posted May 18th, 2012 - The meets of the upcoming weekend include the season opener of the Northern Plains Skydiving League. It is the first meet for new NPSL Director Al BeVier, creator of the Little Cloud Skydiving project, and Solly Williams will be the NPSL coach for the weekend.

The NSL News will also make the trip to Skydive Twin Cities, and there are several reasons for the visit. One of them is a new film project that has recently been launched by the Lenstory Film Group and features a 4way team of the Northern Plains Skydiving League, HTH.

HTH attended three of the four NPSL meets in 2011 (10.8 - 11.5 - 12.7) before Center Outside Kalem Lommen got seriously injured and could not continue. HTH had to skip the USPA Nationals 2011 where a 12.7 average would have brought the team in medal contention of the AA/Intermediate Class competition.

USPA National 2011		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class	9,22	19,1	2,K,H	B,J,D,13	15,8	11,20	C,A,7	G,E,4	14,F,6	L,21,P	Total	Avg
1	T Minus 01	11	10	16	14	9	11	15	9	11	14	120	12.0
1	Dallas Khaos XP	11	12	13	13	9	9	16	14	10	13	120	12.0
3	Dallas Pulse	13	11	15	14	11	10	7	14	10	14	119	11.9

HTH later decided to finish up the 2011 season with a visit at SkyQuest 2011 and became the new NSL AA Class 4way champion with substitute Kurt Gaebel in the Center Outside slot. Alissa Olson, Greg Heidemann and Andy Junghans then made new plans for 2012, and John Kretzschmar is the new Center Outside. The new complete lineup may or may not be present this weekend, however, HTH will compete at the season opener, possibly once again with the same substitute.

Nick Halsett will continue as the team's videographer, and he is partially responsible for the new film project. He has been working with the Lenstory Film Group, which defines itself as a "well rounded crew of film enthusiasts who consist of many talents."

"Simply put, when it comes down to it, we enjoy writing, producing, directing, acting, editing and overall just making films. We all come from different walks in life and have found a common love for films and filmmaking and believe we are passionate in what we do."

This seems to be a good fit for a skydiving movie, and the two groups have made plans together. "Beyond The Thrill" is the title of the movie, and it plays around the team's home dropzone, Skydive Twin Cities, host of the competition this weekend. Here is a short introduction of the movie:

"Most skydivers will tell you that Twin Cities is not a Mecca for the skydiving elite. Places in the south where it’s warmer, with a longer jump season would seem to produce the best of the best. Think again…

This incredibly talented and skilled team of skydivers have consistently outperformed and scored extremely well against some of the best amateur skydiving teams in the country. At times rivaling the Professional teams from the Army and Navy. For their next challenge they have chosen is to compete at the National Championships held each year in Eloy, Arizona. The team’s goal for this season is to compete in the 4-way Team Competition at the National Championships in Eloy, Arizona in October. In preparation for this event, the team will compete in four local NPSL (Northern Plains Skydiving League) meets in Baldwin WI, Waseca, MN, and Superior, WI. They will also make two trips to North Carolina to train in a vertical wind tunnel this season."