It’s no secret that more and more people are turning to giving gifts of experiences instead of material things.

USPA has selected Shanon Searls as its new Director of Sport Promotion, succeeding Nancy Koreen, who has served in this position for 10 years. Searls’ start date is December 17.

Results are in for the special election to fill the vacancy for the Central Region seat on the USPA Board of Directors.

Photo by Laszlo Andacs | D-22468

John Skinner wears a bright and color-coordinated outfit for a freefly jump at Skydive the Ranch in Gardiner, New York. 

Photo by Juan Mayer | D-26130

Olav Zipser, Waleed El-Malt, Ammar Mohamed and Wade Sutcliffe peek out the back of a C-130 Hercules while preparing to jump over the Great Pyramids of Giza during the Sky Seekers Boogie in Egypt.

Photo by Norman Kent | D8369

Konstantin Petrijcuk leads an angle-flying jump during the Jump for the Rose Pinkfest boogie at Skydive Spaceland–Houston in Rosharon, Texas, that raised money for breast-cancer clinic The Rose.

It’s hard to even imagine, but years ago USPA required jumpers to provide copies of their logbooks when they mailed in their applications for licenses and ratings.

“High Altitude, Low Pull”
Mixed media

Shelrie Houlton | D-35229
Merritt Island, Florida
shelriedawnsdesk@gmail.com

We spent nearly every weekend of my childhood at Skydive Pepperell. Paula, Devin, my father and I have grown as people and as skydivers together. Needless to say, we are family!

Sammy Vassilev began jumping in 1989 in Bulgaria, where he grew up around the sport. (His mother was a world champion.) He moved to the United States in 1991 and immediately began having an impact on the sport here as a talented skysurfer and camera flyer.

A 14-way flies over the Pyramid of Khafre during the Sky Seekers Boogie in Giza, Egypt.

Fellow jumpers at Sky Knights Sport Parachute Club in East Troy, Wisconsin, say goodbye to John Sullivan, D-25601, on an ash dive held during his memorial service that more than 100 of his friends, family and coworkers attended.

While many people go to the East Coast to see the fall colors, canopy formation skydivers know that the West Coast is the place to be for a truly incredible display, because that’s when Skydive Elsinore in California hosts its annual Fall From Planes event.

During the Carol Clay Birthday Boogie at Virginia Skydiving Center in Petersburg, jumpers celebrate the life of the jumper known to all as "the Queen" by making her honorary 20,000th skydive.

Niklas Daniel of AXIS Flight School at Skydive Arizona in Eloy demonstrates his edge-flying technique.

In early October, Skydive Spaceland celebrated the fifth anniversary of its now biannual Sport Accuracy Competition with its biggest one yet!

The Women’s Skydiving Network, an international network of more than 3,000 female skydivers, recently announced the launch of the WSN Pro team, an all-female skydiving demonstration team founded by professional skydivers Amy Chmelecki and Melanie Curtis.

On October 23, Advanced Aerospace Designs issued reminders of approaching deadlines for compliance with its last two service bulletins.

Skydive Arizona in Eloy kicked off its busy fall season with the Dia De Los Muertos Halloween Boogie October 25-28.

Skydive the Falls in Youngstown, New York, hosted its first Skydive the Falls Fest September 13-15.

At Skydive Perris in California, jumpers release the ashes of longtime California jumper Linda Hardesty, D-15263, and her father, Ted Hardesty.

Chicks certainly rocked this year at Skydive Elsinore in California during its 19th annual Chicks Rock Boogie.

A herd of unicorns (Michelle Hart, Karla Katherine, Jeannette Copeland and Marina Prokopenko) takes to the skies at the Aeronautrixx Unicorn Boogie, a Sisters in Skydiving event at Skydive California in Tracy.

The Aviation Trail Parachute Museum in Dayton, Ohio, joined other aviation organizations at the first Festival of Flight at Wright State University on October 5.

Marian Sparks (center) founder of the breast cancer charity Jump for the Rose, makes a pink-bra-clad skydive with (from left) Marshall Madden, Greg Armstrong, Patie Duttlinger and James Davis during the Jump for the Rose Pinkfest Boogie at Skydive Spaceland–Houston in Rosharon, Texas.

On October 3, a historic 74-year-old Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress known as Nine-O-Nine (after its military serial number 42-31909) crashed and subsequently caught fire in Connecticut during a living-history flight, killing seven of the 13 people on board, including the pilot and copilot.

Members of the Parachutists Over Phorty Society and its many subgroups gathered at Skydive Spaceland–Houston in the quaint Texas town of Rosharon October 2-6 to compete in the annual POPS National Championships and Jumpers Over Seventy Record Attempts.

On back-to-back loads organized by T.J. Hine at Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, Illinois, Doug Janssen (left photo, red helmet), C-46750, celebrates his 2,000th jump and Larry Stein (right photo, blue jumpsuit with black grippers), D-9016, celebrates his 5,000th jump.