posted Aug 15th, 2024 - The NSL News introduced the hosting area of the 26th FAI World Skydiving Championships, the Crystal Coast in North Carolina, with the update on August 9th. The story featured other scenic competition sites in the history of Formation Skydiving competition since 1985, and the video featured an overview of the scenic area at the shore of the Atlantic Ocean.

Freefall photographer Bruno Brokken from Belgium, himself former videographer of participating teams at world championships and world cups, reminded the NSL News that Skydive Empuriabrava in Spain is a former host of world championships (1989, 2001), as well, and offered a scenic view of the Costa Brava at the Mediterranean Sea. He provided the evidence with one of his photos of a 4-way team in action.

29 national 4-way teams and 14 national 8-way teams traveled to Spain in 1989. The 2001 event was one of the best attended world championships in history with 34 teams in 4-way Open, 10 teams in 8-way and 10 teams in 4-way Women. The events took place at the skydiving center near the shoreline of the Mediterranean Sea, very similar to the location of Crystal Coast Skydiving in North Carolina.

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26th FAI World Skydiving Championships at Crystal Coast Skydiving by Anthony Armendariz

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The partnership of Paraclete XP and Skydive Chicago at Crystal Coast is an effort to offer their own special and unique competition site and attract similar numbers of participating teams and visitors to the world championship. The last host of the event, Skydive Arizona in 2022, welcomed 21 teams in 4-way Open, five 8-way teams and four 4-way Women teams in Eloy for the comeback after the corona virus crisis.

Paraclete XP, Skydive Chicago and Crystal Coast Skydiving stepped in as new hosts with little time to prepare a bid after Israel's withdrawal. Together they came up with the plan to host the event at the scenic location of the Crystal Coast and hope to increase the participation of 2022.

There are even additional waterways at Crystal Coast right next to the shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean, which offer the unique aerial view. Photographer and filmmaker Anthony Armendariz created his own promotional video clip for Paraclete XP and Skydive Chicago, which includes the reigning 8-way world champions of GKXP8 in training action over Crystal Coast.

The hosts are also offering special beach jumps to participants and visitors:

"Crystal Coast Skydiving will be offering skydives landing onto Pine Knoll Shores beach next to Molly’s Beachside Bar & Grill for drinks and food on Saturday, October 12th, for interested licensed skydivers after the official event conclusion. Jumps will be $80 and include transportation from the beach back to the drop zone, about a 19-minute drive. Jumpers will be able to register on-site any time before October 12th. More information will be available on 2024wsc.com."

There seem to be more than enough reasons for a trip to Crystal Coast in October...