Pacific Skydivers Ltd.

Debbie and Ian Flanagan of Pacific Skydivers  opened their doors to me last month, May 2011– and I had so many pictures to go through, because it was such a beautiful day – that it has taken me until now to choose the ones I’d like to use for the Business Spotlight.  Most likely I’ll eventually add more.

A short introduction: Debbi and Ian own and operate Pacific Skydivers Ltd. which has been BBB (Better Business Bureau) accredited since 1998, and they have over 23 years of skydiving experience.  They offer solo and tandem jumps, and jump training leading to CSPA certification.   They own four planes, two Cessna 182, one Cessna 205, and one Cessna Caravan.  All of Pacific Skydivers’ instructors are rated/certified, video bookings are available and family and friends are more than welcome to come, watch and share in the experience.

Located centrally at Pitt Meadows Airport, 40 km from Vancouver, and 40km from Abbotsford makes them accessible to a broad intake area in the lower mainland.  A good example of this are the two young women featured on the photographs, Naira and Chantelle.  They travelled from Vancouver by bus so that Naira could do her first tandem jump.

Debbie allowed me to go through the entire tandem jump training with them and then watch the jump – and so I ended up with well over two hundred pictures by the end of the day! Exciting!!  But then I had to go through them – phew! 

The Pacific Skydivers facilities are huge and roomy, with lots of space for large groups of jumpers.  They have two main classrooms, one for solo jumpers, and one for tandem jumpers.  Two huge prep rooms, I’d call them, flank either side of the central office, lounge and classroom section.   Each classroom has a video monitor and marker board to cover everything in theory, before going through the dry run on the ground. 

After Naira signed her waiver and paid the fees, we were led to the classroom by Angie.  We watched a movie covering the ground rules of skydiving, and what to expect, and Angie answered questions we had.  From there, we went outside, where Ricki, an instructor, took over and ran Naira through the dry run, explaining to her exactly where and how to hold herself and how to position her arms and legs during the jump – and again what she could expect, and what to look out for. 

Naira was nervous, but extremely happy and confident about her jump – no doubt due in no small part to Debbie's confidence in her extensive experience and in her instructors and the care Ricki took to explain even the smallest things.  It is an extremely upbeat, fun environment at Pacific Skydivers, but it is also obvious that they take skydiving very seriously.  Everything is checked and double-checked, explained, and explained again.

After both Ricki and Naira were satisfied that Naira had understood everything and could do the jump,  Naira went over to pull on her jump suit. Andy, the videographer, took a video and shots of her final pre-jump moments, all the while cracking jokes and making everyone feel very comfortable and helping Naira feel relaxed for the jump.

Then she was off to skydive!  Pictures of the happy, blown away smile on Naira’s face after her landing are below.

Would I jump?  I’ve always wanted to – and after that day at Pacific Skydiver’s I don’t need to look anywhere else.

By the way – the seemingly random picture of a plane being refuelled – that’s Ian Flanagan.  Thanks to Debbie, Ian, Ricki, Andy, Naira and Chantelle for the experience and the great day - blue skies forever!

Pacific Skydivers Ltd.

730-11731 Baynes Road
Pitt Meadows, BC V3Y 2B3

Tel: 604-465-7311

Email: dz@pacificskydivers.com

www.pacificskydivers.com