posted Dec 25th, 2013 - The 6th Annual NH FS Tunnel Meet is scheduled for January 25th at SkyVenture New Hampshire, where Brian Touhey has been participating with a smaller group from New England at the monthly events of the Indoor Cloud League. The Sun Path Products NSL News provided full live coverage of the event for the first time in January 2013, and Brian Touhey posted ICL scores for the first time in March this year.

Meet Director Ben Liston, Center Inside of USPA Advanced Class champion of 2005, Mass Defiance, told the Sun Path Products NSL News that 25 teams are currently registered with a month to go. Registration is still open, and teams can contact Ben Liston directly at <nhtunnelmeet"at"gmail"dot"com> for more information and to sign up.

He said that registration costs are $80 per person and cover the 10-round meet, two minutes of warm-up time, judging, a pizza lunch, a meet T-shirt, and a digital copy of each participant's flying sessions. The grass roots event has grown each year, and Ben Liston is once again expecting new record participation in January 2014.

Ben Liston said that part of what draws competitors to the meet is the low key nature and high efficiency of the meet day: "Chief Judge Jim Rees keeps the scores coming and almost always has rounds judged and posted before teams head in for their next flight session and the 10-round meet is completed within about eight hours."

He added that there are no cash prizes, just the "highly sought after dog tag medals that have become one of the event staples, along with the hefty donated prizes from leading manufactures such as SkySystems USA, United Parachute Technologies, Performance Designs, and Cookie Composites".

The indoor competition began as a local event and now draws many of the top "amateur" 4way competitors from across the country to get, what Ben Liston calls, a "winter competition fix". He recalled the excitement of the previous meets:

January 2013	AAA Class Competition

"Grudge matches that determine bragging rights for the year often come down to the final round in all the divisions, and while everyone is full of smiles through the day, and through the night of drinking that follows the meet, teams are flying hard straight through the day."

The four categories (Rookie - Intermediate - Advanced - Open) mirror the sequences of the NSL competition classes (Rookie - A - AA - AAA), and they push the Advanced and Open teams to execute blocks that even seasoned competitors would normally avoid in a 12-foot flying chamber.

Ben Liston recalled some more details of the previous events: "The flying is impressive, and the crashes are epic as teams fight through blocks like 3, 10, 18, 21, and 22, sometimes with grace and finesse and sometimes with shear will and force."

This year, competitors will be able to enjoy Skyventure New Hampshire’s recent expansions of new restaurant facilities and the "Fish Pipe" water slide. There is also a new 24-foot high Nicros Art climbing wall with autobelays. Finally, the largest indoor surfing wave in the world has also been completed at SkyVenture New Hampshire.

"Surf's Up" recently opened and boasts a 32-foot wide surf stream wave that is the first of it's kind in the United States. Indoor skydiving and surfing seems to be an attractive combination, as Bodyflight Bedford, host of the World Challenge indoor competition, also added the "Flow House" to the facilities a few years ago.

Ben Liston said that SkyVenture New Hampshire's "Surf's Up" has a training wave, a kayaking wave, a boogie boarding wave, and 6-foot standing barrel in which finned boards can be used. He said that this year’s participants and spectators should be sure to bring suits to enjoy the 85-degree tropical experience and plan to get wet and wild before and after the meet..."