Perris Force Rocks 4-Way (And Wants You To, Too!)

Perris Force — our hometown all-female 4-way RW team — has been taking the sky by storm from the start. The team’s five members (that is to say: Christy Frikken, Grace Katz, Shannon Catalano, ShaunaRae Miliano and Rachel Demers) are each incredible athletes in their own right, and the combination is so much more than the sum of its parts. The goal? In their own words, “to be a positive role models for younger skydivers and competitors” — and “to make an impact by helping others get and stay connected, by coaching, organizing skills camps and express overall enthusiasm for the sport.” We can’t think of any group of humans better prepared to carry out that goal.

To get a feel for the team, we talked to Shannon Catalano — Perris load organizer, AFF instructor, and head of the post-AFF student coaching program — who flies Tail on the team.

Shannon started skydiving about 5 years ago. She did it, initially, for love; her partner had been in skydiving for more than a decade before they got together, and Shannon finally decided that she would give it a shot. Predictably, she loved it, so she stuck with it and progressed.

Within a couple years of that first skydive — in 2016, to be specific — Shannon was asked to join Perris Force. At the start, the team was comprised of four women that didn’t have tons of 4-way experience but had always thought of putting together an all-women’s team: Shannon, Grace Katz, Sandra Vanderbilt and Lynn Mackerson. Shannon had around 500 jumps at the time. It was Shannon’s first 4-way experience.

“There was no turning back after I started 4-way,” Shannon laughs. “It is incredibly fun and competitive and amazing. I learn so much every time I do it.”

“Personally, I am highly competitive,” Shannon says. “There aren’t many things that I will do and not give it 110%. Four-way is just perfect for that, because there is such an excellent, ongoing opportunity to continue to learn and grow. There are so many nuances and finer points to understand and master at every level — not just in skydiving. It is studying video; visualizing; understanding what other teams are doing; that kind of thing. I just simply love it.”

Today, Perris Force is in its third year of competition. Over the seasons, as with all long-lived skydiving teams, the lineup has changed a couple times — Shannon and Grace are the only original members still with the team. The legendary Christy Frikken came on as a player/coach in 2016; ShaunaRae and Rachel are new to the team in 2019.

The team aims to do 40 hours of tunnel and 400 to 500 jumps this year — a huge commitment, to be sure, but there’s good reason: the legendarily hard-to-beat and government-funded Golden Knights female 4-way team performed their last year of competition in 2016. The next qualifying year was 2017, and Phoenix was selected the US women’s team (as they were the highest scoring all women’s team at the US nationals, with a 15 average). Perris Force just beat Phoenix in this most recent competition, so they’re smashing to pedal to the metal in pursuit of the space at the top of the national (and, to be clear, global) podium. Each woman keenly understands what will be required of her in order to make that bid. Each has made the tectonic life changes required to do so.

“I am an accountant,” Shannon explains. “I quit my job and I started consulting, which allows me to work from home and be flexible. Now, I can work my own hours. Grace sold her business and is currently skydiving full-time. Shawna Rae, who works as a nurse, did the same thing as I did, which was quit her normal job and pick up a job that allowed flexibility. She now works remotely.” Teammate Christy Frikken has been a professional skydiver for many years. ShaunaRae is in the process of moving out to California so Force can ratchet up the training schedule closer to full-time. As you can see, these athletes have their eye firmly on the prize — and, as a bonus, they legitimately enjoy each other’s company.

“My teammates are really great women,” Shannon smiles. “We have been so lucky over the past three years, in all the different iterations of the team, to all just get along really well and enjoy each other.  We have the same goals. We just really want to try and take the opportunity that’s here and maximize and do everything that we can to see how far we can go.”

Can you relate? Are you also the kind of person who wants to see how far you can go? Even if you have just a few jumps under your belt and you’re still a little dazzled by the folks walking around the dropzone in their super-cool matching suits, Shannon encourages you to get out there and put together a framework to learn in. After all, that’s the soul of a good skydiving team.

“Grab three friends,” she insists, “Get in the air and do 4-way. You have to start somewhere.  Check out camps in the tunnel and the sky — they’re going on throughout the country, and we have plenty of them right here at Perris. There are all kinds of resources on the web to start to learn the different formations and what it’s all about. And, if you’re here at Perris, get in touch with us! We are super passionate about it. We can point you in the right direction.”

“The most important thing,” she adds, “Is to just get out there and jump.”

To get in touch with Perris Force for coaching or more information, reach out through the contact form at perrisforce.com or the team’s Facebook page, facebook.com/PerrisForce. Perris Force are also hosting Fresh Meet and the annual Perris Sisters in Skydiving event, so come and meet the team!

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A Woman of Scope

All About Our Hometown Hero Angie Aragon

If you’ve been paying attention to the skydiving scene for the last couple of years, you have at least a passing familiarity with the work of Angie Aragon. Angie, after all, is one of the instrumental skydivers at the forefront of the Women’s Skydiving Leadership Network, an organization which is quite literally changing the face of skydiving instruction. We’ll get to that in a moment, though. We have a little more ground to cover first.

Perris stands out among skydiving dropzones. It stands out not only for the quality and scope of its facilities — which are gold-standard — but for the quality of people it attracts. Angie, suffice it to say, stands as an excellent example of that high bar. Everywhere you look at Perris, you’ll find professionals who are striving; instructors/athletes who revel in being surrounded and supported by a community not only chock-full of mentors — legends in the sport, to be sure — but other aspirational athletes on a mission to motivate each other. Angie’s presence in Perris covers both those angles: she’s an immensely talented sister skydiver, a top-shelf instructor and a heaping helping of inspo, all in one.

“Perris has such a great atmosphere,” Angie smiles. “I think that that’s part of what has always pushed me to be better.”

Angie is no stranger to striving. When she first started skydiving, she gave up a secure job (“where I knew where my money was coming from,” she laughs) and started living on the dropzone, making 50 bucks a day, packing and “doing whatever to make ends meet.” Angie first arrived at Perris in early 2013. By the time she arrived here, she was already a tandem and AFF instructor, as well as a freefall videographer. That’s nothing to sniff at, but the Perris emphasis on expansion encouraged her to push even farther.

“Everybody here was a rigger,” Angie explains, “so I was, like, okay. I’ve got to get my rigger’s ticket. Then, everybody in the [Perris skydiving] school was working on military contracts, so I was driven to figure out how to be good at that, too. Then there was the tunnel right there on campus, of course, and so I wanted to learn how to teach in the tunnel. There are so many different things that the drop zone offers that you can pretty much pick whatever it is that you are passionate about and push hard to develop that strength within the dropzone. It is such a unique dropzone and truly an animal of an operation.”

“The support system at Perris is just so great,” Angie enthuses. “The motivation to improve yourself is there. From the very, very beginning — as soon as I got there — I really strived to be on par with the quality of people that are there within the Perris community.”

She certainly has. Not only that, but she takes the Perris zeitgeist far beyond our borders (and back again). This year, Angie has been traveling to several different destination dropzones all over the country: Perris, of course; Skydive Chicago, in Illinois; Skydive DeLand, in Florida; Paraclete XP, in North Carolina; Sky’s the Limit in Pennsylvania, holding instructional courses. As Angie tells it, the process has been quite a journey.

Late last year, Angie’s desire to expand her already formidable skillset pushed her to accept the challenge of an internship working for United Parachute Technologies. To wit, she and her fiancé, Josh Colby, relocated to a neighborhood near UPT’s DeLand, Florida rigging loft, which Angie rightly describes as “the heart of skydiving gear manufacturing.”

“[That internship] allowed us to meet a lot of really amazing people in DeLand, not only while working at the rigging loft at UPT,” she says. “Two of my sponsors are in DeLand, so I was additionally able to develop my relationship with Icarus World and UPT. I enjoy being able to walk through their office or factory, talk to the owners/managers, hear about how the company started and what their goals are, and just to really get to know and understand their core values. It builds the relationships, and helps me to represent them better.”

The connections kept coming. It was there, too, that Angie and Josh met and began mentoring under Rob Laidlaw, founder of Skydive University, Master Examiner, and “granddaddy” of the Instructional Ratings Manual (IRM). While in DeLand, Angie was also introduced to the manager of Skydive Chicago. He invited Angie to come to the dropzone and offer two coach courses there over the summer. As Angie started publicizing these two courses, the Women’s Skydiving Leadership Network — which had already been making waves in the sport skydiving community with its retreat-based mentorship programs — noticed. They reached out to her.

“They wanted to buy all the slots available for those two courses,” Angie remembers. “I was, like, oh! Wow! Okay. That’s great.”

Angie continued conversations with the WSLN. Together, they came up with the WSLN scholarship program, the goal of which is to facilitate women to engage the sport on a professional level. They collaborated to structure an application process for eight full USPA Coach Course scholarships and seven full UPT/USPA Tandem Instructor scholarships along with partial scholarships for all in attendance. Ultimately, the program granted more than 50 scholarships for eager female skydiving athletes. The program has gained ground with each successive event, meaningfully progressing its goal to grow the community of female skydivers past its current numbers, which currently represents just 13% of the sport.

“I’m really grateful to the dropzones that have shown support so far: Perris, Skydive Chicago, DeLand, Paraclete XP, Sky’s the Limit,” she says. “What the WSLN wants is for people to know that we can come to their drop zones; that we would love the support. We are so appreciative.”

Angie’s instructional style, as she describes it, is a uniquely holistic one. She describes, for example, her Coach Course as “a great opportunity to bring skydivers into a classroom for three long days, look at all the things they know already and ask questions about what they don’t know.”

“As an instructor,” she explains, “You, of course, have to have strong skills to start with. And then you have to break those skills down in your own head to understand why things are the way they are. I think that’s where the true learning happens. It’s less about learning a bunch of new things, and more about slowing down what you’re doing — which is skydiving, and taking care of yourself — because now you have to do that for someone else. I do a lot of interactive exercises because there’s a lot of information being laid out.  I do it in a way where we’re having conversations; brainstorming; moving around; engaging.”

“I think that’s why it has been so much fun teaching people,” she continues, laughing, “because my students are learning without me Powerpointing them to death.”

These days, Angie and Josh travel between Skydive Chicago, where Josh is the Lead AFP Instructor (Advanced Freefall Program), and Skydive Perris. Their skydiving rating school, USPACOURSES.COM, is a traveling outfit that allows them to hold courses at any dropzone in the world. At the same time, Angie is looking forward to participating in the Female Mexican Record at Skydive Vallarta in December 2018. Oh— and she and Josh are also planning their wedding. It’s a busy moment, for sure.

“If I had to be remembered for one thing,” she says, “It would be for challenging my students; for helping them raise their skill sets to the next level; for pushing myself, going above and beyond to be able to then, in turn, deliver that high-quality instruction to my students.”

Sponsors: Icarus World, United Parachute Technologies, Larsen & Brusgaard

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To find out how to work with Angie, you have several options. You can reach out to her at USPACOURSES.COM, seek her out through the WSLN or look for her on the Skydive Perris Experienced Skydiver Events Calendar. She’d love to hear from you!

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One Of Our Very Own Badass Female Skydiving Instructors Tells Her Story

Deb Brown has always been a gravity fan. She started out by using a combination of gravity and snow to make magic — competing in snowboarding in her native Oregon. She loved it for many years, but in time the pursuit started to lose its luster.

“After my snowboarding career had ended,” Deb muses, “I was on the hunt for something else.”

And hunt she did. She went all-in for change. Indeed, she decided to switch it all the way up from snow pants to grass skirts, and moved out to Hawaii. When she got there, she was in the mood to explore some new adventures and turn up all the dials on her life. Sure enough, skydiving was at the top of that list.

“Then, of course, it went how it always goes,” she laughs. “At first, it was a group of six girls, and it whittled down to two.”

As you might imagine, the jump went very well. “Halfway through my tandem skydive,” Deb remembers, “I knew I couldn’t not do this.” She showed up for her first day of solo skydiving training within two days of that first tandem. Deb earned her license in record time and spent the next couple of years honing her skills and earning her ratings in the singularly intense conditions of that beautiful North Shore dropzone.

Deb came to our gorgeous Southern California home soon after that. Her goal: to pursue and grow her full-time skydiving career, which had been decidedly aligned towards teaching skydiving to military personnel. This year, Deb became one of the elite professional female skydivers to hold a Tandem Instructor rating from the United States Parachute Association.

We’re incredibly lucky to have Deb on our team–which is a pretty unusual team, if we do say so ourselves. Skydive Perris is pretty unique in the world for the unusually high number of fantastic female instructors we employ on our dropzone. That’s by design; we love to inspire the people who come through our gates with the proof that professional skydiving is by no means gender-exclusive.

“There are four awesome female Tandem Instructors at Perris, which is so, so cool,” Deb enthuses. “When I started skydiving, my understanding was that females did not instruct tandems. The implication was that it just isn’t a job women could do. We’d just be told, Don’t even try. You’re not strong enough.”

“It wasn’t until I got into the military work,” she continues, “and I started seeing some really badass females that my mind started to change. It had to change. There were several female tandem instructors, too, who I saw doing great work, and they weren’t the tall, built women that I had previously seen in the job. Those women really made me start looking seriously into it. I was meeting these female smoke jumpers, too. I thought, ‘Y’know what? If she can jump into a fire with a chainsaw, I think I can skydive with another human being.’ And I did it! I can truly say I love my job. It is so freaking cool.”

As a female tandem instructor, one of Deb’s favorite parts of the job is getting to relate to her female passengers.

“As a woman,” she explains, “It is easier to be more in tune with all types of tandem passengers, but especially females. At first, most of my female students had made requests for a female tandem instructor due to religious beliefs. These days, it’s a little different. I am getting a lot more requests from females who are just more comfortable jumping with females. It is really cool. I feel like I can relate even more.”

When Deb isn’t working, she sometimes takes off for the beach to surf — after all, she’s lucky enough to work at a dropzone where she can see the ocean from the door of the plane — but she’s almost always still on the dropzone on her off days, tirelessly dialing in her skills.

“I’ll tell you one thing about the team of female Tandem Instructors at Perris,” she smiles. “We don’t just want to be the best female TIs. We want to be the best TIs. Right now, I’m focusing on making each and every tandem skydive I do perfectly seamless for my student. Aside from that, I’m working quite a bit on my canopy work; on perfecting that part of my flying.”

“As a TI, I feel like my biggest role is a safety officer,” she explains. “I need and want to escort this person on a truly great experience, but overall my biggest goal is to keep them and myself safe. I’m really serious about it, and I really seriously love what I do.”

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The Queen Of Fun!

Meet Katie Piele, A Tandem Instructor Who’ll Put a Smile on Your Face

Denver, Colorado native Katie Piele wasn’t always a professional freefall navigator–but she was uncommonly prepared to take on the task, to say the least. (She earned a degree in Physics, and let’s be honest, skydiving is just applied physics with a generous side helping of woo-hoo.) When she graduated, she launched straight into working offshore on an oil rig for a little bit, in the Gulf near Houston, Texas.  

“That’s when I started skydiving,” Katie laughs, “because I really didn’t like my job. I did a skydive and thought, dude, this is, like, the coolest thing. So then I wanted to learn to get my license.”

She earned that license at Skydive Spaceland Houston. She actually moved out of her apartment and lived right there on the dropzone as she worked through the levels.

“It completely engulfed my life,” she smiles, “as it does with most people. I was super obsessed with it.”

Katie wanted to leave that oil-rig job to pursue skydiving full-time. To that end, her plan was to save up enough money until she could afford 300 fun jumps, and then she was going to quit and be at the drop zone for the whole summer. Then a wrench fell into the plan: an oil industry crash. Everyone’s pay, including hers, took a hit. Undeterred, Katie bought Spaceland’s unlimited jump package and turned in her notice.

“There went my life,” she giggles.

Katie moved onto the dropzone and, as many jumpers do, became a parachute packer full-time to support her hobby. She logged six hundred jumps that year.

“It was awesome. I had so much fun,” she enthuses. “When I first started jumping, I didn’t care about progressing. I was just incredibly pumped. I got really, really good at having fun on skydives.”

Coming off that super-strong summer, Katie decided that she really wanted to earn her tandem rating.

“I’ve always wanted to be a traveler and go on really cool adventures all the time,” she explains, “But I was always realistic about it. I can’t be poor all the time. I need to earn a wage. Tandem Instructors can have that flexibility, and I saw skydiving as a way to that goal.”

As you may or may not know, in order to enter a course to become a Tandem Instructor, a skydiver needs to prove that s/he has spent at least three years in the sport. Katie only had one. To continue to press forward in the meantime, Katie earned her Accelerated Freefall (“AFF”) instructional rating and started doing aerial videography, capturing the dropzone’s tandem jumps on camera. She started to travel to skydiving events at other dropzones, moving outside the comparatively small orbit of southern Texas. Before she knew it, the three years were up. She was ready to become a TI.

“That year was awesome,” she gushes. “I did so many tandems and I had so much fun.”

Finally, adventure travel became part of her everyday reality. She went down to work in Mexico, at Skydive Baja, then in Puerto Rico. She started expanding her parachuting and flying skills, pursuing swooping, BASE jumping and speedflying. Finally, she came to join our team at Perris. For Katie, even though she’s dead set on expanding her knowledge of the sport even farther in a more focused kind of way, at the heart of it, it’s still all about fun.

“The cool thing about being down here [at Perris],” she muses, “is there are a lot of people making this lifestyle work in unique, creative ways. It’s inspiring being around people that are trying to progress the sport in different ways and uniquely making this type of lifestyle into more of a career taking it beyond just being an instructor… The crew here is a good crew. Everybody is super-positive and inclusive.”

“I try to make sure every student is having fun,” she continues, “No matter how freaked out they are when they come to me. You can totally see it on their face. I just give them a big, silly grin and remind them to have fun. You can see their whole body relax. I’m a big proponent of having fun. If I’m having fun, I’m shredding, and if they’re having fun, so is my student!”

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The Inspiring Backstory of One of Our Favorite Perris Wingsuit Coach/Organizers

Imagine this for a Sunday:

You wake up, stretch, and wander over to meet your friends at 8 a.m. Everyone pops on their skydiving rigs, zips into their wingsuits and marches up to the nearest plane. You spend the day doing complicated, six-way sequential wingsuit jumps, focusing on nailing the details of a few different dive flows, rinsing and repeating on a forty-minute cycle all day long. When the shadows start to get long, you and your friends celebrate with a sunset jump, zipping through the golden glow under the power of your own wings.

That may seem like superhero stuff, but it’s a pretty normal Sunday for Regina Elwell.

“When I was a kid,” she remembers, “I would constantly ask my dad to take me skydiving. His way of playing it off was to reply that he would–as soon as I had my own health insurance. So the first thing I did when I had my first big kid job lined up after undergrad–and had my own health insurance, naturally–was to do a tandem with one of my cousins.”

After that experience hooked her, she completed her AFF at Virginia’s legendary Skydive Orange. She did her first 50 jumps very quickly, then took 4 years to do the next 20.

“I didn’t even really know what wingsuiting was until spring of 2012, when I came back to skydiving,” she says, “but I was instantly intrigued as soon as I did.”

USPA regulations required that she have 200 jumps before she’d be allowed to try the discipline, so she set about the following 130 very quickly to get up to the jump numbers she needed.

“Jump 200 was my first wingsuit jump, and I pretty much haven’t taken it off since then,” Regina grins. “I have made maybe fifty total jumps that aren’t wingsuit jumps since I started wingsuiting.”

For a long time, Regina’s dedication to wingsuiting revolved around the pursuit of the world’s statistically-most-lethal pastime: wingsuit BASE.

“I knew that every [wingsuit skydive] I was doing was training for that goal; for something with the potential of grave consequences, but also the potential for immense personal reward,” she explains. “I fell in love with wingsuiting during my first flight and it was only with that passion that I was able to dedicate my entire being to accomplishing the personal goal of wingsuit BASE jumping.”

“Wingsuiting never gets boring to me. There is always something to learn. I especially love where wingsuiting is going more recently,” she adds, “I’m very intrigued by incorporating more dynamic movements and performing sequential dive flows with wingsuits. It is crazy how rapidly wingsuit technology has evolved over the past several years and how drastically the talent of wingsuiters has improved. I have recently started training in the wind tunnel to refine precise dynamic movements. It has been fun to then apply those skills to wingsuiting in the sky.”

If that sounds like a rather scientifically inspired approach to the discipline of human flight, that’s not surprising. Regina herself is a scientist–a scientist of several flavors, as a matter of fact. After earning a BS in Biology and a minor in Chemistry, she worked in a cancer research lab. Eventually, she went back to grad school to get her Master’s of Science in High Technology Crime Investigation.

“I have been all over the place with my interests over the years,” she laughs.

It’s work facilitated by the latter degree that takes up Regina’s current weekdays. She specializes in digital forensics and network intrusion investigation.

“I’ve been in this career field for eight years now,” she explains. “When a company gets hacked, they hire the company that I work for and people like me figure out what happened. It’s a complicated puzzle that is constantly changing.”

As you might imagine, that takes a lot of time. Regina is, therefore, a weekend warrior skydiver–albeit an incredibly dedicated one. She drives 90 miles each way to spend her time off load organizing, coaching and progressing within the Perris skydiving community.

“Coaching and load organizing to me is all about teaching others how to do what they love to do, only better,” she says. “I love to share with other people the tips and tricks I have learned along the way.

It becomes quickly evident that the other thing she loves is her home dropzone: Our beloved Perris.

“We are pretty spoiled here,” she laughs. “The weather is pretty much fantastic. I got sunburnt this weekend, because it was in the mid 80s at the beginning of February. And the talent that comes through there is phenomenal. We’re always challenged.”

“The atmosphere is my favorite thing about Perris,” she continues. “It’s a very well-run business, but it is still fun. They strike that balance really well. When you’re here, you know that there will always be multiple planes running; that there will always be people you can learn from; that the weather will be good; that the facilities will be nice. You know you can get a shower right after sunset if you want, or grab a meal at the restaurant. Everything right there. It’s pretty much perfect.”

If you want to grab a slice of that perfection for yourself, Regina has some excellent advice for you.

“Never stop learning,” she insists. “I’m happiest when I’m either in a state of learning or a state of laughing, so if I had to say anything to anyone else, it would be to constantly learn and laugh, whether that’s laughing at yourself for making a mistake or simply enjoying the moment. Always strive for both.”

The post Regina Elwell Owns the Weekend appeared first on Skydive Perris.

When, where, why and how did you make your first skydive? 

I made my 1st skydive in 2000 in Latina Italy, it was a static line course and i didn’t like it much so i waited many months after to find an AFF course near to my house in Nettuno.

A friend of mine took me there for the 1st time after i hear him talking about skydiving, but before when i was very young in a disco club i saw a video of a guy that became my friend after and he was base jumping from the mountain in Italy and i thought it was so cool to be able to fly. I always wanted to fly since i was little.

How did that first jump change your life?

It changed everything i was going to the school and i stopped i had a boyfriend and i broke up because he didn’t like me to jump, later i moved in another country to learn how to freefly and freestyle. and i stopped my modeling job and just do it on and off sometime.

As a professional extreme athlete, what does a typical day in your life look like and what do you enjoy most about this lifestyle?

Most of my days are at the drop zone training. In the summer i’ve been base jumping mostly, last year i was flying in the tunnel a bit more. What i enjoy the most is everything i do also the underwater pictures and adventures with animals.

We’ve seen you training a lot recently in wing suit flying, what is it about this discipline that you love? 

Yes i love to fly wingsuit because it is so new on what we can do and learn new things. We can freefly and move around. It is more flying than falling.

What is it about Skydive Perris that makes you want to jump here?

I have been in this drop zone many years ago since 2002 and i have lots of memories here of my 1st bigway freefly or my 1st training camp of freestyle, also all the good coaches some of them unfortunately not here anymore. I like to work here because we have one of the best weather and the plane is going always up :)

You’ve skydived and BASE jumped all over the world, is there a location that stands out as being most memorable (aside from Perris of course!) ;-)?

The dolomites are the most beautiful mountains to me. I like also to jump over the Ocean like in Hawaii.

You’ve worked on numerous TV shows, commercials, movies etc. Which was most fun, and why?

My favorite commercial was probably the HTC Phone, why? Because who get to jump in the same job in the same skydive with Norman Kent, Joe Jennings, Craig OBrien and Greg Gasson all together? That was the one life time job and a dream team. It was also a challenge and not easy jumps.

Who are your skydiving mentors?

Jon Devore, Mike Swanson and Ippo Fabbi, Noah Bahnson, Stefania Martinengo.

What canopies do you jump and why?

Spectre 107, Horizon 120, i like to have good opening and both are good for wingsuit.

What’s been your favorite skydive and BASE jump so far?

Skydive i think when i flew over the Volcano in Chile. Base jump the jumps from the building in Dubai.

Do you have a ‘dream jump’ you have yet to do?

Yes i do and i can t talk about ;) but i have many dreams on different locations in the world.

What are your future goals in skydiving?

Training freefly wingsuit as much as i can.

When you’re not jumping, what other activities do you like to do?

I go to the Gym i love the ocean so in the summer i like to go surfing.

Tell us something that is little known about your yourself?

I love to cook and i cook everyday after jumping.

What’s in store for you in 2018?

I will be working for GoPro again so lots of adventures to film underwater and in the air. I m going to South America with my boyfriend to fly together organizing boogies. in the summer we gonna be in Europe again flying and at the tunnel in Milan Aerogravity.

Sum up Roberta Mancino in 5 words or less.

Determinate, generous, caring, passionate.

The post People of Perris: Roberta Mancino appeared first on Skydive Perris.

When, where, why and how did you make your first skydive? 

I did my first tandem skydive on August 26^th, 2006 in Queenstown, New Zealand while on a backpacking trip. The jump was over a mountain range called The Incredibles (where parts of the Lord of the Rings was filmed).

How did that first jump change your life?

A group of us were picked up from the city center and driven to the dropzone in a shuttle van by two young ladies. Their energy and zest for life was gravitating. When we arrived at the DZ those same ladies put rigs and camera gear on to film tandem videos.  When I realized that this was their normal day-to-day job I was so impressed, I wanted to be just like them.  Then, I went on the jump.  That sealed the deal!

You are a tandem and AFF instructor, how did you get into instructing and what do you enjoy most about jumping with students?

I became an instructor because as a fun jumper I would get super depressed every time I had to leave the DZ. I wanted nothing but to be at the dropzone 24/7. I saw how the life as a skydiving instructor was fun, rewarding, and most importantly sustainable so I went for it!  

As one of the few female tandem instructors working in the sport, what challenges have you had to overcome to get to where you are now?

Doing tandems is physically exhausting and especially challenging for someone of a smaller build and even more so for a female. Women are not built the same as men when it comes to natural strength. Having to work smart, not hard and find techniques to compensate for strength is something that I had to learn by myself. The only female mentor I had for many years was my Instructor Examiner, Jen Sharp, but she lived in a different state. Another big challenge was getting to a point where I was confident enough to not let criticism bother me. I think women are more sensitive to this. I had to grow a layer of thicker skin to hang with the boys and their banter.

You’re also a coach examiner and tandem examiner, what’s your favorite part about making new instructors?

I enjoy seeing the change in confidence. When experienced jumpers are given a higher understanding as to the importance of their new role as a Coach/Instructor they walk with a little more pride.

What advice do you have for skydivers who are thinking about becoming instructors?

I say, “Live what you love” and go for it!  The Cycle of Life in skydiving is to have those few experienced jumpers come up the ranks and be added to the instructor pool. Even if a person is not intending on becoming a full-time instructor, the knowledge obtained by taking a ratings course is very beneficial to any skydiver. Visit www.uspacourses.com for more details on courses offered by Angie Aragon.

What is it about Skydive Perris that makes you want to jump here?

Skydive Perris is a world-renowned dropzone with some of the best in the industry.  I like being surrounded by the likes of Dan BC, Scott Smith, Craig O’Brien, Hanna Betts, Taya Weiss (just to name a few, the list goes on and on). They are impressive individuals and they keep the standards high. In addition, my family lives only an hour away.  I get to do what I love, at a great dropzone, with good weather and can still spend holidays and birthdays with my loved ones.  

Who are your skydiving mentors?

This one is hard because there are so many.  The ones that stand out are those that mentored and influenced me during the early stages of my skydiving career, Jen Sharp, Tom Noonan and Lauren “Lob” Lobjoit.  More recently, as an Examiner, my mentors are those that have proven to be a phone or text away, JC Coldren, Scott Smith and Paul Piccalo.

What canopies do you jump and why?

I am an Icarus Canopies sponsored instructor.  I fly a Crossfire2 because it is the most reliable work canopy on the market, yet is still fun enough for me to swoop conservatively.  I am waiting for the new Xfire to be released.  I spent some time flying the latest prototype and can’t wait to get my hands on the finished product!

When you’re not instructing what other types of jumping do you like to do?  

I like freeflying, however, I do not spend a whole lot of time fun jumping.  Mostly because on my days off I am away from the DZ doing something that helps bring me balance.

What’s your most memorable jump to date?

My most memorable jump was a big way memorial jump for Jonathan Tagle at Skydive Elsinore.  JT was a really good friend of mine and although he wasn’t physically there on that jump, his energy was surely present.

Do you have a ‘dream jump’ you have yet to do?

I would love to take my mom on a tandem.  She is terrified of heights and would never actually do a jump but I think it would be really cool!!

What are your future goals in skydiving?

I want to travel internationally as an Instructor Examiner while maintaining a home base at Skydive Perris.  I enjoy taking USPA Standards to foreign dropzones that are in need of the guidance and safety procedures.

When you’re not at the DZ, how do you like to spend your time? 

My first passion is to travel.  The world is so big; the difference in cultures vast, and the sights unfathomable.

Tell us something that is little known about yourself?

My retirement plan involves a beach in a foreign country and a taco shop. 

Sum up Angie Aragon in 5 words or less.

Always taking on new challenges.

Sponsors: Icarus Canopies, Mirage Containers, Larsen & Brusgaard

The post People of Perris: Angie Aragon appeared first on Skydive Perris.

When, where, why and how did you make your first skydive?

In 2008 I was invited to do indoor skydiving at Skydive Perris. After flying for 2 minutes (which is standard for the first time flyer) I asked for 2 more minutes and then 2 more.  

That day I flew a total of 14 minutes. After that, I asked the tunnel instructors if skydiving was similar to the tunnel experience and they said: “its way better”. With that , I walked from the tunnel to the skydiving school and I signed up for AFF. 

So you can say I was born and raised at Skydive Perris. 

What is it about Skydive Perris that makes you want to jump here?

95% of my jumps have been at Skydive Perris and the reason is simple, it’s the community. The facilities are beautiful, the planes are great, but it’s the people that make the drop zone. From manifest to regular jumpers and visiting skydivers…that’s what makes Skydive Perris a drop zone like no other.

How did you get into load organizing and what do you love about it?

I was a very nervous student.  I would cry before getting on a plane (yup, that kind of nervous!) Darryld Light, one of the original Perris Organizers would hold my hand while on the ride to altitude.  Bob Ferguson had endless patience for my mistakes. As nerves gave way to excitement I knew that one day I wanted to give back the way the Perris Load Organizers did for me.

Tell us about the Perris load organizer team!

I think Skydive Perris is Disneyland for skydivers, We’ve got Twin Otters, Sky Vans, FS/RW organizers, FF organizers, Wingsuit training and the best weather in California. 

The Perris Load Organizer team makes Disneyland happen!

Does someone need to have a minimum number of jumps before they can jump with a Load Organizer?

Jumpers need to have an A license to jump with the Perris FS/RW Load Organizers. We create skydives for everyone, Whether someone walks in with thousands of jumps or an A license stamp on their forehead one thing is for sure, we want to jump with you.

What kind of jump do you most enjoy doing?

My new found passion is 4-Way. I love the precision and speed of a good 4-Way dive.

What has been your most memorable skydive to date?

I have to say the first one. I was so terrified and full of excitement. If I would’ve know how much my life was going to change after that first jump, I would’ve done it sooner, much, much sooner.

Do you have a ‘dream skydive’ that you’ve yet to do?

No, not really, I’m very fortunate to say I have a “dream skydive” every time a new jumper tells me it’s been their best jump ever.

What canopies do you jump and why?

I jump a Pilot 104 because it always opens on heading and it’s small enough that it has the right performance for me.

What advice do you have for anyone who would like to become a load organizer?

You’ve got to do it for the love of the sport. If someone wants to organize for the free jumps, they will soon learn it’s the most expensive free jump they will ever do.

You competed in 4-way this year, tell us about that! Who were your teammates and how was this experience?

2016 is the year I won the 4-way lottery! Dan BC filled the missing slot we had from the previous year’s line up. Dan gave the team not only much-needed knowledge, but most important of all, his life philosophy, love of the sport, and spirit of competition.

I can honestly say that by the last round at Nationals 2016 my face hurt from smiling so much.

When you’re not skydiving, how do you like to spend your spare time?

I do tunnel, just kidding! I don’t have much spare time but when I do I like to travel, but I find myself missing my friends at the DZ.

Tell us something that is little known about yourself?

Some people don’t know that I’m a practicing Buddhist. The short time I lived in Argentina, I volunteer cleaning penguins from oil spills. David, my husband, says I’m the most aggressive pacifist he knows. Namaste bitches!

What’s on the cards for Grace in 2017?

More load organizing at Skydive Perris, more events for new, regular, and visiting jumpers, and an ALL WOMEN’S  FS 4-way team!

Sum up Grace Katz in 5 words or less.

I’m a constant student.

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When, where, why and how did you make your first skydive?

West Point, VA early November 1978. This was before my 18th birthday and I had to, uh, “pencil pack” my mothers signature to allow me to jump before I was 18.

How many jumps do you have total and how many jumps do you have in each discipline?

11,500 roughly (I no longer log but I keep a pretty good mental count). Most are FS. about 400 FF, maybe 80 or so CRW (canopy relative work).

You have multiple world records, which one are you most proud of?

That’s a tough one as there are many different jumps I have pride in. I’d have to say the JFTC (Jump for the Cause) 181 way Women’s World Record, which still stands to this day. The combination of bringing so many fabulous strong women from around the world to unite in a single jump plus raising money through City of Hope for Breast Cancer research is a win-win.

What advice do you have for anyone who wants to get involved in big-ways?

Just add air :D Seriously–jump It’s far easier to get a great 4 way jumper to do great big ways than to do the opposite. The Big Way Camps are also a great way to get your toe wet for big ways in a highly mentored environment–bonus is that they are in Perris!

You’ve jumped all over the world, do you have a favorite location that you’ve jumped at?

Again a difficult question as different DZ’s have their own appeal. Voss (Norway) is probably the most beautiful dropzone I’ve jumped at. Thailand was special for multiple reasons–the people, the view, and the food (nam nam), Perris is best for team training and event organizing, Jumping over “The Palm” in Dubai during the World Championships was epic. So many dropzones, so many memories!

What jump(s) stand out as being most memorable?

Again so hard. 4-way, records, jumping with novices and seeing their faces light up with joy, the Rainbow boogie, Women’s events worldwide–I really can’t choose, sorry :D

What canopies do you jump and why?

I currently have a quiver of canopies so I can handle (more or less) any situation presented–whether it be wearing 20+ pounds of lead on a hot no wind day or doing demos or potential off landings in big ways. My current quiver consists of all Aerodyne canopies A Zulu 112, a Pilot 117 and a Pilot 132. I love them all.

Who are your skydiving mentors?

Dan BC (duh), Lesley Gale, Carolyn Clay and Christy Frikken.

You’re part of the Danish 4-way team, who are your teammates and what is it that you love about 4-way?

The team we took to Danish Nationals this year was the Fabulous Prime Pickles, consisting of my husband Carsten, Brian G, Kaspar S. and myself. This was the last year for the team so Carsten and I are now free agents and are looking to put together a new team, not necessarily a Danish one. I love 4-way because it’s FAST and technical–what a great combination!

What are your future goals in skydiving?

Survival and fun.

When you’re not jumping, how do you like to spend your spare time?

Spare time? What is this thing you speak of? :D Carsten and I travel back and forth between Denmark and USA so we’re doing different things in different places. I like physical training, mostly running. I’m an avid reader, I like planning future adventures–skydiving and earthbound, and I walk. A lot. We also scuba dive so that is an alternate sport (and time-money suck) for us.

Tell us something that is little known about your yourself?

I’m a good cook.

What’s in the cards for you during 2017?

Jump, dive, sea, sky, run, read, cook, eat.

Sum up Kate Cooper-Jensen in 5 words or less.

Love, laughter, adventure, goals, travel
Oh, and I’m with HER!

The post People of Perris: Kate Cooper-Jensen appeared first on Skydive Perris.

Christy Frikken is a highly successful competitive 4-way skydiver and skydiving coach based out of Skydive Perris.

When, where, why and how did you make your first skydive?
Ranch 2001 tandem skydive.

How many total jumps do you have now?
About 12,500.

How many hours do you estimate to have flown in the wind tunnel?
Really difficult to even estimate since I was a tunnel instructor for a couple years. I’m not sure what would even count (standing in the door, assisting people in the wind, coaching, or just training).

What is it about Skydive Perris that makes you want to work, play and train here?
Perris for me has always represented the amazing possibilities. There are so many great people and resources here every crazy thing I dream of can be achieved.

How did you get into 4-way and what do you love about it?
I decided 4-way was going to be my career when I had a couple hundred jumps. I very carefully crafted a plan and kept my programming job for a bit. My first move was actually to Eloy but despite the awesome facilities I found it difficult to find a role at the dropzone with my experience level. Luckily I met Dan BC there who was just moving to Perris. He presented some awesome opportunities in CA so there I went.
I was a tunnel instructor for a couple years before co-founding Perris Fury. After Fury disbanded I joined SDC Rhythm XP and did some amazing 4-way across the US. There is quite a lot of neato stuff in the middle of those projects, but that is shortish version.

Who are your skydiving mentors?

Dan BC has been the biggest influence along with many former Airspeed members and my former teammates.

What canopies do you jump and why?

Katana 97. I am not a competitive swooper and I find these are the right amount of zippy for me.

What advice do you have for anyone who is looking to be part of a 4-way team?

Ask everybody about it! Even if you think you are not a good fit or they are not interested be aggressive about getting the word out. If you are persistent eventually you will find a group with compatible goals.

When you’re not at the drop zone or flying in the wind tunnel, how do you like to spend your spare time?

Running, tinkering with computers, playing video and board games.

What did you do prior to being a full-time skydiver?

I was a software engineer.

Tell us something that is little known about your yourself?

I am sometimes called Crispy Chicken.

What’s on the cards for Christy Frikken in 2016?

Lots of cool events and coaching at Perris! I have been traveling around training for the last few years and I am looking forward to being closer to home more often. It will give me a chance to do some cool formation skydiving events that I have been planning for a while.

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