Missing the boogie

DJan (in purple) with Arizona Airspeed December 2004

For many years starting in the early 1990s, I would head to Skydive Arizona about this time of year, without fail. It was my skydiving vacation, and I would usually make anywhere from 35 to 40 jumps in five to seven days. I started going there before I had even met Smart Guy, and then he started going with me. We would stay in a tent on the Drop Zone to save money and use the communal showers and never leave the area for the entire time. Skydivers call these festivals "boogies."

In 2004, I won a raffle jump, which I had entered every day, year after year. The winner of the raffle would get the chance to jump with the best skydivers in the world, Arizona Airspeed. I always thought that if I won, I would give my slot to any of my friends who would appreciate it more than me (since I was never a competitive jumper). But when I actually won, nobody could have torn that skydive away from me, I really looked forward to it! This surprised me as much as anybody.

We rode up in the Twin Otter together, just the five of us (with the cameraman) in a plane that usually holds 23 skydivers. They thanked me for my continued support of their endeavors and then we lined up in the door and exited.

It was some of the best fun I've ever had. We made 26 different formations in the sky (called points) before it was time to separate and open our chutes. They were throwing me from one place in the sky to another, and I couldn't believe how fast we would transition from one move to the next. If I were there this year, I would definitely be buying more raffle tickets!

After the jump

The thing is, I rarely miss those days, even though I even considered going to Arizona for the boogie this year. But I decided to stay home and remember with lots of love the days of boogie jumping. Here's a link to this year's boogie where they entice skydivers to come and party. Oh, not to mention having some fun jumping, too. When I was an instructor, I used the money I made during the year to afford the expense, which is not a small amount. The last five years or so that we attended, we would drive from Boulder and stay in a hotel instead of camping out. It made a huge difference in our comfort level. After a day playing in the sky and making five or six jumps, we would head to a comfortable bed instead of a tent.

When I look at these pictures, I can remember the views from under my canopy, the smell of the air, and the people who became as close as family. I would see the same skydivers year after year, from all over the world, and I'd go back home tired, but refreshed and renewed. I still miss the Holiday boogie at Eloy, Arizona.
:-)