Sisters In Skydiving event at Skydive Orange

SkyGoddesses descend upon Skydive Orange, June 7-8 2014

This year’s Sisters In Skydiving event at Skydive Orange in Virginia was appropriately themed ‘SkyGoddesses’, as on a sunny weekend in June, 22 fantastic women traveled to the friendly DZ for 2 days of fun jumps, parties, and mingling. Two-time national freestyle champion Merriah Eakins joined us from her home DZ of Skydive Twin Cities to load organize, along with talented local freeflier Lauren Demme, both of whom kept the Twin Otter full of excitable jumpers learning new skills and practicing current ones. Eakins also organized a ground course “beginners’ freestyle” class for some of the girls, who then went up to practice this elegant style of jumping – some more elegantly than others! Over the course of the weekend the women did Barbie doll jumps to revive Pink Mafia initiation traditions, and Women’s Star Crest Award attempts, in addition to fun belly, freestyle, freefly and wingsuit jumps. Saturday’s fun was crowned by a costume party, prize raffle and cocktail buckets for all. The ladies would like the thank the immensely generous vendors who donated so many fantastic prizes and discount vouchers for this event – Larsen & Brusgaard, Tonfly USA, Vertical Suits, JOIN Skydiving Apparel, Bev Suits, Freefall Skydiving Suits, Sun Path Products, Icarus Canopies, Velocity Sports Equipment, Blue Skies Magazine, ParaGear, Chuting Star, free registrations to future ladies’ events at Skydive Arizona and Skydive Elsinore, and even discounted tunnel time to the new iFly wind tunnel opening up in Virginia Beach, VA!

To see a video edit of the fun, search for ‘The Orange SiS Boogie 2014’ on YouTube, and come and join us next year! Sisters in Skydiving is a female mentorship program that pairs student or novice female jumpers with experienced women skydivers at your DZ or in your local area who can offer you moral support, encouragement and guidance as you learn to skydive. The program is available to any female students, even first-timers, as well as those who have recently earned their A licenses.

As a new female jumper, you may sometimes feel intimidated or alienated, especially since women are such a minority in the sport. A Big Sister can be a friend, role model and mentor. As a Little Sister, you’ll have someone to talk to about issues you may have as you progress in skydiving. Here are just a few things having a Big Sister can do for you:

• Your Big Sister can invite you to social outings with her skydiver friends.
• She can introduce you to organizers or others at the drop zone to jump with.
• A Big Sis can help with equipment selection and share her experiences with finding the right size gear.
• She can be a sounding board for you to air your concerns, fears or difficulties in the sport.
• Your Big Sister may have gone through some of the same struggles you’re experiencing, whether it’s difficulty figuring out landings, trying to balance family life or facing fear. Having someone who can relate can help you overcome some of these problems.

Learn More about Sisters in Skydiving.

If you are a female interested in getting your skydiving license, the first step at Skydive Orange is the Accelerated FreeFall Course. Call to book your AFF Jump at 703-759-3483 or Book Online!