Icarus project is complete!

Once again Winnipeg Skydiving Centre has become a host of the traditional yearly Icarus project, run by Village Clinic to raise money for AIDS research and awareness. Our drop zone was occupied for three busy days on 13,14 and 15 August. Most of them were making their first jump, while some were repeating experience from previous years. As a total, 92 people jumped in three days.

This achievement would have been impossible without the great amount of preparations and hard work. Lots of thanks to drop zone operators and many volunteers! Jumpmasters Ken Gowler, Brian Forbes, Kevin Spurrill, Rick Cole, John Parrott, John Addison were great, and load preparations were quick and smooth. Packers Scott Nordel (also known as Thud), Garth Brown, Geri Cole, Andrew & Katherine Thielmann (also known as Boris and Natasha or Russian packing team) worked hard to provide enough rigs before they were needed. Special thanks to Thud, whose persistence and packing speed had really prevented any possible delays.

The weather had challenged the participants, varying from strong winds on one day (forcing some jumpers to make long unforeseen walks from the surrounding canola fields) to complete absence of wind on the other (leaving some bruises and limps on harder-than-normal landings). Still, these minor problems could not outbalance the great success of the event.

On the last Icarus day Andrew and Katherine Thielmann had celebrated their 100th jump by performing a 3-way with Hutch for a memorable video and photo opportunity (thanks to Gerry Gay!). The presence of Andrew’s mom and little nephew (both visiting Canada on a long trip from Russia) was adding a lot to the general excitement.

Good job, guys!

Good-bye, Icarus!

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