Welcome to Fall Risk, where we talk about anything and everything skydiving. This podcast is designed for you to get to know the every day skydivers across the world, listen to stories from our glory days, discuss the world of jumping as it evolves year to year, and maybe even learn a thing or two about actually skydiving.

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Pairing creativity and innovation with the world of skydiving can sometimes be a tall order. It&#39;s hard to stay on top of creative projects that take ages to complete within the ever changing world of the skydiving community. No one knows this better than Leah Levy. At 28 years old and just under a decade in the sport, Leah&#39;s flying resumes boast some very impressive feats, including Project 19&#39;s Women&#39;s Headdown World Record, and the most recently 200-way World Record attempts. And while those accomplishments are nothing short of amazing, her true mark on skydiving is made with her incredible artistic talents. From creating her own company &#34;Levity,&#34; where she repurposes non-airworthy parachutes into hard goods, to assisting the general skydiving community in designing their rigs, to developing her camera flying skills, and to working with her partner on their collaborative production company &#34;Flying Pig Studios,&#34; Leah has her hands in a million ongoing creative projects. Listen in as Leah tells us how she got started in skydiving, and as she lets us take a peek behind the curtain of her creative process when it comes to skydiving.

045: Leah Levy - Getting Creative with Skydiving

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The man, the myth, the legend: Garet Bloodworth. What else needs to be said? In this episode, Garet joins me to discuss his lengthy career in the world of flight, including his time as a tunnel instructor, a skydiving coach, and most recently, as a pilot. But don&#39;t let his megastar reputation fool you--Garet is one of the most laid back guys you&#39;ll see on the dropzone this episode as evidence to that. Listen in as we discuss some of his greatest achievements, how he got his start in the sport fourteen years ago, what his goals moving forward are, and what you&#39;ll see next from him.

044: Garet Bloodworth - Evolution of Flight

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On the surface, Tamara Bartlett is a bubbly, charismatic skydiver, one who is eager to engage others in conversation, go on &#34;wahoo&#34; skydives, and generally seems to get along with everyone. Under that exterior though, lies a determined, focused, and goal oriented attitude, one who establishes milestones, and chases relentlessly after them. Listen into this episode, where we dive into Tam&#39;s origin story, and hear more about why she&#39;s been chasing the big way circuit for so long now, and where she&#39;s planning to take those skills moving forward.

043: Tamara Bartlett - Chasing Big Ways

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Richo Butts is a man of many talents. The skillset he&#39;s acquired over years of skydiving and flying is seriously mindblowing. Over the last decade, Richo has made a name for himself as one of the world&#39;s premier canopy pilots, and in recent times, has added to his skill set by fine tuning his freefly and bigway skills, as well as become a licensed pilot and pursued an aerobatic pilot career. Listen to this truly humble and well spoken skydiver about how he started in the sport, what projects he&#39;s currently pursuing, and what the future holds for his flight career.

042: Richo Butts - The Sky's the Limit

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Andy Malchiodi is a household name in skydiving. The sheer number of years he&#39;s been active in the skydiving community would astound even the most diligent and relentless skydivers of today. Over time, he&#39;s travelled the world, accumulated countless skydives of all types, and organized more camps and events than can be counted. In addition to all the aforementioned accolades, Andy has also been credited with being part of the birth of MFS as a discipline, sub-disciplines like the Echelon events, the most recent skydiver-made movie &#34;HEX,&#34; in cinema history, and so much more. Tune into this episode to hear about the origins of the MFS discipline, listen as we discuss his movie, and what new adventures he&#39;s got planned for the next few years.

041: Andy Malchiodi - Creation of a Discipline

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2023 marks the first year of Koemi Valencia being on an official competitive skydiving team. Ask her yourself, this is a dream she&#39;s been chasing since she started skydiving, just a few years ago. Driven and inspired, Koemi takes us through what her journey to this stage has been like so far, and where she wants to go moving forward with her competitive goals in skydiving.Koemi has a wonderful way of definitively expressing exactly how most of us feel in this sport, and it&#39;s a breathe of fresh air to hear it come from someone of her experience. Don&#39;t miss this well spoken and intuitive episode!

040: Koemi Valencia - First Competition Year

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Have you ever dreamed of sharing a face meltingly awesome adventure with your partner? Surely you&#39;ve dreamt of what you&#39;d do on said adventure... the sights you&#39;d see, the things you&#39;d talk about, the places you&#39;d go together, the shenanigans you&#39;d get up to? If you&#39;ve lost yourself daydreaming about this very idea, then look no further than Denise and Kory Kruzikas--these two are every skydiving couples&#39; dream. Denise met Kory back in 2010 after several years of their individual skydiving careers already under their belt. To say it was love at first sight, is probably an understatement. Truly, in this episode, they share the touching story of how they got together in the first place, and how Kory, quite literally, swept Denise off her feet. Since those early days, they&#39;ve come to form SDMW&#39;s local MFS team, Ballistix. Along with their camera man, Ben Shafer, this team is headed off to the 2023 USPA Nationals, for yet another run at the podium this year. Listen in as the dynamic duo fill me in on what training with your partner is like, and how it can ultimately enhance the competition experience.

039: Denise and Kory Kruzikas - A Couple's MFS Journey

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Known as literally the nicest guy on the dropzone, Matt Congdon has made a name for himself through a constant pursuit of knowledge, and then passing that information onto the next generation of skydivers. Truly, there&#39;s nothing more exciting for Matt than to either be pursuing his own goals, or helping others achieve their own. Join us as we discuss what Matt&#39;s start in skydiving was like, how he feels about competition skydiving, and what&#39;s next for him. This episode is full of laughs and hilarity, so be sure to tune in!

038: Matt Congdon - Constant Pursuit

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Remember the name Sam Stenzel. Someday, you&#39;re gonna hear it on the news or in an article or see him in a video talking about the next big adventure in space exploration. Seriously--this kid is going places. Sam has been flying in more ways than one, since he was very young. As a gymnast, he spent more than his fair share of time in the air tackling a wide variety of aerial stunts and tricks. As a young teenager, he began tunnel flying--quickly becoming one of the most accomplished flyers at iFly Minneapolis in a few mere months. Not only that, but he also acquired his pilot&#39;s license and became a certified scuba diver shortly after. Now, at eighteen years old, Sam has checked off another box--he got his A-license. Now, he joins Sam to talk about what that particular process was like, what he&#39;s enjoying about our community so far, and where he wants to go moving forward. You don&#39;t want to miss this episode---Sam is an incredibly bright and kind whiz kid, one with an incredibly promising future in our sport!

037: Sam Stenzel - To Infinity and Beyond

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It&#39;s hard not to notice Patrick Kessler on the dropzone. He is after all, almost seven feet tall. But that&#39;s not what makes him stand out. No, what really makes Patrick stand out from the crowd is his unusually quiet nature. Truly, Pat is the quietly stoic figure in the room, letting his keen observational skills and soft advice do all the talking for him. Which is probably why he&#39;s an exceptionally astute canopy coach. In this episode, we go over how Patrick got started in the skydiving world, what led him to pursue canopy piloting, and why he&#39;s so intent on sharing the knowledge he&#39;s gleaned with the rest of the skydiving community. Lots of laughter and hilariously on the nose analogies in this one, folks. Don&#39;t miss it!

036: Patrick Kessler - Canopy Pilot Extraordinaire

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Very likely the most laid back guy on the dropzone, Travis Mickle has created a name for himself not only as an incredibly easy going dude, but also as one of the more talented wingsuit pilots of the world. In this episode, Travis takes listeners through a brief overview of his early skydiving days and what got him started in this sport we all know and love. Listen in, as Travis tells Sam all about his competition days as a wingsuiter, what kinds of competition he&#39;s chasing after moving forward, and gives his stark opinion on the world of wingsuiting as we know it today.

035: Travis Mickle - A Wingsuiter's Delight

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If you&#39;ve never met the guys of Skydive Midwest Chemtrails, you should immediately get in your car and head to SDMW, because you&#39;re missing out on the chance of knowing (and flying with) five incredibly cool people.Currently known as the biggest 4-Way VFS team (seriously they&#39;re almost all over seven feet tall), Chemtrails is comprised of DZO Keith George, lineman Matt Congdon, electrician Colin Conway, business intelligence director Kyle Brady, and podiatrist Nathan Norem. Together they’ve formed a team who probably has the most fun with competing, a fact made incredibly obvious just by watching their daily antics on the dropzone.Recorded as a send-off for when the team heads to the FAI 2023 World Cup Competition in Voss, Norway this weekend--this episode gets a little weird as we establish who’s who on this team with some &#34;fan-submitted&#34; questions. Laugh along as they regale me with some absolutely hilarious team stories from years past. Don’t miss this episode, and don’t forget to well-wish the team on their way to Norway!Team instagram: @sdmwchemtrailsCompetition updates: www.skydivemidwest.com/blog/

034: SDMW Chemtrails - Hottest Boy Band in the Upper Midwest

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Have you ever wondered how the cameraman became the cameraman? Has the thought, &#34;How did he get SO good at that...&#34; ever crossed your mind when leafing through your local cameraman&#39;s reel? If so, you should absolutely NOT miss this episode. In the fourteen years Elliot Byrd has been skydiving, he&#39;s amassed thousand of jumps across multiple disciplines--though a large number of them have been devoted specifically to camera flying. Known as THE cameraman at Skydive Midwest, and the prolific owner of Byrd&#39;s Eye Studio, Elliot has had his hands in multiple video and camera projects, primarily big-way events, records, and team skydiving. Though most recently, he&#39;s taken on the role of SDMW&#39;s media manager, which puts him front and center, creating content on a daily basis. In this episode, we get a look behind the curtain of how Elliot has gotten to this point in his skydiving career, what projects he&#39;s looking to tackle in the future, and we get a vast breakdown on how to approach camera flying safely and what to prepare for as you&#39;re pondering the idea of adding cameraflying to your skillset. Elliot&#39;s website: www.byrdseyestudio.com

033: Elliot Byrd - A Cameraflyer's Journey

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The Dunning Kruger Effect... maybe you&#39;ve heard of it? Let me give you a little breakdown just in case you haven&#39;t. The DKE is a cognitive bias which says that people with low ability, expertise, or experience regarding a type of task or area of knowledge tend to overestimate their ability or knowledge. There&#39;s more to it than just that obviously, but the aforementioned phrase is something we hear far too often in the skydiving community. It begs the questions: How do we become more aware of when we&#39;re falling victim to this bias... and how can we make a lasting difference in our awareness as we continue our progression through our jumping careers?Tune in to hear Sam, Tubbs, and Nate Shannon discuss these very same questions, where they break down more fully what DKE is, how it affects our community, all while discussing what changes can be made using their own experiences as examples.

032: Dunning Kruger Effect w/ Tubbs and Nate

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If you&#39;ve never heard the name Kazu Oyama before now, then stop what you&#39;re doing and listen to this episode stat! Be prepared to laugh, so enter at your own risk!Far and away one of the most knowledgeable skydivers you&#39;ll ever meet, Kazu Oyama also possesses the unique ability to be simultaneously intimidating and hilarious. Clocking in at over 7 feet tall (a tiny exaggeration) and constantly cracking jokes all over the dz, it&#39;s easy to see why both descriptors apply. Not only that, but as the dropzone&#39;s resident Examiner and master rigger, it&#39;s his job to make sure everyone is safe and up to snuff. Don&#39;t miss this episode--it&#39;s gonna make you laugh!

031: Kazu Oyama - Learn Safe, Have Fun

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Gorka Amian is a one-of-a-kind guy. That may seem like a cliche introduction, but there is nothing cliche about the man himself. Intensely focused, competitive, and unique--Gorka has lived, breathed, and slept skydiving for years. It doesn&#39;t matter what the discipline is--if he has a goal, he makes it happen, whether that task is to compete in VFS, FS, learn to judge skydiving meets, or taking on the leadership roles in big way events. Gorka Amian is quite literally a man who could do it all, if he wanted.Don&#39;t miss this fascinating look inside Gorka&#39;s mind to see what makes him tick, why he took on so many of the massive projects he&#39;s been involved in so far, and where he wants to go in the future.

030: Gorka Amian - A Man of Many Talents

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Mo Schulz is a seriously awesome person. Not from any one place in particular, Mo has been in the skydiving game for most of her adult life, and traveled all over the country working at various dropzones in different roles. As such, she&#39;s learned a thing or two about the going-ons at various dropzones.In recent years, she&#39;s experienced some major life changes--she moved to the Midwest, had and raised a pretty awesome baby, started a cooking blog, and earned all her instructor ratings. In this episode, in addition to tell us her origin story, she also takes a deep dive with Sam into the wonder (and sometimes agony) of being a female tandem instructor.Mo&#39;s cooking blog: https://thebondofcooking.com/

029: Monique Schulz - Female Tandem Instructors

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Mike Silva is one of the best known names in the tunnel coaching industry. And for good reason--as one of the most experienced bodyflight coaches in the country, Mike has been around and coaching fliers of all shapes and sizes for what seems like an eternity. For years, he&#39;s been cultivating and sharing his knowledge about the dynamics of body flight with others. Everything from the four basic body orientations, both static and dynamic flights, the tips and tricks of VFS, and the dazzling methodology behind trick flying. In addition to his extensive competition history, Mike also created a name for himself teaching other coaches how to better themselves and their craft inside and out of the tunnel.WARNING: DO NOT MISS THIS EPISODE. This is a tiny peek into the inner workings of Mike&#39;s thought process about coaching methodologies, as well as how to better hone your own skills as an instructor/teacher/coach. Listen closely and you might just learn a thing or two on how to apply his methods to your own students, and how to bring the beauty and excitement of our community to others.

028: Mike Silva - Bodyflight Instructor of the Century

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Scott Robinson might be one of the coolest cats on the dropzone. Just ask anyone who knows him--Scott is far and away one of the kindest, sauciest, and genuinely cool dude in the jumping community. From flying airplanes, to joining bigways, to working in a wind tunnel, or as a skydiving instructor, Scott has pretty much tried it all--making him an exceptionally knowledgeable member of our community as well. Don&#39;t miss this episode--join me this week in listening Scott tell his tale in the deepest, most sultry radio voice to ever grace this podcast.

027: Scott Robinson - Renaissance Man

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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.

026: Oxytocin Burst

Welcome to Fall Risk, where we talk about anything and everything skydiving. This podcast is designed for you to get to know the every day skydivers across the world, listen to stories from our glory days, discuss the world of jumping as it evolves year to year, and maybe even learn a thing or two about actually skydiving.