posted Jun 22nd, 2004 - After a 1.5 hour drive south on Interstate 5 we were welcomed by Urban Moore, Whitney, Kevin, and Kyle at Eugene Skydivers. The friendly hosts are always happy to see vising skydivers. However, on Saturday morning we were greeted by the usual cloud layer we have come so accustomed to seeing in the past weeks. The last few days had been very clear, but that was not the case Saturday morning. Most of the competitors decided to have a team breakfast at a local bar/restaurant. The waitress was not quite as excited to see us as the drop zone staff had been. However, it cleared to a warm and sunny day shortly after 10 a.m.

The meet ran very smoothly even hough teams were sharing Troy Ketsdever's video services. Troy has multiple rigs and is a tireless skydiver often packing both his own and also his teammates' rigs. The Ty Breakers and Elsinore Vengeance competed in the AA Class. The Ty Breakers had an injured member, Eric Rushing, who still attended the meet and coached both his own team and others looking for some advice. The Ty Breakers and the Baby Seal Killer, excuse me, I mean Elsinore Vengeance, traded a point per round until round four. Then the Ty Breakers steadily moved ahead despite jumping with an alternate.

Chasing Tail is a new team from Skydive Oregon in the A Class this year, thanks to the early forming efforts of Corey Parker. The team captain is Lee Roehrdanz flying Outside Center. His teammates are Chris Elliott (Inside Center), Lisa Albrecht (Point) and Corrie Veenstra (Tail). With less than 15 team practice jumps over the last few spring training days in Oregon, this team gave a great show for their first meet of the season. Chasing Tail received coaching tips from Eric Rushing and other AA and AAA competitors between the jumps. They were very lucky to be able to share camera with the Tye Breakers. Troy Ketsdever is a great addition to the team and provided the best video for the six Chasing Tail jumps on Saturday. The team picture clearly shows just how crazy two guys and two gals can be on a 4-way team... Skydiving is all about laughter, good times, great jumps and friends.

The other A Class team, SkyyBulls had a great time at the Creswell dropzone for the opening meet of the Northwest Skydiving League 2004. This was an opportunity for each team member (Corey Parker, Brad Gorman, Frankie Bryant and Gene Delay) to try new slots. Although the exits proved challenging this day, everyone kept cool in the 90 degree heat of the day and worked through the dives.

The AAA Class team Blala started the 2004 season the weekend prior to the competition and completed three jumps before the clouds descended on their first training. The new season finds each member in a new and sometimes challenging slot. Tyree Wildee moved from his comfortable position at tail to the slot switching position as the point in the front piece. Cheryl Mclure decided to discover the fun of exiting on the outside of the airplane after a 4-way career as the inside center. Harry Waller moved to inside center and gives the count now. Sparkie Doyle is hanging in the tail slot. Kevin Shaw, who is so precise yet casual and comfortable flying his camera, is the only member returning to the same old slot.A big thank you goes to the staff at Eugene Skydivers and to Cheryl McClure for her judging. Everyone had a great time at the NWSL 2004 season opener. Next month, Skydive Oregon is the host for the second competition of the Northwest Skydiving League. We will run a Scramble Meet for the Recreational Class, in addition to the three other competition classes (AAA - AA - A), everybody will be welcome. Let's go compete.Harry Waller, NWSL Director