“High Expectations are the key to everything” Sam Walton

Canadian Record 2010. Take Two.

In March of this year a whole bunch of Canadians descended upon Perris Valley Skydiving in California in an attempt to set a new record for the largest all Canadian skydiving formation built in free fall. We spent 10 days proving to ourselves and anybody else who could be bothered to pay attention that we had the talent to pull it off. But talent is only a starting point. There simply weren’t enough people in attendance to break the previous Canadian record of 59 set on June 24^th 2006 in Burnaby Ontario. There were several reasons for that, but the fact is that even if 100 qualified people had shown up it’s extremely unlikely it would have had a successful outcome because of weather. We spent a lot of time sprawled on the packing mats napping and reading, or in my case, firmly ensconced in a booth at the Bomb Shelter Bar and Grill getting this Blog set up.

Which leads us to Canadian record 2.0, properly known as  Mission 100. Parachute Montreal in St. Esprit has organized another run at setting a new record, timed to coincide with Canada Day. We’ll be doing 3 days of practice jumps followed by 3 days of record attempts. I have no idea whether or not there will be any more people showing up for this attempt than there were for the one in California, nor do I care. For six days I won’t be at work, I’ll be hanging out with my friends, and skydiving my ass off.

Kim and Mathieu are bringing their RV, and Philippe and Josee will be staying in it as well. Kim, Matt and I shared a room in Perris valley for 2 weeks and it went well, but we each complained about the other two snoring, so five was starting to sound a little crowded. I’ll be staying in my tent but taking advantage of the cooking facilities in the RV. 

I’m also going to take full advantage of the fact that for the first time since I started skydiving there is going to be a major event held in my neighbourhood. St. Esprit is just a couple of hours away, and I don’t have to cross the US border to get to it. The truck will be loaded even more heavily than when I used to go to the World Free Fall Convention. I’ve got 2 coolers, 2 rigs, 3 cases of beer, 2 bottles of Vodka, 4 bottles of wine, a bottle of Baileys, fireworks, a portable gas bar-b-q, a bug zapper, and a canister of helium. I know what you’re thinking: that I’m not bringing anywhere near enough booze. But I’ll be in Quebec, where every grocery store, corner store, and gas station, sells booze. It’s easier to get your hands on alcohol in Quebec than it is to get food. 

The last record in Burnaby was the first big-way I attended, and the first time I was on anything bigger than a 20-way that was successful. I spent 3 days diving like hell and flying like fuck, following Christian out the door and trying my best to ignore the streams of skydivers coming out of the other two planes. Every time we took off I did the math to figure out just how much was being spent on each attempt. "Okay, this time we've got 62 people, times 38 dollars each, which comes to..... ! Holy Crap! Please Lord, don't let ME be the one to fuck this up!" In the end I did my part, I flew my slot, despite my terror on every jump I didn't get cut, and we set a new record. 

I formed friendships at that event with people from all across the country, and a lot of them will be in St. Esprit next week. The parties during the event were great, and the party the night we set the record was of epic proportions in it's drunken excess. Skydivers aren't known for their restraint, so you can probably see what's coming.