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Big Way Skills Camp 2022 REVIEWS

· Reviews

. 55 reviews. Unedited.

5⭐ = 43
4⭐ = 12
3⭐ = 0
2⭐ = 0

1⭐ = 0

 

Everything was so organized and well-prepared. I especially loved how you guys were hyping us up, so nothing felt like a failure. You helped me to learn from my mistakes via debriefs which you paid really close attention to. You kept me hanging on the edge of my seat about what would happen in the next jump because you made everything so fun and challenging in a good way.

- Lili Cibulák, 5⭐

 

Great coaches participants and planes

- elizabeth hurry, 5

 

- Anon, 4⭐

 

I don't really do epic, so this is just feedback.

I really liked the camp. The pacing (ignoring the weather) felt about right; four jumps, five jumps in a day for people that may or may not have the skills or stamina is enough, especially with the learning involved.

It's nice to be around skydiver and it was nice not to be treated like a big kid. I liked the safety aspect too, something the Klatovy does not seem as keen on as I am used to. Personal responsibility and all that, but making it a camp rule makes it easier for people to accept. I'm only young in this sport, but have lost far too many friends already to get annoyed at being told to be safe.

- James, but you knew that, right?, 5

 

Good organisation, a lot of tips from Rob and Fleur, and you all wer very nice and friendly ☺️

- Sandra Backhaus ☺️, 5

 

That was awesome!

- Szutor Zsigmond, 5

 

I'm rating the weather 5 stars because it made me a better all round skydiver, variable winds, changing landing patterns, downwinds, 30knot+ head winds, all good shit. I'm rating the event 5 because I can't not. First DZ abroad, first skyvan, first multi plane, absolutely awesome people (you included Brian) and generally a fantastic vibe. Well done.

- Joe C, 5

 

Nothing quite like an bigway event.

Loved being coached, briefed, de briefed, seeing everyones jumps & concentration on the jumps.

Our team had a particularly amazing bond with each other.

Listening, taking instructions & putting the plan together for each individual's abilities.

The organised event is out of this world.

Must be extremely logistical for the LO.

All of the coaches had great concise skill sets.

Loved the way Fleur walked the dive until each one of us had it in our memory.

She gave very precise individual feedback on the de brief for your dive positions, flying, exiting etc. which I took on board, & which really worked for me. Especially taking on information on the other positions on the dives from our team friends.

- Gareth Corfield, 5

 

Deferent slots a lot time for trying difernd body positions

- Onklbernd, 5

 

The rating was mostly influenced by the weather, so I am not satisfied with the camp to the extent I was last year. Too few jumps on the camp to leave the camp more satisfied primarily with myself, but it is certainly not the fault of the organizers or instructors.

- Severin Bojić, 4

 

Good organisers Fleur and Rob. I felt Fleur was particularly good

- Daniel Wall, 5

 

Brians camp is the best place to learn new skills for bigger groups and to hone all these basics once again when you bring some more experience to the camp. I've been jumping for over 20 yars now, and honestly: If i hadn't participated in the 2020 camp, I probably would have given up on jumping at all. Why? Because at some point you just get tired of jumping with "experienced" skydivers who think they've got it but keep to make the same mistakes over and over again.

If you come to Brians camp, expect a bunch of people who want to learn, who are willing to gain experience by failing and taking up the advice and encouragement given in the debriefs or in personal conversation. The learning curve for everybody is clearly visible. as one of the old skydivers in this camp, I simply love this no-blame-atmosphere where everyone leaves with more experience in the bucket. I am still filling up mine.

Before I forget and also really important: you won't get judged by your jumpnumbers. outside of the camp they might be some sort of a bonus, but with the camp, they are just numbers.

so expect to learn to get to the right place in the right time and to make the planned dive happen without ever completing a formation. If that souns like what you want to do: go for it!

- Stefan, 5

 

my grandfather used to say: the weather did not marry to continue doing what he wants. We had bad luck, but we will go back to the next big way.

Perfect event

- VALERIO ZAGO, 5

 

It was a great opportunity to develop and practice skills

- Edgar, 5

 

So, so much more than I expected; I've rediscovered my love of belly flying and can't wait to do more.

Oh, and SkyVans.

Thanks again, Brian - *really* value your commitment to providing us with opportunities for progression.

- Jon Witte, 5

 

Was great to learn new things, do first multi plane jump and meet new people. I really enjoyed the camp, bring on the 40 ways

- Holly voysey, 5

 

- Stu Bruce, 5

 

Learning - tons of knowledge and ways to practice. LOs sharing their skills, and smiling a lot :) Organisation was perfect.

I afraid and enjoyed doing jumps/landing in very difficult conditions (for me at least : often strong and turbulent wind or landing with any wind as in the last jump when the landing direction was set before the load).

- Rafal, 5

 

Super organisation an good explainings from Rob and Fleur because they speak english slow clear and loud enough

It helps very much to have the WhatsApp group (thanks for the work) and the manifest allways and everywhere on Handy

- Stefan Backhaus, 5

 

Fun, relaxed and informative

- Anonymous, 5

 

Very good event, well organised and pitched at the right level. So many positives...I loved watching people build in confidence over the camp, skills growing and the positive energy throughout the camp.

- Graham Cooper, 4

 

The camp was really well organized. But in all this organisation, somehow the focus on the individuals was less than last year

- Anonymous, 4

 

Overall a very enjoyable and safe event with only a couple of issues.

- Anonymous, 5

 

Great LOs and organizing, great atmosphere, nice participants, but some had too litte experience for larger groups

- Michelle - thank you for this great event!, 4

 

Pre admin was clearly explained, I understood the goals for all jumpers and the no blame culture. The groups were well balanced, I flew with a range of experienced people who added value to my learning. the rotation of coaches brought different styles for learning and teaching. The prep was at the right level / duration for the aim and the debrief open and kind.

- Ross, 5

 

Well organised, fantastic load organisers (all 4 have different styles but equally great in their own way!) and the camera flyers did a fab job to catch us all for feedback (and of course the obligatory social media pics ��). And to top it off, a fab group of jumpers who I had such fun with. Can't wait for the next one ��

- Kim, 5

 

Super well organised Great instruction and debriefs with a wonderful relaxed atmosphere I absolutely love the zero blame camp So often I get myself stressed on the way up to altitude worrying that I'm going to mess up and just be disappointed with myself This camp definitely helped me deal so much better with the ride up and what goes on in my head Although it is in my nature to be a bit stressy I certainly had a more mellow stress ��

- Nichola Houlahan, 5

 

It was run perfect, with good instruction and load organizers.,

- Anonymous, 5

 

Great LOs and people. Fleur done a great job as first time LO,

- Anonymous, 4

 

Alternating slots and exits provided challenges to broaden capabilities as did tracking teams to help improve tracking performance.

Comprehensive briefs & debriefs provided all the detail needed to improve performance.

Great aircraft & dz

- Martin Clarke, 5

 

The camp was well organised. I enjoyed every jump and the opportunity to switch slots but do a few jumps in the same slot first to see your progression.

I had a lot of fun on Thursday and Sunday, but I struggled to enjoy it on Friday and Saturday - this was down to weather, I would much rather be released from the camp for 1/2 day and maybe do one less jump, than wait around for hours, but I do realise this is a very personal opinion and it's hard to please 100 people at the same time.

I absolutely LOVED the innhop.

I really disliked the idea of being graded/ rated on every jump - I chose the 20 ways camp for its low pressure and idea that it's not about completions, and to jumps in the slots I don't like/ am not good at/ I don't get to do many of, and i don't like competing, so as soon as you're starting to grade/score people you're automatically bringing that element of competition/not wanting to do slots you're not good at back into it.

The DZ brief is almost too brief... I know the LOs aren't DZ staff but it might be an idea to just send a little info about the DZ to the participants before the camp.

Saying that - I loved the DZ, especially the way they get you to pay for your jumps at the very end - saves you trying to not leave any money behind on your account. It almost made the cost of jumps less painful :)

- Anonymous, 4

 

The camp was great fun and I feel like I learned and improved so much during it. First multi plane as well, yay! The camp made bigways and multiplanes accessible as I thought these were things I wouldn't be able to do for a long time. Thanks Brian :)

- Anonymous, 5

 

Once again had so much fun, met some awesome new friends and learnt loads

- Jason Burgoyne, 5

 

Great combination of a DZ that rolls and LOs that are goal driven. Equally the progression was clearly marked out for us. Personally I feel I went from slow to steady in my skydiving rebirth so it was perfect for me.

- Damien Cahill, 5

 

Delivered exactly what I wanted in a professional, thorough, safe and structured way - providing the opportunity to practice the skillls needed for bigway in a controlled way ... building confidence progressively. Instructors and camera were great, the DZ and organisation of lifts etc. was good, and I learned all this with a great bunch of fellow minded Skydivers - and some new friends!

- Julie Murray, 5

 

Weather can't be helped, still learnt so much regardless. Impressed with how it was organised given how many people there were. Really liked the opportunity to try different slots, and get a taste of different LOs coaching styles when the groups switched. Also to be able to experience multi plane loads and tracking teams without having to be part of a bigger way felt really valuable. Video debriefs and learning as a group, rather than just based on own personal feedback. Innhop was ace.,

- Anonymous, 5

 

Learned a lot!,

- Anonymous, 5

 

Perfect group of peopleswaiw

- Cibo, 5

 

The only reason I can't give it five stars was the weather. The event exceeded my expectations in almost every way possible. It delivered exactly what was promised - a stress and blame-free atmosphere for learning big way skills. Leaving the event I already had a list of people forming in my head that I would highly recommend this event for next year.

- Mikk Sarapik, 4

 

As someone of lower experience, this event gave so many firsts. But honestly, multi plane Skyvan, how could you not love that. The group had so many lovely people and all the coaches and cameraflyers were brilliant. Really amazing experience

- Paul Flood, 5

 

Weather was scetchy but you guys did amazingly well to get the jump numbers in and still keep everyone safe. I'd give event 10stars if I could. I had an awesome time! It was a lot of fun and I learned so much. Thank you

- Daniel Glaister, 5

 

This was my 1st internationall skill camp and to be honest....I was really nervous.

I was unsure in regards of my BW capabilities, ablity to be fluent in english (not native speaker) and being lone stranger in the middle of such a big group.

All my concerns were blown away right after the 1st jump!

Led by super amazing load organizers Fleur and Rob I felt safe and encouraged to learn , develop and give the best, I`m capable of. Feedbacks, provided during debrief, were always professional, constructive and friendly on one hand, but clear and direct on the other one - perfect balance.

Not sure, how you managed to do that, but all camp participants were just amazing and despite being new kid in the class, I really felt to be part of the team.

Saying all that.....thank you Brian for organizing such perfect event. I really enjoyed it, learnt a lot and met plenty of GREAT skydiving mates :-)

- Vojta Kozák, 5

 

Try again next year..... hopefully give 10 stars next year

- Brent willis, 5

 

I finally got some real experience with long dives. I'm 250 jumps deep, but always get plonked in the base on bigger LO jumps because I'm a chonky fucker. I enjoyed being able to be last(ish) diver.

- Luke Nicholson , 5

 

- Anonymous, 5

 

Really good for progression in bigway, felt there should be more critique (without blame) for improving individual and group performances

- Mark Hay, 4

 

Great people; excellent LOs; too many other groups

- Griff, 4

 

Great camp, learned loads even with the weather

- Anonymous, 5

 

Location, aircraft, good organisers excelkent debriefs and opportunities to try new slots pressure free.

- Dave Gordon, 5

 

Great fun

- Nigel Cross, 5

 

It was epic absolutely loved it, We did learn a lot From this camp ,Everything was just perfect ,more Like that

I wish you a very good continuation brian coming we love you@man. I wish you a very good continuation

- Anonymous, 5

 

It was epic even though there was no completion

- Fero, 4

 

95% of people really giving their all. It's a real pleasure to jump with them

- Dave Hillwood, 5

 

Nice! I didn't know what to expect before and was very pleasantly surprised. Definitely would recommend it and would go again myself.

- Claudia, 4