posted Jan 5th, 2011 - The NSL office has had a new neighbor since Blue Skies Mag moved in a few months ago.

The whole neighborhood was already under the control of skydiving businesses when the NSL moved into the current office a few years ago. The skydiving plaza alone is hosting the Jumpshack, Merlin Suits, Skydiving Outlet and a small rigging loft, with the United Parachute Technologies building right next to the little square.

The new next door neighbor is just as much a great addition to the neighborhood as it is a great asset for the media coverage of the skydiving world. Kolla Kolbeinsdottir, Lara Kjeldsen and Pierre Kotze are running the operation, and they always have an open door and fresh coffee available.

NSL News and Blue Skies Mag knew from the very beginning of the BSM operation that they could benefit each other's efforts, and it was only a question of when and how the cooperation would begin.

The first step has now been done, as NSL News reporter Kurt Gaebel wrote his first BSM contribution, which was published in the first issue of the new year. The story is a summary of the several stories that the NSL News has posted ever since Arizona Airspeed announced the new lineup.

It offers a different and more personal view of the writer. It is impossible to include all the details, background and history information in a story for the magazine, which is usually printed only once a month. All information would probably fill up a complete issue. The NSL News has more time and space for the details with the daily updates.

Blue Skies Mag had a little welcome note the NSL News on top of the first article:

"One great benefit to the new Blue Skies Mag office is that we have awesome neighbors, including Kurt Gaebel and the National Skydiving League (NSL). Kurt will be sharing his take on belly news from around the world every month, starting ... now. Welcome, Kurt!"

The BSM website also had an introduction for the audience:

"Now that the dust has settled a bit around the new Airspeed lineup, the team has got their matching jumpsuits and are planning their first training camp of 2011 in January. It will be very exciting to follow the new team and watch how things are going to play out in the next 2 years on the world level.

We are very excited to have Kurt Gaebel from NSL now contributing to a monthly column in Blue Skies Magazine, named “Turning Points”. In that column Kurt will discuss various topics from the competitive 4-way world. The first column will be in the December issue of Blue Skies Mag, due to hit mailboxes late December.

The NSL website has long been the hub of detailed and interesting news for hardcore 4-way geeks (and we use that word in the most flattering sense possible). Visit the NSL page to watch Kurt’s recent interview Thomas Hughes (center outside) and Nick Grillet (alternate) about the what lies ahead. Note the shirt Nick is wearing – ushering in the new look of a future World Champion!

We have no doubts that Airspeed will tackle the upcoming season with full seriousness, and we base that assumption on secret intel we received from one of our agents in Eloy. Thomas has been working on his track and evidently has advanced to FULL Delta position, which should do wonders for solid separation after break-off."

The next Turning Points piece has been completed and will be published in the next BSM issue. The NSL News will now go back to daily operation and focus again on the upcoming Dubai Championship 2011. The first scores are supposed to be posted on Friday.