With the jumping plans for the day squashed by bad weather, Atlanta Skydiving Center’s 8th Annual Christmas Party started early on Saturday as more than 150 skydivers, friends and family turned out for the potluck dinner, White Elephant Gift Exchange and after-hours activities. This remains our biggest gathering and party of the year…what a night!

The 2-way relative work competition slated for Saturday morning morphed itself into a 2-way creeper competition when it became clear Mother Nature was refusing to cooperate. We had 16 skydivers compete to earn prizes from Alti-2, National Skydiving League, Atlanta Skydiving Center, Bev Suits, Performance Designs, Aerodyne, Skydivegear.com, Mirage Systems and Skyventure Orlando! A great big thanks goes out to our judging crew of Mike, Allison and Henry as well as the dive engineering from Brian and GT Airlock.

Here are the final results from the 3-round creeper competition:

1st: Omar and Shane, 72 points
2nd: Brian and Ryan, 60 points
3rd: Jesse and Mike, 55 points
4th: Scott and Paul, 50 points
5th: Adam and Nate, 45 points
6th: Laura and Phil, 43 points
7th: Nicole and Rachael, 39 points
8th: Jessica and Chuck, 27 points

The in-air portion of the 2-way RW competition has been rescheduled for Saturday, Jan. 15. The same format and rules will apply. We will make a new draw of formations at sunset on January 14, 2005. See the ASC Skydiver Forums for more information. All competitors must bring sunshine this time!

The party’s potluck dinner was amazing as usual. Adam and Katie fried up four turkeys while our local skydivers really showed off their baking skills. The desserts were absolutely delicious. Thanks to all who contributed beverages to the party as Justin’s run to Hiram for a keg came up short, but we were never in short supply all night. Wahoo!

Mark Kalupa played several “end-of-the-year” videos on the projector as Nate Fisher of WREK 91.1 broadcast his EBM Sound System show from Atlanta Skydiving Center during the White Elephant Gift Exchange. A DVD writer and case of Red Bull were two of the hotter gifts this year. Meanwhile, the scene of the night was a streaking Sunman through ASC’s building!

The ASC Christmas Party lasted well into the night, as this writer didn’t leave until well after 2 a.m. Good times!!! Photos from Blythe Jordan and Jim Vance will be posted here soon. A link to photos taken by Shane Migliore can be found in the ASC Skydiver Forums.

By the time the sun rose on Sunday, we were ready to skydive. The weather was perfect! We added another experienced skydiver to our midst as Todd Barrett graduated ASC’s student skydiving program on Sunday! Nice job Todd! We look forward to seeing you out at ASC on a regular basis as we help you work on that A License from the United States Parachute Association.

Atlanta Skydiving Center extends a huge thanks to everyone who donated to Toys for Tots this year. The bin full of toys will be delivered to those children in need this week.

Chuting Star Rigging Loft registered save number 164 this week with a successful reserve deployment in South Africa. Former Inviscid 4-way team member Alex Jordaan, who recently moved back home from Florida to South Africa, had to cutaway his main from severe, self-induced line twists at about 1500 feet on Monday. Don’t try this at home…or at ASC!

“At about 1500ft I decided to do a rear riser turn, albeit an aggressive one. I had been practicing this earlier in the day and was keen to learn a few new things,” Alex wrote in an e-mail. “Anyway, initiating the turn directly out of deep brakes resulted in muchos line twists and a spiraling malfunction that left quite an impression on the 45-jump student behind me. I cut it immediately and your pack job was open with a few hundred feet to spare.”

Make sure to check out the 2005 Events Calendar for ASC. It is now posted on the web site. Our first event of the year is January 1, 2005 as lift tickets will be $15 all day long to celebrate the New Year!

All of us at ASC wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We hope all of you get some much-needed relaxation over the holidays with friends and family. We are open through the holidays, so come jump when you get a break from the “relative work.”

View Chistmas Party Photos

Skydiving.com
www.skydiving.com