LONGMONT, Colo.—Jumping out of an airplane at 5,000 feet, weighted down and navigating toward a piece of land marked by flags, is an exhilarating experience for David Billings.
“The speed of swooping is appealing,” he said. “It can be extremely dangerous, but fun.”
Swooping—or canopy piloting, as it’s officially known—has grown in popularity because it’s one of the only skydiving-related events that is spectator-friendly. That popularity is evident at Longmont’s Vance Brand Municipal Airport, which has become known as the drop zone for professional swoopers.
Swooping is a sport in which aerial athletes jump from an aircraft and fly high-performance parachutes through courses set up over the ground, over water or down a mountain.
Swoopers can reach speeds of more than 90 mph and perform stunts at ground level in front of a crowd. Competitions are generally broken down into distance, speed, accuracy, freestyle or a combination.
Billings, who works at the Mile-Hi Skydiving Center as a tandem and AFF instructor, is part of the Pro Swooping Tour. He began his adventure in 2003, when he participated in his first swooping competition as an amateur pilot in the Canopy Piloting Circuit.
“I’ve done a lot of other sports, but this one took all precedence,” he said. “I enjoy swooping as a solo, independent sport.”
While to the untrained eye swooping seems straightforward, there is plenty of strategy involved in preparing for a competition. Many pilots practice wing loading, which is swooping with smaller parachutes and suspended weight to make them fly faster. There also is the challenge that each jump is different.
“It’s all about pushing yourself to the limit of perfecting something in a short amount of time,” Billings said.
While getting to the target isn’t a problem for Billings, the approach is difficult because it must be perfect. Billings believes this requires a healthy dose of natural skill.
Jessica Edgeington, who also works at the Mile-Hi Skydiving Center and is one of two women in the pro circuit, has that skill. She said flying patterns are easy for her, but plenty of repetition must go into preparing for them.
Freestyle is a favorite event for swooping pilots, and Edgeington is no different. She is working on perfecting the blindman, a maneuver above water in which the swoop is performed going backward.
While Edgeington loves the competitive side of swooping, she also practices the skill as a member of the World Parabatic Stunt Team. The WPST is a group of high-performance parachute pilots and stuntmen who perform routines in the air in front of crowds at airshows and other large events.
“Being a part of the group is all about routines in the air, staying together synchronized and focusing on precision,” she said. “Competition is wearing weights and getting the most out of your swoop. It’s a lot more difficult.”
Being one of the only women among her peers in the ever-growing and changing sport has been a positive experience for Edgeington.
“The guys like that I am competing with them,” she said.
As far as it being a dangerous sport, Billings acknowledges he is a thrill seeker but believes swooping is no more risky than other speed sports.
“I’ve lost friends to car accidents,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop driving.”
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On the Net:
Mile-Hi Skydiving Center:
Pro Swooping Tour:
Canopy Piloting Circuit:
World Parabatic Stunt Team:
