posted Nov 13th, 2006 - The final preparations for SkyQuest 2006 are in full swing in DeLand. The roster for the Kaleidoscope Dives, managed by BJ Worth, is complete and posted at the SkyQuest website. The list of names includes many participants of the 400-way world record jump this year in Thailand.

In fact, the Kaleidoscope roster is a colorful mixture of the whole skydiving community from all over the world. Participants from 14 different countries will visit DeLand this week. Kaleidoscope Divers are coming from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, USA and Venezuela.

Kate Cooper, Larry Henderson, Mike Johnston, Roger Ponce de Leon and Rusty Vest are the team captains for the five jump planes. BJ Worth puts together all the pieces of the big puzzle. The dive plan for the first three Kaleidoscope pictures in the skies over DeLand can be viewed at the event page, as well.

NSL and Skydive DeLand have worked with the regional and local media to present the event to the general public. The visiting spectators will be able to watch the beautiful pictures of the large formations with bare eyes, while several large screen TVs will offer everybody the opportunity to see the freefall footage.

NSL-TV plans to upload the Kaleidoscope Dives to the SkyQuest website this time. The competition jumps of the NSL Championship 2006 will be presented as usual. The roster for the Kaleidoscope Dives includes several Formation Skydiving competitors of different generations.

BJ Worth himself is a multiple 8-way US and world champion. He was on top of the competition world with his team Mirror Image in the 70's. Team captain Roger Ponce de Leon was his team mate by then. Former Golden Knight Rusty Vest is also a team captain for BJ Worth and a former 8-way world champion at the same time.

The youngest generation of competitors in the Kaleidoscope Dives line-up is represented by Blane Boynton. He just won the Advanced Class gold medals at the USPA Nationals 2006 with his team Arizona Divewerkz. AZDW was hoping to compete at the NSL Championship this year but did not get the complete line-up together for the meet. Blane Boynton decided to travel to Florida and make a few longer freefalls (18,000 feet).

Solly Williams and Pete Allum will work together as the event judges and will also provide some coaching. Shannon Pilcher and Gary Smith compete with Optic Nerve. The first female 4-way world champion in the Open Class competition, Natasha Montgomery, will honor the award ceremony with her presence and hand out the trophies and medals to the winners of the NSL Championship 2006.

Willy Boeykens is one of the three videographers and photographers for the Kaleidoscope Dives. He is the founder and manager of the European Skydiving League and has very successfully launched the European counterpart of the National Skydiving League years ago. The visitor from Belgium has already attended previous SkyQuest events.

The skydiving industry is also well represented in freefall. Edward "Bushman" Anderson (Aerodyne), Morten Pederson (Performance Designs), Derek Thomas (SunPath) are skydiving for the manufacturers. Skydive DeLand owner Bob Hallett and general manager Mike Johnston will also leave the business world when the Kaleidoscope Divers get in the air.

The NSL News will try to introduce more participants of the Kaleidoscope line-up loaded with VIPs and skydiving celebrities and will follow up with more event information.