Brothers Dan and Tyler Michie started skydiving together back in 2020, when shit hit the fan with the COVID pandemic. Interested in so many of the same aspects of life, naturally they chose to start their jumping careers together. Four years later, they're still both going strong in the community, with Tyler hitting the coaching aspect of skydiving, and Dan pursuing a path in camera flying. Tune in for this unique look at how a family gets into skydiving, and why they continue to jump together t...
Sep 02, 2024•1 hr 41 min•Season 1Ep. 56
I met Lori Eyler back in the fall of the 2016. She was incredibly kind to a complete stranger (me) who needed help. I learned a lot about her the winter I lived in her suburban California home, but this episode allowed me the chance to ask some of the questions I never got a chance to ask. There's no doubt Lori Eyler is a talented, accomplished skydiver, particularly as an established camera flyer at her local dropzone Skydive Perris. And in this episode, Lori and I talk specifically about that,...
May 06, 2024•1 hr 31 min
Join me this week and tune into another episode, this time centered around long time jumper, and multi-world and state record holding skydiver, Wade Baird. Anyone who knows Wade, is keenly aware of how much they can learn by jumping with him. Whether it has to do with formation skydiving, competition, angles, big ways, or just having plain ol' regular skydiving fun, Wade contains a depthless well of knowledge when it comes to jumping. As someone who has looked up to him as a mentor and teacher f...
Mar 23, 2024•1 hr 30 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Join the show this week and tune in to listen to Angie Aragon's journey through the world of skydiving--how she went from the average jumper at Skydive Elsinore, to a full time instructor, a tandem examiner, and now a National Director. This episode is full with knowledge, experience, and thought provoking concepts about safety, compassion, and wisdom in the world of jumping. Don't miss it!
Mar 22, 2024•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Join me this week while I chat with Mike Silva and Josh Evans of Team Collective about everything VFS, flight skills, and re-living some of the glory days at SkyVenture Colorado. If you've ever been interested in pursuing competitive skydiving in VFS (or any discipline really), make sure you don't miss this episode. Josh and Mike take me through the nitty gritty phases of building a team, the how tos of learning to fly with a teammate, and how to focus and push through problem solving and accele...
Feb 22, 2024•1 hr 47 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Join me and a new special guest this week, for a riveting story about a woman named Tiny Broadwick. It's alright if you've never heard her name before. Up until a year ago, I'd never heard of her either. But don't let her anonymity fool you. She is quite literally the unspoken mother of skydiving as we know it today. Don't miss this glimpse into our sport's history. Sit back and listen to the story of Tiny Broadwick.
Feb 06, 2024•54 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Cam Haley might genuinely be one of the nicest folks on the dropzone. Don't take my word for it--ask anyone who knows him, and I'd bet money they only ever have kind words to say. Cam started skydiving in college, during which he inherited control of his college parachuting club, competed at Collegiates, and amassed an obscene amount of tunnel time for a college student. Following that, he made a huge cross-country move to small town WI, where he acquired his instructor ratings, participated in ...
Jan 29, 2024•1 hr 43 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Back for her third time on Fall Risk, Jen Halvorson joins me to talk about her experience hosting and organizing her very first women's HD camp. She explains what the planning process was like, how the camp was structured, and what participants got out of the entire event, including what she wants to do moving forward.
Jan 21, 2024•39 min•Season 1Ep. 36
If your skydiving progression has been anything like mine, then you have always been consistently blown away when visiting the larger southern dropzones during your skydiving off season. These dropzones operate like well-oiled machines, and they literally have it all. Multiple aircraft, world class instructors and coaches, daily on-site organizers, gear stores, and events happening around the clock. Not only that, but they had everything for you to be able to live on the dropzone during your sta...
Jan 08, 2024•1 hr 43 min•Season 1Ep. 48
What a wonderful coincidence, that Julie Kleinwort's episode is being released on Christmas. The most cheerful and inviting time of the year, directly coinciding with one of the happiest and peppiest women on the dropzone. Ask anyone who knows her--Julie is on another level when it comes to being cheerful. But don't let that bubbly exterior fool you, Julie possesses a razor sharp focus, and an unparalleled determination when it comes to the things she's passionate about. You don't have to take m...
Dec 25, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Daina Tubbs is the literal embodiment of a ray of sunshine. Truly, there's nobody on the dropzone with a better attitude and personality than her. That in and of itself is amazing given how long she's worked as a full time skydiving instructor in this incredibly stressful work environment. This episode goes off the rails in the best way possible, as Tubbs and I get into her backstory, how she built her way to her current position, and we get into the nitty gritty of being a female skydiving inst...
Dec 08, 2023•1 hr 50 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Pairing creativity and innovation with the world of skydiving can sometimes be a tall order. It's hard to stay on top of creative projects that take ages to complete within the ever changing world of the skydiving community. No one knows this better than Leah Levy. At 28 years old and just under a decade in the sport, Leah's flying resumes boast some very impressive feats, including Project 19's Women's Headdown World Record, and the most recently 200-way World Record attempts. And while those a...
Nov 20, 2023•1 hr 49 min•Season 1Ep. 45
The man, the myth, the legend: Garet Bloodworth. What else needs to be said? In this episode, Garet joins me to discuss his lengthy career in the world of flight, including his time as a tunnel instructor, a skydiving coach, and most recently, as a pilot. But don't let his megastar reputation fool you--Garet is one of the most laid back guys you'll see on the dropzone this episode as evidence to that. Listen in as we discuss some of his greatest achievements, how he got his start in the sport fo...
Nov 06, 2023•1 hr 35 min•Season 1Ep. 44
On the surface, Tamara Bartlett is a bubbly, charismatic skydiver, one who is eager to engage others in conversation, go on "wahoo" skydives, and generally seems to get along with everyone. Under that exterior though, lies a determined, focused, and goal oriented attitude, one who establishes milestones, and chases relentlessly after them. Listen into this episode, where we dive into Tam's origin story, and hear more about why she's been chasing the big way circuit for so long now, and where she...
Oct 28, 2023•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Richo Butts is a man of many talents. The skillset he's acquired over years of skydiving and flying is seriously mindblowing. Over the last decade, Richo has made a name for himself as one of the world's premier canopy pilots, and in recent times, has added to his skill set by fine tuning his freefly and bigway skills, as well as become a licensed pilot and pursued an aerobatic pilot career. Listen to this truly humble and well spoken skydiver about how he started in the sport, what projects he'...
Oct 09, 2023•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Andy Malchiodi is a household name in skydiving. The sheer number of years he's been active in the skydiving community would astound even the most diligent and relentless skydivers of today. Over time, he's travelled the world, accumulated countless skydives of all types, and organized more camps and events than can be counted. In addition to all the aforementioned accolades, Andy has also been credited with being part of the birth of MFS as a discipline, sub-disciplines like the Echelon events,...
Sep 30, 2023•1 hr 43 min•Season 1Ep. 41
2023 marks the first year of Koemi Valencia being on an official competitive skydiving team. Ask her yourself, this is a dream she's been chasing since she started skydiving, just a few years ago. Driven and inspired, Koemi takes us through what her journey to this stage has been like so far, and where she wants to go moving forward with her competitive goals in skydiving. Koemi has a wonderful way of definitively expressing exactly how most of us feel in this sport, and it's a breathe of fresh ...
Sep 20, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Have you ever dreamed of sharing a face meltingly awesome adventure with your partner? Surely you've dreamt of what you'd do on said adventure... the sights you'd see, the things you'd talk about, the places you'd go together, the shenanigans you'd get up to? If you've lost yourself daydreaming about this very idea, then look no further than Denise and Kory Kruzikas--these two are every skydiving couples' dream. Denise met Kory back in 2010 after several years of their individual skydiving caree...
Sep 14, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Known as literally the nicest guy on the dropzone, Matt Congdon has made a name for himself through a constant pursuit of knowledge, and then passing that information onto the next generation of skydivers. Truly, there's nothing more exciting for Matt than to either be pursuing his own goals, or helping others achieve their own. Join us as we discuss what Matt's start in skydiving was like, how he feels about competition skydiving, and what's next for him. This episode is full of laughs and hila...
Sep 08, 2023•1 hr 42 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Remember the name Sam Stenzel. Someday, you're gonna hear it on the news or in an article or see him in a video talking about the next big adventure in space exploration. Seriously--this kid is going places. Sam has been flying in more ways than one, since he was very young. As a gymnast, he spent more than his fair share of time in the air tackling a wide variety of aerial stunts and tricks. As a young teenager, he began tunnel flying--quickly becoming one of the most accomplished flyers at iFl...
Sep 02, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 37
It's hard not to notice Patrick Kessler on the dropzone. He is after all, almost seven feet tall. But that's not what makes him stand out. No, what really makes Patrick stand out from the crowd is his unusually quiet nature. Truly, Pat is the quietly stoic figure in the room, letting his keen observational skills and soft advice do all the talking for him. Which is probably why he's an exceptionally astute canopy coach. In this episode, we go over how Patrick got started in the skydiving world, ...
Aug 29, 2023•1 hr 33 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Very likely the most laid back guy on the dropzone, Travis Mickle has created a name for himself not only as an incredibly easy going dude, but also as one of the more talented wingsuit pilots of the world. In this episode, Travis takes listeners through a brief overview of his early skydiving days and what got him started in this sport we all know and love. Listen in, as Travis tells Sam all about his competition days as a wingsuiter, what kinds of competition he's chasing after moving forward,...
Aug 26, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 35
If you've never met the guys of Skydive Midwest Chemtrails, you should immediately get in your car and head to SDMW, because you're missing out on the chance of knowing (and flying with) five incredibly cool people. Currently known as the biggest 4-Way VFS team (seriously they're almost all over seven feet tall), Chemtrails is comprised of DZO Keith George, lineman Matt Congdon, electrician Colin Conway, business intelligence director Kyle Brady, and podiatrist Nathan Norem. Together they’ve for...
Aug 14, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Have you ever wondered how the cameraman became the cameraman? Has the thought, "How did he get SO good at that..." ever crossed your mind when leafing through your local cameraman's reel? If so, you should absolutely NOT miss this episode. In the fourteen years Elliot Byrd has been skydiving, he's amassed thousand of jumps across multiple disciplines--though a large number of them have been devoted specifically to camera flying. Known as THE cameraman at Skydive Midwest, and the prolific owner ...
Aug 12, 2023•1 hr 37 min•Season 1Ep. 33
The Dunning Kruger Effect... maybe you've heard of it? Let me give you a little breakdown just in case you haven't. The DKE is a cognitive bias which says that people with low ability, expertise, or experience regarding a type of task or area of knowledge tend to overestimate their ability or knowledge. There's more to it than just that obviously, but the aforementioned phrase is something we hear far too often in the skydiving community. It begs the questions: How do we become more aware of whe...
Aug 03, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 32
If you've never heard the name Kazu Oyama before now, then stop what you're doing and listen to this episode stat! Be prepared to laugh, so enter at your own risk! Far and away one of the most knowledgeable skydivers you'll ever meet, Kazu Oyama also possesses the unique ability to be simultaneously intimidating and hilarious. Clocking in at over 7 feet tall (a tiny exaggeration) and constantly cracking jokes all over the dz, it's easy to see why both descriptors apply. Not only that, but as the...
Jul 19, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Gorka Amian is a one-of-a-kind guy. That may seem like a cliche introduction, but there is nothing cliche about the man himself. Intensely focused, competitive, and unique--Gorka has lived, breathed, and slept skydiving for years. It doesn't matter what the discipline is--if he has a goal, he makes it happen, whether that task is to compete in VFS, FS, learn to judge skydiving meets, or taking on the leadership roles in big way events. Gorka Amian is quite literally a man who could do it all, if...
Jul 12, 2023•1 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Mo Schulz is a seriously awesome person. Not from any one place in particular, Mo has been in the skydiving game for most of her adult life, and traveled all over the country working at various dropzones in different roles. As such, she's learned a thing or two about the going-ons at various dropzones. In recent years, she's experienced some major life changes--she moved to the Midwest, had and raised a pretty awesome baby, started a cooking blog, and earned all her instructor ratings. In this e...
Jul 08, 2023•1 hr 51 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Mike Silva is one of the best known names in the tunnel coaching industry. And for good reason--as one of the most experienced bodyflight coaches in the country, Mike has been around and coaching fliers of all shapes and sizes for what seems like an eternity. For years, he's been cultivating and sharing his knowledge about the dynamics of body flight with others. Everything from the four basic body orientations, both static and dynamic flights, the tips and tricks of VFS, and the dazzling method...
Jun 28, 2023•2 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Scott Robinson might be one of the coolest cats on the dropzone. Just ask anyone who knows him--Scott is far and away one of the kindest, sauciest, and genuinely cool dude in the jumping community. From flying airplanes, to joining bigways, to working in a wind tunnel, or as a skydiving instructor, Scott has pretty much tried it all--making him an exceptionally knowledgeable member of our community as well. Don't miss this episode--join me this week in listening Scott tell his tale in the deepes...
Jun 18, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 27
