If you’ve never heard of it before, oxytocin is your “happy hormone.” It’s responsible for the warm fuzzy feeling you get when you interact or touch someone you’re attracted to. It has the power to regulate your emotional responses, including trust, empathy, gazing, positive memories, and bonding cues. But--how does this relate to skydiving?

In this week’s episode, Sam is joined by four very experienced and amazing women from the world of skydiving to discuss this rather exciting topic. Listen in as the gang discusses where you might find this phenomenon occurring on the dropzone, what it looks like, and how this occurrence affects men and women differently. Pay close attention as they tell their stories, how this knowledge might change how you interact with your customers, and why it might not always be the best thing to indulge upon.

Josh Evans of The Content Clearinghouse joins Sam again this week for a special episode completely devoted to an amazing skydiving event called “Echelon.” Created and operated by Andy Malchiodi and Matt Fry, the appropriately named event marks the coming together of some of the best freefliers in the world, to create unique and awe-inspiring skydiving formations, the likes of which our community is only just beginning to conceptualize.

Two very special folks join Sam this week on Fall Risk -- enter Dan and Heather -- two of the nicest folks you'll ever meet on the dropzone. Join the gang this week as they discuss Heather and Dan's early days in skydiving and the tunnel. And hold onto your butts as they give everyone a rundown on their latest (and victorious) excursion to USPA 2022 Skydiving National Championships. Theirs is truly a tale of excitement and perseverance and you for sure do not want to miss this one!

Back at you with Part Two of comparing and contrasting Dropzone vs. Cutaway with Josh Evans, of The Content Clearinghouse! Next up is Cutaway!

Plot synopsis: "A drug enforcement agent goes undercover on a skydiving team to track down illegal drugs." -- What's not included: "...where speedstars are the pinnacle of the skydiving community, and it's normal to see people sit on the edge of airborne aircraft without a rig."

Spoiler alert: Again, make sure you've seen the movie before listening! Enter at your own risk!

Back at you this week with a double feature! The one and only Josh Evans, of The Content Clearinghouse, joins Sam to discuss two of the most famous skydiving movies ever created: Dropzone and Cutaway.

First up: Dropzone!

Plot synopsis: "A tough cop teams up with a professional skydiver to capture a renegade computer hacker on the run from the law." -- What should have been added, "...and the most insanity filled skydiving progression you've ever seen on the big screen, in addition to landings so bad you would have though they were jumping rounds the entire time."

Spoiler alert: Watch these movies if you haven't yet and then come back and listen to their individual takes on them.

Newly crowned, 4-way silver medalist Mary Dalman had the most fruitful summer of her skydiving career in 2022. She, along with her team, Cinnamon Roll Fight Club made the journey to 2022 USPA Skydiving. Nationals last fall, after an intense year filled with training, hard work, and perseverance from the entire team. Join us as she tells Sam about the entire process from start to finish, what she thinks is the most important part of building a team, and where she wants to go moving forward for her follow up year.

Arguably one of the nicest guys on the dropzone, Ben Shafer is a man of many talents, and has been dipping his toes into a a wide variety of skydiving disciplines. Everything from working as a tunnel instructor, to competing in MFS, developing his skills as a videographer, working as a load organizer, and so much more! Tune into this week's episode to hear more about Ben's background and start in skydiving, where he wants to go moving forward, and where to find him on the dz! Don't miss it!

Sean Kennedy joins Sam this week on Fall Risk! In addition to telling us all a little bit about his start in skydiving, he also shares details of his latest swoop competition adventure. While explaining how it all worked, he also seriously educates us on some key details regarding canopy piloting safety. Sean is a genuinely good guy in the world of skydiving, and has a lot of interesting takes on how to keep yourself safe while also venturing into the world of inducing speed under your canopy. Don't miss this episode!

David San Pedro--or DSP as he's known to some--is truly a one-of-a-kind skydiver. He's kind, excited, and genuinely invests in the people around him. This week he joins Sam on the pod to discuss what it was like being a skydiver before becoming a tunnel instructor in Portland, OR. In addition to all that, they get to talking about his motivations as an instructor and coach, his dynamic 4-way competition history (including his trip to the World Indoor Skydiving Competition in France, circa 2019), and where he wants to go with his skillset next. Don't miss this episode of Fall Risk!

Pranavayu's 2019 World's D4W routine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4ZanGj8yEA (Free routine @ 16:30, Speed Round @ 24.45, and Tie-Breaker @ 31:15)

Join us on this episode of Fall Risk to meet Travis and Brittany--two amazing people who met and fell head over heels (literally) while learning to skydive! They discuss their beginning phases of jumping, how the sport of skydiving has helped shape their relationship, and how this entire community and way of life have changed the trajectory of their lives. They give us listeners a little insight into what it was like being a student, and where they want to go moving forward. Don't miss this episode of Fall Risk!

Hold on to your butts folks, cause this behemoth of an episode is gonna require TWO listens. This week, Sam is joined by 1LightFilms production company owner, Stevie Kane--who also happens to be her go-to on all things movies, shorts, filming, editing, and production. Tune in to hear them go full send on breaking down seven different skydiving movie scenes, and join them in ranking each scene in three different categories: Awesome Power, Realism, and Atmosphere! Prepare yourself for the new information, creative analysis, and laughs abound, in this episode of Fall Risk!

Stevie's Production Company: www.1lightfilms.com

Jen Halvorson graciously joins Sam again on the podcast, for Part 2 to her world record journey. Join us as Jen explains what happened at the Project 19 Headdown World Record attempts, and we discuss ideas on how to keep pushing women forward in the sport of skydiving.

Dave's draw generator: www.mspvfs.com

Karen Downes might be the nicest person you've ever met. Truly, she's a sweet, genuine soul who gives the best advice and warmest hugs. But underneath all that, she's a skydiver who loves the sport for the sport. After being a staple in our community for over 16 years, Karen sheds some light on a new perspective of being a jumper, and how her balance of skydiving vs. real life has changed her approach to jumping over the last few years.

Alli Privitt might just be a superhero. She's probably not, but it's fun to speculate anyway. From standing on the edge of a volcano, to deep cave spelunking, to swimming with sharks and canyoning down waterfalls, Alli has gone and been to places most of us only dream about.

Alli is relatively new to skydiving, but don't let that fool you--she's an incredibly determined and excited new member of our community, and she has the unique ability to offer some rare feedback to the instructors and teachers on dropzones everywhere. Because Alli comes from a teaching background herself, she can simultaneously learn new information while also providing feedback on how we as a community of coaches and instructors, can better relate and communicate with our students and others who are learning the ropes within the sport of skydiving.

Follow Alli on Instagram: @myfriendalli

Welcome back to Part 2 of Josh Evan's journey as a skydiving and tunnel instructor.

In Part 2, we focus more on the tunnel side of Josh's skydiving career, specifically about how his methodology as a body flight coach, and how his approach to coaching students has changed over the years.

In addition to that, we talk about the importance of communication when taking on new students, how to start a VFS league, how to approach indoor tunnel competitions, and where he thinks indoor tunnels will go in the future.

In this episode of Fall Risk, one of the best coaches in the country joins Sam to talk about his time as a skydiving and tunnel instructor. Josh Evans has been skydiving for over 20 years, and has worked as a tunnel instructor for over half that. In addition to competing in multiple disciplines in both indoor and outdoor skydiving competitions, Josh is also an accomplished podcaster and artist, a pop culture buff, and a very doting father to his kids.

Join them as they discuss Josh's never ending pursuit of always trying to be a better instructor and coach and his life long passion of bringing flight to other fliers. Listen in as they go over Josh's start in skydiving and his time as an instructor, and you'll even get to hear about a couple of absolutely batshit crazy skydiving stories.

Josh's podcast: The Content Clearinghouse

https://open.spotify.com/show/4D67istsc15Yz9jOZDU6fv?si=c4848767a610447c

Dustin Lehrke joins Sam in this episode of Fall Risk, to talk about his time so far in the sport of skydiving. Additionally, he also provides some insight into what the life of a rookie skydiver is like, and reminds us all about what it was like to start out in skydiving as a student--something some of us haver perhaps forgotten over the years.

Look out, cause Megan Lundsten is joining Sam in this episode of Fall Risk! Megan is a funny, determined, straight forward instructor, with a "take no shit" kind of attitude. Expect all that and more in this episode, where Sam and Meggo get into the nitty gritty of working in the field, both in skydiving and the tunnel world. In addition to discussing what makes her passionate about flying, Sam and Meggo also talk about early day shenanigans, and we hear about Megan's recent "wedding in the sky."

Don't miss this episode! Click that download button!

David Dellanave joins Sam on this episode of Fall Risk, and they get to reminiscing on old dropzone shenanigans together, and they explore Dave's start in the sport of skydiving. Listeners will also get a peek into Dave's history as a strength training and weight lifting coach, and learn how he applies that same method to helping others in their skydiving progression. Not only is he an amazing source of information about skydiving and teaching you about your body's capabilities, but he also notoriously runs an Olive Oil business, which is featured in a film project he helped create, called "From the Source." This short film takes the viewer on a trip through Italy, where Dave and the crew check out delicious ingredients used in traditional Italian food. Check out the links below, and tune into an incredibly informative and exciting new episode of Fall Risk!

Check out Dave's Olive Oil line here:

https://www.dellanave.com/olive-oil/ 

Watch "From the Source," here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l84RHxkbY3E

On this episode of Fall Risk, Sam is joined by her longtime friend, Kristen Cotten, and they get to shooting the shit about being female skydiving instructors, and all the shenanigans that go along with it, including the hilarious "Captain America incident."

Kristen truly is a renaissance woman, she's literally done it all--from working as a full time AFFI, TI, and videographer, to BASE jumping, wingsuiting, and swooping, there are few areas of skydiving she hasn't dipped her toes into. She's worked in multiple countries, travelled all over the world for skydiving shenanigans, and has even competed a time or two nationally.

Later in the episode, Kristen breaks down more about her experience working as a full time instructor in Dubai, and educates Sam more about the world of BASE jumping. Is there anything she can't do?