We finished off parachuting in 2019 with just one lift of jumpers on Friday November 22 which notably included our 2,000th Tandem Skydiver of the Year, so a nice milestone to round the year off on. Whilst no jumps were made the following day, our last opening day of 2019, we held our annual presentation of awards and Christmas Function that evening at the Marriot Hotel in Durham. A great evening was had by all, so many thanks to Jared and Karen Morris for organising, with the following awards being presented:
- North East University Club of the Academic Year 2018-19 – Durham University (see Mock up Picture).
- Most Progressed Student – Max Taylor
- Most Persistent Student – Laurence Westall
- Most Entertaining Landing – David Knox
- Most Entertaining Exit – Danny Coultrup
- Most Mentioned Staff Member – Dave Taylor
Whilst the dropzone were in the order of 1,700 jumps down in 2019 as compared to in 2018 it was great to see hardly any drop in our tandem numbers and notably just short of twice as many AFF jumps undertaken in 2019 as compared to 2018, so very well done in particular to Brian Dyas and the AFF School.
I would also like to thank Sandy Barnett and Iain Anderson of Skydive St Andrews for providing us with an aircraft on those occasions when our own was offine for maintenance.
It is particularly good to note that two of our club members, Darren Strafford and Darren Crumpler, who each suffered serious injuries earlier in the year are now well into their recovery and we hope and wish that continues with a return to full fitness in due course – it has been a tough time for them both as well as their families.
We look forward to re-opening for skydiving on Friday February 14 2020.
Ian Rosenvinge
Find out more about Peterlee: https://skydiveacademy.org.uk/
Photo: Durham University Club Members by Ian Rosenvinge
