Ryan Bellack: Care For Safety Are Second to None

My first interactions with Skydive Orange were through Facebook and email to learn about the accelerated free fall (AFF) program, the program where you learn to skydive and obtain your A-License.  Skydive Orange’s communications from Whitney, who runs manifest, and Steve, who runs the AFF program, made me feel like I was their only customer.  I was looking at multiple dropzone to conduct AFF and only Skydive Orange made me feel this way.

Whitney is the face of the dropzone. She sits behind the counter at manifest and makes sure you get up in the air.  She always has a smile on her face and offers great customer service even when she is busy.   This goes for everyone in the manifest area – great customer service skills.

Steve, the AFF manager, trained me for my first jump course and made sure I was properly trained to have a safe first jump.  He was there throughout the program training me, providing quizzes, and instruction throughout the program.    All of the instructors and coaches seem to be of the same mold as Steve, they were all motivational, safety focused, smart, had quality teaching abilities, and conveyed the true importance of fun throughout all my interactions with them.  I am thankful for all the instructors and coaches who have helped me obtain my license to include, but not limited to: Steve, Mario, Tammer, Matt, Spencer, Alex, Carey, Cherry, Henry, and anyone I may have missed.

I took a parachute packing class with none other than Jon Stotts and he took his time with me on all the concepts and ensured I knew what I was doing to pack a parachute safety.  He even spent some extra time throughout my multiple visits to answer questions I had about the equipment and sport in general.  Jon is a very busy man, but he never made me feel that he did not have time to help me.  Thank you to Jairo for helping with my last pack job during the Boogie which was also a busy time, but he ensured I packed the chute properly.

I did have some troubles mastering the dreaded hop and pop, but the coaches and instructors kept giving me tips and corrections until I finally passed.  I can assure you my troubles were not from a lack of good instruction, but my own shortcomings.  I have to give a shout out to Matt Fistler and Tammer Ramini for not giving up on me when I struggled through this progression.   In fact, they were the only reason I did not give up.  Skydive Orange ensured I understood the importance of doing it right and helped me until I did it successfully.  The hop and pop at a low altitude is essentially a requirement to stay alive in a low altitude aircraft emergency.  Their attention to detail and care for safety are second to none.   I truly cannot say enough good things about the staff at Skydive Orange.

As for the facilities, they are top of the line.  The aircraft, the Twin Otter, climbs fast and has a nice big door for exits.   They have good technology, with a nice website full of info and they use Burble Me.  They are always offering courses to progress in skills and many Boogies.