posted Dec 10th, 2010 - The November 20 weekend did not only offer SkyQuest 2010 with the annual NSL Championship as a 4-way event. Paraclete XP had also scheduled a combination of a tunnel camp and an indoor competition for the same weekend, and several 4-way coaches and competitors traveled to North Carolina while Skydive DeLand hosted the outdoor competition.

SDC Rhythm XP members JaNette and Steve Lefkowitz were part of the coaching and managing staff, together with Paraclete XP4 members John D'Annunzio and Kirk Verner. New Arizona Airspeed member Thomas Hughes was helping in Raeford, as well.

Steve Lefkowitz provided a summary of the event.

Tunnel Camp - Competition at Paraclete XP Big Success

By Steve Lefkowitz

15 enthusiastic skydivers joined coaches from 4-way teams Paraclete XP4, SDC Rhythm XP and Arizona Airspeed for a rewarding weekend of 4-way flying on November 20th and 21st at the Paraclete XP SkyVenture wind tunnel. Participants included experienced 4-way competitors with multiple years on teams and thousands of jumps to newer skydivers with no competition or team experience and hundreds of jumps.

The coaches included John D’Annunzio and Kirk Verner from Paraclete XP4, Steve and JaNette Lefkowitz from SDC Rhythm XP, and Thomas Hughes from Arizona Airspeed. The entire weekend was designed to maximize fun and 4-way learning combined with the opportunity to compete at the end.

As participant Cherie Schuch put it: "The tunnel camp/meet is fantastic for those of us who don't have a training team but want to continue to improve our own skills and use them in a competition atmosphere." Plus, for those who were so inclined, the event was a great opportunity to network with other like-minded skydivers interested in forming a team.

The 15 participants were split into groups of three and paired up with a coach on Saturday morning, resulting in five 4-way teams. Once formed, the teams would train together for six 15-minute sessions on Saturday, the equivalent of 90 skydives or freefall time and much more worth of learning. Over that time, many of the teams covered every formation and every block in the 4-way dive pool, while others stuck to a subset of the easier blocks.

The learning curve was huge because each group included an experienced, professional 4-way coach flying with the team. Participants had the benefit of debriefings from their coaches after each flight that included immediate video review. The Paraclete XP wind tunnel has video access from a monitor inside the antechamber of the tunnel itself in addition to access on computers throughout the complex.

Just as importantly, participants enjoyed the unique detailed feedback that can only be felt by a coach when he or she is a participant within the dive. As coach JaNette Lefkowitz put it: "When I’m in the dive, I can notice details like eye contact and communication, arousal level, small fall rate issues, and grip-taking that would be difficult to catch if I was an outside observer."

Paraclete provided dinner and drinks on Saturday night, as the participants shared stories about their progress over the day.

Each team resumed its training on Sunday with an additional 15-minute block of flight time. They used the session to review anything they wanted to see before the competition as the grande finale, which would start early in the afternoon over two 15-minute sessions.

The competition consisted of a 10-round draw from the 4-way dive pool. The teams performed each round twice, with the best of the two 35-second runs counting towards the teams’ final scores for the meet.

It was an exciting and close competition for the 1st place, with Vertical Moves coming back from one point behind in Round 9 to beat BKW (19.5 to 19.4) by just one point. The first place finish earned Vertical Moves 30 minutes of tunnel time per team member. BKW in 2nd place won 15 minutes of tunnel time per team member. The prizes were donated by Paraclete XP.

The 3rd place team, HBs, had the highest score for a single round with a 39-pointer in Round 10. HBs was an all-female lineup and finished close behind 2nd place with an 18.9 average. Rookie team Block Busters finished with a 10.5 average, coming a long way from their first session in the tunnel, when it seemed like forming a single point might be an ambitious goal.

By the end of the weekend, with a total of two hours and 15 minutes of tunnel time, the equivalent of 135 skydives, each team had more time flying together than many committed 4-way teams will jump in an entire season. After so much positive feedback from participants, Paraclete XP looks forward to holding more similar events throughout the year. As Cherie Schuch said: "It was the best weekend I have had in a long time. I loved having a professional skydiver on my team and then ending with a fun competition!"