We are getting closer and closer to consistently warm days in Chicago, and as it does, we're looking forward to applying what we learn in the tunnel to the real thing in the sky. We held our fifth tunnel training camp of 2009 this past weekend at Paraclete, and as we work through our training plan, it is always challenging and fun. This weekend we were joined by CK Kindle and Ranch Fall Out. Next weekend will be our first Team-for-a-Day event at SDC. It's nearly full, but there are a couple of slots left if anyone is interested.

Labels: Training, Tunnel Trips

It was great to see a number of 4-way teams training at Paraclete on March 14th weekend. JaNette and Steve were not the only 4-way couple, as CK Kindle was there to train as well. Also, the Brazilian team Amazonas traveled from a hemisphere away to get some flying and coaching at the best tunnel in the world. We trained almost entirely in rigs this weekend, and while it was a challenge at first, we all agreed it was really beneficial. Getting a feel for the bigger starts and stops is very valuable. The team will be doing nearly all our tunnel training in rigs this season.

Labels: Training, Tunnel Trips

We enjoyed our second jump camp this past weekend at Sebastian. Thanks to Velocity's ability to do some last minute rushing to help us get our second rigs, and ParaConcepts' rapid turnaround on rigging, along with loaner canopies from both Paraconcepts and Lyle at Sebastian, we were able to jump two rigs last weekend. And you know what that means! Back-to-Backs! For most of the day we did sets of 4 back-to-back jumps followed by a 20 minute break before the next set. While there were some interruptions along the way, it was really exciting and fun to run from the landing area, drop our rigs, and run to meet the plane for our next jump, 4 times in a row! Even with a boogie going on, and some weather issues on Sunday, we were able to crank out 25 jumps over the two days. Thanks to Kazu for coming with us and taking some great pictures.

As always, we have to thank Pat for video and helping us get organized, as well as our packers Miko and Chad. And of course, the great staff at Sebastian. And check it out, here's Rob in his new Infinity! Of course we were all jumping our new second rigs. Don't worry, we each bought each other beer!

Believe it or not, this picture of Laurent was taken at Sebastian!

Labels: Training

Here's video from our third tunnel camp of the season. Tunnel is so much fun!

Labels: Training, Tunnel Trips

We had our first jump training camp for 2009 this past weekend at Skydive Sebastian. It was really great to get back in the air. The weather was perfect: blue skies, light winds, 70 degrees. Sebastian is a beautiful dropzone -- welcoming on the ground and scenic from the air.

Unfortunately, Kevin couldn't join us this camp. The good news was that our old friend, Pat Walker was able to film the team for the weekend.

Thank you to Pat for video and organizing packers and rigs, Rob for video and beautiful pictures, Pablo and Chad for packing, Amanda and Carolyn and for keeping us on loads, Hal, Woody, Collin, Festi and ParaConcepts for lending us second gear, Angel & family and JaNette's parents for the visit and yummy Florida goodies.

Labels: Training

Last weekend we had our second tunnel camp of the 2009 season. It was another great learning experience for the team, and another opportunity for us all to gel and build the relationships within the new group. After two hours of tunnel on Saturday, we were grateful to meet up at Kirk's house for a BBQ dinner and hanging out with friends from the tunnel - as well as engineering the dives for the next day. Thanks to Melanie for the awesome food and warm company. Thanks to Trey for his photojournalistic work.

Labels: Training, Tunnel Trips

Last weekend, we had our first training camp for 2009, which was also our first camp with Rob. We flew four hours over Saturday and Sunday at the Paraclete XP wind tunnel, and enjoyed a great start to our season. The SDC Furies joined us for this camp, and they were looking great. Kirk Verner, who will coach both teams in 2009, helped us to start off on the right foot, and set the tone for the rest of the season. Just 3 days to go till our next camp!






Rhythm is doing extensive training in the Paraclete wind tunnel this winter and spring, and we're looking for skydivers to join us. Please contact steve@rhythmskydiving.com if you're interested.


Here is some video of our time.

Labels: Training, Tunnel Trips

Both Kevin and Steve put together year-end videos from our 2008 season. Here is Steve's video in three parts. Below that is Kevin's video in three parts:

Steve's Video

Steve's Part 1:

Steve's Part 2:

Steve's Part 3:

Kevin's Video

Kevin's Part 1:

Kevin's Part 2:

Kevin's Part 3:

Labels: Events, Miscellaneous, Training

This past weekend the team travelled to Brian's home in Houston, Texas and trained at Skydive Spaceland in Rosharon, Tx.

The weather was perfect and warm, 16-way, 8-way and 4-way teams kept two otters turning, and we did 19 great jumps from 10.5 over two days. Saturday we enjoyed a Texas BBQ for Spaceland's Hurricane Ike benefit. It was great to see some familiar faces and also meet a bunch of new friends. Thank you to Spaceland for the hospitality and to Tami, Chad and Cheryl for keeping us packed all weekend.

Labels: Training

After a few weeks off, we had our 11th training camp this past weekend, our last one at CSC before the Nationals. Typical of October in Chicago, it was a little chilly, and at times rainy and cloudy, but we managed to get in 27 jumps over the weekend, with the help of some neck gaters, glove liners and double socks. Stay tuned for video highlights of the weekend.

On Saturday we again shared Kirk's coaching with Andy, Alan, Henrik and Tom. It was fun to have another team to train alongside.

Thank you to Pete J for coming out and taking some cool photos of us on Friday, to Josh for lightning fast packing to keep us in the air, and to Henrik and AJ for filling in on video in the cold.

Next weekend, the team is travelling to Brian's hometown, Houston, to train at Skydive Spaceland for two days for our final training camp. We're looking forward to some warmer weather and making some new friends.

Labels: Training

Here are some highlights of training camp 6 at CSC. Enjoy!

Labels: Training

The team is currently in the middle of a great month of skydiving, where we have 3- or 4-day weekends for 4 weeks in a row. Labor Day weekend turned out to be beautiful, and our best camp for getting jumps in so far. The weekend of 9/5 wasn't as agreeable, but we were still able to get some good jumping in that weekend too. On Saturday and Sunday of 9/5 weekend, Andy Boyd, Alan Butt, Henrik Sternberg and Tom Bohm put together a team with cameraman Brian Snarr to share Kirk's coaching. They did some really impressive stuff, and we're hoping this is a preview of a team to come. Unfortunately, the team had 3 chops over those 7 training days - 1 from Laurent, who broke his promise to never chop - and 2 from Kevin. We are 2 for 3 in recovering the canopies, and hopeful about the 3rd. Thanks to Henrik and AJ for filling in camera duty Sunday. It's great to see a new group of skydivers gaining skill in flying video.

Labels: Training

The team held its 7th jump camp this weekend, and participated in the final MWSL meet of 2008 at SDC, posting a 16.3.

After getting in the 4 rounds at SDC, we rushed over to CSC to chase the good weather. Our home DZ helped us crank through the loads and we were able to get 3 more jumps that evening. On Sunday, we followed it up with 9 team jumps before 2:30. Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day, and Laurent, JaNette and Steve continued jumping until sunset with whoever would join us. Among other jumps, Kevin joined us for a memorable four-way after Brian left - memorable because it was the first jump with Kevin where he wasn't hovering above us! Turns out he's an awesome 4-way skydiver!
Thanks to Alan Butt for putting together a great MWSL meet series, to Buzz and Henrik for filling in on video Sunday morning with no more than a 5 minute call, and to Kevin for joining us as we drove from DZ to DZ.

Labels: Competitions, Training

Labels: Competitions, Training

The Fourth of July weekend turned out to be a great weather weekend for jumping. We had a 4-day camp. Unfortunately, Brian was out of comission for the last two days due to injury (fear not, he'll be back in a couple of weeks!). Andy Honigbaum, our coach for the weekend, filled in to allow us to keep jumping. Thanks Andy! Thanks also to On-The-Fly for joining us Saturday! Jumping with another team always adds to the energy on the DZ, and we enjoy having you around. Photos by Kevin Naftzger and Pete Jabczynski.

Labels: Training

What a fun weekend. We were at the Paraclete XP wind tunnel in Raeford, NC this weekend and had a full schedule. Butch, Eric, Helen and Andy joined us on Saturday and Sunday for some tunnel coaching. Thanks for joining us -- we had a great time. All were looking pretty sharp in the tunnel by Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday we also did some 8 way training with fellow PD sponosored team, Sebastian Tempest, in the tunnel. Kris from Tempest lead us through 45 minutes of tunnel training. For many of us, it was our first experience with 8 way. We're really looking forward to training with Tempest again in September and competing at Nationals.

On Saturday and Sunday we competed in the Paraclete XP tunnel meet. It was a lot of fun to see all of the teams there, and compete. We entered the chamber and did two rounds at a time. We finished the meet with a team best score (in the tunnel) of 222 points over 10 rounds, finishing tied for 6th place overall. Round five was a highlight, with another team best of 42 points in one round.

In addition to coaching and 8 way and the meet, we also were able to do almost 2 hours of 4 way training. On Saturday we did some b-slot speed drills. On Sunday, we trained in the tunnel with rigs on. Using rig covers and handle covers we were able to fly with our own Infinity containers to make for a very realistic experience. It was quite a workout, but a great learning experience for us.

On top of all of that, JaNette and Steve stayed Monday for some solo work and 2on2 with Kirk and John, and Laurent, Steve & JaNette tried out some back-flying, with expert coaching from Mick at the tunnel. What a blast! Thanks Kirk, John and Mick.

All in all, a pretty awesome weekend. Looking forward to the upcoming 3 day training weekend at CSC, including MWSL meet #2 down at SDC on Saturday. By the way, CSC will be open on Friday morning with loads flying from 9am all day as we train. Come on out and join us!

Labels: Competitions, Events, Training, Tunnel Trips

Tired of creating random draws off the tops of our heads, we decided to make an over-complicated excel file that could do it for us. The program randomly generates draws for any division you want, and will even put the pictures together for you in an easily printed format. If you know the dives you want to do, you can enter them and have the generator make the pics for you as well. Check it out and let us know what you think. Make sure to save the file to your computer before opening it. Then, enable Macros when you open the file. Rhythm_Draw_Generator_V5.xls

Labels: Resources, Training

The MWSL held its first meet of the season this Saturday, May 31, coinciding with the team's second 3-day jump camp. Three teams attended: SDC On The Fly, CSC Victory Hop, and CSC Rhythm XP. With Kirk Verner providing meet coaching, Alan Butt running the meet, and CSC working with the teams to make sure everything went smoothly, the competition was a lot of fun for everyone. On the Fly and Victory Hop had some close competition for the first few rounds, but On the Fly was able to pull away in round 4. Unfortunately, due to winds, the official meet ended with 4 rounds. Still, Sunday was a beautiful day, and those who stuck around got to get a lot more jumps in. We finished the meet with a 15.6 ave over 10 rounds - a team best and personal best for everyone. We are really excited to see our work at the Paraclete XP tunnel and CSC paying off, and looking forward to learning and growing more. We are also psyched to see the other Chicago area teams making good progress and enjoying 4-way like we do.

Labels: Competitions, Training

What a great weekend! We had our first jump training camp at CSC this past weekend with our coach, Kirk, and despite a few weather holds, made 34 jumps over 4 days. It was great to finally get in the air.


We're looking forward to our second training camp this weekend, and our first meet at CSC. Kirk Verner will be the meet coach for all teams to use.

Labels: Training