Varieties of parachuting
Parachuting requires the athlete’s skills to perform a free fall with various acrobatic elements, a controlled descent and an exact smooth landing. The times when the equipment of a paratrooper weighed 18 kg were far away, the maximum height of the jump was 800 m, and to complete the jumps it was necessary to undergo training for weeks and have good physical fitness. Thanks to modern technologies and materials, parachuting has become more widespread, affordable and diverse. Today, there are 2 directions in it: free fall and parachute piloting.
Free fall in parachuting is represented by the following disciplines:
Individual acrobatics
This is the execution of certain movements by a skydiver for a while. It requires the athlete to have perfect mastery of the body, being in free fall – performing somersaults, rotations, spirals. When passing certification of paratroopers, in competitions in classical parachuting, it is mandatory to perform certain elements of individual acrobatics.
Group Acrobatics (RW, Relative Work)
This type of parachuting involves the performance by athletes during the free fall of various figures and rearrangements in the horizontal plane. To build a pre-prepared formation, several paratroopers form the base. Other paratroopers (floaters) fly up to it in a certain sequence, forming various figures from connected bodies.
Freefly (FreeFly, vertical RW, vRW)
A fairly new, dynamically developing and most spectacular direction of parachuting. In it, a team of 2 paratroopers performs various acrobatic figures using vertical body positions: sitting, standing, head down. Therefore, the speed of their fall can reach 250-300 km / h. And all this is shot by a paratrooper operator flying nearby.
Freestyle (FreeStyle)
A free fall for a minute gives the parachutist truly unlimited opportunities to realize the most unexpected ideas and perform the most complex movements. In freestyle, athletes demonstrate all their plastic, coordination, elegance and grace.
Sky surfing
A type of parachuting in which a paratrooper with special ski performs various figures in the air. The judges evaluate the jump according to the record of the operator who jumps with the athlete, therefore their synchronous work and excellent interaction are very important for the result. At competitions there is a compulsory and free program. The aerodynamics of the parachutist on the board is very different from the standard parachute jumps, therefore, to participate in skysurfing competitions, you need a lot of experience and years of training. To date, the largest number of parachuting competitions is held precisely in sky surfing.
