduardo, and Remo ended up in a twirly and all three cut away. Fortunately, all gear except for 2 cutaway pillows was recovered.

Sunday was overcast, gloomy, and hot, and since many folks had long drives, we broke up early. Not without trying to make a leap or two - we even got to 2,500 feeet once - but it just didn't seem to be in the cards. Still, we're having fun and getting better. See you at the next camp!