North Alabama Whitewater Fest and my new addiction!

By Boyd Ruppelt

Sup everyone!

Wed, I left with Samantha for Alabama for the North Alabama Whitewater Fest so we could get in some practice and some much needed rest. Friday rolled around and we both competed in the Huckfest competition in our new stars!!! Sam rocked her new black Star and I love my new Allstar…

Sam competed in Women’s Pro and WON the Women’s Pro Waterfall Freestyle competition!!! I was so proud of her because before the competition, she had never thrown a freewheel before, but she learned quickly and landed one after the other for the rest of the day. She never complained about taking a hit either… she just kept going. She also took more rides than the others, hucking as long as she was allowed to go again! Then she got second to Tiya in the Women’s Pro Boatercross.

I competed in the Men’s Pro for the Huckfest and got 2nd in the Men’s Pro Prelims, 3rd in the finals in the Waterfall Freestyle. Spencer Cooke pulled it off in the Finals for the win. I won my heat in the Men’s Pro Boatercross Prelims putting me in the Finals. The finals were a bit messy to say the least, and I got pushed up onto a shallow rock shelf, taking me from a tie for second all the way back to 6th place… overall I ended up with a 6th place finish in the Men’s Pro Boatercross Race at Short Creek Falls… It was super fun and one of my favorite events of the year!

Sunday is where my NEW addiction comes into play!
We took off early to Cullman, AL (only a 30 minute drive from NAWF) where I started my AFF (Accelerated FreeFall) course to becoming a skydiver. Sunday I went to Ground School (a 5 hour course with written, oral, and practical exams to qualify to jump your own canopy)… that afternoon I was on a plane with my 2 instructors for my first skydive with my own parachute!!! The first time I jumped I never really got nervous or scared, but that was a tandem jump. This time I was responsible for pulling the pilot chute and flying my own canopy… the feeling of that responsibilty was awesome! I finally felt some butterflies on the way up, but not nearly as much as I expected. Once the door was open, I was fine and ready to do it right. The ride out of the plane was SWEET and we stabilized immediately. I learned quickly that I need to work on keeping my legs a bit more straight. The canopy ride was perfect. I felt well prepared as I pulled the canopy and tested it out to make sure it was fully functional. As a first time flyer, I actually landed in the LZ right where I needed to be and STANDING UP!!! I was so excited to land soft and standing up and the guys and girls in the Hanger we jumping and cheering… it was awesome!!! So I’ve finally started my training to becoming a sport skydiver… I’m definitely an addict.

Boyd’s Skydiving Video (Windows Media Player, 8.6 MB)

Boyd 🙂