posted Dec 15th, 2008 - The NSL News reported on 16 November 2008 that Mass Defiance members were preparing for the first 12-foot tunnel competition for 4-way teams. The event took place last weekend, and Ben Liston provided scores, photos and all meet information for the NSL News.

MD Fooza, with two Mass Defiance members (Ben Liston, Brian Stephens) and two Fooza/Inept/Teiwaz members (Rodney Cruce, James Klinge) won the AAA Class competition in a 3-team field with a 26.1 average. Centerline XP placed 2nd, and Ranch Fallout finished in 3rd place.

Nine teams competed in the AA Class where the West Point Autobots won the competition with a 21.7 average. Ranch Skydiving League team Vortex took the second place. The other lineups were mostly pickup teams for the indoor competition at SkyVenture New Hampshire.

Ben Liston, organizer and MD Fooza competitor at this meet, followed up with a message to the participants after the conclusion of the event:

Hey Everyone!

I can't thank all you guys enough for your participation in the tunnel meet yesterday. In a time when jumps can cost up to $30 each, we were able to complete 10 meet rounds for close to the same amount. The meet was a landmark event for a couple of reasons.

We ran the first 4-way competition in a 12 ft. tunnel. Other tunnels in Orlando, Perris, and Colorado have shyed away from 4-way events, perhaps thinking that there wouldn't be interest, that it couldn't be done safely, and/or it wouldn't be fun. We've pioneered the way for future tunnel competitions and maybe even NSL style competitions where folks can compete against other from across the country by flying the same draw.

We also organized our skydiving community to work together to put this together - on a 100% volunteer basis. All the competitors (folks that ranged from never doing 4-way in the tunnel before to USPA national medal winners) worked to form teams, bring creepers, and travel from around the North East and even Florida to compete.

Two nationaly and two regionally rated judges (Brian Stephens, Jim Rees, Brian Smith, Rodney Cruce) worked for free to judge 120 rounds worth of video and had all scores posted within 50 minutes after each flight. Skyventure New Hampshire provided free DVDs for all teams and their staff bent over backwards to keep airspeeds perfect for teams, keep everyone safe, and give up their classroom space for the day so teams had room to creep and prep.

Sarah LaWare (who is a local 4-way guru recovering from some work done on her shoulder) volunteered for the whole day keeping the video running, giving calls for the meet rounds, and updating the scoreboard.

Bonehead Composites, PD, UPT, and Ouragan Suits donated gift certificates and t-shirts for prizes.

And of course Skyventure New Hampshire was incredibly generous to not only give us a huge discount on the time for the meet and a discount on pre-meet training time, but then also donated free DVD's for everyone, 20 minutes of tunnel time for the winning teams in each class, but also a set of free t-shirts.

To top it off, Applebee's gave us 15% off on the appitizers, and we closed down the bar.... All these different people and companies contributed to make the event a success.

We're already looking forward to planning next year's event (though we might sneak in a summer one, too!) and I would love to get feedback about how we can make things even better.

My intitial thoughts are to bump the price 5 bucks and get Subway to bring a bunch of sandwiches over to keep people fed, and maybe expand the classes to have AAA/Open, AA/Intermediate, and Rookie/Novice (with maybe just 3-4 points per dive and remove Cataccord and Bipole/Bipole). Please email me with your ideas about what you'd like to see improve.

Lastly, I was excited to hear folks talking about team options for next year's skydiving season - I hope the event helped you guys meet new people and inspired you to continue training if you were on a team last year, or put one together for the 2009 season. Remember, teams can be an incredible experience whether you decide to do 50 jumps together at your local dz and maybe do an NSL meet or two, do 500 jumps and 50 hours of tunnel with the goal of winning a medal at USPA Nationals, or anything in between.

If you have questions about forming a team don't hesitate to send me an e-mail and this article about basic 4-way tips and training might be helpful to you.

Blue Skies, Ben Liston